Lee Scheide says: Thinking ahead helps Jackalopes move forward

The Odessa Jackalopes now look like geniuses.

Just two months ago, everyone was screaming when the team made the announcement that it was going to be moving to the North American Hockey League for the 2011-12 season.

Give up professional hockey for juniors? Are you kidding me?

Odessa knew the minor-league hockey model was broken — a quick look at the cash flow ledger was all that was needed for confirmation — and the team was hemorrhaging cash at an alarming rate.

So they made their pitch to the NAHL and were accepted, along with the Laredo Bucks. But public outcry about the Jackalopes move “convinced” the Bucks to change course in midstream. Or perhaps it was the fact Laredo officials misread the team’s licensing agreement.

But the Bucks never came out and said they were staying in the CHL, instead telling season-ticket holders that “professional” hockey would be back next year.

Hmm?

The same thing happened in North Richland Hills with the Brahmas, while Rio Grande Valley, which earlier had said it was staying in the CHL, now has the former owner suing the current owner and its future is in limbo.

Bossier-Shreveport, following its playoff run, is likely going to be turning out the lights, two years after new ownership saved it from a similar fate.

Rapid City, Colorado, Missouri and Allen are rumored to be courting the ECHL.

That would leave Mississippi at one end, Arizona at the other and the former IHL teams (Fort Wayne, Evansville, Bloomington, Dayton and Quad City) in the center and Rio Grande Valley floating as a southern satellite

But if the comments made by Fort Wayne general manager David Franke over the weekend concerning his feelings on how his team was treated by the CHL are true, how long will those teams stay?

The honeymoon period obviously is over, and while the CHL gave its 2011-12 All-Star Game to the Arizona Sundogs, can you dress up an intersquad scrimmage and call it a spectacular?

The Central Hockey League, once a model of stable franchises, now more closely resembles the Titanic heading into the ice field.

And who is piloting the ship?

Ahab? Captain Quigg? Steamboat Willie?

The CHL is nothing but a shell of its former self, which is unfortunate, as for the past 18 years since its reincarnation it has provided enjoyment for millions of fans.

They would be happy now if it just disappears.

The Jackalopes, on the other hand, have a future.