Karmanos discusses future of Plymouth Whalers franchise, challenges fans

By Michael Caples –

PLYMOUTH – Friday’s press conference at Compuware Arena may have been called to discuss the Plymouth Whalers’ staff changes, but a main topic of conversation was about the team’s future, as well.

With rumors circulating Michigan’s hockey scene about the potential of a sale or team relocation for the OHL club, owner Peter Karmanos was asked about his team’s future during the press conference.

Here’s what he had to say:

“Well to be frank about it, it’s tough running an OHL team in a major league city. Our attendance has been good, but it’s not great. You look down 401 and you see the London Knights selling out every game, you know that if you had to sell the team you might want to move it to one of those cities, rather than keep it playing here. Like I’ve said, it’s become an expensive business, it’s a big business. If we could get the attendance where we think it should be here, I think the future is great. If we continue to draw a couple thousand people a game, we’ll have to take a look at some options.

When asked what time frame he would be looking at, Karmanos continued with:

“Next year? I can’t really answer that question. We’ve stuck it out for a long time, we have one of the best franchises, if not the best, on the ice, in the OHL. But we’re operating in HOckeytown. It’s an NHL city. It’s tough. It just depends on how long all these guys want to fight the good fight. I think as the OHL grows in popularity, I think we’ll benefit in Plymouth as well. It’s a great brand of hockey, it’s fun coming to games, they’re generally on the weekend or Thursday night, which is sort of the weekend or the weekend for some people. It’s well worth the dollars that you pay for the ticket.”

After the conclusion of the formal press conference, Karmanos was asked if that was in some ways a challenge to the hockey fans in the area. He said it certainly was.

“Yeah. Not in some ways. Directly. Start coming to games.”

The fact that Karmanos moved longtime Whalers president, general manager and coach Mike Vellucci to the Carolina Hurricanes organization (Karmanos also owns the NHL franchise) has only increased the rumors of a potential sale or relocation. Karmanos said he didn’t consider immediately unloading the OHL club after the Vellucci move.

“No, we won’t get rid of the team,” Karmanos said. “We have a lot of different things that could happen with the arena, and that would force us to look at the options about moving. Right now, it’s the Plymouth Whalers and they’re playing out of this arena, they’ll be here at least another season, and we’ll just have to keep evaluating. When you put a quality product on the ice and you win every year and you’re in the playoffs for 23 straight years, sooner or later, people have to start coming.”

Karmanos said that there are a few organizations that would have interest in buying the arena and the club.

“It’s not anything we didn’t expect,” Karmanos said of the struggles he has faced while running the OHL franchise. “But sooner or later, you’ve gotta…the players want to play in a building that’s full, alright? Sooner or later, we’ve got to do something. I’d much prefer getting more people in the building.”

No matter what happens with the Whalers, however, Karmanos said that the Compuware AAA program would remain intact.

“We’d find a place for it to play,” he said. “We’re going to keep that going no matter what. In fact, I want to increase our involvement in the youth program, because we’ve let it slide a bit. We’re tired of losing to Honeybaked Ham and Caesars. We want to beat them every time.”