Post by fwp on Nov 17, 2009 10:18:09 GMT -5
www.adn.com/sports/professional/story/1015956.html
Former Alaska Wild coach Hans Deemer on Monday said he left the Wild so he could focus on a dream -- starting an Indoor Football League franchise closer to his home in the Valley.
Deemer got what he wanted. Last week the IFL accepted the Arctic Predators of Wasilla into the 24-team league.
In a Monday press conference at the Menard Sports Center in Wasilla where the team will play, a crowd of about 40, half of them in purple and black Predators jerseys, hooted and clapped when Deemer took the podium to speak about his vision for the team.
"We're pioneering football here in Alaska and it's a great feeling," said Deemer, the team's first head coach.
Chris Kokalis and Ken Moninski co-own the Predators. The Wild's head coach for two seasons before resigning in January, Deemer couldn't be happier about how things worked out.
"It's awesome, it's really awesome," said Deemer, who lives in Palmer with his wife and 10 kids. "I've coached youth sports in the Valley for 18 years and I think I have a great feel for sports in the area. It's going to be tremendous."
The IFL is a low-level professional league modeled after the now-defunct Arena Football League. Everything about it is smaller than regular football -- the size of the teams (eight players instead of 11), the length of the field (58 yards instead of 100) and the salaries.
The league average is $225 per player per game.
The Predators give the IFL three teams in Alaska, joining the Alaska Wild and the Fairbanks Grizzlies.
Owners of the teams -- Ricky Bertz with the Grizzlies and Charles Matthews with the Wild -- traded good-natured barbs over where IFL fans will have to drive to view the "Borealis Cup", an enormous gleaming metal trophy that stays with the winner of the Borealis Championship Series.
The cup, currently held by Fairbanks, goes to the squad with the best head-to-head record among Alaska teams.
In addition to the draw of an in-state rivalry that might boost ticket sales, there's a reason the other teams are applauding the Predators' entry into the league. Playing more in-state games means all three teams can cut travel costs.
"It makes a big difference for everyone involved to have an added playing partner in Alaska," IFL commissioner Tommy Benizio said.
The Predators will be in the same division as the Wild and Grizzlies, but a final schedule for the 2010 season -- which begins in March -- is not expected to be set until later this month.
Kokalis said the three Alaska teams will likely play two games each season against each other. The Predators' schedule will include seven home games, seven away, a pre-season game and a family night, he said.
Kokalis recognized that the team is a little behind in one area: they lack players. Deemer said he knows a few players who might be Predator material. Tryouts are still being scheduled.
Deemer and his wife Michelle did most of the work to get an IFL team in the Valley. Then they hooked up with Moninski and Kokalis.
"Coach Deemer was trying to form an ownership group," Kokalis said. "He had some individuals step up, but they weren't able to get a commitment from them by the time the league needed a commitment.
"It seemed like a great opportunity to us."
Moninski grew up in Alaska, graduating from East High and earning a bachelor's degree in business administration at UAF. He's the owner and president of Global Aircraft Services in Seattle, where he resides.
Kokalis lives in Wisconsin has held administrative, marketing and sales positions with several professional teams, most recently the Milwaukee Bonecrushers of the Continental Indoor Football League.
"I felt they had the same vision as me," Deemer said. "There is no doubt I'll be (heavily) involved in decision-making."
The Curtis C. Menard II Ice Arena where the team will play lists its capacity as 1,700 for hockey and 3,000 for concerts. The team will play in the ice rink, with a new removable wooden floor that in about four hours converts the ice to turf.
"My goal is to have that place filled every home game," Kokalis said. "When there is a Predators game going on, we want the whole town shut down and watching the Predators play."
The Predators' arena capacity and potential fan base are both near the low end of the scale for IFL teams, but Benizio said that's not necessarily a deterrent.
"One of the most successful teams we had last year was in Corpus Christi," he said. "Their arena is probably even a little smaller than Wasilla's, but the Hammerheads consistently played in front of sell-out crowds.
"The size of the venue gives us no fear."
The Predators will be one of seven new teams in the IFL in 2010. Kokalis and Moninski, along with a Wisconsin businessman, co-own another new IFL team, the La Crosse Spartans. Former Green Bay Packers star Gilbert Brown coaches the team.
Deemer, a former assistant coach at both Palmer and Colony high schools, was hired to coach the linemen when the Wild debuted in 2007. He ascended to the top job during a tumultuous 72 hours after the team's first game, when a flurry of coaches changes were made. He was 7-21 overall. In his second season, Deemer took a 5-10 team to the playoffs.
Deemer resigned in January prior to the 2009 season and has been thinking about bringing indoor football to the Valley ever since.
"We have 83,000 people here waiting for a team," he said.
Former Alaska Wild coach Hans Deemer on Monday said he left the Wild so he could focus on a dream -- starting an Indoor Football League franchise closer to his home in the Valley.
Deemer got what he wanted. Last week the IFL accepted the Arctic Predators of Wasilla into the 24-team league.
In a Monday press conference at the Menard Sports Center in Wasilla where the team will play, a crowd of about 40, half of them in purple and black Predators jerseys, hooted and clapped when Deemer took the podium to speak about his vision for the team.
"We're pioneering football here in Alaska and it's a great feeling," said Deemer, the team's first head coach.
Chris Kokalis and Ken Moninski co-own the Predators. The Wild's head coach for two seasons before resigning in January, Deemer couldn't be happier about how things worked out.
"It's awesome, it's really awesome," said Deemer, who lives in Palmer with his wife and 10 kids. "I've coached youth sports in the Valley for 18 years and I think I have a great feel for sports in the area. It's going to be tremendous."
The IFL is a low-level professional league modeled after the now-defunct Arena Football League. Everything about it is smaller than regular football -- the size of the teams (eight players instead of 11), the length of the field (58 yards instead of 100) and the salaries.
The league average is $225 per player per game.
The Predators give the IFL three teams in Alaska, joining the Alaska Wild and the Fairbanks Grizzlies.
Owners of the teams -- Ricky Bertz with the Grizzlies and Charles Matthews with the Wild -- traded good-natured barbs over where IFL fans will have to drive to view the "Borealis Cup", an enormous gleaming metal trophy that stays with the winner of the Borealis Championship Series.
The cup, currently held by Fairbanks, goes to the squad with the best head-to-head record among Alaska teams.
In addition to the draw of an in-state rivalry that might boost ticket sales, there's a reason the other teams are applauding the Predators' entry into the league. Playing more in-state games means all three teams can cut travel costs.
"It makes a big difference for everyone involved to have an added playing partner in Alaska," IFL commissioner Tommy Benizio said.
The Predators will be in the same division as the Wild and Grizzlies, but a final schedule for the 2010 season -- which begins in March -- is not expected to be set until later this month.
Kokalis said the three Alaska teams will likely play two games each season against each other. The Predators' schedule will include seven home games, seven away, a pre-season game and a family night, he said.
Kokalis recognized that the team is a little behind in one area: they lack players. Deemer said he knows a few players who might be Predator material. Tryouts are still being scheduled.
Deemer and his wife Michelle did most of the work to get an IFL team in the Valley. Then they hooked up with Moninski and Kokalis.
"Coach Deemer was trying to form an ownership group," Kokalis said. "He had some individuals step up, but they weren't able to get a commitment from them by the time the league needed a commitment.
"It seemed like a great opportunity to us."
Moninski grew up in Alaska, graduating from East High and earning a bachelor's degree in business administration at UAF. He's the owner and president of Global Aircraft Services in Seattle, where he resides.
Kokalis lives in Wisconsin has held administrative, marketing and sales positions with several professional teams, most recently the Milwaukee Bonecrushers of the Continental Indoor Football League.
"I felt they had the same vision as me," Deemer said. "There is no doubt I'll be (heavily) involved in decision-making."
The Curtis C. Menard II Ice Arena where the team will play lists its capacity as 1,700 for hockey and 3,000 for concerts. The team will play in the ice rink, with a new removable wooden floor that in about four hours converts the ice to turf.
"My goal is to have that place filled every home game," Kokalis said. "When there is a Predators game going on, we want the whole town shut down and watching the Predators play."
The Predators' arena capacity and potential fan base are both near the low end of the scale for IFL teams, but Benizio said that's not necessarily a deterrent.
"One of the most successful teams we had last year was in Corpus Christi," he said. "Their arena is probably even a little smaller than Wasilla's, but the Hammerheads consistently played in front of sell-out crowds.
"The size of the venue gives us no fear."
The Predators will be one of seven new teams in the IFL in 2010. Kokalis and Moninski, along with a Wisconsin businessman, co-own another new IFL team, the La Crosse Spartans. Former Green Bay Packers star Gilbert Brown coaches the team.
Deemer, a former assistant coach at both Palmer and Colony high schools, was hired to coach the linemen when the Wild debuted in 2007. He ascended to the top job during a tumultuous 72 hours after the team's first game, when a flurry of coaches changes were made. He was 7-21 overall. In his second season, Deemer took a 5-10 team to the playoffs.
Deemer resigned in January prior to the 2009 season and has been thinking about bringing indoor football to the Valley ever since.
"We have 83,000 people here waiting for a team," he said.