Stingrays enter crucial period off-ice after on-ice success

The Excel Hull Stingrays have entered a crucial period in their short history, just days after making their historic first ever appearance at the Elite Ice Hockey League's Finals Weekend in a Playoff Semi-Final against the Nottingham Panthers at the Capital FM Arena.

Prior to a bittersweet playoff campaign, which saw the Stingrays beat the Sheffield Steelers over two legs before capitulating 10-3 to the Panthers during their first ever EIHL semi-final appearance, the club's ownership group - consisting of Coventry Blaze owners Andy Buxton, Mike Cowley, Paul Thompson and James Pease - confirmed that they were in a number of discussions regarding the future of the Stingrays - including possibly offloading the club to new owners.

A tough year financially in Coventry has forced the group to re-focus their priorities ahead of next season and, having saved the Stingrays from going out of business two years ago for the good of both themselves and the league as a whole, they are understandably looking at all their options heading into next season.

Having stated their intention to turn the Stingrays into a viable, self-sustaining business from the outset, they have made great strides in increasing attendances and sponsorship, and are allegedly just four figures from breaking even. Though that four figure break even number is a rough figure and could settle anywhere between £1,000 and £9,999 in the red, that in itself is an achievement considering prior to the 10/11 season it stood at £150,000 before previous owners Mike and Sue Pack withdrew from the club.

Thanks to their healthy relationship with former Coventry captain and Stingrays player-coach Sylvain Cloutier that intent has translated into two record breaking season's on-ice in which the Rays first finished seventh, setting a record points total in 10/11, before again finishing seventh this season, also making the end of season Final Four weekend for the first ever time.

The positives and value they have added to the club since taking over from the Pack's is there for all to see, although that is not to diminish the incredible job the Packs did in their seven years, after starting the club from nothing following the collapse of the Hull Thunder.

Nevertheless, there have been some vocal critics of the current ownership group with a lack of communication with fans something frequently brought up, though it does have to be said this is often a bug-bear of sporting fans in general, in a modern age where information, speculation and rumour is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Unsurprisingly, their fans in Coventry have also criticised the arrangement, pointing out that the Blaze were allegedly in serious trouble financially this season, something not helped by the split of their investment in time and resources between the two clubs.

With the club on something of a high and feeling amongst fans incredibly positive after the team's against-all-odds EIHL Playoff Quarter Final victory over Yorkshire rivals Sheffield and EIHL Semi-Final, despite the heavy defeat to Nottingham, it looks as though now is as good a time as any to part-ways with the Stingrays and offload them to a willing suitor.

Much to the surprise of many in the British game, Buxton reiterated on Monday that there are "a lot of options" being considered and, therefore, a lot of options available.

Two would-be owners have already publicly stated that they have made bids for the club. First to confirm his bid was Stingrays bench and assistant coach to Sylvain Cloutier, Bobby McEwan. The Scot - who has lived in the city for the last two decades - revealed he had made a bid for the club prior to last weekend.

Perhaps more surprising than the fact there are a number of potential suitors looking to take over the club is that the current owners are apparently looking for something in return for giving up the club - potentially a cash sum. McEwan revealed to the Hull Daily Mail, "the current owners have made it known they were willing to step away and negotiations have been ongoing for a few weeks. I've made an offer, but obviously they are looking to sell it for as much as they can."

Though the price of the club is unknown, and will likely remain that way, it wouldn't be surprising at all were Buxton and co. looking for the previously mentioned break even, four figure sum to wipe out their losses and leave the city as they arrived.

Rumours of bids from player-agent Ben Milhench and former player Slava Koulikov and Dan Cloutier - former NHLer and brother of Stingrays coach Sylvain - have generally been discredited but may still be involved in potential bids.

Though further speculation suggests Hull City owners Assem and Ehab Allam - who attended a game against Coventry earlier in the year and have already donated a five figure sum to the Hull Stingrays Community Foundation - are also interested - having invested money in the all major sporting sides in Hull in the last year and a half.

However, today local businessman and ice hockey fan Paul Fielder revealed that he too is interested in taking over becoming the second man to announce his interest, he said:

"They know I'm interested, but in anything like this it's a business decision and the current owners have a product to sell. It's a case of waiting to see whether they are interested in taking the matter any further"

According to the Hull Daily Mail, Fielder recently sold previous company Lime Property - through whom he had first become involved with the club after previous owners the Packs spoke to him regarding players accommodation, while he has also sponsored both Hull KR and Hull FC.

Still, despite the offers, it isn't beyond the realms of possibility that, once everything is evaluated, the current Coventry based ownership remains in place, should they not receive a satisfactory offer. As unlikely as it seems, it would make more sense financially to remain in place than letting an unprepared new owner take control and seriously struggle financially, something the EIHL has seen far too often during it's nine years.

So far without a coach or any players for the 2012/2013 EIHL campaign - which begins in September - one thing is for sure, the club has already fallen behind the position they were in at this point last season, when they had player-coach Cloutier and topscorer Jereme Tendler signed up, and Brits Dan Scott, Jack Watkins, Tristan Harper and Sam McCluskey set to be announced.

Likewise, at this point in the off-season they have also fallen behind other Elite League club's - most of whom have re-signed coaches and players. Traditionally, the end of the playoffs signals the beginning of the off-season and, as a result, players will begin looking for new club's and coaches for new players, something the Stingrays will be unable to do in their current uncertain position.

It seems highly likely that key Stingray imports Jason Silverthorn - who notched a career year this season - Jereme Tendler and Christian Boucher will be highly valued both in the UK and abroad, while coach Cloutier has already revealed he has turned down a job offer with a French speaking side. The market for British players such as Sam McCluskey, Dan Scott, Tristan Harper, Andy McKinney and even rookie revelation Bobby Chamberlain is always a hot one and will be more so now, given these players now have a year of Elite League experience under their belts

These players can't and won't wait forever, and as such it is crucial the current negotiation phase of the potential ownership change occurs as swiftly and cleanly as possible, so as to allow the Stingrays the best possible chance of improving for a fifth successive season, hopefully under Cloutier but perhaps not, during 12/13.

More important than that, however, is that the club's next owners - potentially their third in nine season's - are financially sound and able to help the Stingrays continue their upward trend both on and off-ice.