From News10Now:SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Two weeks ago, it seemed the Syracuse Crunch would glide toward hosting the first AHL outdoor hockey game at Alliance Bank Stadium. But earlier this week, the legislator who originally sponsored the bill withdrew his support and as a result, the issue wasn't even voted on."I recognize that we are in a difficult economy right now and we can't do everything that we want to do. But the frustration for me came in the legislature not even willing to consider it," said Joanie Mahoney, the Onondaga County Executive.
To Crunch owner Howard Dolgon's relief, Sam Laguzza stepped up as the bill's new sponsor. He now has a few days to try to convince his peers. The county is being asked to spend $350,000 from the room occupancy tax. Opponents fear that game profits will fail to cover these costs while supporters argue that they need to look further down the line.
"We don't have an unlimited amount of money. Somebody's got to be at the table, having the discussion, who's going to be representing the taxpayers," said William Meyer, the legislature chairman."You may not see the return of $350,000 on the spreadsheet that day, you may not even see a $100,000, but long-term, for what my objective is, spotlighting Central New York and the region, I think it's going to pay back multitudes of times," said Sam Laguzza, legislature of the 16th district.
Howard Dolgon says if the issue is not voted on, he'll scrap the idea completely.
"We will not do an outdoor game this year if it's not approved on June 2nd. There's only so many walls you can bang you head against before you get hurt," said Dolgon.
But with a new sponsor, it's most likely there will at least be some movement. Should the initial idea fall through, one idea being floated is to have the hockey game at the Carrier Dome instead.
Meyer says he supports this idea as many of the amenities are already in place. Laguzza says he'd like to see both the games at the Dome and at Alliance Bank Stadium.
