Mayor Releases E-Mails About IceHogs Negotiations

Rockford, IL - Private negotiations between the MetroCentre Authority and the owners of the IceHogs have been tough-going, and sometimes contentious. But some of the privacy is seeing the light of day with the release of e-mails between the ownership, MetroCentre, and the city. Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey released to members of the city council and the media e-mails from the IceHogs owners to Corey Pearson, the General Manager of the MetroCentre, and his own staff that date back to September. Its still not known who will be playing at the MetroCentre next season. The IceHogs want to stay, but the MetroCentre wants to buy the teams name and logo and bring in a new team affiliated with the Chicago Blackhawks. Morrissey believes the e-mails show IceHogs owners were treated fairly and, if fact, supported the deal to sell the IceHogs name and logo before it became public. "I think what is very clear is this was not a path that we were trying to mislead anybody or strong-arm anybody on," says Morrissey. In an e-mail dated September 2, 2006, two months before the big MetroCentre announcement, IceHogs owner Kris Tumilowicz wrote to fellow owner Craig Drektrah about working with Pearson. Tumilowicz wrote Pearson hes willing to "get the Blackhawks deal done for Rockford." A month later, the IceHogs owners named their asking price for the name and logo: $540,000, according to the Proposal for Sale of IceHogs Name, attached to an e-mail on October 15, 2006. After getting no response from the MetroCentre, Tumilowicz e-mailed Pearson his desire to get the deal done, saying, "We need this before the story breaks...good luck in Chicago!" But immediately after the announcement on November 13, 2006, things changed. Tumilowicz w-mailed Pearson the same day saying, "Craig [Drektrah] and I are revising the transfer proposal...asking for more, but not much more." That request turned out to be more than double, over one million dollars. Discussions then deteriorated into name-calling. At a Rockford City Council meeting, Drektrah called MetroCentre negotiation tactics "gestapo." "It`s a shame that they`re treating local businessmen this way," Tumilowicz said on December 26, 2006. "It`s a hostile takeover, it`s eminent domain of a business instead of real estate." Drektrah apologized a few days later. But Morrissey still feels its necessary to defend the MetroCentre Authority by releasing the e-mails. "I think they should`ve kept the whole negotiations process private, but they didn`t want to do that. They brought the whole community involved in the process," says Morrissey. "So what`s fair is fair." "There were some confidential e-mails in there that probably should`ve been kept private," says Tumilowicz. "And it will certainly make me think twice before sending an e-mail to certain individuals." Talks are back on between the MetroCentre Authority and the owners of the IceHogs. They met on Wednesday to try to negotiate a 10 year lease at the arena. No agreement was reached, but both parties say progress is being made.