'SportsCenter' west: ESPN's hockey experts to visit Chevy

They are old friends with SteelHounds' head coach Kevin Kaminski.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two of hockey's most popular ambassadors are coming to town to help the Youngstown SteelHounds celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
ESPN anchor Steve Levy and studio analyst Barry Melrose are friends of SteelHounds coach Kevin Kaminski and have accepted an invitation to attend Saturday night's game against the Colorado Eagles at the Chevrolet Centre.
Levy and Melrose, who are based in ESPN's Connecticut studios, say they accepted, then realized that they would be missing one of New England's biggest party days.
"We told 'Killer' that we would come, then we looked at the calendar to see it's St. Patrick's Day -- we're a couple of idiots," Melrose said. "We're going to be in the air a lot that day."
When told Ohioans also celebrate St. Patrick's Day, Levy agreed but added "probably not quite like they do in Boston."
Point taken.
"We're coming to help a friend out," Melrose said. "It really doesn't cost that much to fly in for the visit. And we Saskatchewan guys stick together."
Melrose knows Kaminski from when the SteelHounds coach was a teen-ager in Saskatchewan and making the National Hockey League was anything but certain.
"Kevin worked in my hockey school when was young --15, 16, 17," Melrose said. "I coached against him in Junior A.
"Kevin overachieved. His heart is gigantic, he went a lot farther with his talent than others who had more. He wasn't the biggest, fastest or strongest."
Played and coached in NHL
Before coaching the Los Angeles Kings from 1992-95, Melrose played more than 300 NHL games during his 11-year playing career (Winnipeg, Toronto and Detroit from 1979-86).
In 1996, he joined ESPN as a studio analyst.
Kaminski's NHL days included a game with the Minnesota North Stars in 1989 and six with the Quebec Nordiques from 1990-92. He played 132 games with the Washington Capitals from 1994-97.
Although they are known for their NHL observations, Levy and Melrose are no strangers to minor league hockey as they were co-owners of the former Adirondack Frostbite of the United Hockey League in Glen Falls, N.Y.
"It was a lot of fun, but it was financially ridiculous," Levy said.
Melrose had played and coached for Adirondack's former American Hockey League franchise.
"Barry lives there year-round, so we figured if he couldn't make it work, no one could," Levy said.
Owned low-level franchise
"The UHL is low-level hockey, equivalent to baseball's A ball," said Levy, who said they needed a third investor each of the three seasons they owned the Frostbite. "We were losing [many thousand] of dollars each year, so we had to get a new partner after each season. Finally, we folded the team.
"Sadly, we received very little cooperation from the community so a great hockey building now sits empty," Levy said.
Levy was impressed with the SteelHounds' average attendance of 3,400, then expressed concern when told that the former general manager, George Manias, said the SteelHounds need an average of 4,000 fans to break even.
"Travel expenses are a killer in minor-league hockey," Levy said.
Melrose said owning the Frostbite "was a blast. I enjoyed it but it didn't work out financially. It takes big dollars to stay solvent."
The SteelHounds play in the Central Hockey League which is based in the Desert Southwest. The SteelHounds' closest CHL city is Memphis.
"Travel is a huge part of any minor-league team's budget," Melrose said. "Kevin's trips are phenomenal."
Levy's NHL broadcasting career includes the three longest televised overtime games. Two involved the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Overtime expert
In 1996, the Pens and Capitals played a four-overtime contest won by the Pens.
"That game, I never got one shift," Kaminski said. "It was a tight game the whole time. [A friend later] faxed me over a note -- 'Just think Killer, one more row up would have cost you 100 for your seat.
"They called me the grocery stick after that game," said Kaminski, referring to the dividers that separates customers' purchases at cash registers. "I separated the D [defensemen] from the forwards."
When the NHL lockout ended in June 2005, the league chose to make Outdoor Life Network (now Versus) its main network in the United States.
Levy calls the decision to not have NHL games on ESPN "a shame. It's a short-term, small-minded decision.
"I really miss it. ESPN does a great job of cross promotion -- look at how the Arena Football League is getting noticed this season.
"When ESPN televises a sport, it's front and center," Levy said. "It's kind of sad -- a lot of sports fans no longer consider hockey to be one of the big four."
Like Melrose, Kaminski styles his hair in a mullet. He's also growing a goatee this week to welcome his Canadian friend.
williams@vindy.com