One of the SHL’s original franchises is on the move. New York Night owner Marvin Kingman announced this week that he is selling his team to a group headed by import/export magnate Giovanni Carrozzi, who intends to move them to Rhode Island beginning next season.
The sale was not on the radar of league executives, and yet it does not come as a complete surprise. The Night have always faced an uphill battle for attention and fans in the New York City metropolitan area, which has three NHL teams.
“My heart will always belong to the Big Apple,” said Kingman. “And I tried for nine years to make a success of it here. But in the end, we just couldn’t make the numbers work.”
Compounding the issue, despite possessing a star-laden roster and frequently running one of the highest payrolls in the league, the Night have never made the playoffs. Prior to announcing the sale of the team, Kingman had already dismissed GM Jay McKay, who had been steering the organization for the last four seasons.
The team’s futility was long a source of frustration to Kingman, who had long expressed his expectations of a championship. “My great regret is that we were never able to bring the Vandy here to the greatest city in the world,” said the outgoing owner. “That was a real missed opportunity for us.”
Longtime Night C Brock Manning, who has been with the team since the SHL’s beginning, was chagrinned at the news. “I really enjoyed my time in New York,” said Manning. “I feel bad for our fans; it’s a shame there weren’t more of them. Actually, I suspect opposing players will miss the Night even more than I do. According to my friends on other teams, New York was everyone’s favorite stop on the road.”
The 53-year-old Carrozzi, a Providence native, is excited to bring top-level professional sports to his home state for the first time since the NBA’s Providence Steamrollers folded in 1949. “I’m thrilled to be able to put Rhode Island back on the pro sports map!” said Carrozzi. “We may be the smallest state, but our passion for sports, especially hockey, is huge!”
The new owner said that his first priority will be selecting a new GM to guide the franchise’s redevelopment. The team has several key free agents, and the GM will need to decide quickly whether to re-sign them and double down on the existing roster or pivot toward a rebuild focused on younger players.
“Obviously, my ultimate goal is for us to be a championship organization,” said Carrozzi. “Whether we have the horses to do that now, or if we need to take a step back before we can move forward… well, that’s for the new guy to figure that out.” The new owner said that the GM will also be responsible for deciding whether to retain coach Tony Hunt, who went 22-36-6 during his first season in charge.
Carrozzi said that the team will play at Narragansett Arena in Warwick, near the T.F. Green Airport about 15 minutes from downtown Providence. He said that he has not settled on a new name for the team yet, but has “several possibilities in mind.”
The sale and relocation are subject to league approval, but SHL Commissioner Frank Driscoll does not expect there to be an issue on either front. “We want our teams to be in places where they can thrive,” said Commissioner Driscoll. “Selecting a market we can have to ourselves instead of fighting for eyeballs with three other hockey teams seems like a smart play to me.”
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