Former National Committeeman and YRNF Co-Chairman, Tim Kolpien, is in the news, Hockey return in Danbury not official, but close.

Former National Committeeman and YRNF Co-Chairman, Tim Kolpien, is in the news, Hockey return in Danbury not official, but close.
By Eugene Driscoll STAFF WRITER

DANBURY - It's not official, but it's darn close. Tim Kolpien, a businessman from Corning, N.Y., was in the city Tuesday talking to officials about bringing professional hockey back to the Danbury Ice Arena on Independence Way. Kolpien has a deal on the table with Floyd Hall Enterprises, the arena's owner. However, it hasn't been signed, which made Kolpien somewhat hesitant to talk publicly about his plans Tuesday.

An official announcement could come by April 1. Ideally, the team would start playing in the fall. Kolpien's plans were reported Saturday in The News-Times and have been posted on hockey fan Web sites. Meanwhile, Kolpien's general manager, Brendan Tedstone, is scheduled to meet Friday with Section 102 fans - a rowdy, rabid group of Danbury Trashers fans. The group is named after a section of the ice arena.
"We still need to cross our t's and dot our i's, but it's looking very good in Danbury," Kolpien told The News-Times. Kolpien owned the Valley Forge Freedom in Oaks, Pa. The team was affiliated with the Mid-Atlantic Hockey League, which suspended operations in February.

Kolpien said the plan is to form a new team in Danbury and a new league, the Eastern Professional Hockey League. While many look forward to a new team downtown, no hockey team has managed to stay in Danbury for more than two years. The Danbury Trashers, of the United Hockey League, packed the arena, but imploded after owner James Galante was indicted on federal racketeering charges. The New England Stars played in Danbury for a season, but the team and league folded, owing money to the city and to the arena. In general, teams and leagues in minor league sports have a tendency to come and go, which is why Mayor Mark Boughton was "cautiously optimistic" Tuesday.

"Danbury has demonstrated it will support professional hockey. The question is, can the team make money?" he asked. The mayor and Kolpien met Tuesday afternoon in City Hall to discuss the plans. "Minor league sports is a difficult business - there is no question about it," Kolpien told The News-Times. "Unfortunately, there are never any guarantees. "Having said that, we're coming in here with a very strong business plan and a very strong financial plan. Certainly we have the resources to make sure we conduct business in a transparent and honorable way." Kolpien's new league would serve as a development league for the ECHL, a hockey league that feeds players to the American Hockey League. "It's definitely going to be a higher-caliber-type hockey than the Stars," Kolpien said. "These are full-time players, for the most part. They are from all over the country. It is not going to be a team of local all-stars."

In addition to owning the now defunct Valley Forge team, Kolpien is president of Kolpien & Associates, a company that develops public relations and marketing plans for corporations and political campaigns. Kolpien's background is in politics. He served as campaign coordinator for former U.S. Rep. Amo Houghton, an upstate New York politician who served nine terms in Congress. He is also the president of the Apple Tree Group, a media and public relations firm, and was co-chairman of the Young Republican National Federation from 2005 to 2007.
http://www.newstimes.com/ci_8448994?source%253Dmost_emailed.26978592730A3B8C7F471EACE0DA4EF2.html

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