Professional hockey returning to Indy

Pro hockey is coming back.

After a decade of annual rumors and fans asking if professional minor league hockey would ever return, a local ownership group led by Carmel businessman Jim Hallett has agreed to terms with the State Fairgrounds Commission to bring an East Coast Hockey League expansion franchise to the renovated Coliseum in 2014.

The contract is for 10 years with three five-year renewal options.

It’s the first time for pro hockey in Indianapolis since the Central Hockey League’s Indianapolis Ice folded in 2004. But the sport’s lengthy history in the city dates back to 1939.

Hallett’s Double-A level ECHL team will be affiliated with the NHL.

The team will announce its name, colors and other details in an 11 a.m. Tuesday news conference at the fairgrounds.

“Not only did I have a passion for hockey, I had a passion to get my family involved and I had a passion to really create a lasting legacy here in Indianapolis,” said Hallett, 60, a Canadian from Ottawa. “I want to do something with hockey that was long-term, that could outlive me.”

His son, Sean, will be president in charge of day-to-day operations. The ownership group also includes local attorney Jerry Williams.

The fairgrounds spent $63 million to renovate the Coliseum and add an adjacent Youth Arena rink. Fairgrounds spokesman Andy Klotz said the project should be completed in April.

“I believe that there is a huge hockey base in this town, and those fans want to come out, they want to be in a great venue and they want to see great hockey,” Klotz said. “To bring all of that back together is exciting. We think a lot of people are really going to embrace it.”

The hockey team will be an anchor tenant at the Coliseum, which will also host IUPUI men’s and women’s basketball games. The remodeled venue will have a two-tiered seating capacity of 6,200 for hockey and 8,000 for other events.

“I remember going to Capitals games in the Coliseum as a boy eager for a puck to come my way,” Indiana State Fair Commission Chairman Andre Lacy said of the team that played here from 1939 to 1952, “so bringing pro hockey back to the fairgrounds is especially gratifying personally.”

ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna’s 22-team league offers geographical rivals in Fort Wayne, Evansville and Cincinnati.

“We feel it has been a strong hockey market in the past,” McKenna said. “There’s a tradition of hockey there. From that perspective, it fits well.”

Jim Hallett is aware his venture will be a financial challenge. Other owners have continually lost money on hockey franchises here; Ice owner Horn Chen admitted in the end his International Hockey League team (1988-99) cost him millions.

Hallett was an equal owner partner with Gary Pedigo for the CHL Ice from 1999 to 2001. That team won the Miron Cup and set CHL attendance records in its first season in 1999-2000.

As passionate as he is about the sport he grew up playing on ponds, Hallett will draw from his business experience as CEO of the automotive remarketing company KAR Auction Services with 13,000 employees.

“We’re really focusing on making this an exciting product for the family,” he said, “kids that can go there with mom and dad, they can have a great evening and they can say, ‘Mom and dad, this was so much fun. I want to go back.’ ”

Call Star reporter Phillip B. Wilson at (317) 444-6642. Follow him on Twitter: @pwilson24.