Former owners happy for Stingrays to prosper

Last week saw Pack and his wife Sue call time on their seven-year spell in charge at Hull Arena after they were forced to admit defeat in their battle to raise enough money to fund another season of top-flight ice hockey.

But, less than a week later, an agreement was thrashed out which has allowed the owners of Elite League rivals Coventry Blaze to step in and run the club.

The Packs will assist the transition over the next few weeks as the new owners look to build the business, using their own business model from Coventry which has seen attendance figures rise from an initial 500 to a capacity of 2,500 at the Skydome Arena over the last 10 years.

Pack believes a similar growth is achievable in East Yorkshire.

"It's all very positive for the city, the fans and the venue," said Pack.

"It's all happened very quickly over the last few days and, while it is all positive, there is a touch of sadness on our part because, ultimately we ran out of resources.

"But what we did achieve justifies what I have been saying about leaving some kind of legacy behind for whoever comes in after us and I think the new owners will make a big success of it."

Over their seven-year ownership, the couple are thought to have ploughed at least 400,000 of their own money into the club in order to keep it going.

Player-coach Sylvain Cloutier – retained by the new owners – returned to the UK yesterday in order to begin preparations for the new season which, because of the events of the last few days, is now expected to begin in early October for Hull – a month after most of their other Elite League rivals.