Minor league hockey game a forfeit after home team no-shows

By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Hockey Writer

A bizarre scene unfolded in a low-level minor hockey league over the weekend: The home team didn’t show up. The visiting team from Quad City took the ice for warmups at the arena in Danville, Illinois, for a Southern Professional Hockey League game at the Vermilion County Bobcats. Fans filed in, vendors sold concessions and officials were there to drop the puck. But the Bobcats had no players, their coach did not show up and they had no athletic trainer on site. After a delay of game penalty and 5-minute delay, it was declared a forfeit and visiting players skated with fans and took the 3-hour bus ride home. There are now concerns last-place Vermilion County, which has lost 77 of 86 games in its existence, will fold midseason.