A minor league hockey game after the home team’s no-show

Supporters filed into the rink for a minor league hockey game, vendors sold concessions, and the visiting team took to the ice for warm-ups. The national anthem played and the referees were ready to drop the puck. One problem: the home team didn’t show up.

This strange scene unfolded over the weekend in a Southern Professional Hockey League game between the visiting Quad City Storm and the host Vermilion County Bobcats in Danville, Illinois. After a 2-minute delay of game penalty and a 5-minute waiting time, the game was declared forfeit. The visitors tried to give fans their money’s worth by inviting them onto the ice for a post-game group skate before the three-hour journey home.

“It was a very strange weekend,” Quad City President Brian Rothenberger said. “Definitely one of the weirdest (things) I’ve seen.”

Now there are fears that last Vermilion County, which has lost 77 of 86 games in its two existences, will fold midseason. This would reduce the number of teams from 11 to 10 in the SPHL, which ranks below the ECHL in the North American hockey hierarchy after the NHL and the American Hockey League.

Multiple messages were sent to the SPHL, the team and owner Ellen Tully seeking details, clarification and comment on the situation Sunday and beyond.

The only public announcement read: “The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) announced Sunday that the Quad City at Vermilion County game scheduled for Sunday, February 5th has been forfeited in favor of Quad City pursuant to Rule 73.3 of the SPHL Rule Book. .”

If this is the end of the latest small professional hockey venture in the eastern Illinois city of just under 30,000 residents 93 miles (150 kilometers) from Indianapolis, the Bobcats went viral. Videos showing the surreal development of the team standing on one half of the field compared to the empty bench, net and ice on the other side made their way onto social media with fans berating the confusion of the situation.

Chuck Sergent, a hockey lifer in Danville who said he worked as vice president and marketing and public relations manager for Vermilion County from August to December, “wasn’t surprised it happened at all.” He had known about the team’s deteriorating conditions, including concerns about insufficient medical staff on-site for games, and figured the problem was imminent when the Bobcats were substituted as opponents for the Quad City road games Friday and Saturday.

Rothenberger and owner John Dawson accompanied the players and coaches on this trip, knowing the conditions could be a little strange. Rothenberger said the league told the Storm to continue doing business as usual and take the ice as usual because it was standard procedure.

Fans who weren’t paying close attention didn’t know what was coming. Sergent had a good idea and wanted to be at David S. Palmer Arena to talk to the season ticket holders he brought in during his tenure.

“It hurt me so bad to watch that the arena, which wasn’t their fault, continued to sell tickets to a match they had a gut feeling about and I knew damn well wasn’t going to happen,” he said. “It is sad.”

The Vermilion County coach did not show up, there was no athletic trainer on site.

Although the official attendance was 0, fans who paid $7-13 per ticket for a game that never happened still got to take the ice to skate with visiting Quad City players who stayed on to provide entertainment.

“This is really what small pro sports is all about,” Rothenberger said, adding that the team stopped at McDonald’s and had “some cold drinks” for the drive home. “They were excited to be able to do it. I think it meant a lot to the fans that were there, especially some of the younger kids who were looking forward to that skating. They still have to do it and I hope they can keep it. The interest in hockey is growing and we’ll see if they can them moving forward to get things, I think a little more stability there in Vermilion County moving forward.”

Sergent, who was with Danville’s previous teams — the Dashers of the Federal Prospects Hockey League and the Wings of the North American Hockey League — expects Vermillion County to “not play another game.

“They’re completely done,” he said. “After what happened (Sunday) and what they did to the fan base, they are ready.

As of Tuesday afternoon, tickets were still on sale online for the team’s remaining home and road games.