New Madison USHL club hopes to name GM/coach by end of October

Every day that goes by is another step closer to the USHL's return to Madison. The league announced Aug. 5 it was awarding a member club to Wisconsin's capital city, and things are starting to fall into place for the new franchise.

While the team isn't set to take the ice until the fall of 2014, preparations are well underway for Madtown Hockey, LLC, the ownership group that includes Tom Garrity, Saul Treiman, Charles Bidwill, III, Jeffrey Krol, Brian Schoenborn and Greg Scott.

Speaking on behalf of the club Monday, Garrity told Bucky's 5th Quarter things are progressing, and they are getting close to finalizing some important items.

"We hope to have a coach/general manager in place by mid-October," Garrity said. "We'll likely be hiring one candidate for both roles. If not mid-October, we'll have it finalized by late October."

Garrity noted they have narrowed the pool to a handful of candidates, but did not disclose the names of the potential options.

The team also hopes to have season ticket plans as well as a name for the new franchise around that same time period.

One rumor making the rounds recently has former Badger and current Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter buying into the Madtown Hockey, LLC, ownership group. Garrity said there is no current agreement in place for Suter to buy a stake in the team, but didn't close the door entirely on the possibility of it happening at a later time.

Garrity did note the ownership group has had talks with Suter and his father, Bob, who currently runs the Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton, Wis. The new USHL team will likely have some sort of a partnership with the rink, as well as Bob's midget AAA team, the Madison Capitols, to practice at the rink when the Coliseum is not available.

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