THIRD PARTY WANTS TO BRING HOCKEY HERE

 Another voice is heard … Interested in bringing hockey back to the area … when the proposed 17,000-seat arena is built (eventually) in Henrico County … is TODD “PARNEY” PARNELL of Richmond Flying Squirrels’ colorful pants fame … The former GM of the local AA baseball team says he and several other people affiliated with the Squirrels would like to own the next hockey franchise here … and provide the same entertainment value they brought to The Diamond in 2010 … Parnell, who retired from his Squirrels’ front office duties this year to spend more time with his family and – equally important -- catch his breath, remains involved with the team on a more limited basis while serving as consultant on the city’s plans to replace The Diamond … That makes at least three parties (to our knowledge) who have expressed interest in ownership of the seventh hockey team to call Richmond home … first since 2009 when ALLAN HARVIE pulled the plug on Renegades II after three years. 

Should have known better … Just when you think NHL-on-

ESPN’s studio tandem of MARK MESSIER and P.K.

 SUBBAN has it covered … they are gushing over Rangers’

 MATT REMPE for scoring the team’s first playoff goal 

without noting the player checking him got lazy and lost the 6-8

 ^1/2, 231-pound rookie who converted a point-blank shot … 

Rempe took the first penalty of Sunday’s Cup opener with 

Washington with a cheap-shot hit from behind then somehow 

got away with an elbow that led to a 3-0 lead. But the fight-

starved fans at Madison Square Garden love him … a lot more, 

it seems, than coach PETER LAVIOLETTE who keeps 

Rempe on the bench when the game is close in the third period.

For those of you wondering … whatever happened to BRUCE 

ARENA? Be advised he is alive and well, living in 

Charlottesville, thinking about writing another book … and 

interested in returning to the sidelines … He’s only 72, after all. 

Just a kid … “The World’s Greatest Soccer Coach” has been 

pretty much incommunicado since leaving Major League 

Ssoccer’s New England Revolution under a dark cloud nine 

months ago … accused of saying things he shouldn’t have said 

… And league commissioner DON GARBER, who would 

never be described as a friend, reportedly said Arena 

would have to get permission directly from him if he ever 

wanted to coach in MLS again … Suspended in July, 2023, 

he resigned officially 

in September. “I was reinstated in December … but they [MLS] 

didn’t communicate it properly,” Arena said during a short 

telephone conversation earlier this week. “I’ve got a couple of 

options that look favorable. I should know something soon.” … 

Having known “The World’s Greatest” since his successful run 

as Virginia coach … what seems like an eternity ago ... that 

ended in 1996 when he left for MLS and promptly won back to 

back championships with D.C. United … I could sense it would 

be a waste of time to ask about what happened in New England. 

Did RICHIE WILLIAMS sell you out as was hinted – in 

some cases claimed – by assorted soccer media? What did he

 reallysay that (reportedly) led Williams, who played for Arena 

at U.Va., and D. United and was on his staff with New England, 

to blow the whistle on him to MLS? There were stories Arena 

had told Williams he would not be retained for 2024. Was that 

it? So many questions, so few answers. They would have to 

wait for another time … maybe in detail in book form … “but 

first I’ve got to get motivated to do it,” he said. … Then, 

LOOK OUT!If nothing else, Arena can be candid, sometimes 

to a fault ...“Everything is good,” he said.

The Las Vegas Football Team has made an undisclosed offer to 

The Washington Football Team for the second selection in the 

 2024 NFL draft that starts Thursday night (April 25) … 

Apparently the Raiders want LSU’s Heisman-winning QB

 JAYDEN DANIELS … who reportedly is the Commanders’ 

choice --- always subject to change, of course. BO NIX, guys, 

Bo Nix. It says here the Oregon QB is most ready to play right 

away … and play well.

Until next time ...