AHL Commissioner David Andrews Talks About Franchise Relocation

“Information is power, right?” AHL Commissioner David Andrews told us last night. And he’s probably right about that, but now we’ve got some information, and I’m not sure that I’m more powerful. But the commissioner shared this information with us, so I’m more than happy to share with all of you.

If you’ve been paying any attention the past several weeks – especially if you’ve been reading us – then you know that franchise relocation is a major topic around AHL circles. Hopefully, I can now provide some answers to lots of those questions.

THE QUAD CITY FLAMES

The primary relocation issue involves the Quad City Flames. And David Andrews is clear when it comes to the Flames. “Quad Cities is clearly not going to have that AHL team next year,” he said. And while he wouldn’t completely rule out a team in the Quad next season – “stranger things have happened” – Calgary should have sent the paperwork into the office this past week – he’s been out of the office since Wednesday and expects to see it when he returns to his office.

Andrews said that the AHL has a strategic plan that it’s following, and that trying to move the league is part of that plan. “Our strategic plan had talked about strengthening our geography,” he said. “And adding Austin fits our strategic plan, and adding Abbotsford does not fit our strategic plan.”

But despite that, he thinks the move will be approved. The league still has to go through a due diligence process in terms of the membership and relocation applications before the issue goes to the board around the end of April. The primary problem standing in the way of the move is Abbotsford’s location. “It’s a long, long way from other teams in our league,” he said. “They have committed to paying travel subsidies which would fully compensate our teams for the air travel to get out there. That certainly will help. I think that without that, the move had no chance. With it, it will still be somewhat of a challenge.”

Three-quarters of the ownership must approve the relocation, which means that eight negative votes could torpedo the deal. He thinks the vote will be close, but he thinks that it will be approved.

“The Calgary Flames have been owners in our league, partners in our league, for 25 years or more. They’re good partners,” he said. “They’re an NHL team, and strong financially, and they believe it’s going to be a very successful market, Abbotsford. There’s a building. There’s lots of momentum behind it. I think a lot of our owners will look at it and say, they’ve been a good partner, they are a good partner, and if they want to go there, as long as it’s not out of pocket for us financially, they’ll support it.”

SPRINGFIELD FALCONS

It was reported the other day that the Edmonton Oilers will be ending their deal with Springfield following the 2010-2011 season, and that they will be seeking to move Springfield to Oklahoma City. In the interim, Edmonton is supposedly trying to entice the Dallas Stars to put a team in Oklahoma City for next season.

“Let me first tell you that Edmonton doesn’t own the Springfield franchise,” Andrews said. Edmonton does own an AHL franchise, but that franchise is inactive whereas Springfield is owned by a group in Springfield. The only thing the AHL is sure of is that “Edmonton has told us that they won’t be Springfield after next year.”

Edmonton/Springfield is important to Texas because of the effect that this has on the plans for the AHL team in Austin.

“The simple solution would be if Edmonton sold their franchise to Austin. We’d be all set,” he said. “But that’s not what Edmonton plans to do. They want to continue to own it.” The franchise is inactive because, essentially, it was too successful. Edmonton moved their AHL team to Edmonton during the NHL lockout, and the team attracted 10,000 fans a game. Apparently, Edmonton was afraid that the Roadrunners AHL team would detract from the Oilers attendance, so the team went inactive.

“They do want to activate their franchise,” Andrews said. “They’re not interested in selling it to Austin. They pay a very hefty fee, and have been now for three or four years to keep the franchise inactive.”

But Edmonton’s indecision regarding this franchise is making things a bit difficult for the AHL. “So they will do something with it,” Andrews said of Edmonton. “Which leaves me with a bit of a quandary because we have only 30 franchises. We’re not going to expand because there’s only 30 NHL partners. And the 30th that we’d like to put in Austin is sitting in Edmonton not available.”

And an AHL franchise in Oklahoma City is only a rumor that’s not about to happen, despite Edmonton visiting the city. There is a CHL franchise in Oklahoma City, and the AHL does not want to interfere with the operations of the CHL.

AUSTIN

Despite Edmonton’s actions with its inactive franchise, Andrews is pretty confident that the AHL will have a franchise in Austin come the start of next season. “I think there’s a very good chance we’ll be in Austin next year,” he said. “Better than good.”

The team that will come to Austin next season will come to Austin in the same way that the Quad City Flames will be coming to Abbotsford, franchise relocation. While Andrews wouldn’t reveal any teams, he made it clear that there are several candidates for Austin.

“We are in discussions with Austin and with a couple of other teams in our league which might have an interest in selling. That should play itself out over the next three-to-four weeks,” he said. “As a league we really want to be there. The Dallas Stars are a pretty good ownership group, Hicks Sports. And it’s a good fit for Houston and San Antonio. We’re going to make every effort to make that happen.”

MISCELLANEOUS

We also briefly discussed the Philadelphia Phantoms who, after this season, will be without a Philadelphia arena. The team is being sold to a group from Pittsburgh, and hopefully, within 3-4 years, will be playing in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania around Allentown and Bethlehem. But what happens to the team in the interim is still up in the air. There’s a very, very, very, very slight possibility that the Phantoms could be in Austin next season, but Andrews was really dismissive of that and said that Austin isn’t a real option.

So hopefully our little talk with David Andrews has provided everybody with a few answers about what the AHL might look like next season.