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.

Just a vote away now, eh?

From the Abby paper in Canada:

"The Calgary Flames and an Abbotsford investor group hoping to bring AHL hockey to the Fraser Valley strengthened their case Tuesday as the two parties signed a 10-year relocation deal."

Pretty self explanatory and I am guessing this is just up to the board of directors now.

All we need is to get the Utah Grizzlies back in the AHL. That way, it's a natural half-way stop for teams flying to Asia for AHL hockey.

Ha!

--Aeroscribe

QCY 03/13 -- Well, at least they kept Chucko off the scoresheet

Sometimes it's the small blessings you have to seek out when you lose 6-3 to a lesser team, at least in terms of the standings. Let's count our blessings, shall we?

• Madsen got a goal. Boy did he need that, and the joy he wore, as well as the delight from his teammates, was pretty special. Stuff like that... it's why I love the game. And it was a sick goal, too, shooting the puck back behind him with his back to the goalie. But I don't like him on the 4th line with Kass and Love. There's gotta be a better choice there if Ryznar isn't playing.
  
• Pouliot had a good game IMO. I feel pretty comfortable saying that at least some of this transformation since he got sent down is sticking. This is the longest I've ever seen him play with such intensity and purpose and sack. He's battling HARD for the puck, not giving up on plays, going that extra step to try and retain possession or make something happen.
  
• Kolanos, on the other hand. Ugh. To me, nearly every move he makes looks nonchalant and lazy. Pouly used to be the one who had me in nearly a constant state of *head-desk* but the torch has passed to the K-Train. Now that it's pretty clear he's not heading back to the Wild, the intensity is just gone. He looks like he's playing shinny with his pals... and doesn't like his pals all that much.
  
• The joke when we started this blog was that Andrew and John would write about the game, Fred would post his brilliant photos, and I'd write about how hot Pouliot looks in a suit. But I've covered that to death, so lemme just throw out there that Brusty, in spite of his limp and his new mustache (why, boys? why?), is also a tasty dish in a suit. Whoever, a hundred years ago, decided that hockey players should change into suits after the game should have his own wing in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Effing genius! I love you, suit guy!
  
• The magic of the suit doesn't do a damn thing for Chucko. That's not so much a blessing as an observation.
• I like that Falk. Kid works his ass off every shift, takes a beating, and keeps going. And occasionally he uses that big body of his to lay a hit that would make highlight reels if anybody made highlight reels of AHL games.
  

I'm out of blessings. Other than, a night of bad hockey is better than a night of no hockey.

Crowley was bad and looked out of his league, which I suppose he is a bit. I'm not sure I wouldn't rather have John Adams out there at this point.

One fight in the game with Love and Watt dropping the mitts after QC's first goal. I felt like the edge went to Watt, but it was fairly even. Gotta hand it to Watt, though. He's a seriously scrappy, energetic fighter and pretty fun to watch.

I thought Stoner and Vandermeer might go as they were having a chat on their way to the bench at one point, but either the opportunity never presented itself or they were talking about the weather.

Anyway, pretty ugly game by the Aeros, and the Flames took full advantage of it. The boys tend to crawl out of the fog after the first night of a 3-in-3, so perhaps the team bus will be overflowing with celebratory Beaver Nuggets on the way home from San Antonio tomorrow. (I'm obsessed with Beaver Nuggets after my first-ever stop at Buc-ee's earlier this week... I mean, really! Beaver Nuggets! Dirty-sounding AND delicious! How grand!) Catch y'all on the flip side tomorrow night.

The Flames Are Dead. Long Live The Flames

The Flames are dead. Long live the Flames.

In something that Andrew Ferraro mentioned months ago, it was today announced that the Quad City Flames are departing the Quad Cities after this season for Abbotsford, B.C., Canada. For those of you who have know frigging clue where Abbotsford is, think way, way, way out there, about 75-meters east of Vancouver.

The closest AHL city to Abbotsford is Winnipeg, which is a 24-hour bus ride -- on a good weather day -- from Abbotsford. And since they're going to be so damn far away from everybody else, the new Flames ownership group has agreed to pay travel subsidies to all of the other AHL teams to help alleviate the cost of the cross-country travel.

Now knowing the AHL -- and the guys at the Minnesota Wild that approve the Aeros traveling -- I can easily see the Aeros getting stuck playing a Friday in Peoria, a Saturday in Abbotsford, and a Sunday afternoon in Rockford.

Old Friends and Acting - More Photos QC Flames 3/10/09

Walk Invisible made a comment about enjoying the coverage of the QC Flames game last Tuesday. Well, here are some more photos from that game that for you to "enjoy".

Here's an old pal, DJ Amadio from the Texas Wildcatters, plying his trade on the ice as he attends to QC's Brad Farynuk. Farynuk and Kolanos had a collision behind the net. I was unable to see if Farynuk got caught with a stick or a visor got him or exactly what happened. In any case he started leaking all over the ice and DJ came to the rescue. Poor Farynuk was bleeding from at least one nostril and around the left eye.

All of you Beaumont folks come on over to Houston and say "Howdy" to DJ as we play the Flames again Friday night at 7:35.

DJ continued to patch the leaks on the bench and Farynuk continued to play.

Here you can see Cam Cunning trying to get referee Zac Wiebe to make a call with this beautifully executed dive in the crease. He and Clayton Stoner got in a tangle at the top of the crease with their sticks straight up. Clayton never even came near him with his stick but he snapped his head back like he'd been shot.

Cunning is lucky he didn't get called for goaltender interference during his performance.

All photos: Fred Trask

Sorry to say you probably found these pretty embarassing as well Walk Invisible ...

Aeros 3, Quad City Flames 1

Andrew and John covered the game well with their words. I would only add that the Aeros had many good chances to score, some on open nets, that they failed to capitalize on. If you want to take the "half-full" viewpoint that means they are doing good things and the goals will come.

I'll add a few photos to illustrate some points already made.

Here is the QC goal by Brandon Roach. It appeared that Schaefer may have been screened on the shot and it beat him glove side. I think it might have squirted between his arm and body or gone in off the outside of his arm.. You can see the puck as it is about to cross the goal line.

Here are a few shots of the Benoit Pouliot goal that tied the game at 1. This was a rocket from Pouliot that beat Irving stick side and came right back out of the net on the glove side. Great pass from Schultz. What you don't see is the Aeros had great spacing on this one. Schultz was coming up the middle with Pouliot on his left and Locke was coming hard on the right. Irving had to respect all 3 and I think the spacing on this play really helped to open the spot for Benoit who nailed it.

Add a little head rub from Jesse Schultz and you have a pretty nice goal to tie the game.

Kolanos had another goal that was in and out in a hurry. Here you see a dejected Irving with the puck already out of the net and Kolanos doing his fist pump.

Matt Beaudoin celebrates with Kolanos

Nolan Schaefer had some big saves on the night.

Here are a few shots of one example of the kind of "near misses" the Aeros had. In this one Kris Kolanos had a fantastic wrap around chance in the third period. Corey Locke is tied up out front and Leland Irving has no chance on the play. Unfortunately Kolanos was not able to get it to go in and is sailed through the crease.

Here is your first star - Krys Kolanos

And your second star - Benoit Pouliot

I'll throw in a Paul Albers celebration too. Lost in the 6-1 debacle vs Rockford was an awesome goal from Paul Albers. Here is the celebration of the goal with Matt Kassian and Mitch Love swooping in for a group hug.


All photos : Fred Trask