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The Springfield Falcons have been approached by "a few" NHL teams about a possible affiliation deal after the 2009-10 season, team president Bruce Landon said Wednesday.

The Falcons' deal with the Edmonton Oilers ends after this season. No decision has been made by either the NHL team or its AHL farm team about whether to extend the arrangement, which requires mutual consent.

But Landon described himself as "furious" about an Associated Press report in The Republican on Wednesday, which described Oklahoma City's attempt to land an AHL franchise.

The implication that the new team would sign a deal with Edmonton - leaving Springfield without an NHL team - was premature and misleading, Landon said via telephone from the AHL meetings in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

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The Oklahoma City city council unanimously passed and accepted the "letter of intent" with the city and AHL Hockey Club, LLC to begin negotiations for an American Hockey League franchise Tuesday.

Among the items in the letter were terms of a five-year lease for a prospective franchise to begin play at the Cox Convention Center in 2010-11.

Express Sports, which owns the Oklahoma City Blazers, elected to suspend operations for an indefinite period of time last week after 17 seasons in the Central Hockey League.

The Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League have a dormant AHL franchise, and Oilers president and chief executive officer Patrick LaForge said Sunday that Edmonton has interest in Oklahoma City as a market.

There was no discussion about the item by the council.

newsok.com

 

The Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League set several league attendance records. The team led the league in average attendance the last 17 years.
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Despite the arrival of the NBA’s Thunder in Oklahoma City, the Blazers still led the next-closest CHL team by more than 1,000 fans in average attendance last season.

So when Express Sports, which owns the Blazers, announced last week that it was suspending operations for an indefinite period of time, Blazer fans wondered how it was possible.

And how, at the same time, could there be potential negotiations to bring an American Hockey League team to Oklahoma City?

It’s all about the business model, said AHL Hockey Club, LLC manager and Express Sports president Bob Funk Jr.

"We simply gave away too many free tickets through the years,” Funk said.

"It’s great to be No. 1 in attendance, but to do it at the expense of the ticket value is not good. It’s hard to recover from something like that.”

That ultimately led to the decision to close the door on the Blazers. Funk said his family has lost more than $6 million since Express Sports purchased the Blazers in 2000.

Funk said the company did what it could to survive when it made management changes last November, but it wasn’t enough. Five members of the Blazers’ front office, including former chief executive officer Brad Lund, left the company.

But Funk is optimistic about the chances of bringing an AHL team to Oklahoma City. One hurdle was cleared Tuesday when the city council unanimously approved a letter of intent with AHL Hockey Club, LLC, to begin negotiations for a prospective team and approving the terms of a five-year lease at the Cox Convention Center to begin with the 2010-11 AHL season.

"Oklahoma City hockey fans deserve to have a team at the next level,” Funk said. "We have such passionate and dedicated fans. Without them, this wouldn’t be possible.”