Omaha to get AHL Franchise

[Ez Street]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=38&u_sid=1307270

Representatives of the NHL's Calgary Flames arrived in town Tuesday to continue negotiations that would bring the franchise's American Hockey League team to the Civic Auditorium beginning this fall.

The four-person group, which included Calgary President and CEO Ken King and Head Coach Darryl Sutter, met with MECA officials throughout the day and was to fly back to Calgary in the evening.

King described the meetings as positive and said MECA has finalized its proposal for a lease.

"We're closer," King said. "Pretty much everything is ironed out from the Omaha side, but there are some structural things, from a business perspective, that we need to take care of."

King, who was also accompanied by Calgary's director of communications and chief financial officer, said he's not surprised the process has been drawn out.

"We're actually beyond the (date) where I thought we'd be, but sometimes these things work out that way," King said. "We're pretty much home, but there's just some details to work on."

The Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority has been searching for a tenant for the Civic Auditorium since the organization assumed control of the building last July. MECA has negotiated with Calgary for several months, and the upbeat nature of Tuesday's meetings was echoed by MECA President Roger Dixon.

"They're a class organization. It's obvious when you negotiate with them," Dixon said. "I think we've got a great opportunity in front of us. We've had some great discussions. It's in their court now."

Dixon also confirmed that Calgary, if and when a deal is finalized, would own and operate the franchise. He said Calgary representatives acknowledged the subject of local ownership has been discussed.

"But I think (Calgary's) main focus is to find a home for their AHL franchise," Dixon said. "I believe Omaha is the right fit. Let's get it here and worry about that later."

MECA is preparing for a 41-game home schedule at the Civic.

According to Jason Chaimovitch, the AHL's director of communications, the 29-team league is expected to be at 30 clubs when training camps open in September. Most recently, the AHL added expansion Des Moines, Dallas' top farm team, and relocated the Worcester franchise to Peoria, Ill.

"Divisional alignments and the schedule will be determined by the (AHL) board," Chaimovitch said. "Usually, all that is figured out by the first week of July."

Well before that, typically in February, teams submit a list of preferred home dates - primary and secondary - to the league. In Omaha's case, the team would have a decent chance of getting prime weekend dates because the only other tenant is the Creighton women's basketball team.

That's not the case with other clubs in the AHL. Four teams share their building with NBA teams: the Milwaukee Admirals play in the Bradley Center with the Milwaukee Bucks; the Houston Aeros play in the Toyota Center with the Houston Rockets; the San Antonio Rampage plays in the SBC Center with the San Antonio Spurs; and the Cleveland Barons play in Gund Arena with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

[budbowl77]

no offense to Omaha...but i miss the old AHL days..gimme Prince Edward Island, Saint John, Quebec, Sherbrooke and New Brunswick anyday. I dunno I'm a little biased..back in the old days I used to travel to every AHL town..I've been to some dumps..and I've been to some nice arenas..It was like I would save every nickle dime and dollar not do anything during the summer just so I could go on these road trips. To me it just seems like its getting harder to bus it from town to town now.

[Lee.]

So they're finally gonna make it official. Good. They've been talking about moving to Omaha since the IHL granted them a franchise (then folded), so welcome your Omaha Flames. One thing...is there a direct flight from Omaha to Calgary? Or are they expecting call-ups to meet them on the road?

Yes, I thought at first it was Des Moines, but I was wrong. It was supposed to be Omaha all along.

[goalieboy82]

omaha must have change since i was near there from 1989-1992.

[RyanB06]

EDIT: Forget it. Can't Google up a sufficient map.

But I will say that I'll bet those St. John's Maple Leafs won't be looking forward to trips to either Des Moines, Omaha, or Texas next season (if they go out there), those are three l-o-n-g plane rides.

So with the Flames placing an affiliate now, how many dual-affiliation teams are left? Can't be too many (probably only Lowell).

Anybody want to get in on a pool for the location of the 30th AHL team?

[oz615]

Anybody want to get in on a pool for the location of the 30th AHL team?

put me down for Saskatchewan

[Stampman]

Well it sounds more & more like it will eevntually happen--as has been discussed for weeks now--but still the visit is a big step forward--it will be good for the team to have a farm team to itself--especially for the players eligible to be sent down, and also when they get playing again...

[slapshot]

With the current NHL situation, I wouldn't be surprised if the league contracted a few teams. Carolina is a big possibility, and that would pull the plug on the Lowell AHL team, since Calgary is sending its players to Omaha.

The St. John's Maple Leafs will not be playing in Newfoundland next year...Toronto had announced prior to the beginning of the season it will move its farm team closer, maybe to the now-vacated Ricoh Centre in Toronto.

The AHL is expanding further westward. The most recent eastern expansion teams were Binghamton Senators, Bridgeport SoundTigers and Manchester Monarchs. All entered the league before the absorption of the former IHL teams: Chicago Wolves, Milwaukee Admirals, Houston Aeros, Utah Grizzlies and Manitoba Moose (did I forget one?). Also entering the league was the San Antonio Rampage. Now, the Worcester franchise is moving to Peoria.

For many years, the westernmost teams in the AHL were the Louisville Panthers and (Lexington) Kentucky Thoroughblades. Louisville folded, Kentucky shut down and moved to Cleveland. The league seems to want to grow to larger cities, and NHL teams would like to have their affiliates closer to them. The biggest distances seem to be Los Angeles-Manchester, NH and Colorado-Hershey.

[Magus]

theres hockey in nebraska?

why not put a team in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming?

[keenfrenzy]

Heck yeah, there's hockey here. We have a USHL team owned by Lemieux, Robitaille, and Eruzione, which is top of their division and only second in the league, as well as a decent college hockey team in the UNO Mavericks.

I for one am ecstatic about the Flames moving their farm team here, as my wife and I are about the only people around here who are Calgary fans (she being from Calgary area)

So yeah, we got hockey, and we got plenty of people here who were glad to hear we're getting a semi-pro team. There's been a buzz about it for a few months now, and we were all happy to hear it is now official.

[JQK]

Name 'em the Lancers!

Omaha Lancers 4 LIFE!!!! (sister went to college out in Omaha, i've been in love with the Lancers ever since)

[Dilbert]

My three choices:

Lancers

Knights

Flames

[yh]

theres hockey in nebraska?

why not put a team in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming?

Matters like this are not to be determined by we mere mortals. These are issues for the Hockey Gods.

[Lee.]

why not put a team in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming?

Oddly enough, this is part of Bettman's plan for the "New NHL"...

[HatCityEnforcer]

Omaha, eh? Not a bad choice....

Dunno why they're not using that nice new arena (the Qwest Center) and opting to use the older barn....

Des Moines, then Peoria, now Omaha....and there's rumblings about Quad Cities as well (know some Mallards fans from the UHL boards...they're all abuzz about some suits from the Sharks being out at the MARK for a few games and are seriously considering getting out of Cleveland)....