Q-C Flames step up to AHL
TODAY: (Updated 1:38 p.m.) Professional hockey in the Quad-Cities took a step forward with a new name this morning, with the long-awaited annoucement that the NHL Calgary Flames will locate their Triple-A American Hockey League franchise at The Mark of the Quad-Cities.
The team will play under the new name Quad-City Flames, but will be owned in large part by Quad-City Sports Ventures, which last year purchased the Quad-City Mallards of the United Hockey League.
The move the AHL will bring to the Quad-Cities young hockey players who are a step away from the NHL. More than 83 percent of the players who played in the NHL in 2006-2007 have played in the AHL.
“Unquestionably, it is the second best league in the world,’’ said Quad-City Flames president Tim Taylor. “It is a great thing for the community. We are going to be on an international stage now. When people see the AHL product, they are going to be impressed.’’
The deal came together in less than a month, Calgary president and CEO Ken King said, noting the Mallards made the initial inquiry in late April.
King said Calgary had been talking to three other communities about relocating its AHL franchise from Omaha, Neb., where it had a 50-50 partnership with the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights.
“It was a very big decision for us,’’ King said of making the move to the Q-C, “but it was very clear as we saw the spirit of this community and this ownership group that this was the place to be.’’
Terms of the agreement were not released, but Kevin Murphy, a Quad-Cities Sports Ventures partner and the lead negotiator in talks with Calgary, said his group will assume 100 percent of the operating costs and will be partners in owning the franchise along with Calgary.
Murphy said ticket prices will not increase, although Taylor noted there will be some adjustment because the AHL team will play 40 home games instead of the 38 the Mallards played as members of the UHL.
The deal between the two groups has been in place for more than a week, the parties said. It still will require approval today by the AHL Board of Governors and, in the coming weeks, by the Illinois Quad-City Civic Center Authority and the City of Moline.
Scott Mullen, executive director of The Mark of the Quad-Cities, said the arena tentatively has agreed to spend nearly $600,000 to make capital improvements, including expanding the ice rink’s length from 185 to 197 feet while also purchasing a new ice-making system and remodeling lockerrooms.
If approved by the civic center authority, Mullen said renovations could begin in August and perhaps be completed in time for the start of AHL season in early October.
AHL training camps open Sept. 20.
In the AHL, the Q-C Flames will join former UHL rival Rockford while also inaugurating rivalries with the Des Moines-based Iowa Stars, the Peoria (Ill.) Rivermen and a Chicago Wolves team led by former Mallards coach John Anderson.
The team could be expected to compete in a re-aligned Western Division with those three teams, plus the Milwaukee Admirals and the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Team owners said the deal came together with relative ease and said the hardest part, aside from keeping the move secret, was the decision to change the team name from Mallards to Flames.
“We just wanted a clean break,’’ Murphy said. “For me, it was a no-brainer to stay with (the name of) the NHL team.’’
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Watch video of today's press conference (Updated 4:00 p.m.).