CALGARY – According a published report in the VANCOUVER SUN, the Quad City Flames may be moving to Abbotsford, B.C. pending the approval of the AHL. The Flames released the Quad City ownership group of the last three years remaining on their minor league affiliation. “We intend to file for relocation to Abbotsford,” said Calgary Flames president Ken King. “We’ve got a lot of critical, key prospects in our system, and we need a great home for them to prepare for the NHL. “We’ve had substantial discussions with Abbotsford. We’re in a situation where we’re completely comfortable with the terms of an arrangement.” The move to Abbotsford requires approval of the AHL board of governors, and there could be resistance from teams opposed to the travel. Abbotsford is a community of 130,000 about 75 kilometres east of Vancouver on the Trans-Canada Highway. The nearest AHL city is in Winnipeg, which is a 24-hour bus ride away. “I don’t know if I would term it resistance, but I think they’re going to need to be convinced because of the geography,” King said. “They’re going to need to be convinced things like travel subsidies are nailed down.” The potential Abbotsford ownership group has agreed to pay travel subsidies to help alleviate the cost of cross-country flights for the opposition. The Abbotsford group envisions itself as the first AHL team to set up shop on the West Coast to serve teams in the Pacific time zone. “It’s a bold move,” King said. “And I think it’s a smart move. It’s a Canadian market. They know hockey. They understand hockey. They appreciate hockey. And they’ve been years in the making. “They’ve been courting us and other teams for a long time.” Abbotsford has already built a $65-million, 7,018 seat arena that is set for completion at the end of March. Quad City was averaging only 2,810 fans a night, which ranks them 28th out of the 29 team league. Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
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