AHL team could land in Las Vegas

Steve Addy

Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2001 | 10:17 a.m.

Barely two years ago, Las Vegas drew interest as a destination for the NHL's Ottawa Senators.

Now the Senators are considering Las Vegas and two Midwestern cities as a landing spot for their minor league franchise in the American Hockey League.

Senators consultant Doug Moss said he has spoken with Las Vegans about buying Ottawa's dormant Prince Edward Island team in the AHL. Moss declined to identify the local parties.

"We're in the beginning stages," he said Tuesday from his New York office.

Moss, former commissioner of the International Hockey League, which folded in June after 56 seasons, has also talked to groups in Omaha and Kansas City.

The Senators' current AHL affiliation with Grand Rapids, Mich., will end next season, so they want to revive their Prince Edward Island franchise by selling it and reinstalling it as their No. 1 affiliate after mothballing it in 1996.

Las Vegas has been without pro hockey since 1999 when the Thunder folded after six seasons in the IHL. The team was competitive, but lost $10 million over its lifetime, according to Ken Stickney, managing director of former owner Mandalay Sports Entertainment.

Stickney and Moss said they have discussed the Senators' intentions, but it doesn't mean Mandalay Sports wants back in the hockey business.

"We would be interested in looking at it, but all of the elements have to be right," Stickney said. "You would need the right building, the right affiliation agreement and the right cost control. It would have to be marketed properly and aggressively.

"We spent six years on hockey here, not because of the investment, but because we loved it. So nobody knows this market better than we do. The numbers would have to make sense."

Moss said the Thunder's failure doesn't necessarily mean AHL hockey couldn't succeed in Las Vegas. The average AHL salary is about $60,000, compared to the IHL's $75,000 in 1999, and the IHL's demise has eliminated bidding wars between leagues.

"A lot of conditions are different now," Moss said. "You need the right business deal, but I believe Las Vegas is a great hockey market."

Especially after absorbing six IHL teams this year, the 66-year-old AHL is the top minor league in pro hockey. It contains an all-time high 27 teams, and its goal is to have 30 -- one per NHL parent club -- within a few years.

For Las Vegas to become one of the 30, local investors would need to find a hospitable arena, an obstacle that has scuttled teams' recent efforts to relocate here. Two East Coast Hockey League clubs pondered moving to Las Vegas, but reconsidered because of arena unavailability.

Though the MGM Grand Garden Arena and Mandalay Bay Events Center have hosted hockey games, both have shown no interest in a hockey tenant, mainly because they prefer to reserve lucrative weekend dates for concerts, boxing cards and other big-ticket events.

The Thomas & Mack Center, where the Thunder played, no longer has ice-making capability.

Moss said a 9,000-seat arena at The Orleans, part of a $100 million expansion scheduled for completion in late 2002, could be an ideal home for a Las Vegas franchise.

"We would need to find a good building there, and The Orleans is the one we're hearing about," Moss said. "That's of great interest to us and people we have spoken to (in Las Vegas)."

Stickney said, "Until the building question is solved, it's hard to get involved any deeper."

Among other cities Moss is courting, Omaha has broken ground on an 18,000-seat municipal arena, scheduled for completion in August 2003 along with a convention center. The project cost $280 million, and the arena is seeking a pro team.

Also, though Kansas City's IHL team folded rather than join the AHL, Kemper Arena has a hockey infrastructure that could quickly accomodate a new tenant.