Americans’ future discussed on Monday

The future of the Tri-City Americans franchise and its potential relocation to Chilliwack will be re-examined by the Western Hockey League on Monday as the league’s governors have been summoned to participate in a conference call.

The Vancouver Sun has learned that commissioner Rob Robison will make a presentation to the governors at that time, setting out a number of scenarios for the future of the franchise. It is expected that the governors will vote on one of those scenarios Monday.

“I will be making a report to the governors based on the decision to deny the application for relocation. We’ll be looking at that matter as well as our overall strategic plan for the long term,” said Robison, confirming Monday’s conference call for 9 a.m. PDT.

“I’ve spent a lot of time in discussions with the City of Kennewick, potential local investors and the current ownership group. We have some options to discuss with the governors and we’ll look at those options and see what is best for the league long-term.”

The league’s board of governors gathered in Calgary on March 31 for an emotional six-hour meeting to discuss the Americans’ initial application to relocate. The board voted 11 to nine in favor of the move but 14 votes, three-quarters of the governors, were needed for Tri-City to move forward with plans to play next season in Chilliwack’s Prospera Centre.

The other four U.S.-based franchises, as well as Brandon, Saskatoon, Red Deer, Medicine Hat and Prince George voted against the move at that point.

The concern of the American-based teams was that allowing the move would significantly affect the integrity of the league’s U.S. division and hurt the remaining teams’ financial picture due to the loss of a key rival.

Considerable discussions have taken place behind the scenes since that date, led by chairman of the board Ed Chynoweth, to find a workable solution for Tri-City’s ownership group.

Darryl Porter, spokesman for the Tri-City ownership group that also includes former Vancouver Canucks GM Brian Burke and New York Rangers GM Glen Sather, said Friday that the team wants to remain part of the WHL but that simply isn’t possible anymore in Tri-City.

“We’ve been very clear that we want to remain in the league. The issue is that we don’t think that we can go back to Tri-City as an ownership group, that’s clear,” Porter said.