Chops may have an owner, but not a league.
The Ducks' former AHL affiliate, the Iowa Chops, have drawn interest from a pair of businessmen looking to buy the troubled franchise.
From the Des Moines Register:
Clark C. Griffith, a former executive with the Minnesota Twins and now a Minneapolis lawyer specializing in sports law, and Joe Kosich, managing member for Dornoch Capital Advisors of Pinehurst, N.C., confirmed Monday that they have been asked to gather information to determine whether its feasible to buy the hockey franchise from Dallas businessmen Bob and Kirby Schlegel.
"I have a person who has interest in the team," said Griffith, who is also commissioner of the six-team independent Northern League of Professional Baseball. "That means he is intrigued and wants to look at all of the documents he can. That doesn't mean someone is writing a check yet."
Nor does it mean the Ducks are closer to regaining an AHL affiliate. The Chops have been suspended involuntarily by the AHL's board of governors for the 2009-10 season for violating league rules. That's unlikely to change, especially with the league expected to announce schedules for its member teams in "early August," according to an AHL spokesperson.
Meanwhile, for the Ducks, the search for an AHL affiliate continues.
About J.P.
J.P. Hoornstra has been covering the Anaheim Ducks since 2007. Eight months after the University of Wisconsin won its third NCAA hockey championship, he was born in a frigid Madison winter. He betrayed his blue-blooded beginnings by graduating from UCLA in 2003, and welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
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