The American Hockey League announced on May 6th that two inactive franchises
currently owned by NHL clubs will begin play in 2002-2003. The Detroit Red
Wings AHL club has been sold to San Antonio Hockey LLC, a corporation formed by
the San Antonio Spurs and Florida Panthers. The team will play at the SBC
Center beginning in October 2002 and be the primary minor league affiliate of
the Florida Panthers. New York State will also see the return of a team to
Binghamton, which has been without an AHL-level club since the NY Rangers
purchased the Binghampton team of the same name and moved them to Hartford, CT,
forming the Wolf*Pack. The franchise to be located in Binghamton is owned by
the Ottawa Senators, and will be the team's primary affiliate as well.

This expansion comes on the heels of the addition of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers
and Manchester Monarchs in 2001-2002, along with the inagural AHL seasons of six
former International Hockey League clubs. The current expansion franchises
bring the total number of AHL teams to 29. We will keep on top of the latest
AHL news and notes, along with Rochester Americans hockey news, as it becomes
available.

Jon LeRoy,
Moderator, amerks@yahoogroups.com