AHL San Antonio Rampage

Rampage and Coyotes announce new affiliation agreement

Published on June 30, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
San Antonio Rampage News Release


SAN ANTONIO (June 30, 2005) - Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E) announced today it has purchased the Florida Panthers' portion of the San Antonio-based American Hockey League (AHL) franchise, the San Antonio Rampage. At the same time, the Rampage have entered into a multi-year affiliation agreement with the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). The announcement was made jointly by SS&E Executive Vice President of Finance & Corporate Development Rick Pych and Phoenix Coyotes General Manager Michael Barnett.

SS&E's assumption of sole ownership of the Rampage franchise was unanimously approved at this week's AHL Board of Governors meetings in Florida. The Rampage's affiliation agreement with the Coyotes becomes effective immediately.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with the Phoenix Coyotes," Pych said. "We look forward to working with the entire Coyotes organization - one that is closer geographically to San Antonio and has the same strong dedication to exciting and competitive hockey as we do here.

"From our initial conversation, we felt that our teams shared similar management philosophies. We're very optimistic that the Rampage's on-ice product will be enhanced tremendously by our new partnership."

The Coyotes, led by Managing Partner Wayne Gretzky, will provide San Antonio with players and coaches. Gretzky, a nine-time Hart Trophy winner (given to the NHL's Most Valuable Player) was responsible for assembling Team Canada's best hockey players for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City (won Gold Medal) and again in 2004 at the World Cup of Hockey (won Championship).

Barnett and Laurence Gilman, the Coyotes assistant general manager, will direct hockey operations for the Rampage franchise. Barnett, who has over 20 years of experience in hockey, is responsible for the overall hockey operations of the Coyotes, including all matters relating to the club's player personnel, coaching staff and scouting department. Gilman, who will also serve as the Rampage's general manager, will attend to the day-to-day administration and the on-ice operations of the San Antonio team.

"We are very pleased to be entering into this new affiliation agreement with the San Antonio Rampage," Barnett said. "This is an ideal situation for the Phoenix Coyotes and one that we are hopeful will enjoy a long and mutually beneficial existence.

"San Antonio is perfectly located to our parent team in Phoenix, it has an NHL quality arena, and the organization has a wealth of experienced sports executives. We are confident that Rampage fans will come to enjoy, and expect, a highly competitive, aggressive and winning AHL team in 05-06."

Keith Ballard highlights some of the Coyotes top prospects that played last season after being an AHL All-Star selection as a rookie last year. The 11th overall pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft won back-to-back NCAA championships at the University of Minnesota and was a 2004 finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, given annually to the top collegiate player in the nation. Goaltender David LeNeveu is also a former Hobey Baker Award finalist (2003) and AHL All-Star (2004) and was a second-round draft pick by the Coyotes in 2002. Right wing Fredrik Sjostrom (11th overall) and defenseman Matthew Spiller (31st overall) are key prospects from the draft class of 2001, and center Jeff Taffe, a first-round choice in the 2000 Entry Draft and a 2003 AHL All-Star, has already played in 79 NHL games. It is expected that all of these players will be on the Rampage roster when the first puck drops this October.

The Coyotes become the second NHL affiliate in Rampage history. Phoenix's history of developing players in the AHL has produced numerous NHL stars, most notably their captain Shane Doan. The right wing, who scored the Cup-winning goal for Team Canada at the 2004 World Cup, was their first choice (1st round, 7th overall) in the 1995 Entry Draft. Since graduating from the AHL, Doan scored 20-plus goals the last five seasons and has amassed 351 points (142 goals, 209 assists) in a nine-year span (648 games).

The Rampage will start their fourth AHL season in October. Season ticket packages for the upcoming season are on sale now. For ticket information, please call 210.444.5050 or visit sarampage.com.

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