On Sept. 22, Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle that he wanted “to develop a long-term relationship here in Rochester.” Tallon was referring to the relationship between the Panthers and AHL affiliate Rochester Americans. One month later, the Amerks are referring to the Panthers as soon-to-be history.

The Miami Herald reported that the Rochester Americans told the Panthers they will not extend their current agreement past this season. Americans' team president Lewis Staats said, “When we negotiated this agreement with Florida, it was agreed we would put a ‘re-negotiation date’ in it to ensure that both organizations had time to either investigate extending the terms of the agreement or provided sufficient time to explore other options.”

This move comes as no surprise, at least to us at Biz of Hockey. In May, we reported that the Americans could be perusing the New York Rangers for the 2011-12 season.
Staats continued in the Herald story:

"We will explore all the options that are available to us in terms of an NHL parent club going forward at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season when our existing agreement with Florida expires. We are continuing to build and improve the Amerks from a business perspective and will be very diligent in our search for an NHL partner who we believe will help us achieve our goals both on and off the ice.”
As we mentioned in May, the current partner for the New York Rangers, the Hartford Wolfpack, has been one of the lowest attended teams in the AHL. So, despite being owned by MSG, the Rangers could elect to put potential losses on the shoulders of the Americans and use the Wolfpack's arena to book concerts and events.

Hearld writer George Richards suggests the Panthers should move their minor leaguers to the Lake Erie Monsters.

Matthew Coller is a staff member of the Business of Sports Network, and is a freelance writer. He can be followed on Twitter

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