Well, the Schlegels seemed to have really screwed DM hockey fans:
Owners of the Iowa Chops hockey franchise violated American Hockey League rules by pledging the assets of their club as collateral for a loan last year, records show.
League officials declined to discuss the club owners' loan. But AHL President Dave Andrews said in January that owners were not permitted to use their franchises as collateral.
"We don't allow it," Andrews said. "There is no one that has their franchise as collateral with a bank. If you pledge your franchise, we eliminate you."
Andrews' statement that the league would "eliminate" franchises that were offered as collateral was made at a news conference held in conjunction with the AHL All-Star game.
The league president said the rule requires club owners to maintain the financial ability to operate franchises without using the value of the team to borrow money. He did not elaborate on those comments.
Aaron Artman, vice president for Schlegel Sports, declined to comment about the amount or reason for the loan.
"We're working through all the current challenges with creditors, local businesses, Polk County, Global and the AHL, and we're hopeful that we reach a positive solution in the coming weeks," Artman said.
Perhaps the most disturbing news is that the meeting between Polk County and the Schlegels aren't even taking place here. They have been meeting in DC. Also, only two reps at a time have been meeting to avoid public notice; the meetings have been behind closed doors.
Basically things look really bad for us here...
Thanks for doing such a fine job operating our team Kirby! It's nice knowing that an idiot from Texas pretty much screwed us from day one!
