At a mid-afternoon press conference and fan gathering at the Floyd L Maines Veterans Memorial Arena the Binghamton Senators Executive Vice-President of Operations Tom Mitchell says AHL hockey is staying put in Binghamton.  The statement was made in response to rumors and published reports that Binghamton's parent team, the Ottawa Senators, plans to leave Binghamton and operate an American League affiliate in Belleview, Ontario in the near future.

Mitchell made it clear that the Binghamton franchise was staying put.  He did not specifically say whether the Ottawa affiliation is part of that scenario.  It is important to note that the Binghamton franchise and Ottawa's agreement to supply players to Binghamton are two distinctly different things.  Binghamton can operate with another National Hockey League team to develop players should Ottawa depart.  The key is finding another NHL affiliate.

Mitchell says local ownership has a plan in place to attract another NHL club to work with should the Ottawa rumors come to fruition.  Mitchell spoke for about five minutes but declined to take questions from the media or fans in attendance.  He said there are some things he cannot comment on at this time and would have an update once the situation works itself out. You can hear Mitchell's comments tomorrow morning with Roger Neel on First News on WNBF.

WNBF News/Roger Neel Photo
WNBF News/Roger Neel Photo
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