"Kansas City, Here I Come..."

KSDK Channel 5 reported earlier today that a Kansas City group led by Missouri Mavericks' owner Lamar Hunt Jr. and former Blue Tom Tilley supposedly had a "done deal" to bring an AHL franchise to the Sprint Center as early as next season.

Could the Blues AHL affiliate be calling Kansas City home?

Not so fast, say the Mavericks.

Mavericks Say "No Truth" To AHL Rumors

The Mavericks were quick to issue a press release indicating that the Mavericks, quote, "have a working relationship with the Blues and Chicago Wolves through the balance of the season, and have no plans at this time to leave the ECHL."

The Channel 5 story also made mention of a USHL club playing in Kansas City next year as well. While all of that would be great for the game in the state of Missouri, one has to wonder if the Kansas City area is ready for not one, not two, but three high-level hockey clubs in town, each with a requirement to build their own fanbase and not rely on "sharing" the fans of the other clubs.

What it looks like, is that KSDK and the usually-reliable Louie Korac jumped the gun just a bit, and are now having to walk back the story. The danger here is that this could backfire, and if the Hunt/Tilley group had any plans to work with the Blues in the near term, those plans might have been scuttled by this report coming out before those plans had been finalized.

More to come...