The Portland Pirates may see two of their American Hockey League rivals move to California, but the team’s chief operating officer, Brad Church, is confident about the future of pro hockey in Maine.

Church returned Monday afternoon from AHL all-star festivities in upstate New York that included a Sunday meeting of the league’s board of governors. One of the topics the board discussed was the possible relocation of five franchises to the West Coast next season to be closer to their NHL parent clubs.

“They touched on the West Coast briefly,” Church said of the board, “but the communication to us was that there’s no concrete news to pass on just yet.”

At an annual state-of-the-league press conference Monday in Verona, New York, AHL President Dave Andrews acknowledged discussion of a possible Pacific Division featuring relocated franchises next season, but said a number of issues remain unresolved. He said approval for any realignment would have to be completed by April to allow for scheduling.

All five of the franchises rumored to be moving to California – Pirates’ rivals Manchester and Worcester, along with Adirondack, Norfolk and Oklahoma City – are owned (or soon will be, in the case of Norfolk) – by their NHL affiliates: Los Angeles, San Jose, Calgary, Anaheim and Edmonton, respectively.

By contrast, the Pirates are not owned by their NHL affiliate, the Arizona Coyotes, but by Kennebunk businessman Ron Cain.

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“I have no concerns there,” Church said of the team’s immediate future in Portland.

The Pirates are in the final year of a four-year affiliation agreement with the Coyotes after spending three years with Buffalo and three with Anaheim.

Any negotiations to extend that relationship with Arizona or perhaps find a new NHL partner “will probably begin as soon as we find out what’s going on” with realignment, Church said. “There’s been so much talk about who’s going, where they’re going and when they’re going that I would be spending way too much time on so many uncertainties.”

Instead, his focus is on the second half of a season. The Pirates are 24-20 and in second place in the Atlantic Division. They are sixth of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference. The top eight teams from each conference qualify for playoffs.

“The team’s playing well, we’re continuing to improve and we’re putting together our season-ticket plans for ’15-16,” Church said. “I’m focusing on things I can control.”

Church attended the league meetings, held in advance of Monday night’s All-Star Game in Utica, along with Lyman Bullard, the chairman and governor of the Pirates.

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NOTES: Arizona recalled forward Lucas Lessio and defenseman Andrew Campbell on Monday. Lessio already has appeared in nine games for the Coyotes this season and Campbell in one.

The Pirates return to action Friday night in Manchester and, because of high school basketball tournaments scheduled at the Cross Insurance Arena, will not play again in Portland until Feb. 17.

Former Pirates assistant coach and player Eric Weinrich of Yarmouth was one of two honorary all-star captains, along with Bill Guerin. Weinrich played for North Yarmouth Academy, the University of Maine and the U.S. Olympic team before embarking on a long pro career that included 1,157 NHL games.

Both Weinrich and Guerin began their pro careers in Utica.

“Both of us have a special place in our hearts for Utica,” Weinrich said Monday between being recognized at an induction ceremony for the AHL Hall of Fame (for four other AHL veterans) and climbing behind the bench for the all-star game. “The arena’s changed a lot but the city itself doesn’t look too much different, to be honest.”

Now 48, Weinrich said he told the Buffalo Sabres he was no longer interested in scouting at the end of last season and so his only involvement with the game has been pond hockey; he is scheduled to play in Rangeley next weekend.

“I really haven’t paid attention to the game this year, so it’s been a really fun weekend,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of old friends and teammates and guys I coached.”


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