The AHL sticks an apple in the mouth of the Iowa Chops

Last season, when the Anaheim Ducks switched their AHL affiliation from Portland to Iowa, it made some sense, as Iowa was much closer than Portland was. Other than that, the move seemed to be fairly lateral. Now, it turns out, Anaheim traded down (and got out just in time). The AHL announced they have suspended the Iowa Chops (and their asinine logo) for the 2009-2010 season.

According to AHL President and CEO Dave Andrews (via the Des Moines Register) the franchise was "Involuntarily suspended" after a league vote on Monday. He declined comment in regards to the specific reason, but the Des Moines Register reported last month that "the club had used the franchise as collateral to obtain a loan in March 2008 from a North Carolina branch of Wachovia Bank. Records obtained from Polk County have disclosed the loan amounted to $1.99 million and was used to cover operating costs."

Anaheim media relations manger Alex Gilchrist informed me via e-mail that the affiliation between Anaheim and Iowa "ended in May", and so far nothing has been announced yet about a new affiliate. Lucky break for them, this looks like a mess.