ANCHORAGE — The Alaska Aces of the ECHL will shut down after the current season.
Terry Parks, managing partner of the Aces ownership group, says the Anchorage-based minor league team is losing money and the state’s declining economy means the trend is likely to continue. He says the Aces have lost more money this year than the past two years combined.
Parks says the league has granted the Aces permission to voluntarily suspend operations.
He says sponsorships are down $600,000, season ticket sales are down $262,000 and attendance is down about 1,500 spectators per game.
Parks says the owners are convinced that Anchorage can no longer support a professional hockey team.
The team’s final regular-season game is at home on April 8.