In conjunction with league approval, Arrow Express Sports, owned by Curt Styres, announced that they have taken over majority ownership in the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. Styres, through his ownership of Arrow Express Sports, has been pursuing this opportunity for almost a year. All the hard work and effort paid off today when the AHL Board of Governors unanimously ratified Arrow Express Sports as the new owner of the Amerks.

The Amerks are one of the oldest and most storied franchises in professional hockey. Styres with Arrow Express Sports is making history, as he is from Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, Canada, and may very well be the first Native American to own an AHL franchise.

"Owning the Rochester Americans is something that even a few years ago would have seemed an impossible dream," said Styres, who along with his business partners Ken Hill, Scott Smith and Jerry & Peter Montour own Grand River Enterprises (GRE), one of the most successful Aboriginally-owned businesses in Canada. Their business success and acumen has led to Styres being able to pursue his dream of owning a professional sports team.

In terms of Arrow Express Sports' professional sports ownership, the approval of the AHL is step one. Arrow Express Sports has also agreed in principal to purchase a majority ownership in the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League as part of its Rochester deal. The NLL's Board of Governors meets in June. Arrow Express Sports is expected to get ratified as the new owners of Knighthawks at that time, which will complete the overall deal. Steve Donner is part of the existing ownership group and will stay on as a minority owner.

"Curt Styres is one of the most genuine people I have ever met in my life," said Donner. "He is a down-to-earth, hardworking individual who has already demonstrated he is willing to do what it takes to get things done. The approval processes have been rigorous but Arrow Express Sports has persevered and today it is great to welcome Curt into the AHL ownership group.”

"We are very excited by what has happened here in Chicago," said Lewis Staats, a partner in Arrow Express Sports, "and we are confident that we can work with the NLL to get their approval in June.”

The goal of Arrow Express Sports is to bring a renewed energy into the pro lacrosse and hockey scene in Rochester and looks forward to getting both teams back into the playoffs and focused on building championship-caliber teams in both leagues.

The Amerks are the second-oldest team in the American Hockey League, set to begin their 53rd season in 2008-09. Rochester has won six Calder Cup championships in its history, the most recent in 1996.

In operation since 1936, the AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 84 percent of today's NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and this season marks the seventh consecutive year in which more than six million fans have attended AHL games across North America.