Marty Turco and Dallas Stars Hockey

DES MOINES, Iowa — KCCI.com One of the biggest draws at the Iowa Events Center may soon be in for a major change. The Iowa Stars’ parent team, the Dallas Stars, wants to build a new arena near Austin, Texas. It would eventually be home to its AHL franchise. If the Iowa Stars move out for Texas in 2010, team owners said another team would move in.

“We were talking earlier in the week about what we could do to generate more publicity for the Iowa Stars,” said Iowa Stars President John Olver. “It’s our goal that we will fulfill the next three years of our affiliation agreement, and we hope to extend that and go beyond that. At the same time, we don’t know what the future holds in that end,” Olver said. Dallas Stars’ deal with Des Moines ends in 2010. But Iowa Stars’ owners promise hockey will continue in Des Moines, even if the team leaves. “AHL Hockey is committed here to Des Moines for the next eight years,” said Iowa Events Center General Manager Matt Homan. Iowa Stars season ticketholder Amy Schmelzer has been in the crowd, wearing her green and black gear to nearly every game. She said a potential name change might keep her out of the team store. “I guess for me, as long as it continues to be AHL hockey, I’ll continue to go,” she said. “Why am I going to invest my loyalty in this team if they’re only going to be here another three years?” She said that as long as another NHL team moves in and replaces the Stars, she’ll get her hockey fix. “Yeah, I think I can live with it. It’s not the end of the hockey universe for me,” she said. The Iowa Stars don’t really want to change, but said the move could provide an opportunity. “If for some reason that was to change, we would use all of our resources to work to improve the affiliation with a potentially more regional team,” Olver said. The Iowa Stars are locked in with Dallas until 2010 and if it does not field an AHL team until 2015, the team will have to pay a $12.5 million penalty. The Iowa Stars said that after some restructuring in the off-season, the number of new season ticket holders is up 30 percent from last year.