ST. LOUIS (AP) – The St. Louis Blues will sell their minor-league Worcester IceCats team to Bruce Saurs and Anne Griffith of Peoria, Ill., and move the team to Peoria for the 2005-06 season, the Blues said Tuesday.

The team will continue to operate as the Blues’ American Hockey League affiliate and be renamed the Rivermen. The sale and relocation are subject to approval by the AHL Board of Governors. The IceCats are in their 11th season in Worcester, Mass.

The move reunites the Blues and Peoria. The Peoria Rivermen were the Blues’ primary minor league team from the mid-1980s through 1994, when the Blues switched to Worcester. The Blues purchased the financially struggling IceCats in 2001.

“By having our AHL affiliate team in Peoria, where it will be operated by strong local ownership, the Blues will benefit by halting our substantial operating losses as our AHL franchise owner in Worcester while maintaining our ability to monitor and develop our prospects,” said Blues president Mark Sauer.

“It’s also a plus for hockey fans in St. Louis and Peoria. The Blues-Peoria partnership was key in driving interest in our sport at all levels during the late 1980s and early 1990s. We look forward to rekindling that enthusiasm starting in 2005.”

Saur owned the Rivermen from 1989 to 1994. In 1990-1991, the Rivermen began the season with a professional record 18 straight wins. They went on to win International Hockey League championship that season.

Saurs and Griffith currently own and operate the Peoria Rivermen in the East Coast Hockey League, a lower-level minor league also affiliated with the Blues.

“Now, if a call-up occurs, fans will have an opportunity to see a player compete in Peoria one night and see them play in the NHL the next night,” Saurs said.

Sauer said the Blues regret leaving Worcester.

“Unfortunately, ticket revenue and corporate sponsorship levels in Worcester are well under AHL averages, and for many years there has been no one locally interested in investing in the IceCats,” he said.

AP-ES-11-09-04 1605EST