SPRINGFIELD -- The Springfield Falcons are being sold to the Arizona Coyotes in a deal that could end the city's 80-year affiliation with the American Hockey League.

Falcons owner Charlie Pompea confirmed to The Republican the deal that foreshadows a franchise shift to Tucson, Arizona. The Coyotes and Falcons jointly announced a purchase agreement has been signed, confirming media reports from Arizona last week that said the National Hockey League team was interested in bringing its minor league team closer to home - making player transfers easier and branding the state of Arizona as their hockey market.

Pompea did not disclose terms of the deal but said it was definite. Owner of the Falcons since December 2010, he spoke in tones tinged with regret, but said he was convinced that he and his staff had done their best.

"I really wanted this to work. We needed, at the very least, an average of 4,000 fans per game. We didn't come close.

"I love the fans we had, and I will always be grateful to them. I'm very sad and unhappy, but I want it known I don't have any gripes. I just got to the point where I didn't think the city could support a pro hockey team.''

The AHL, whose league offices are located in Springfield, must approve the deal. Closing conditions and a lease agreement must also be finalized. Pompea does not anticipate a problem.

"I assume they will (approve the deal), and while I can't speak for the Coyotes, I assume they will move the team,'' Pompea said. "I'm sad about it, but unfortunately, there were not enough fans to support us and I just couldn't go on with it.''

The sale of the Falcons does not assure that hockey is dead in a city that has housed an AHL team since 1936, with the exception of a brief hiatus in the early 1950s. Pompea said some NHL teams have expressed interest in relocating their minor league affiliation in Springfield, but he did not elaborate.

"If that happens, I wish them the best of luck. I feel very badly we couldn't make it work,'' Pompea said. All fans who made initial payments for the 2016-17 season will receive refunds in the mail.

All 30 NHL teams currently have AHL affiliates. For one to relocate to Springfield would require a break from their current deals, which happens frequently in the AHL but would be difficult to complete in time for the start of the 2016-17 season.

One question with Arizona's plan is the suitability of the Tucson arena for an AHL team, at least in time for next season. That would seem to open the possibility of the Falcons remaining in Springfield for at least one more season, probably in a lame-duck circumstance, but Tuesday's announcement said the Coyotes have a goal to play at the Tucson Convention Center beginning this fall.

The only appeal to a lame-duck year would be to buy time for the city to entice another NHL team to play here. Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has pledged the city will do what it can to keep hockey alive in the city, but said the involvement would have to fiscally responsible.

The average AHL attendance this season was 5,982 per game, a league record. The Falcons averaged just over 3,100, and Pompea said that when no-shows were removed from an actual turnstile count that included advance sales, it was closer to 2,600.

With news of the team's possible exit splashed through media, the Falcons drew 2,679 for Sunday's finale against Portland at the MassMutual Center.

In Pompea's five-plus seasons as owner, the Falcons never averaged 4,000 fans per game. They flirted with that figure during back-to-back division titles in 2013 and 2014, when the Columbus Blue Jackets provided the players.

The Blue Jackets moved their farm team to Cleveland as part of an all-Ohio package. The Coyotes, who had been Springfield's affiliate in the 1990s, are poised to follow suit.

Pompea is a Connecticut native with a residence in Jupiter, Florida. He purchased the team from Bruce Landon, who had helped spearhead a management team that created an expansion team, the Falcons, in 1994.

They replaced the Springfield Indians, who were sold and moved to Worcester. The westward exodus of AHL teams cost Worcester its franchise last season - the second time that city had lost its team.

Pompea has been in various businesses all his life. He said hockey was different, and frankly more fun - enough for him to ignore a lifelong business practice and sustain losses for a while.

"I never took a penny from the franchise. I paid for my own seats and paid my own insurance, and when we made money, we gave bonuses to the employees,'' he said.

In the early months of Pompea's ownership, the Falcons supported tornado relief efforts. The team has been involved in multiple charities, continuing a tradition that flourished under Landon's ownership. Players were involved in public appearances at schools and other functions, and downtown business at restaurants and night spots spiked upward on game nights.

At the end of last season, five teams from the East Coast moved west to create a new Pacific Division of the AHL. Pompea did not follow the migration, and said he has turned down past offers to buy the team.

The entire Northeast AHL market is struggling with a few exceptions, notably in Providence. But no team struggled more mightily to draw fans than Springfield.

The Falcons made small profit early in Pompea's tenure, but have lost an undisclosed amount of money over the past three seasons. The team's exit will leave the MassMutual Center, which housed both pro basketball (the NBA D-League's Armor) and pro hockey as recently as two years ago, with no prime tenant.

"The venue needs a team, but people need to get behind the team,'' Pompea said.

A team in the ECHL will begin play in Worcester in 2017. It's possible Springfield could be in the mix for an ECHL team, too.

The ECHL was once the East Coast Hockey League. Now it formally goes only by its initials, and it's a pro league that is one step below the AHL in quality.

Springfield hockey has a rich history that includes seven Calder Cup titles - from 1960 to 1962, and again in 1971, 1975, 1990 and 1991. All preceded the creation of the Falcons, whose best chance for a league title came in the late 1990s.

The city's hockey heritage dates to before its AHL days that began in 1936. Innumerable stars have come through the city, notably in the NHL's pre-expansion days when only six teams played at the major league level and skilled minor leaguers could remain in the city for years.

Even in the more recent era, Springfield was home to some top players, among them future NHL star Daniel Briere, who appeared at the Falcons game on April 10 as part of a promotion.

For decades, the face of Springfield hockey has been Landon, who has remained in a post-ownership capacity as director of hockey operations. He was not involved in the Arizona negotiations, and if the team moves, he is expected to remain in the Pioneer Valley, where the 66-year-old native of London, Ontario, has made his home.

Pompea said he will miss Springfield, where his daughter, Sarah, was team president. He also said he will miss hockey and while he can't afford to buy an NHL team, he'd like to remain connected in some way with the AHL.

He wanted most to do it in Springfield, he said.

"We had wonderful, loyal fans,'' he said with resignation in his voice. "We just didn't have enough of them.''