"Things were going in the right direction," Mullen said.

Presson said gains also were made since the season ended with a first-round playoff loss about a month ago. He said the team had sold 500 to 600 season tickets, about 55 percent of last year's total, and local companies were more willing than a year ago to listen to sponsorship sales calls.

"I was encouraged, and I was feeling much better about things," he said, crediting a staff scaled back to six near season's end.

"We just fell short of where Eric wanted to be," he said of a crew that will work their final official day on Friday.

Presson said Karls has assured him all season tickets holders will receive refunds from Karls.

"It will happen sometime this summer," he said.

Meanwhile, Presson, a 45-year-old veteran of 17 seasons in pro hockey, said he will remain in the area and attempt to help iwC leader Mullen revive hockey for the second time in three years.

"It is a quality-of-life issue," he said. "Hockey is important in this community. Hockey is important to me from a job perspective. Hockey is important to the i wireless Center. We want to do everything we can to ensure that it stays here."

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