Former Amerks owner Steve Donner files for bankruptcy

• Former Rochester Americans owner Steve Donner has filed for bankruptcy in Florida.
• Donner and his wife, Lynne, list nearly $9.5 million in debts and about $17,000 in assets.
• Donner was inducted into the Rochester Knighthawks Hall of Fame in January.

Saying it was time to "move on and restructure" personally and professionally, former Rochester sports mogul Steve Donner has filed for bankruptcy.

Donner and his wife, Lynne, who list their address as Seminole County, Fla., filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Florida.

"It's not that big of a thing, it's just a restructuring of my finances, really," Donner, 57, said by phone Thursday afternoon.

The court paperwork paints the picture of a major financial downfall by the man who started the Rochester Knighthawks lacrosse franchise in 1994, owned the Rochester Americans hockey team when it last won the Calder Cup in 1996, and was part-owner of the Rhinos soccer team and Rattlers outdoor lacrosse team. Across those four franchises, he presided over eight championship teams. Donner returned to Rochester to be inducted into the Rochester Knighthawks Hall of Fame in January.

In the U.S. Bankruptcy Court paperwork, Donner lists slightly less than $17,000 in assets — most of that in the form of a 2007 Honda crossover with 140,000 miles on it and a 2006 Nissan minivan with 235,000 miles — and $9.5 million in debts.

The single largest debt is $8.5 million owed to NBT Bank for a loan issued to Donner and his former Rhinos partners as advance money for the construction of Rochester's soccer stadium, now known as Sahlen's Stadium, on Oak Street.

"I was just trying to see over time if I could fix this," said Donner, who sold the Amerks and Knighthawks to Curt Styres in 2008, the same year the Rhinos were purchased by Rob Clark.

Chris Economides and Frank DuRoss, two of Donner's former partners, declined comment on Thursday. Economides is now senior director for the United Soccer Leagues and DuRoss is chairman of the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League.

Among Donner's listed possessions are 29.7 shares in the Knighthawks, with a listed value of zero.

Along with $14,000 worth of medical bills and $34,000 in unpaid credit cards, Donner also lists $19,000 in business debts owed in relation to the Orlando Titans, the National Lacrosse League team that played for one season in 2010; $735,000 owed to RR Sports Associates of Pittsford and Andrew Gross Jr.; and $79,000 owed to Federal Credit Union from a short sale of their North Greece home, which they sold in 2012.

The Donners' paperwork lists a joint monthly income of about $4,000 — he as a project manager for the Daytona Ice Arena in Daytona Beach, Fla., and she in business development at FFC Mortgage Corp. of Henrietta. On Thursday, Donner said he was now working for a meat packing company.

RR Sports and Gross won a $57,000 judgment in state Supreme Court in 2011 against Donner, DuRoss, Economides, and Bourne.

"It's not gloom and doom," Donner said of his filing. "I'm fine, everything is OK."

MDANEMAN@DemocratandChronicle.com

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SBRADLEY@DemocratandChronicle.com

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