John Preston was one of the five investors, who became the majority owners of the Hamilton Canucks when they acquired Dieter Beer's and Bernie Faloney's stakes in the AHL franchise on July 29, 1993.

Hoping to restructure the franchise and its lease, the ownership group sought to cease operations in early November. This resulted in the AHL revoking the franchise from the ownership group and the Griffiths family, the owners of their NHL affiliate, the Vancouver Canucks, taking over the franchise on November 30, 1993. The Griffiths family sold the franchise to a group led by Alan Taylor and Howard Dolgon on May 6, 1994. This group relocated the franchise to Syracuse, New York, and renamed it the Syracuse Crunch.