The clock is ticking for the community of Cornwall who are rallying to raise enough money to save their local hockey team.

Fans said the Cornwall River Kings, part of the North American Hockey League (LNAH), were forced to fold because of a lack of investments and funds for the 2016/17 season.

To keep the team going, fan and former employee with the team Rodney Rivette, came up with the idea of a fan-owned team.

“This would be a fan-based franchise like a lot of junior teams all over Canada, and of course the big fan base owned team is the Green Bay Packers… so we’re not re-inventing the wheel, we're just trying to get the fans together to save our team,” Rivette said.

Rivette said governors of the LNAH are onboard with the idea, so long as the community can come up with $375,000 by Monday at 4p.m.

But Rivette admits that will only be enough to start this current season. To keep the team playing for years to come, he is looking for 1000 fans to contribute $500 a year for the next five years.

One fan, Dave Pettum, said that is a small fee to pay to save his beloved River Kings.

“There’s a lot of businesses that make money off the River Kings, fans coming from out of town, well they have to eat, when they come from places like Jonquière, which is 8 hours away, odds are they stay over,” he said.

The River Kings play their home games at the Cornwall Civic Complex, which is owned by the city of Cornwall. CTV reached out to the mayor for comment, who said he would be sad to see the team go.

Mayor Leslie O'Shaughnessy said he had not received any request to reduce the fees for the team to rent the ice at the Civic Complex, but said it would not amount to a significant saving for the team who needs roughly $500,000 to $700,000 to operate annually.

Right now the community has raised $100,000 towards the $375,000 goal. Rivette said donations will be returned if they do not hit their target by Monday.

Rivette said anyone looking to donate any amount can do so at 812 Pitt St. in Cornwall – Unit 12. You can find more information on the team by clicking here.