Can Am League 2006 Teams

[EHL Historian]

If anyone knows the new teams that will be added for 2006
I would appreciate the latest news especially if there will be
a second team in New Jersey at the old home of the New Jersey Cardinals. Thank You.

[Odie]

The Nashua Pride has joined the Can-Am League, beginning with the upcoming 2006 season. I am assuming they take the place of the Grays, who acted as a traveling road team and played the Bangor Lumberjacks 2005 schedule...when the Lumberjacks filed for bankruptcy...and the League took over the operations.

With the departure of the Pride from the Atlantic League, the League has re-incarnated the Road Warriors. The Road Warriors will play all their games "on the road"...just like the old Pennsylvania Road Warriors did for many years.

Why would the Nashua Pride want to leave the a "higher" independent league for a "lower" league? Now the Atlantic League is stuck with a traveling road team again.

[Liebo]

The Pride are "dropping" to the Can-Am League for several reasons. First, the Can-Am League season runs only from the end of May to the end of August, with playoffs to follow. On the other hand, the Atlantic League will begin the 2006 season midway through April and end in mid-September. The chnage in schedule will allow the team to avoid home games in April, May and September, when they compete against school and are not likely to draw well. Also, the salary cap in the Can-Am League allows a team with limited revenue - like the Pride - to remain competitive on the field without spending beyond its means and losing money.

So the Pride drop from the Atlantic League to the Can-Am League and, with proper management on the field and off, will have a chance for success - and keep pro baseball in Nashua. Without the change, the team would likely have gone under because of finances and the pressure from the nearby Fisher Cats.