[robster2001]

Originally Posted by Minor League Man

Seriously, does nobody care about the fans of these Northeast teams which might be moving west? They come in droves, and they would riot if such politics were the reason they lost these teams...

Yes, nobody cares.

If the teams can save money, they'll make the move in a heartbeat.

Money first. Fans a distant second. That's always the reality.

[shawa666]

Originally Posted by Minor League Man

Not gonna happen...because their current affiliates have a solid fanbase.

Seriously, does nobody care about the fans of these Northeast teams which might be moving west? They come in droves, and they would riot if such politics were the reason they lost these teams...

They're minor league teams.

They come and go.

People are used to it.

[Pounder]

Originally Posted by Minor League Man

Not gonna happen...because their current affiliates have a solid fanbase.

Seriously, does nobody care about the fans of these Northeast teams which might be moving west? They come in droves, and they would riot if such politics were the reason they lost these teams...

Most of the west coast sites in the rumors are better draws than those easty teams.

The current affiliates can be switched out, teams with lesser fanbases will be the ones losing out, and anyone who riots can be rendered impotent by having their smarty phone access switched off. The west does have SOME power, after all.

Hockey seems to have a LOT of provincialism, and I'm seeing that in spades the last 18 months. So no surprise to read this whatsoever. However, some of you will have to learn to deal.

--------

It's funny how some of y'all think. I got into a discussion with a Worcester fan on hfboards. Thing is, there's been some talk (which is the fault of the Portland Winterhawks owner) about the WHL maybe not being here someday. So this Worcester fan was thinking I should be concerned about a rise in ticket prices if that happened in Portland. So I compared tickets. Yes, Worcester is more expensive than Portland... by $1 per ticket. BTW, Portland's average is 7,000 or so this season IIRC. I also know Boise pays comparable prices for ECHL tickets. So I'm saying someone thinks too much of their region. Maybe I do to.

[nksports]

Originally Posted by dmbishop

13-14 AHL Attendance:

http://theahl.com/stats/schedule.php...e&season_id=43

OKC did nearly three times that in the CHL.

[Hockey]

Originally Posted by nksports

OKC did nearly three times that in the CHL.

There was some question on the legitimacy of the OKC CHL numbers. It was part of how the AHL won the new arena, by debunking them.

[nksports]

Originally Posted by Hockey

There was some question on the legitimacy of the OKC CHL numbers. It was part of how the AHL won the new arena, by debunking them.

At the CHL games I've been to, the numbers announced seem to match the crowd. I wonder how much of it is AHL ticket prices in a solid CHL market (roughly twice as much).

[aardvark]

It's time to dust off the "AHL West" thing again. I heard from a friend that on San Diego sports talk radio this morning, it was discussed that Anaheim is interested in moving their AHL franchise to San Diego for next season. How can that possibly work if no other AHL teams are out west, or have all the western NHL teams decided that it would be better to have their AHL affiliates out here as well?

[Pounder]

Originally Posted by aardvark

It's time to dust off the "AHL West" thing again. I heard from a friend that on San Diego sports talk radio this morning, it was discussed that Anaheim is interested in moving their AHL franchise to San Diego for next season. How can that possibly work if no other AHL teams are out west, or have all the western NHL teams decided that it would be better to have their AHL affiliates out here as well?

It won't be a single team acting alone.

The LA Kings own the Manchester franchise, and they've been pretty much in the lead of this effort. They also own the Ontario Reign (who are a better draw), so it's been generally assumed that they would simply move the Manchester team into Ontario. The Reign? Meh.

The San Jose Sharks own the Worcester franchise, and the hints of their moving have been none too subtle. They could try to move into either of the Fresno buildings, but buying out the Stockton Thunder would make more sense for them.

The Edmonton Oilers own the Oklahoma City franchise, and bought the Bakersfield Condors back in January. Bakersfield draws better. That could be an easy switch, especially now that the CHL has merged into the ECHL and it might make sense to reintroduce OKC to Tulsa.

A lot of this started in news out of Arizona, of all places. The Coyotes got the Prescott media thinking that the Coyotes would somehow induce a team to relocate there. Tucson would seem more prudent, even if the convention center might need a little work.

League sources have apparently said that it would take 4-5 teams in order to realize a Western Division. With Anaheim, there's five.

Colorado has hinted at interest in an affiliate closer to home. Vancouver and Calgary just moved teams back east, but the word out of Glens Falls, at least, is that theirs is an easily bought-out lease. With the league's CEO giving more than lip service to the notion, it seems the only question is if this happens at the end of this season or the next.

[nksports]

Originally Posted by Pounder

The Coyotes got the Prescott media thinking that the Coyotes would somehow induce a team to relocate there. Tucson would seem more prudent, even if the convention center might need a little work.

Maybe Tucson to the AHL and Prescott to the ECHL (although their CHL attendances weren't that whippy).
Here are the latest:
ECHL
Team Yesterday Total Games Average
Ontario 6,195 63,137 8 7,892
Fort Wayne 0 59,387 8 7,423
Orlando 0 45,171 8 5,646
Toledo 0 61,813 11 5,619
Colorado 5,289 52,890 10 5,289
Evansville 0 46,293 9 5,144
Bakersfield 0 50,514 10 5,051
Florida 3,978 34,591 7 4,942
Missouri 0 44,269 9 4,919
Quad City 0 35,281 8 4,410
Gwinnett 0 38,910 9 4,323
Utah 3,203 47,520 11 4,320
Wichita 0 47,211 11 4,292
Tulsa 3,026 59,085 14 4,220
Stockton 0 49,626 12 4,136
Alaska 0 49,409 12 4,117
Allen 2,958 35,229 9 3,914
Cincinnati 0 45,461 12 3,788
Rapid City 0 45,151 12 3,763
Greenville 0 25,267 7 3,610
Reading 0 45,668 13 3,513
Indy 0 42,021 12 3,502
Idaho 0 41,390 12 3,449
South Carolina 0 41,727 14 2,981
Kalamazoo 1,383 29,678 11 2,698
Wheeling 1,459 28,943 11 2,631
Brampton 0 22,510 9 2,501
Elmira 0 32,308 15 2,154
League 27,491 1,220,460 294 4,151
AHL
Team Yesterday Total Games Average
Hershey 0 110,965 12 9,247
Lake Erie 0 80,120 10 8,012
Providence 0 103,209 13 7,939
Lehigh Valley 0 86,847 11 7,895
Syracuse 0 83,194 12 6,933
Chicago 0 62,110 9 6,901
Grand Rapids 5,488 72,018 11 6,547
Rochester 0 85,775 14 6,127
St. John's 5,501 83,987 14 5,999
Iowa 0 58,480 10 5,848
San Antonio 0 86,694 16 5,418
Manchester 0 63,816 12 5,318
Charlotte 0 61,430 12 5,119
Texas 4,782 54,866 11 4,988
W-B/Scranton 0 64,757 13 4,981
Hamilton 0 51,573 12 4,298
Rockford 0 55,311 13 4,255
Toronto 0 45,904 11 4,173
Bridgeport 0 52,309 13 4,024
Norfolk 2,619 47,694 12 3,975
Utica 3,140 40,060 11 3,642
Milwaukee 2,522 46,303 13 3,562
Binghamton 0 39,057 11 3,551
Hartford 0 44,570 13 3,428
Adirondack 0 45,021 14 3,216
Worcester 0 37,884 12 3,157
Oklahoma City 0 30,768 10 3,077
Portland 0 29,150 10 2,915
Albany 0 38,619 14 2,759
Springfield 1,550 32,679 12 2,723
League 25,602 1,795,170 361 4,973

[robster2001]

The shakeup is definitely coming, and the CHL fold-merge into the ECHL was definitely step 1.

Problem is that second-tier hockey has failed in San Diego before (the IHL was there for years before collapsing, and is there anything better than the the artist formerly known as the SDSA [Valley View Center] for hockey now?). And there's no guarantee that Ontario, Stockton or Bakersfield fans are willing to pay what AHL hockey will cost. Then again, if the NHL teams are behind the move, they may not be worried as much about lower ticket revenue than they are about cutting travel costs.

I wonder though... will they only call up players when both the NHL and AHL teams are at home? </sarcasm> There may not be the incremental gain in travel spending that the teams think an AHL West would provide...