Prospect Info: Albany Devils and ECHL Affiliates Thread Pt. 3

[DevilsJunkie]

Let's not forget that, until recently, Bell was a defenseman. The ECHL might be the best place for him to hone the finer points of being a forward at the pro level.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

I just thought Bell was going down to the ECHL for conditioning cause he missed all of camp. If he's really down there maybe that was the reason why it was such a long holdout, because they wanted to send him there and he wanted to play in the AHL?

Kelly Zajac's not a guy that should ever be playing in the NHL, Bell's still young enough with tools enough to dream of that someday. But future NHL players don't usually start in the ECHL unless they're goons.

Generally speaking yes, but there is no issue with sending Bell down to the ECHL.

If he has any type of NHL future, he will surely display it in the ECHL and should be up to the AHL in short order.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Jon Quick spent some time in the ECHL.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Kelly Zajac's not a guy that should ever be playing in the NHL, Bell's still young enough with tools enough to dream of that someday. But future NHL players don't usually start in the ECHL unless they're goons.

Kelly Zajac had a great season with Albany last year. If Stephen Gionta can be an NHL player for this long, no reason Kelly Zajac couldn't find a spot as a fourth line forward.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

oopswrong thread

 

[NjDevs4994]

Jon Quick spent some time in the ECHL.

Saw him play against trenton a few years back!

 

[devilsblood]

AHL roster is full, let Bell dominate the ECHL and earn a call-up like Kelly Zajac did. Nothing wrong with that.

Concur, I wouldn't see it as a slight, only as an oppurtunity to play more. Probably would be/have been a good thing for a guy like Scarlett as well.

 

[devilsblood]

haha i was in a rush at work leaving the office. i work for the state and i am in albany alot with my new position and ive been fortunate enough to catch a few games (terrible attendance btw) going from new jersey to albany is something else but decent rink for albany too bad they cant draw fans

Why don't they draw fans? Is it a NJ club in NY that is the issue? Does Albany pay the Dev's to play there? Can't see how anyone is making $$$ up there though.

Feel from a devils perspective they would be better off in NJ as well. Stick them in a populated area, where fans can go see a game for dirt cheap. Get young kids to become Devil fans at an early age.

 

[Zippy316]

Why don't they draw fans? Is it a NJ club in NY that is the issue? Does Albany pay the Dev's to play there? Can't see how anyone is making $$$ up there though.

Feel from a devils perspective they would be better off in NJ as well. Stick them in a populated area, where fans can go see a game for dirt cheap. Get young kids to become Devil fans at an early age.

The problem is there is no viable hockey rink for an AHL team in New Jersey.

Supposedly, they are revamping that whole area in Sayreville where the parkway, Route 35, and Route 9 all meet, where that abandoned movie theatre is. In the beginning, there was rumors of a baseball stadium or even an arena being a part of the plans. If the Devils could somehow get behind an arena right there, that could put an AHL team at the heart of the NJ fan base. I'm sure they would see a significant boost in attendance there from Devils fans, plus the accessibility of the AHL team being ~20 minutes away.

 

[Cowbell232]

The problem is there is no viable hockey rink for an AHL team in New Jersey.

Supposedly, they are revamping that whole area in Sayreville where the parkway, Route 35, and Route 9 all meet, where that abandoned movie theatre is. In the beginning, there was rumors of a baseball stadium or even an arena being a part of the plans. If the Devils could somehow get behind an arena right there, that could put an AHL team at the heart of the NJ fan base. I'm sure they would see a significant boost in attendance there from Devils fans, plus the accessibility of the AHL team being ~20 minutes away.

A cheaper, barely different minor team in the same zone as the NJD would also be cutting off your nose to spite your face. They'd be crushing themselves. Plus, there's no money to made at the AHL level. They are, for the most part, propped up by their NHL counterparts. Maybe someone like the Marlies makes money... Or perhaps Portland or Rockford where they truly are the only game in town?

Also, from a logistical standpoint, it's not a great idea to have your teams that close to each other. It lets players stay too close when they get called up or down and can lend to negative situations for younger players too easily.

 

[Devils Dominion]

A cheaper, barely different minor team in the same zone as the NJD would also be cutting off your nose to spite your face. They'd be crushing themselves. Plus, there's no money to made at the AHL level. They are, for the most part, propped up by their NHL counterparts. Maybe someone like the Marlies makes money... Or perhaps Portland or Rockford where they truly are the only game in town?

Also, from a logistical standpoint, it's not a great idea to have your teams that close to each other. It lets players stay too close when they get called up or down and can lend to negative situations for younger players too easily.

Solid points and it would be a dumb for the Devils to have their AHL Team in the North/Central Jersey or NYC area.

Albany is far enough away but also close enough drive to shuttle players back and forth.

Simply, Albany is not a good "pro" sports market.
It has never drawn well in minor league hockey nor baseball.

They may support Sienna hoops well or even Union Hockey, but, when it comes to the AHL, aside from some playoff games, its always been a ghost town, Devils or other affilitations.

Maybe lots of people in the Albany area do have an anti-NJ bias which keeps them away from the rink, it's possible.
But if that's the case they are shooting themselves in the foot because no other NHL team will want to move their AHL squad to that city if they do their due diligence and homework for that market.

I do know that there are lots of great Albany Devils fans that go to the games, they just need more of them.
The team has been fun to watch the last few seasons.

 

[Zippy316]

A cheaper, barely different minor team in the same zone as the NJD would also be cutting off your nose to spite your face. They'd be crushing themselves. Plus, there's no money to made at the AHL level. They are, for the most part, propped up by their NHL counterparts. Maybe someone like the Marlies makes money... Or perhaps Portland or Rockford where they truly are the only game in town?

Also, from a logistical standpoint, it's not a great idea to have your teams that close to each other. It lets players stay too close when they get called up or down and can lend to negative situations for younger players too easily.

I would think it's better then just funneling money into a team that you get nothing out of.

I'm sure you can get a good amount of Devils fans to go to the teams AHL games, especially to see the younger guys in action. It's hard to sell a Devils team in a Rangers or Bruins market.

 

[Cowbell232]

I would think it's better then just funneling money into a team that you get nothing out of.

I'm sure you can get a good amount of Devils fans to go to the teams AHL games, especially to see the younger guys in action. It's hard to sell a Devils team in a Rangers or Bruins market.

You have two options. You can get a Devils ticket for $25-150. You can get an A Devils ticket for $10-25. Which do you do? Tickets to NHL Devils games would drop by at least a third, probably half. Doesn't make any sense.

Also, how do you make back the millions it cost to build the arena in the first place? Where do you build parking? What do you do with the arena besides the anchor tenant in the over-crowded culture of NY Metro?

It is not feasible at any level.

 

[NJDevs26]

A cheaper, barely different minor team in the same zone as the NJD would also be cutting off your nose to spite your face. They'd be crushing themselves. Plus, there's no money to made at the AHL level. They are, for the most part, propped up by their NHL counterparts. Maybe someone like the Marlies makes money... Or perhaps Portland or Rockford where they truly are the only game in town?

Also, from a logistical standpoint, it's not a great idea to have your teams that close to each other. It lets players stay too close when they get called up or down and can lend to negative situations for younger players too easily.

While I agree it generally serves cross purposes to have both here, don't/didn't the Phantoms play in the Spectrum in the same area as the Wells Fargo center? I don't think it's affected attendance though we probably couldn't get away with doing it in any case.

 

[Cowbell232]

While I agree it generally serves cross purposes to have both here, don't/didn't the Phantoms play in the Spectrum in the same area as the Wells Fargo center? I don't think it's affected attendance though we probably couldn't get away with doing it in any case.

Their GM wasn't Lou

I don't think it affected attendance much at the Flyers level, but it was a stop gap while their AHL arena was being built and all that, right? It was 1 season I think?

 

[NJDevs26]

Apparently they were at the Spectrum from '96-09 which is longer than I even thought.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Phantoms

Adirondack the last few years was the stopgap for their new arena.

 

[NJDevs26]

And also if you don't want teams too close, you also don't want them too far away either. Both because it makes it more inconvenient to get call ups and because you risk having zero market. Nobody outside the tri state area is going to give a hoot about a Devils farm team.

 

[Cowbell232]

Apparently they were at the Spectrum from '96-09 which is longer than I even thought.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Phantoms

Adirondack the last few years was the stopgap for their new arena.

Wow, yeah... I had no idea about that. But I wonder how it worked cause they were such a long established team?

And also if you don't want teams too close, you also don't want them too far away either. Both because it makes it more inconvenient to get call ups and because you risk having zero market. Nobody outside the tri state area is going to give a hoot about a Devils farm team.

Definitely true, but do people care who the farm team is for? Meaning, does a Sabres fan in Albany not go A-Devils games cause of that? Or do they go for cheap, good hockey? Who knows...

 

[Devils Dominion]

And also if you don't want teams too close, you also don't want them too far away either. Both because it makes it more inconvenient to get call ups and because you risk having zero market. Nobody outside the tri state area is going to give a hoot about a Devils farm team.

Sure they would, in a city that has the resources to support AHL hockey.
I don't think Albany does as it's mostly a 9-5 govt city downtown along with college students & low income bracket folks with fixed/limited disposable income.

There are a few good examples of that across the league that support their AHL franchise very well even though the NHL squad is not in that area.

It would help if they went back to the River Rats name but Jeff wanted to "paint the town red" in Albany & Trenton and brand those teams "Devils".

In retrospect it was a colossal mistake in judgement and they should have been kept the River Rats and Titans.
That way, the Devils-hating Rags, Flyers, Bruins, etc fans would not feel that bad about supporting those local teams at the minor league level.

 

[Lou is God]

The perfect place for a minor league hockey rink would be New Brunswick, that way Rutgers can start exploring fielding men's and women's Big Ten hockey teams.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

Wow, yeah... I had no idea about that. But I wonder how it worked cause they were such a long established team?



Definitely true, but do people care who the farm team is for? Meaning, does a Sabres fan in Albany not go A-Devils games cause of that? Or do they go for cheap, good hockey? Who knows...

The team hasn't really won anything for going on 14 years. If the Albany Devils are 24-9-4 at the halfway mark, I think attendance will be better. It certainly was there in the mid 90s.

 

[brule2000]

I just thought Bell was going down to the ECHL for conditioning cause he missed all of camp. If he's really down there maybe that was the reason why it was such a long holdout, because they wanted to send him there and he wanted to play in the AHL?



Kelly Zajac's not a guy that should ever be playing in the NHL, Bell's still young enough with tools enough to dream of that someday. But future NHL players don't usually start in the ECHL unless they're goons.

....or goalies.

Regarding Helgeson: with Volchenkov and Fayne gone the team will want to take a look at in house physical defense ahead of the others on the AHL roster. There's puck moving cover in the seventh NHL position. Burlon has also upped his physicality and I wouldn't want to see him jettisoned. He still has upside and multiple years in the Devs system.

 

[Classic Devil]

....or goalies.

Regarding Helgeson: with Volchenkov and Fayne gone the team will want to take a look at in house physical defense ahead of the others on the AHL roster. There's puck moving cover in the seventh NHL position. Burlon has also upped his physicality and I wouldn't want to see him jettisoned. He still has upside and multiple years in the Devs system.

Burlon is getting pretty close to UFA eligibility.

 

[Marshal Rochambeau]

Clemmensen gave up 3 goals on 19 shots. Can he and Wedgewood play solid hockey while Kinkaid is in the NHL? Kinkaid is a big reason Albany is doing well. I hope they don't go south.

 

[devilsblood]

You have two options. You can get a Devils ticket for $25-150. You can get an A Devils ticket for $10-25. Which do you do? Tickets to NHL Devils games would drop by at least a third, probably half. Doesn't make any sense.

Also, how do you make back the millions it cost to build the arena in the first place? Where do you build parking? What do you do with the arena besides the anchor tenant in the over-crowded culture of NY Metro?

It is not feasible at any level.

But they are not the same product, one is NHL, the other is minor leagues. I think the minor leagues serves as something locals can do spur of the moment on the weekend. akin to going to the movies.

And like I mentioned earlier, I think having a Devils presence helps build the Devils brand. I don't think that works when your talking Albany, or Trenton, people from those areas are rarely going to go to a game in Newark, but a location that is nearer to Newark, but not at Newark's doorstep. I could see that working.

I wouldn't look to build an arena, I'd look to play in a venue that is already established. And given that Albany draws what? 500 people per game(judging by some clips that might be generous) I would think there are options out there.

Just thought of this, could they retro fit Asbury Park convention hall?
I've seen minor league basketball there. Good time.