Confirmed with Link: Binghamton Senators Moving To Belleville

[Caeldan]

Glad to hear that as it's never nice to lose a team, but the AHL can be turbulent and the affiliation has been there for a long time. If Bingo hits the ground running with another team, especially if it's one that has a more local following (the Rangers would be ideal I suppose) then that would offset losing the Sens.

Belleville is an interesting choice as it seemed like the AHL was trending towards larger cities (San Antonio, San Diego, Tucson) and abandoning smaller cities (Glen's Falls), so Belleville is a bit of an outlier with a population of 50K.

Being a junior hockey fan, I miss the Bulls and the sometimes rivalry with the 67's. I was hoping they would get another OHL team, but hope they can make a go of it in the AHL.

Was listening to the guys on XM Radio today, they were talking to the sports guy for the Belleville paper.

Some key points that I recall, per his discussions with the team:
- Randy Lee is going to basically be running the show in Belleville
- In terms of population they're comparing Belleville to Utica (3860 capacity arena for hockey, ~60k city population)
- Attendance traditionally in Belleville for the OHL club was 90-95% capacity and that's what they're looking to achieve with the Baby Sens there.
- Ticket prices should cap out at $30
- There's plans for some major league upgrades to the locker room/weight facility in the building, to the point it may rival some NHL clubs.
- 'Proximity' was the big buzz word used regarding the team's location vs Binghamton. The fact that the coaches can watch a practice in Belleville and then get back to Ottawa for a game in the same day mean that they can have first hand experience in terms of knowing who's doing what.