ECHL affiliate

[seanlinden]

Call me crazy, but I don't think the ECHL makes sense in Canada at all.

The biggest cities in Canada have NHL teams.

Their AHL teams are located in:
- Laval (MTL), basically "uptown".
- Belleville (OTT), Small town 3 hours away
- Toronto, down the road
- Winnipeg, on the outskirts of town
- Calgary, shares an arena.
- Bakersfield (EDM), in California
- Abbotsford (VAN), small town an hour away.

While there are of course tons of "hockey suitable" markets, the reality is, that the OHL/QMJHL/WHL have too strong of a presence here. They operate the same 70ish game schedule, and have a ton of historic and pre-built local rivalries.

In the states, it's different. There is no "major junior" hockey outside of the few CHL teams there. It's high school and college, and if you're not in a big college town, there isn't much quality hockey available. Even in the college towns, they're only playing 40 games a year.

The "callup benefit" also isn't really there for the ECHL... the chances of guys playing in the ECHL and NHL in the same season is quite low.

Newfoundland wasn't even a good ECHL location. Too far from the rest of the league, and too far for the Marlies & Growlers to have any sort of efficiency in management. The only "logic" behind Newfoundland is that it was a "way" to keep that area of the country Leafs fans, who had nostalgia for the St. Johns' Maple Leafs back in the day.

 

[Frostitute]

Call me crazy, but I don't think the ECHL makes sense in Canada at all.

The biggest cities in Canada have NHL teams.

Their AHL teams are located in:
- Laval (MTL), basically "uptown".
- Belleville (OTT), Small town 3 hours away
- Toronto, down the road
- Winnipeg, on the outskirts of town
- Calgary, shares an arena.
- Bakersfield (EDM), in California
- Abbotsford (VAN), small town an hour away.

While there are of course tons of "hockey suitable" markets, the reality is, that the OHL/QMJHL/WHL have too strong of a presence here. They operate the same 70ish game schedule, and have a ton of historic and pre-built local rivalries.

In the states, it's different. There is no "major junior" hockey outside of the few CHL teams there. It's high school and college, and if you're not in a big college town, there isn't much quality hockey available. Even in the college towns, they're only playing 40 games a year.

The "callup benefit" also isn't really there for the ECHL... the chances of guys playing in the ECHL and NHL in the same season is quite low.

Newfoundland wasn't even a good ECHL location. Too far from the rest of the league, and too far for the Marlies & Growlers to have any sort of efficiency in management. The only "logic" behind Newfoundland is that it was a "way" to keep that area of the country Leafs fans, who had nostalgia for the St. Johns' Maple Leafs back in the day.

Red Deer could support a pro team, I guarantee it. Not at the NHL level but anything below that for sure. Yes, they have a WHL team. Lots of other places as well. Newfoundland is insanely out of the way for a club but many other cities could support an ECHL team in Canada. If you want a list ask and ill supply one for funsies lol.

 

[Tarmore]

What about having them play in the Richo? Have them play the afternoon games and the Marlies the evening games. Have an option to buy the ECHL ticket for $5 more when buying the Marlies one. Could also partner with local restaurants and attractions for between games.

Not sure how many times the schedule would work for that but could be a fun.

 

[seanlinden]

Red Deer could support a pro team, I guarantee it. Not at the NHL level but anything below that for sure. Yes, they have a WHL team. Lots of other places as well. Newfoundland is insanely out of the way for a club but many other cities could support an ECHL team in Canada. If you want a list ask and ill supply one for funsies lol.

Red Deer has the Rebels, and has many of the same problems WRT to Newfoundland; where the travel distances are huge to other ECHL teams. The ECHL is very much a bus-driven league.

The point that I was trying to make is that it would be very difficult for an ECHL team to compete against an established CHL team... you're talking about 3rd tier pro versus top tier Jr... and most cities in Canada of 100k people have CHL teams; and that's about what you need to support an ECHL team.

You also have no built-in regional rivalries with the ECHL. There might be enough cities to support one, but you'd sort of have to have an "en masse" ECHL Canadian expansion.

The one city that kind of strikes out to me would be London, but it would almost have to be owned by the Knights where they make a concerted effort to have players move from the Knights to the ECHL team when they age out.