FHL on the move

[CMUBrent]

Wandering Saints

Lots of games in Kingsville. Testing the waters? Why keep the Saint Clair name if you aren't playing any games there?

This could get ugly quickly. Bouncing around like that, the Wandering Saints will be lucky to get to 10 wins next year.

 

[pled]

This could get ugly quickly. Bouncing around like that, the Wandering Saints will be lucky to get to 10 wins next year.

FHL did have wandering team before nothing new

 

[Dingo44]

I called it.

http://www.federalhockey.com/news/fighting-saints-relocate-to-kingsville-on-become-n

FIGHTING SAINTS RELOCATE TO KINGSVILLE, ON; BECOME NORTH SHORE KNIGHTS

July 19, 2017

Kingsville, ON - Jack Sports Group is happy to announce that professional hockey is coming to the Kingsville Arena Complex. The new team is part of the Federal Hockey League, and this addition gives us both a pro hockey and junior program under one roof! In total, we expect to play 24 home games. 15 home games in Kingsville and 9 additional Neutral Site Games will be played in some of our northern communities such as Gravenhurst, ON; South River, ON; and Témiscaming, QC.
The Federal Hockey League is a professional hockey league with teams in the Midwestern and Northeastern United States and Cornwall, ON. Kingsville is now the second team in Canada. The FHL has advanced more than 160 players to to various 'AA' (or higher) leagues including the ECHL, CHL, and AHL. The Federal Hockey League will also provide an opportunity for local junior hockey players that have aged out and want to continue playing competitive hockey.
Kingsville Kings President Tom Schinkelshoek says, “With the addition of the FHL team to the area, it will attract better talent to the Kingsville Kings. Scouting and signing of players will be much easier with the FHL hockey team in town.”
It is with our pleasure to give the Kingsville community even more hockey than previous seasons. Kingsville is known to have the best fans in the GMHL and with that being said, please help us welcome your North Shore Knights to the Castle!

Jack Sports Group wishes to thank all of our fans in St. Clair Shores, MI and the St. Clair Shores Civic Arena where we were located last season as the St. Clair Shores Fighting Saints. The North Shore Knights official logo, website, and social media channels will be unveiled/updated in the near future

 

[sabremike]

Danbury Titans RIP. Team just announced they are ceasing operations. Bennet cited trouble getting adequate insurance. I think it had more to do with the team losing money (attendance was down significantly from the Whalers heyday). Those of you who've been wishing for the FHL to die are likely to get your wish because there's no way I can see the league surviving this.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Danbury Titans RIP. Team just announced they are ceasing operations. Bennet cited trouble getting adequate insurance. I think it had more to do with the team losing money (attendance was down significantly from the Whalers heyday). Those of you who've been wishing for the FHL to die are likely to get your wish because there's no way I can see the league surviving this.

no, that's facing all teams in Connecticut, not just Danbury, same thing can be applied to any pro team in Connecticut, sabre....

the FHL isn't dying off, that's a business decision, you may not agree with it, but it's not your team, how would you feel if it was

 

[royals119]

no, that's facing all teams in Connecticut, not just Danbury, same thing can be applied to any pro team in Connecticut, sabre....

So the Wolfpack and Sound Tigers are also having trouble getting insurance? Wow that is really surprising.

the FHL isn't dying off, that's a business decision, you may not agree with it, but it's not your team, how would you feel if it was

It seems pretty obvious that Danbury was the strongest organization in the FHL. With them announcing they won't continue it isn't far fetched to suspect the league would have trouble continuing. I find it amazing they have kept on this long with as much instability as they have had, but this is a major blow.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

So the Wolfpack and Sound Tigers are also having trouble getting insurance? Wow that is really surprising.


It seems pretty obvious that Danbury was the strongest organization in the FHL. With them announcing they won't continue it isn't far fetched to suspect the league would have trouble continuing. I find it amazing they have kept on this long with as much instability as they have had, but this is a major blow.

considering Hartford's issues, yes, royals, never rule anything in or out in state politics, why is Connecticut spending money they don't really have on upgrading/maintaining XL, and then you hear the city's struggles a la Springfield about being financially instable of operating without bailout....

Massachusetts had to essentially pay to upgrade Mass Mutual Center because Springfield couldn't, and it has zero to do with MGM arriving there....

 

[royals119]

considering Hartford's issues, yes, royals, never rule anything in or out in state politics, why is Connecticut spending money they don't really have on upgrading/maintaining XL, and then you hear the city's struggles a la Springfield about being financially instable of operating without bailout....

I would guess because they want keep the team there. There have been quotes in the paper about trying to get back to the NHL, but I think even they realize that isn't going to happen. Most teams operate on pretty slim margins - no surprise to hear them looking for help.

Massachusetts had to essentially pay to upgrade Mass Mutual Center because Springfield couldn't, and it has zero to do with MGM arriving there....

I don't remember ever hearing about a minor league team paying to upgrade their arena. That is pretty much always done by the local government. Maybe some minor upgrades like a scoreboard or new glass, or in a rare case where the hockey team owner also owns the building such as Kalamazoo in the ECHL.

 

[GarbageGoal]

No getting around this, Danbury was the stalwart of these Single A leagues for awhile now. Big loss.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I would guess because they want keep the team there. There have been quotes in the paper about trying to get back to the NHL, but I think even they realize that isn't going to happen. Most teams operate on pretty slim margins - no surprise to hear them looking for help.


I don't remember ever hearing about a minor league team paying to upgrade their arena. That is pretty much always done by the local government. Maybe some minor upgrades like a scoreboard or new glass, or in a rare case where the hockey team owner also owns the building such as Kalamazoo in the ECHL.

IT WAS A MAJOR renovation of the arena itself, much like Cross here, royals, it took 3 years to renovate our facility, there it took longer, MGM manages the arena today, but it took 5 years to do the SCC and flip that into Mass Mutual.... Springfield then went insolvent locally and the Commonwealth had to bail them out, much as potentially what Hartford itself is facing/been reported now.

it may depend on who manages the arena, and that's Spectra, more often than not around most arenas. in Fact, the weird thing was Spectra also builds these arenas, not just manages them, and Cross, as weird as the building looks visually outside, was modeled after the Spectrum.

 

[Captain Crash]

No getting around this, Danbury was the stalwart of these Single A leagues for awhile now. Big loss.

Honestly I think this is the best thing for Danbury and hockey in the Northeast. This opens the door for Danbury and Elmira to get into the same league-- either joining Johnstown in juniors (NAHL) or through the formation of a more legitimate Single A league for the region.

 

[royals119]

it may depend on who manages the arena, and that's Spectra, more often than not around most arenas.

I just checked. Spectra manages 44 US arenas, SMG has 70 and AEG has 20, so no, Spectra doesn't manage most arenas. Of the big three they have just under a third, and I'm sure there are some arenas out there that are managed by someone other than those three companies.

 

[210]

Massachusetts had to essentially pay to upgrade Mass Mutual Center because Springfield couldn't, and it has zero to do with MGM arriving there....

This is absolutely untrue. It was a mixture of city and state money that paid for the 2003 rehab of the Springfield Civic Center.

 

[GindyDraws]

Danbury Titans RIP. Team just announced they are ceasing operations. Bennet cited trouble getting adequate insurance. I think it had more to do with the team losing money (attendance was down significantly from the Whalers heyday). Those of you who've been wishing for the FHL to die are likely to get your wish because there's no way I can see the league surviving this.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=roRQ2mNwMMQ

 

[wildcat48]

"Despite all of this, tough decisions had to be made. After reassessing the cost of workers' compensation insurance in the State of Connecticut I decided this was not financially feasible for an organization like mine. Last season's injury list was long. Because of this, I refuse to allow my staff and players on the ice without proper medical coverage. I have been working hard over the last few months to find a solution. Despite working up to the last possible second a solution could not be found. I do not feel comfortable jeopardizing the safety of my players and staff with improper or no insurance."

[MOD]

Read the quote from the press release... Bennett explicitly says he's folding the team because of insurance reasons.

http://www.danburytitans.com/news/danbury-titans-cease-operations

 

[sabremike]

I'll just put it this way: The fact that people were no longer coming to the games and Bruce had to be losing significant money didn't help.

 

[Dale Best Goalie]

Sort of fell in love with the old Danbury Whalers back when they played... will surely miss the titans, I was planning on going to a bunch of their games. Hopefully hockey returns to Danbury!

 

[Dingo44]

From all reports they had over 1,100 for the first FHL game in Mentor, OH last night and the reviews from the fans are great! And my friends who went to the Thunderbirds games over the weekend reported full stands and had a blast as well. I also suspect Elmira will do very well. Just have to hope Mentor and Elmira have strong teams this year to keep the interest high.

 

[JMCx4]

I attended Elmira's first two games in Danville this past weekend. Coach Clarke has a few big boys on his roster who have clearly taken their "Enforcers" team name to heart. They seemed more organized & displayed good flow and set-up offensive plays more crisply than the Dashers in Game 1. Game 2 became a blow out for the home team, but Elmira still looked like a formidable squad - as long as team defense wasn't essential. Now if they can just dump those lime green-accented jerseys, they might have something ...

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Elmira's team is a dumpster fire. It could be because theyve taken the goon name to heart.

 

[Dingo44]

Elmira's team is a dumpster fire. It could be because theyve taken the goon name to heart.

Saw them in person a couple of games against the Thunderbirds this weekend. They lost 1 - 0 and 2 - 0. Both were really fun games - got a couple of first timers including one who had never been to a hockey game before hooked on the Birds, including buying future tickets and a bunch of merch - but the Birds outshot them both games almost 2 - 1. The goalie on Elmira is great though.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Saw them in person a couple of games against the Thunderbirds this weekend. They lost 1 - 0 and 2 - 0. Both were really fun games - got a couple of first timers including one who had never been to a hockey game before hooked on the Birds, including buying future tickets and a bunch of merch - but the Birds outshot them both games almost 2 - 1. The goalie on Elmira is great though.

Yeah, I lisytened, the games were definitely not that close, Carolina is definitely the class of the league and I don't think theres a close second. One of the goals went in off the goalies head lol.

I didnt realize they had a 3 point system for regulation wins.

 

[Aero 75]

Lot of hypothetical situations in this report on BLH, but does the FHL have a massive southern expansion in mind,
setting up a territorial war with the SPHL?

Trying to make sense of the Columbus to FHL rumors

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Lot of hypothetical situations in this report on BLH, but does the FHL have a massive southern expansion in mind,
setting up a territorial war with the SPHL?

Trying to make sense of the Columbus to FHL rumors

If the FHL were stable I would argue maybe a merger but with the league footprints that could smell like a mistake.

 

[Dingo44]

If they can put three more teams in the South then two divisions maybe sense and the FHL can fill gaps the SPHL can't. Plus a bunch of Thunderbirds have gotten call ups to the SPHL lately so that's something that works for both leagues as well.