Future of the ECHL
- Thread starter ADK34
- Start date
royals119
Registered User
It will look like this, but without Evansville: http://echl.com/team-map-s12363 The divisions probably won't change at all, except that the midwest will have one less team.
There is a seven page thread on this exact topic in this forum, just scroll down the page.
ECHL is really out of markets and you have teams like Brampton or Adirondack who's futures don't look great.
Reno has always been interest for them but they failed in the WHL. They have failed before in Louisville even though I don't think it's horrible consideration. Failed again in New Orleans and another team in Louisiana didn't last. Considering how their AHL team didn't last long and how it's turned into a NBA town, Oklahoma City is out of the question.
ECHL has great markets like Fort Wayne, Toledo or Orlando. Cincinnati and Tulsa also. It's time to continue to roll with them as long as possible.
Reno has always been interest for them but they failed in the WHL. They have failed before in Louisville even though I don't think it's horrible consideration. Failed again in New Orleans and another team in Louisiana didn't last. Considering how their AHL team didn't last long and how it's turned into a NBA town, Oklahoma City is out of the question.
ECHL has great markets like Fort Wayne, Toledo or Orlando. Cincinnati and Tulsa also. It's time to continue to roll with them as long as possible.
Sports Enthusiast
Not Here To Be Liked
Cacciaguida
Registered User
Yes, three more years on Brampton. Just because the city council decided they needed 1.5 million. Oh, taxpayers.
Cacciaguida
Registered User
Sports Enthusiast
Not Here To Be Liked
I'm not sure how that will be done unless the owner has a checkbook big enough to bleed through. Team won't fix the tax problem. Nobody is attending games.
Baronsfan
Registered User
- Nov 10, 2010
- 688
- 0
Guessing it was Brampton & Evansville who were obviously looking at the OKC market for relocation. Here is a write up in OKC paper regarding the markets future. http://newsok.com/article/5488564/?utm_source=NewsOK.com&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=NIC-Facebook
Sounds like a lot of uncertainties must be cleared before OKC would be able to return. Lund is enthusiastic about an eventual resurrection of Blazers franchise, but just a matter of the city getting behind him at some point.
Sounds like a lot of uncertainties must be cleared before OKC would be able to return. Lund is enthusiastic about an eventual resurrection of Blazers franchise, but just a matter of the city getting behind him at some point.
Sports Enthusiast
Not Here To Be Liked
Baronsfan
Registered User
- Nov 10, 2010
- 688
- 0
Yes, unfortunately thunder has the city's you know what in a vise grip so they will continue to be the only show in town in the fall/winter months.
OKC has a core of about 3,500 hockey fans, which would be fine in the ECHL I imagine. Likely would see a spike due to the Wichita/Tulsa rivalries so a team would be feasible, so hopefully it comes to pass. Northlands purchasing a team and putting its ECHL affiliate in OKC and having a Dallas/Austin/OKC partnership would be ideal.
ADK34
Registered User
I'd love to see Tacoma, WA (Tacoma Dome) Fresno, CA (Selland Arena) Reno, NV (Reno Events Center?) Tucson, AZ (Tucson Arena) Beumont, TX (Ford Arena) Birmingham, AL (Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center) Louisville, KY (KFC Yum! Center) Kansas City, MO (Sprint Arena/American Royal Center) Baltimore, MD (Royal Farms Arena) make a comeback run with a hockey team from the ECHL, AHL, USHL, and SPHL. (Kansas City possible NHL expansion at sprint arena. American royal center could host a minor league team)
And maybe even some cities without a rink such as Burlington, VT Myrtle Beach, SC Chattanooga, TN Albuquerque, NM and Wilmington, NC.
Maybe expand a team into a NYC suberb such as White Plains or into the Delaware market, Surrounded by Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, Maryland and New Jersey.
Jacksonville, FL has a nice arena, why not throw a team there?
Maybe the NAHL would want to look at Traverse City, MI or Jamestown, NY as potential expansion markets. Both have right sized rinks. Or other possiblities is Jamestown and Elmira, NY to the OHL.
And maybe even some cities without a rink such as Burlington, VT Myrtle Beach, SC Chattanooga, TN Albuquerque, NM and Wilmington, NC.
Maybe expand a team into a NYC suberb such as White Plains or into the Delaware market, Surrounded by Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC, Maryland and New Jersey.
Jacksonville, FL has a nice arena, why not throw a team there?
Maybe the NAHL would want to look at Traverse City, MI or Jamestown, NY as potential expansion markets. Both have right sized rinks. Or other possiblities is Jamestown and Elmira, NY to the OHL.
http://www.vermontbiz.com/news/march/60-million-multi-purpose-arena-uvm-proposed-south-burlington
Burlington was eyed in the past by the U.H.L. They wanted a footprint with Adirondack, Danbury, Utica, and Burlington VT and Pittsfield Mass. The big question today though would UVM share the rink and is there enough population/desire to support low rung minor league hockey over a hockey east program????
Kansas City already served in the ECHL with the Missouri Mavericks, which are based in KC suburb of Independence, MO.
Since the NHL has already had a period for teams to submit bids for expansion, and only Las Vegas and Quebec City responded, its not realistic to expect the NHL to return to KC in the foreseeable future.
Had the Thunder kept the OKC Blue in Tulsa, as the Tulsa 66ers, then the Cox Center would have been a viable location for the Blazers to play. With OKC Blue having dibs on dates at the Cox Center, looks like hockey returning to OKC anytime soon is doubtful.
Would have loved for the Blazers to have returned, and renewed the rivalry with the Tulsa Oilers.
The only changes I want to see for next season, for now are for Kalamazoo and Cincinnati to swap divisions. The Ohio teams need to be together, plus Cincy is actually further east than Kalamazoo.
In 2017, Toledo and Cincinnati would move to the Western Conference and Owensboro joins the Eastern Conference.
Here's how the divisions could look in 2017:
Eastern:
Mid-Atlantic:
Norfolk
Owensboro
Reading
Wheeling
North:
Adirondack
Brampton
Elmira
Manchester
Worcester
South:
Atlanta
Florida
Greenville
Orlando
South Carolina
Western:
West:
Alaska
Colorado
Idaho
Rapid City
Utah
Central:
Allen
Missouri
Quad City
Tulsa
Wichita
Midwest:
Cincinnati
Fort Wayne
Indy
Kalamazoo
Toledo
Putting the Ohio teams in the West but the further west Owensboro in the East is simply a matter of keeping same-state teams in the same division while keeping the divisions mostly-balanced. A fifth team could be placed in the Mid-Atlantic Division, but what cities in the area are suitable for ECHL hockey? Baltimore is a possibility.
When the NHL expands to 32, 2 more Eastern teams could be added to this alignment and Owensboro moved to the Midwest Division. One of the new teams would have to be placed in the Mid-Atlantic Division (Richmond?). The other would go in the North or South Division (if North, Lowell is a possibility, if South, perhaps Greensboro?).
In another thread I also mentioned that the ECHL should take on the International Hockey League name because the league is now spread across much of North America like the leagues above it. This would also mean that all three leagues recognized in the NHL CBA have 3-letter initialisms (NHL, AHL, IHL), as well as eliminate any confusion regarding the ECHL's former full name.
In 2017, Toledo and Cincinnati would move to the Western Conference and Owensboro joins the Eastern Conference.
Here's how the divisions could look in 2017:
Eastern:
Mid-Atlantic:
Norfolk
Owensboro
Reading
Wheeling
North:
Adirondack
Brampton
Elmira
Manchester
Worcester
South:
Atlanta
Florida
Greenville
Orlando
South Carolina
Western:
West:
Alaska
Colorado
Idaho
Rapid City
Utah
Central:
Allen
Missouri
Quad City
Tulsa
Wichita
Midwest:
Cincinnati
Fort Wayne
Indy
Kalamazoo
Toledo
Putting the Ohio teams in the West but the further west Owensboro in the East is simply a matter of keeping same-state teams in the same division while keeping the divisions mostly-balanced. A fifth team could be placed in the Mid-Atlantic Division, but what cities in the area are suitable for ECHL hockey? Baltimore is a possibility.
When the NHL expands to 32, 2 more Eastern teams could be added to this alignment and Owensboro moved to the Midwest Division. One of the new teams would have to be placed in the Mid-Atlantic Division (Richmond?). The other would go in the North or South Division (if North, Lowell is a possibility, if South, perhaps Greensboro?).
In another thread I also mentioned that the ECHL should take on the International Hockey League name because the league is now spread across much of North America like the leagues above it. This would also mean that all three leagues recognized in the NHL CBA have 3-letter initialisms (NHL, AHL, IHL), as well as eliminate any confusion regarding the ECHL's former full name.
Last edited:
crimsonace
Registered User
Of the places you've mentioned:
Tacoma: Open market, but the Tacoma Dome is really not a good hockey venue.
Fresno: I'd like to see it, but what is the demand like in that particular market? Any West Coast entry would need to have a few others tossed in.
Tuscon: Could also throw Prescott (former CHL market) into this mix. Is the market big enough to support both UA sports & a minor pro hockey team. Again, a Sun Belt market, would it support hockey in a big enough way to make it viable? A lot of the old WPHL rodeo arenas are dark for a reason.
Beaumont: Very small & isolated.
Birmingham: Has a big (and old), but good venue for the ECHL, has a history of supporting hockey - although not recent - has been a major league hockey market (WHA Bulls) and not a lot of local competition during the winter (except from UAB). Its location makes it a viable market.
Louisville: Probably not the Yum! Center, but the Louisville Gardens (which doesn't have ice) downtown or Broadbent Arena at the fairgrounds south of town (next door to Freedom Hall). Both have their positives & negatives, but Louisville has a strong history of supporting its AAA baseball team and has no other competition except UofL. But UofL & UK hoops tend to dominate the sports scene in the winter.
KC: Already in the league with the Missouri Mavericks (Independence, which is in the KC suburbs)
Baltimore: Another market that would make sense from a geographic and market perspective, but for some reason, hockey has never really worked there. Would think they'd need to be affiliated with the Capitals to make it work.
Burlington: Too small to compete with UVM; Myrtle Beach: No; Chattanooga: Again, a small market, no viable arena. SPHL Knoxville is right up the road; Albuquerque: Failed WPHL market.
Markets I'd like to see:
OKC - has a history of supporting hockey, but the Thunder dominate the local sports scene now.
Louisville - reasons stated above
Birmingham - for reasons stated above
Peoria - if it could be convinced to move from the SPHL, it's a much better geographic fit in the ECHL.
Lowell - Would provide a nice partner for the other New England teams (Manchester, Worcester). UML would be tough competition in-market
UMass Lowell owns Tsongas Arena so no pro hockey there.
Not likely Peoria would want to leave the SPHL, especially with Evansville joining up.
Of the markets you mentioned the ECHL may work in some of the southern markets as there is no alternative for hockey fans, although with so little physical play now in pro hockey it would be hard to draws fans in the south to the game like you could in the late 90's early to mid 2000's. SPHL is a better model there as it is still entertainment- based and not developmental.
ECHL in the Northeast or any other market where fans have a choice of another team to attend (college, junior) is not gonna work as most fans will see right through the affiliation and development emphasis and choose to watch the lower level product which has an emphasis on winning instead.
Sports Enthusiast
Not Here To Be Liked
Get a team in Baltimore!
As for Beaumont...been done. Maybe Sweet Daddy Leo is available to do more "striptease" for them.
As for Beaumont...been done. Maybe Sweet Daddy Leo is available to do more "striptease" for them.
Baronsfan
Registered User
- Nov 10, 2010
- 688
- 0
Honestly, the Blue probably should have never been moved to OKC. The Cox Convention Center is too big of a venue for them, as I don't know what they were averaging in Tulsa, but literally they have about 750 fans there or so. They could be playing in high school gyms in the area and not filling it up.
ForsbergForever
Registered User
- May 19, 2004
- 3,325
- 2,047
What about Dayton, Ohio? They've averaged around 1000 per game over the course of 4-5 years for an FHL team. Its a fairly big city of 100K+ and has a long history in the minor leagues. Any chance they could get another shot at the ECHL?
The cockroach that is the FHL would have to finally go away to free up Hara Arena, and/or a new arena would have to be built (Hara's pretty damn old, and the Bombers were killed by a bad setup with the arena at Wright State). At least that's how I understood the situation...
Cacciaguida
Registered User
worstfaceoffmanever
These Snacks Are Odd
They certainly won't get any competition from UAB, but they sure as Hell will from that school an hour away in Tuscaloosa.
Birmingham is the heart of Bammer country. In October and November, minor league hockey would be a very difficult sell in a city eat up with college football. Their basketball team pulls 13,000 fans a game, a substantial number of which come from Birmingham. It's not unheard of for Bama to get more people for baseball than UAB does for men's hoops, not to mention what a handful of ECHL teams draw on average. The university dominates the sports scene throughout that part of the state.
I'm sure the city would love to have a minor league hockey team again after 15 years without one - it would be a nice cap to the renovations they've put into the convention complex - but if they have to average 4,000 fans a game every single year for it to be successful, I'm far from convinced they can pull it off.
210
Registered User
Ad
Upcoming events
-
-
-
Game 7 Orlando Magic @ Cleveland Cavaliers - Series tied 3-3Wagers: 3Staked: $6,395.00Event closes- Updated:
-
-
GAME 6 - London Knights @ Saginaw Spirit - London Knights leads series 3-2Wagers: 1Staked: $25.00Event closes- Updated: