I called USA Arena today. They said Canada is hosting the Showcase the next two years. Spoke with the guy in the box office. Hope he's wrong.
Whalers fan, you're right. My only issue is the visiting teams talent isn't all that great. USA Hockey I'm fine with. In the OHL days London, those stacked Windsor teams. Lots of great young players.
Yes, the USHL teams do not bring in the top talent like the OHL did -- we are not seeing any opposing players like we used to with Stamkos, Tavares, McDavid, etc. Most nights you were seeing future first round talents on the opposing teams, and now the only first round prospects are on Team USA, except during the Five Nations tournament. The crowds are usually much smaller, too, except for special occasions like visits by The University of Michigan, Michigan State, or international games against Russia or Canada. Otherwise, the crowds are pretty small. I miss seeing lots of visiting fans in the stands, too. We used to get the same group from Saginaw sitting right in front of us every time the Spirit came to town -- we always had a great time with those nice people. Now, the only fans of the opposing USHL teams are family and friends of the opposing players.
I miss the intensity of the OHL playoffs, too. While Team USA did make the USHL playoffs this season, it just isn't the same as all those great Whalers playoff series we saw over the years. We pretty much knew this U17 NTDP team, without its five best players, was living on borrowed time in the playoffs.
With all that said, there are positives to having the NTDP here, too. We've hosted a Five Nations tournament each season since the program moved here, so we get to see some fine international players. There have also been some major NCAA programs who have visited, such as U of M, MSU and Notre Dame.
I do commend Karmanos for selling the arena to USA Hockey. As he moved into his retirement years, he was selling all his teams -- Carolina Hurricanes, Whalers and Florida Everblades (ECHL). There was no local person who was going to buy both the Whalers and the arena, so at least he made sure the arena would still be around hosting major junior hockey. Karmanos must have operated the Whalers at a financial loss over the 25 years he owned the franchise, but he did it because he believed in youth and junior hockey. Even with the money he made off the sale of the arena and team, I doubt it was really a sound financial investment over those 25 years.