OHL Expansion

[defensehockey19]

What about Toronto? You could put an OHL team in Ricoh. Move the Marlies to Brampton.

They just took an OHL team out of Brampton because of bad attendance ... Makes no sense.

 

[canadiancreed]

I have heard, and don't shoot the messenger here, that Port Hope or Cobourg has been talked about. Anyone hear anything similar??

I hail from there, and I havent' heard a peep about an OHL moving there. In fact, there's no talk of OHL hockey there at all. If it's hockey, it's NHL or bust, with a sprinkling about the Junior A Cougars. That and the population isn't a lot. Cobourg/Port Hope and Western Northumberland county is ~70k. Belleville alone has almost ~50k to fall back on, plus P.E.C and southern Hastings.

For the Ontario teams mentioned by Dadof, I'd say the only one that would be solid is Waterloo. Chatham I've been told is pretty rough economy wise, and doesnt' have Windsor's population numbers to negate it. Brantford I agree should be a good market. They have had two teams before hand, albeit not since the mid 80's. I picture Cornwall as Chatham with a proper arena and a history in the league. DOnt know why the community wouldn't support it, but I'm not familiar with the nuances of it. And Thunder Bay is handcuffed by geography, yet again. The prized market should be the GTA, but for whatever reason it's a poisoned plum.

 

[Tramontane Sirocco]

oooh come on Chatham, I always loved OHL games, tickets are well priced, good food, and though I was almost hit with a puck once, I always have a grand time

 

[Taoiseach]

I picture Cornwall as Chatham with a proper arena and a history in the league. DOnt know why the community wouldn't support it, but I'm not familiar with the nuances of it.

Cornwall is also pretty rough economy-wise. Like I said earlier, their attendance dropped dramatically when they moved to the OHL. Moving to the OHL didn't gain them any new fans, but it did lose them a lot of fans in the Montérégie.

 

[superspitfan99]

Buffalo, Chatham and Newmarket would be top considerations for OHL expansion.

Mississauga doesnt spend the money to market the team. Having a couple of guys on the phone trying to sell tickets, and some chinzy intermission gigs, just wont do it. THey need to get into the city highschools and elementary schools and promote tickets with packages and incentives.

They have a small crappy gift shop.

You get what you put out.

I would agree, that last year saw less school groups/minor hockey teams with "free" tickets than in years before, but I've seen them doing a lot of community events this year to get the word out and I know the players do school visits. As a fan, I'd like to see more that are organized better. They did a team signing at the end of the season last year before the guys got on a bus to go to Ottawa (poor planning). Might want to consider doing after game events (especially on Sunday games) more that involve player interaction with fans.

I would agree, that there is much more they can do.

 

[gammaraej]

The only way junior franchises in the GTA will gain popularity, is if Sportsnet, TSN, and CBC showed more in depth highlights of CHL games during their broadcasts. Even when they show McDavid highlights, its only for about 30 seconds.

I love what TSN has done for the CFL in recent years, hopefully something similar could happen with the CHL, OHL. Until then, I can't see any expansion for quite a while, if ever.

That being said, I'd love to see the Cornwall Royals and the Chatham Maroons in the league.

 

[massey]

Cornwall is also pretty rough economy-wise. Like I said earlier, their attendance dropped dramatically when they moved to the OHL. Moving to the OHL didn't gain them any new fans, but it did lose them a lot of fans in the Montérégie.

Same for Chatham-Kents economy.Chatham can't support a OHL team.Sorry but reality.There municipality is already in trouble with high taxes building facilities like the capitol theatre that was a blunder.I know,i pay taxes here.With all the triple a teams and hockey tournaments every weekend,all teams will struggle to keep attendance up.Even London had problems filling there arena this year with a great team.