Tommy Hawk
Registered User
- May 27, 2006
- 4,223
- 104
You are really low balling the cost of flying. You're really looking at roughly 35-40 people that will be taking that flight.
20 players(4 lines)
2 goalies
3-4 scratched players
2 bench coaches
1 goalie coach
2 scouts
1 replay coach
2 announcers
2 trainers/equipment guys.
Another thing is even though a team flying will most likely 2 nights in the same city on a weekend lowering the cost, that's not always the case, and the costs rise pretty high take San Antonio for example. Their last 4 games were flying up to Rochester for a Friday game, Toronto on Saturday, Hamilton Sunday, then waiting untill Tuesday for a game against Utica.
So
1 air round trip
3 bus trips
5 nights in a hotel
and doesn't count the food.
I travel all the time so I think I know the costs. The biggest thing everyone needs to remeber is that teams are not going to fly from GF to Philly or NYC or Boston or DC to take another flight to Hershey or WBS or Hartford.
And as Axe points out, no one travels with 35 people. You also have to exclude the announcing because that is separate. The Wolves travel and since they televise their games, they bring a production staff. Other teams do not. So apples to apples, stick to the hockey related expenses since those are not really negotiable. The team can always decide not to televise or announce games.
So, 3 coaches, 1 trainer, 1 equipment and 23 players (going by NHL limits they only take 23 players max). 28 peeps.
I'm not sure why people post incorrect information. To clarify:
Albany has a video coordinator and announcer who travel. Josh Heller announces all the games on the internet, certain games are also on the radio. I don't recall the video guy's name, but he's running around with a laptop after the period ends.
Most hockey teams in general travel the night before if the trip is 2.5 hours or more.
I think it's safe to add another 0 or move he decimal place to the right one to fly over drive a bus. And the flight cost is added to the bus cost. The host team doesn't pick you up at the baggage claim, you need to rent a bus when you're in the host city. If it was close, and it did help players to develop, more teams would do it. That's the bottom line.
It's tough to say that having a minor league fly around the continent and be successful is possible. I don't think that there is one that has lasted. Even the baseball leagues are broken up geographically.
I would imagine that the eastern teams that won the cup since the IHL teams been accepted has more to do with the owners paying more for players (and possibly refs) and travel rather than them being used to traveling on a plane instead of a bus.
That being said, I don't think that there will be an AHL team in GF next year. I talked to the guy in Albany yesterday and he assured me that the Devils will be there next year, Lou L is reviewing the renewal letter which will go out next week.
Hotel shuttles? And the host team DOES pick up equipment at the airport for the visiting team. The only reason they need a bus is if they are traveling to other places.
Minor leagues flying around? The entire Western Conference flies and, to be honest, has been more stable in its locations than the eastern conference. Eastern teams that folded since the I joined:
Albany
St. John's
Saint John
Philly
Lowell
Worcester
Quebec
Western Teams
Iowa
Omaha
Houston
Quad City
Utah
Cleveland
Above is the key piece of information in the travel discussion.
If air travel and hotel rooms were more desirable than bus trips and one-day trips, we'd see parent clubs trying to locate their affiliate as far from other teams as possible. Instead (with the exception of Abbotsford, for reasons unrelated), we see just the opposite.
RE: Glens Falls -- can't say that I'm surprised. As I posted here last week, it didn't seem possible that they could nab a team for 2014-15, given the timing and the current state of the league.
I think they stand a better chance of success for 2015-16. For one, Springfield's lease runs only through next season, and their season ticket renewal package (their first in the post-Landon era) is far more oriented toward early renewals than it has ever been. It could be that they want to get an earlier-than-usual indication of their '14-'15 STH base, before deciding whether to renew the Springfield lease again or look elsewhere (GF).
Really? They would try to put their teams as far from one another as possible? They put their teams where they can get a deal and where a city wants a team. And since most of the population of the US is located in the northeastern part of the country it makes sense to put the most teams there.
Which state has the most professional hockey teams? Hint: Not a state in the Northeast.
The reason most teams in the northeast do not fly is because they CAN'T. As I mention above, there are no flights from Rochester to WBS or hershey, etc. and how do you explain Norfolk? They have to fly everywhere yet they have been around quite some time.
And back to GF. It looks like no AHL hockey there next year.......