Abbotsford Heat relocating to Glens Falls, NY

[offkilter]

Heres the link to the story from the leagues website.
http://theahl.com/mobile/?bblh=mSafari&t=mobile_news_article&s=&p=192047

 

[GKJ]

Glad Glens Falls will remain having a team next year. Abbotsford may as well be Saturn for intents and purposes of the AHL. Them having to play in a division with Charlotte was ridiculous.

 

[Lunatik]

I really hope they go with the Adirondack Flames and go with the vintage style Atlanta Flames jerseys.

 

[Tommy Hawk]

That's not true... The cost to operate in the AHL is less than the ECHL because teams - especially those with independent owners - only pay of the non-hockey operations while the NHL team absorb the hockey operations cost. An ECHL team has to pay both hockey and non-hockey operations.

That is not a true statement at all. Each agreement is different. One component that is true is that ALL AHL teams pay an affiliation fee to the NHL club. They also pay contracts for players on AHL deals whether they are n the A or assigned to the E. Also, salaries in the E are much lower than in the A, often times being 400-600 per week.

 

[wildcat48]

That is not a true statement at all. Each agreement is different. One component that is true is that ALL AHL teams pay an affiliation fee to the NHL club. They also pay contracts for players on AHL deals whether they are n the A or assigned to the E. Also, salaries in the E are much lower than in the A, often times being 400-600 per week.

Not all AHL teams pay salaries of players on AHL-only contracts. Using Portland as an example they pay $0 on all hockey operations whether it be for a player on a NHL/AHL deal or AHL-only contract..... That's Phoenix's responsibility.

I agree each deal is different and AHL teams pay an affiliation fee, but we'll have to agree to disagree on the cost of running a team in the AHL vs. ECHL.

 

[mk80]

Hopefully they stick to Adirondack for awhile, they have been bouncing around from city to city throughout the west. Glens Falls is better for their travel as they have a number of teams close by, I figured Abottsford was doomed from the start.

 

[Tommy Hawk]

GF is doomed from the start. The Flames history over the last 15 years is horrible. The minute the Flames are needed to put any money in, they will be gone.

 

[Tackla]

I agree, what's the nearest college team to Glens Falls? Support that instead.

 

[Lunatik]

GF is doomed from the start. The Flames history over the last 15 years is horrible. The minute the Flames are needed to put any money in, they will be gone.

You really need to give up this stuff. Teams come and go and they follow agreements made ahead of time. If they were actually doing as much wrong as you claim, then one of the cities they left would have filed a lawsuit.

 

[Sidekick]

So....??

WEST

Texas
Okla. City
San Antonio
Milwaukee
Chicago
Rockford
Iowa
Grand Rapids

EAST

St. John's
Providence
Hartford
Worcester
Springfield
Bridgeport
Portland
Manchester

NORTH

Toronto
Hamilton
Syracuse
Rochester
Albany
Utica
Adirondack

SOUTH

Binghamton
WBS
Allentown
Hershey
Lake Erie
Norfolk
Charlotte

 

[aparch]

I like it. As long as either the North or South (prefer the South teams) are with the West in the Western Conference.

 

[Sidekick]

I like it. As long as either the North or South (prefer the South teams) are with the West in the Western Conference.

Oh, I figured if you went to a 4-division scenario like that, then you would just scrap the conferences. Have intra-divisional playoffs (like the NHL), and then the 4 division winners can be ranked 1-4; have 1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3.

 

[Tommy Hawk]

You really need to give up this stuff. Teams come and go and they follow agreements made ahead of time. If they were actually doing as much wrong as you claim, then one of the cities they left would have filed a lawsuit.

Teams do come and go, especially the Flames and somewhat the Oilers and Panthers. They left after 2 years in both places. My guess is their partners were happy to see them go, just like Abbotsford was happy. The difference is that the Flames wanted to leave the other cities while they did not want to leave Abbotsford. If someone was paying all my bills I would be Alan Harper (Two and a Half Men) all over that.

 

[210]

That is not a true statement at all. Each agreement is different. One component that is true is that ALL AHL teams pay an affiliation fee to the NHL club. They also pay contracts for players on AHL deals whether they are n the A or assigned to the E. Also, salaries in the E are much lower than in the A, often times being 400-600 per week.

I'd love to know how much the Worcester Sharks are paying the San Jose Sharks.

Oh, wait, I do know...nothing.

I specifically asked that question at the press conference that announced the team was moving from Cleveland to Worcester because St Louis "charged" the IceCats an affiliation fee to raise expenses and enact a clause in their lease with the DCU Center that allowed the Blues to move the IceCats without paying a huge penalty.

I asked again just a week or so ago when it was found out SJ has an out in their lease after the 14-15 season if they don't meet certain economic targets, and once again I was told the Worcester Sharks don't pay any sort of affiliation fee to the San Jose Sharks.

 

[Govment Cheese]

GRATZ to Glen Falls for keeping AHL hockey.

There is no need to blow up the current divisional/conference alignments. If the league has any common sense the Glen Falls Flames will stay in the western conference until the Ice Caps move to Thunder Bay. Then they can just swap the teams. From reports Ice Caps should be moving in 2016-2017.

 

[aparch]

Oh, I figured if you went to a 4-division scenario like that, then you would just scrap the conferences. Have intra-divisional playoffs (like the NHL), and then the 4 division winners can be ranked 1-4; have 1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3.

No, because that would lead to me watching the Wolves face off against Texas, OKC, San Antonio, and Iowa ten times, and Rockford, Milwaukee, and Grand Rapids twelve times.

(Wait, that actually sounds like how the AHL schedules the Western Conference currently...)


If they did use this four division format, I think it could be broken up fairly easily:
East/West Division teams (8) play
- Intra-division teams six games each (three home, three away). (42 games)
- Intra-conference teams four games each (two home, two away). (28 games)
- Six "Flex" games to be scheduled against anyone (Division/Conference/League)

North/South Division Teams (7) play
- Intra-division teams seven games each (vs three teams: four home, three away / vs the other three teams: three home, four away, rotate the following season). (42 games)
- Intra-conference teams four games each (two home, two away). (32 games).
- Two "Flex" games to be scheduled against anyone (Division/Conference/League)

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

GRATZ to Glen Falls for keeping AHL hockey.

There is no need to blow up the current divisional/conference alignments. If the league has any common sense the Glen Falls Flames will stay in the western conference until the Ice Caps move to Thunder Bay. Then they can just swap the teams. From reports Ice Caps should be moving in 2016-2017.

What?????

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

What?????

you know what happens in 2 years in minor league hockey? That is ridiculous.

 

[Tommy Hawk]

I'd love to know how much the Worcester Sharks are paying the San Jose Sharks.

Oh, wait, I do know...nothing.

I specifically asked that question at the press conference that announced the team was moving from Cleveland to Worcester because St Louis "charged" the IceCats an affiliation fee to raise expenses and enact a clause in their lease with the DCU Center that allowed the Blues to move the IceCats without paying a huge penalty.

I asked again just a week or so ago when it was found out SJ has an out in their lease after the 14-15 season if they don't meet certain economic targets, and once again I was told the Worcester Sharks don't pay any sort of affiliation fee to the San Jose Sharks.

You love taking things out of context like a typical reporter. Did you even bother to ask if Worcester even has an affiliation agreement with San Jose?

Here's the true scoop, until all these teams open their true books, we can only go by reported informaiton. AHL teams cost more to run than ECHL teams which is why teams like Utah dropped to the lower leagues. They cited this when the moved down.

All independently owned AHL teams pay affiliation fees. My guess is that some that are owned do as well for tax purposes.

AHL teams also pay a higher fee to the league to operate. I think the real reason the AHL does not want expansion to the west is not the teams travel costs but the on and off ice officials travel costs.

 

[Nightsquad]

I agree, what's the nearest college team to Glens Falls? Support that instead.

The nearest college team to Glens Falls is a big one, the 2014 NCAA National Champions Union College Skating Dutchmen of Schenectady-Albany NY within an hour of Glens Falls. Also less then an hour is another D1 college program the RPI Engineers playing out of nearby Troy NY. Both Union and RPI are set to play neutral site game in Albany NY as that has become a tradition known as Albany's Mayors Cup which usually draws around 8000K but after the last games bench clearing line brawl which included coaches and fans some estimate next years game will draw 10,000 plus, and usually played as double header wit Albany's AHL hockey team.

 

[210]

You love taking things out of context like a typical reporter. Did you even bother to ask if Worcester even has an affiliation agreement with San Jose?

Here's the true scoop, until all these teams open their true books, we can only go by reported informaiton. AHL teams cost more to run than ECHL teams which is why teams like Utah dropped to the lower leagues. They cited this when the moved down.

All independently owned AHL teams pay affiliation fees. My guess is that some that are owned do as well for tax purposes.

AHL teams also pay a higher fee to the league to operate. I think the real reason the AHL does not want expansion to the west is not the teams travel costs but the on and off ice officials travel costs.

What part of "...Worcester Sharks don't pay any sort of affiliation fee to the San Jose Sharks" did you not understand?

 

[JungleJON]

Thought this was interesting - from the Maine Hockey Journal.

"Any completed deal to form a Pacific Division would need AHL Board of Governors approval and with the board’s approval only NHL clubs that own their AHL franchise could move out west. Currently, Los Angeles (Manchester), San Jose (Worcester), Calgary (Glens Falls), Edmonton (Oklahoma City) and Vancouver (Utica) own their own AHL club and are in a position to relocate once the board of governors gave its approval.

Phoenix and Anaheim do not own their own AHL franchise and would need to either be granted a provisional franchise by the AHL Board of Governors or purchase an existing franchise and seek approval by the board to relocate out west."

Link to entire article. http://mainehockeyjournal.com/?p=20837

 

[Theoriginalalex]

I like Sidekick's alignment a lot.

Especially divisional playoffs. With Andrews already talking about going to best-of-5 in the second round as well, keeping the playoffs within the division means you will have more 2-2-1 series rather than 2-3.

As far as regular season scheduling, I'm not a fan of a fixed format, as I actually like the flexibility. What about established a minimum # of opponents you must face instead? I think everybody in the league played between 12-18 others this past year. So what about a minimum of 15 different opponents per team?

 

[axecrew]

I like Sidekick's alignment a lot.

Especially divisional playoffs. With Andrews already talking about going to best-of-5 in the second round as well, keeping the playoffs within the division means you will have more 2-2-1 series rather than 2-3.

As far as regular season scheduling, I'm not a fan of a fixed format, as I actually like the flexibility. What about established a minimum # of opponents you must face instead? I think everybody in the league played between 12-18 others this past year. So what about a minimum of 15 different opponents per team?

Until the eastern conference is willing to travel to the west, 15 different teams is a pipe dream.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I like Sidekick's alignment a lot.

Especially divisional playoffs. With Andrews already talking about going to best-of-5 in the second round as well, keeping the playoffs within the division means you will have more 2-2-1 series rather than 2-3.

As far as regular season scheduling, I'm not a fan of a fixed format, as I actually like the flexibility. What about established a minimum # of opponents you must face instead? I think everybody in the league played between 12-18 others this past year. So what about a minimum of 15 different opponents per team?

you'll never see a 4 division alignment if the NHL doesn't use it.

Divisionally, the only question is:

does Lehigh Valley go from the NE to the East, to join Hershey and WB/S; Abbotsford/Adirondack from the West in the West to the NE/East;

which of the 6 NY Teams do you balance in each conference: do you keep Binghamton, Albany, Abbotsford/Adirondack and Syracuse in the East; Utica and Rochester in the West, all of the teams regardless of geography are going to keep their rivalry games as part of their 38/38 schedule.

do you move Iowa to fill the hole left by Calgary's relo, in the current West Division, and how do you balance the 3 division 5 team alignment to equate 15-15, now that Abbotsford is now Adirondack, and Adirondack is Lehigh Valley.