I was all in for Idaho, but I guess the circumstances are point all towards Palm Springs.
I think the Flames should not own an AHL affiliate because they're just not good with them. Better off selling it to St. Louis or Vegas and take over the Wolves or Rampage. Even though I think Vegas and the Chicago Wolves are a very good fit, just because I find the market works best when they expand within the closest region with a well-refrigeratied arena.
I think Vegas would be most likely of the bunch to take on an AHL affiliate if Reno or Utah were to look into getting an AHL team. I also think Nashville should put their affiliate in Memphis and Minnesota puts theirs in Milwaukee.
Travel would have been insane in Idaho. Location affects prospect development, so it was never going to happen. People were overhyping their existing fan base and infrastructure. The ECHL to AHL jump hasn’t been taken well by some fanbases, including Bakersfield and Stockton. Listed reasons include the lack of competitive games and prospect development prioritized over winning. It’s a big reason why Toledo and Ft. Wayne will never join the AHL. And the existing Idaho arena would need to have some massive upgrades just to become AHL worthy, it’s far easier to build a new arena in a new market and start from scratch.
Calgary owns the franchise and they don’t know how to do it, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t operate it. This is a business, they put the money down, it’s theirs. They’ve gotten their prospects developed and that’s a return on investment, whether they burn the market or not doesn’t matter to them.
As for those affiliate options, Memphis doesn’t have an arena or a place to put one. They also couldn’t support a SPHL team. An AHL one is out of the question. Nashville also doesn’t own their affiliate, a Milwaukee based group does and aren’t interested in selling. And in Nashville’s entire existence, their only affiliate has been the Milwaukee Admirals, so that’s not changing. Minnesota is very happy with Des Moines, not sure why you think moving them almost two hours further away from the Twin Cities is a great idea. Reno has political situations that make hockey a non-starter without $6 million worth of upgrades and still not booking the best dates.
Discussions stall, but Reno still hopeful for ECHL hockey team They were looking at ECHL, AHL isn’t going to give them the time of day. Vegas has their Chicago players take the cheap, all day 3 hr non stop flights from O’Hare, they’re not going anywhere. SLC has independent ownership that’s not interested in the AHL, and would have worse travel than Boise so no one is interested in them.
