AHL Future in Binghamton

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Will Binghamton continue their affiliation with Wichita?

I'd have to guess no.

 

[GarbageGoal]

Binghamton's arena totally reminded me of the pre-2005 Dunkin Donuts Center or the old Cumberland County Civic Center.

 

[Skeeze]

Trenton's arena is much nicer, the arena in Binghamton is a throwback to the early 1980s. The larger capacity at Trenton would allow for solid crowds when they play the nearby PA teams. Quite certain they could better Binghamtons average attendance by 1000 fans for the season, no doubt. No room to grow in Binghamton, they haven't played to near capacity crowds in many years. Trenton's arena is AHL perfect, that's the size arena Albany should have had or maybe just a tad smaller.

Trenton's arena may be newer, but the nature of Binghamton's arena makes it a great atmosphere to play in when the place is packed. The pitch of the stands puts the crowd right on top of the action, and with the low roof it just traps all the sound in.

In the past couple of seasons all of the seating has been replaced, new LED lighting, a new video scoreboard and ribbon banners have been installed, they've updated the concession stands, etc., so they've done an admirable job to increase amenities.

True the concourse is too narrow and it can get beyond packed when there is a sellout, but it really is a great place to experience a hockey game. I like the throwback feel to when hockey was hockey.

 

[go comets]

And the population base in the Capital Region is much larger than cities like Utica and Bingo.

Hartford I've been told has been treated poorly by the nyr organization.
I would think their FB follower count would be higher since Hartford is a larger city.

What is it for Bridgeport?

Bridgeport 15,026
Providence 60,187
Lv 22,084
Swb 61,704

 

[Devils Dominion]

Bridgeport 15,026
Providence 60,187
Lv 22,084
Swb 61,704

Funny how WBS gets such strong local support in an area that is considered flyers or rangers territory and they even use the rival Penguins name.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Funny how WBS gets such strong local support in an area that is considered flyers or rangers territory and they even use the rival Penguins name.

probably because Pittsburgh owns the rights to that market? isn't Allentown (LV) Flyers country since when is WBS Ranger territory?

 

[royals119]

probably because Pittsburgh owns the rights to that market? isn't Allentown (LV) Flyers country since when is WBS Ranger territory?

I'm not sure what you mean by "Pittsburgh owns the rights to that market"? It does seem clear that others are referring to is the fact that many hockey fans in the WBS market are Rangers fans. Check the map, WBS is closer to NYC than it is to Philly, and Pittsburgh is more than twice as far away. In fact Scranton is actually north of NYC, and very close to both the NY and NJ borders.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.1712293,-75.8708401,9.22z

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I'm not sure what you mean by "Pittsburgh owns the rights to that market"? It does seem clear that others are referring to is the fact that many hockey fans in the WBS market are Rangers fans. Check the map, WBS is closer to NYC than it is to Philly, and Pittsburgh is more than twice as far away. In fact Scranton is actually north of NYC, and very close to both the NY and NJ borders.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.1712293,-75.8708401,9.22z

and Allentown isn't Flyers country, maybe we ought to move the Phantoms again, royals

check your map again, Moosic PA (IS where the WBS Penguins actually play)IS NEPA? AND Hershey, then by your definition is Rangers territory too

 

[go comets]

Funny how WBS gets such strong local support in an area that is considered flyers or rangers territory and they even use the rival Penguins name.

I would guess that is why the Penguins put their AHL team in Wilkes Barre. To try and capture a larger fan base. It's just natural than fans of an AHL team will follow those same players in the NHL.

 

[axecrew]

and Allentown isn't Flyers country, maybe we ought to move the Phantoms again, royals

check your map again, Moosic PA (IS where the WBS Penguins actually play)IS NEPA? AND Hershey, then by your definition is Rangers territory too

Here we go again with the tired retoric about the actual name of the town where a team plays...can we please give it a rest???

 

[Disengage]

Binghamton's arena totally reminded me of the pre-2005 Dunkin Donuts Center or the old Cumberland County Civic Center.

It's the same basic design as Cumberland County and the arena in Wheeling.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

It's the same basic design as Cumberland County and the arena in Wheeling.

pre-renovation or post-renovation, on CIA, Disengage, is my response to that issue

 

[Devils Dominion]

Albany Devils @ Binghamton Senators this Saturday night.
Should be an interesting night.

 

[210]

and Allentown isn't Flyers country, maybe we ought to move the Phantoms again, royals

check your map again, Moosic PA (IS where the WBS Penguins actually play)IS NEPA? AND Hershey, then by your definition is Rangers territory too

For the record, if you check the map you'll find that the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza is located at 255 Highland Park Boulevard in Wilkes-Barre.

It's PNC Field, where the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders play, that's in Moosic (235 Montage Mountain Road, to be precise).

 

[Skeeze]

For the record, if you check the map you'll find that the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza is located at 255 Highland Park Boulevard in Wilkes-Barre.

It's PNC Field, where the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders play, that's in Moosic (235 Montage Mountain Road, to be precise).

Alternative facts.

 

[mmazz22]

Yea Devil I'm looking forward to it. Wonder how the fans will react if the Devils start blowing out the current team? Kind of unprecedented that you already know who and that a new team is coming while the season is only half over. Very rare to be able to scout your new team.

 

[210]

Alternative facts.

Please consider this as me pressing the "like" button...

 

[axecrew]

Alternative facts.

Yeah...some on here swear by them

 

[royals119]

and Allentown isn't Flyers country, maybe we ought to move the Phantoms again, royals

check your map again, Moosic PA (IS where the WBS Penguins actually play)IS NEPA? AND Hershey, then by your definition is Rangers territory too

I didn't say anything about Allentown. I live just outside Reading, which is about 30 minutes south of Allentown, 2 hours southwest of WBS, 90 minutes northwest of Philly and an hour east of Hershey.

The point I was making is WBS is closer to NYC than to Pittsburgh by a factor of three. There are more local Rangers fans than Pittsburgh fans up that way. Reading and Allentown are predominately Philly fans. Hershey is getting closer to the middle of the state, so you will encounter more Pittsburgh fans there than in the other cities mentioned. Probably 70/30 Flyers/Pens. Obviously some folks will start following the parent team of their local minor league team, so you will find Caps jerseys in Hershey and Pens fans in WBS, but that is more a factor of watching players move up, and keeping track of the parent team which affects the local team. Used to see some Kings jerseys in Reading back in the day too, but those have mostly faded away now.

 

[Devils Dominion]

I didn't say anything about Allentown. I live just outside Reading, which is about 30 minutes south of Allentown, 2 hours southwest of WBS, 90 minutes northwest of Philly and an hour east of Hershey.

The point I was making is WBS is closer to NYC than to Pittsburgh by a factor of three. There are more local Rangers fans than Pittsburgh fans up that way. Reading and Allentown are predominately Philly fans. Hershey is getting closer to the middle of the state, so you will encounter more Pittsburgh fans there than in the other cities mentioned. Probably 70/30 Flyers/Pens. Obviously some folks will start following the parent team of their local minor league team, so you will find Caps jerseys in Hershey and Pens fans in WBS, but that is more a factor of watching players move up, and keeping track of the parent team which affects the local team. Used to see some Kings jerseys in Reading back in the day too, but those have mostly faded away now.

There prob were not many Pens fans in the WB area until they got their AHL team.

Closest NHL team to WB is the NJD.
There are fans of NJD/Nyr/Philly in addition to Pens fans in the WB area.

When people in Albany and other cities say they need the local NHL team as their AHL squad in order to draw well, the WB Pens squashes that theory.

WB draws well and the folks in that community have embraced the Pens as their team.

 

[kingofspades303]

IF Albany does get another team like the Rangers, I'm assuming they would just take Hartford's spot in the Atlantic Division. Much less travel going to New England and Eastern PA, than Western NY, Quebec and Ontario.

Can't see how Hartford can support 3 hockey teams at the same time if this happens. Wolfpack could potentially be on the move.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Malloy-Asks-NY-Islanders-to-Move-to-Hartford-412712783.html

 

[go comets]

Can't see how Hartford can support 3 hockey teams at the same time if this happens. Wolfpack could potentially be on the move.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Malloy-Asks-NY-Islanders-to-Move-to-Hartford-412712783.html

Hartford no longer has a NHL level arena. I doubt it would be an option.

 

[Disengage]

pre-renovation or post-renovation, on CIA, Disengage, is my response to that issue

Wut.

 

[CHIP72]

I would guess that is why the Penguins put their AHL team in Wilkes Barre. To try and capture a larger fan base. It's just natural than fans of an AHL team will follow those same players in the NHL.

The reason why the Penguins put their AHL team in Wilkes-Barre is because there are no markets in western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, or the portions of eastern Ohio not clearly in the Cleveland sphere of influence that are large enough to support an AHL team. Putting a team in Wilkes-Barre did help the Penguins expand their fanbase in an area where they had very few fans.

There prob were not many Pens fans in the WB area until they got their AHL team.

Closest NHL team to WB is the NJD.
There are fans of NJD/Nyr/Philly in addition to Pens fans in the WB area.

When people in Albany and other cities say they need the local NHL team as their AHL squad in order to draw well, the WB Pens squashes that theory.

WB draws well and the folks in that community have embraced the Pens as their team.

The bolded part was most definitely true. Quite honestly, NE PA in general didn't follow hockey closely prior to the introduction of the WBS Penguins, but among sports fans in that region who followed hockey prior to the late 1990s, my sense is the Flyers were almost definitely the most popular NHL team with the Rangers a relatively distant second. The Penguins were barely on the radar at that time.

I haven't lived near NE PA for over 15 years at this point, but my guess is the Flyers are still the most popular NHL team in the region, though by a much smaller margin over the #2 team (now Pittsburgh), and the Rangers are now third.

 

[Devils Dominion]

The reason why the Penguins put their AHL team in Wilkes-Barre is because there are no markets in western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, or the portions of eastern Ohio not clearly in the Cleveland sphere of influence that are large enough to support an AHL team. Putting a team in Wilkes-Barre did help the Penguins expand their fanbase in an area where they had very few fans.



The bolded part was most definitely true. Quite honestly, NE PA in general didn't follow hockey closely prior to the introduction of the WBS Penguins, but among sports fans in that region who followed hockey prior to the late 1990s, my sense is the Flyers were almost definitely the most popular NHL team with the Rangers a relatively distant second. The Penguins were barely on the radar at that time.

I haven't lived near NE PA for over 15 years at this point, but my guess is the Flyers are still the most popular NHL team in the region, though by a much smaller margin over the #2 team (now Pittsburgh), and the Rangers are now third.

Lot of Devils fans have moved to NEPA from NJ in the last decade.

I know quite a few personally.