AHL team to be announced in Belleville

[mmazz22]

A new team is coming to Bing

 

[GKJ]

What a stupid move. Binghamton sits right in the middle of the Eastern teams. Short trips to Rochester,Syracuse, Utica,Albany,Wilkes Barre,Hershey, Lehigh Valley and even not too far from the New England teams. Now Ottawa is adding thousands of miles of travel to their prospects.But wait, this is Ottawa, stupid moves are a way of life with this franchise.

More important for teams to be close to home. I'm hopeful Bingo will land a team though. They've been a solid partner for a while.

 

[Blueshirts]

This keeping the prospects close to home is BS. The LA Kings won 2 cups within 3 years and their farm club was 3,000 miles away in Manchester. Really didn't hurt them too much did it.
Toronto's farm club is in the same city and the maple leafs are the worst team in the league.

With this move by Ottawa I expect them to hoist the cup within 3 years,yea right it'll never happen.

 

[jason2020]

This keeping the prospects close to home is BS. The LA Kings won 2 cups within 3 years and their farm club was 3,000 miles away in Manchester. Really didn't hurt them too much did it.
Toronto's farm club is in the same city and the maple leafs are the worst team in the league.

With this move by Ottawa I expect them to hoist the cup within 3 years,yea right it'll never happen.

Keeping players close has more to do with its easier to call them up.

 

[MiamiHockey]

This keeping the prospects close to home is BS. The LA Kings won 2 cups within 3 years and their farm club was 3,000 miles away in Manchester. Really didn't hurt them too much did it.
Toronto's farm club is in the same city and the maple leafs are the worst team in the league.

With this move by Ottawa I expect them to hoist the cup within 3 years,yea right it'll never happen.

Of the last 9 Stanley Cup Champions, 7 have had their AHL affiliate within a 5-hour drive. LA was the exception. And, since they've won, they've relocated their team to California.

It may seem minor, but think about the Sens here. Belleville is closer to Ottawa, but more importantly is really an easy train ride (2.5 hours) and does not require crossing an international border. Recalling a player from Belleville to Ottawa will be much, much simpler than recalling a player from Binghamton to Ottawa.

Belleville will be less expensive for the Sens to operate because it's more central to the division (especially once St John's moves to Laval). It's halfway between Toronto (Marlies) and Laval (Habs) and 3 hours from Syracuse.

Importantly, it will be easier for Sens management and coaching staff to see the Belleville Sens play and/or practice.

Over the course of the season, these seemingly minor differences add up to be substantial.

 

[MiamiHockey]

Travel within the AHL is no longer a prime consideration for NHL clubs. That changed when the western NHL clubs moved their affiliation out west. Now, the primary concern for NHL clubs is having their affiliate as close as possible to home base so they can incorporate them into the daily life of the NHL operation whether its scouting, training, nutrition or medical etc.

It's the new AHL....

Travel is not a big issue for the wealthy teams, agreed.

But it remains an issue for the budget teams, of which the Sens are one. Not the biggest factor determining location, but a factor nonetheless.

 

[Chewy63]

SO about these renovations and upgrades to yardmen arena? From what I've heard its quite a dump, ice size is international, and it seats under 4000 for hockey? Will the renovations expand capacity and fix the ice?? I feel like Yardmen needs a ton of work before its ready for AHL

 

[Chewy63]

The way its understood is the Senators will purchase the AHL franchise from Tom Mitchell and relocate to Belleville for the 2017-'18 season. The Albany Devils will relocate to Binghamton with Mitchell acting as manager of the organization. The Canucks have plan in place to move its team west. I've heard Pacific Coliseum in the first choice, but they are looking at Abbotsford, Victoria and another un-named city in BC.... St. John's will relocate to Laval. Whether another team relocates to Albany or Utica remains to be seen. I've heard yes that's its a possibility and I've heard that the ECHL is likely option for both cities.

I would hope a team choses Utica > Binghamton for when the Canucks decide to head west, id say Utica has been an outstanding partner since they have entered the league. Devils or maybe the Rangers as a possibility ?

 

[MiamiHockey]

SO about these renovations and upgrades to yardmen arena? From what I've heard its quite a dump, ice size is international, and it seats under 4000 for hockey? Will the renovations expand capacity and fix the ice?? I feel like Yardmen needs a ton of work before its ready for AHL

Excellent, excellent question. The budget I've heard is $7 million, which should afford some solid renovations.

A couple of thoughts:

1) Fixing the ice size is easy ... take 7.5 feet off each side, and you have NHL ice. The question is what they'll do with the stands on each side. I imagine that most of the $7 million budget will go to addressing that problem.

2) One great thing about Yardmen is that it is attached to the city's new(ish) multi-purpose recreation centre. A creative architect can easily accommodate more fans and have better amenities using existing space. It does not need to expand the building to raise the quality of the fan experience, or to create AHL-calibre team facilities.

3) A big challenge for Yardmen is increasing seating capacity. It has a low ceiling, and the ends of the ice surface are met by solid walls. It is in a field (on the edge of town), so should they wish to expand seating on one end it would be possible. To me, seating capacity is the biggest challenge they'll face in renovations.

I remember coaching at the Utica arena when it was a dump. As the visiting team, we had a change room designed for figure skaters. It's easy enough to update dressing rooms / training facilities / fan amenities so long as the space is there, which it was in Utica. If Belleville can address the seating capacity issue, the rest will be easy.

 

[Tommy Hawk]

Link to story about move. Apparently the first millions are for upgrading the ice and hockey rink.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/report-sens-to-move-ahl-affiliate-to-belleville/

 

[jason2020]

Travel is not a big issue for the wealthy teams, agreed.

But it remains an issue for the budget teams, of which the Sens are one. Not the biggest factor determining location, but a factor nonetheless.

I think some misunderstand what budget means it does not mean they don't spend money on travel etc or fixing arena investing in minor sports what it means is they don't want to get tied down with massive contracts on old players on example Ottawa has spent close to $50 million the last 2 or 3 years upgrading the Canadian Tire Centre.

 

[iconoclast22]

SO about these renovations and upgrades to yardmen arena? From what I've heard its quite a dump, ice size is international, and it seats under 4000 for hockey? Will the renovations expand capacity and fix the ice?? I feel like Yardmen needs a ton of work before its ready for AHL

When I visited Belleville to see the Bulls, Yardmen wasn't much to look at from the outside but actually very nice inside.

 

[TcNorth]

I do not see anything wrong with Belleville's capacity.I do not think the Sens do either. If it happens ok. If it doesn't, no big deal.

 

[WinhallVT124]

Doesnt mean Binghamton is losing their team pretty sure the Rangers or Islanders would like to move their ahl team in Binghamton

Rangers yes. Islanders no. If the Islanders leave Bridgeport they're going to Uniondale.

 

[PSGJ]

Victoria isn't giving up on their WHL junior team Royals to bring in an AHL team. It just isn't happening....

...unless that team is the Canucks farm team, which of course it will be.

 

[go comets]

...unless that team is the Canucks farm team, which of course it will be.

Canucks will end up in Pacific colesium with their ahl team. Canada prefers ohl teams...

 

[BSensFan72]

Excellent, excellent question. The budget I've heard is $7 million, which should afford some solid renovations.

A couple of thoughts:

1) Fixing the ice size is easy ... take 7.5 feet off each side, and you have NHL ice. The question is what they'll do with the stands on each side. I imagine that most of the $7 million budget will go to addressing that problem.

2) One great thing about Yardmen is that it is attached to the city's new(ish) multi-purpose recreation centre. A creative architect can easily accommodate more fans and have better amenities using existing space. It does not need to expand the building to raise the quality of the fan experience, or to create AHL-calibre team facilities.

3) A big challenge for Yardmen is increasing seating capacity. It has a low ceiling, and the ends of the ice surface are met by solid walls. It is in a field (on the edge of town), so should they wish to expand seating on one end it would be possible. To me, seating capacity is the biggest challenge they'll face in renovations.

I remember coaching at the Utica arena when it was a dump. As the visiting team, we had a change room designed for figure skaters. It's easy enough to update dressing rooms / training facilities / fan amenities so long as the space is there, which it was in Utica. If Belleville can address the seating capacity issue, the rest will be easy.

I believe the 7 million was already budgeted work that was to be done anyways before the negotiations with Ottawa began
I have heard several rumours that council would go up to 20 million (including 7 million already budgeted ) and have also heard funding from the two higher governments could also be in the works?

 

[myth]

Excellent, excellent question. The budget I've heard is $7 million, which should afford some solid renovations.

A couple of thoughts:

1) Fixing the ice size is easy ... take 7.5 feet off each side, and you have NHL ice. The question is what they'll do with the stands on each side. I imagine that most of the $7 million budget will go to addressing that problem.

2) One great thing about Yardmen is that it is attached to the city's new(ish) multi-purpose recreation centre. A creative architect can easily accommodate more fans and have better amenities using existing space. It does not need to expand the building to raise the quality of the fan experience, or to create AHL-calibre team facilities.

3) A big challenge for Yardmen is increasing seating capacity. It has a low ceiling, and the ends of the ice surface are met by solid walls. It is in a field (on the edge of town), so should they wish to expand seating on one end it would be possible. To me, seating capacity is the biggest challenge they'll face in renovations.

I remember coaching at the Utica arena when it was a dump. As the visiting team, we had a change room designed for figure skaters. It's easy enough to update dressing rooms / training facilities / fan amenities so long as the space is there, which it was in Utica. If Belleville can address the seating capacity issue, the rest will be easy.

The plan for the ice is to drop the ice down several feet (they have to replace all the piping anyways), make it NHL sized and then add additional seating below the current seating up to the glass. this will add a couple of hundred seats.

The North wall section will be taken down and replaced with seating around that end of the ice to increase capacity further (by about 1000). This was the plan several years ago but the city changed its mind and expanded the complex to include the two new ice rinks, pool and gym.

The locker rooms will need to be upgraded, especially the visitors room.

 

[MiamiHockey]

The plan for the ice is to drop the ice down several feet (they have to replace all the piping anyways), make it NHL sized and then add additional seating below the current seating up to the glass. this will add a couple of hundred seats.

The North wall section will be taken down and replaced with seating around that end of the ice to increase capacity further (by about 1000). This was the plan several years ago but the city changed its mind and expanded the complex to include the two new ice rinks, pool and gym.

The locker rooms will need to be upgraded, especially the visitors room.

This makes great sense.

I imagine the upgrades will also include a workout facility for the AHL team. They have the space.

 

[ckg927]

Bingo seats about 4679 but fills it almost every game (3812). Albany seats 15K, but averaged 3366 last season. Utica averaged 3860 in a 3860 seat arena.

Which city of those three would you avoid?

You're kidding, RIGHT?

Albany. No question.

 

[aparch]

I would hope a team choses Utica > Binghamton for when the Canucks decide to head west, id say Utica has been an outstanding partner since they have entered the league. Devils or maybe the Rangers as a possibility ?

You do not want to affiliate with the Devils. They look for greener pastures with new affiliate cities, salt the field so nothing will grow, complain that their field is barren and won't grow anything, then drive off looking for the next green field to dry up.

 

[royals119]

This keeping the prospects close to home is BS. The LA Kings won 2 cups within 3 years and their farm club was 3,000 miles away in Manchester. Really didn't hurt them too much did it.
Toronto's farm club is in the same city and the maple leafs are the worst team in the league.

With this move by Ottawa I expect them to hoist the cup within 3 years,yea right it'll never happen.

The Kings management stated several times that the biggest factor was salary cap. When you call a player up from the AHL he counts against the NHL cap as soon as you make the call, even if it takes him a day or two to join the team. Same thing going down, he counts against the NHL cap until he rejoins the AHL team. So a team like LA with their AHL team on the opposite coast was getting hit for 2-3 days of extra salary against the cap on every callup compared to a team like Philly who can call a player after morning skate and have him play in the NHL that night, and send him back down after the game. Do that a couple dozen times a year and it adds up to enough money that you have to carry less players, or you lose out on a free agent you might want to sign.

 

[ek93]

You do not want to affiliate with the Devils. They look for greener pastures with new affiliate cities, salt the field so nothing will grow, complain that their field is barren and won't grow anything, then drive off looking for the next green field to dry up.

And sadly, I'd still prefer that over an ECHL team or no team here.

 

[Tommy Hawk]

You're kidding, RIGHT?

Albany. No question.

Depends on profitability or loss minimization, not attendance.

The Kings management stated several times that the biggest factor was salary cap. When you call a player up from the AHL he counts against the NHL cap as soon as you make the call, even if it takes him a day or two to join the team. Same thing going down, he counts against the NHL cap until he rejoins the AHL team. So a team like LA with their AHL team on the opposite coast was getting hit for 2-3 days of extra salary against the cap on every callup compared to a team like Philly who can call a player after morning skate and have him play in the NHL that night, and send him back down after the game. Do that a couple dozen times a year and it adds up to enough money that you have to carry less players, or you lose out on a free agent you might want to sign.

Very true.

 

[Ralph Slate]

The Kings management stated several times that the biggest factor was salary cap. When you call a player up from the AHL he counts against the NHL cap as soon as you make the call, even if it takes him a day or two to join the team. Same thing going down, he counts against the NHL cap until he rejoins the AHL team. So a team like LA with their AHL team on the opposite coast was getting hit for 2-3 days of extra salary against the cap on every callup compared to a team like Philly who can call a player after morning skate and have him play in the NHL that night, and send him back down after the game. Do that a couple dozen times a year and it adds up to enough money that you have to carry less players, or you lose out on a free agent you might want to sign.

It is pretty sad that so many cities have had hockey ripped from them simply because of a loophole/design flaw in the NHL's collective bargaining agreement. It seems like it would have been easier to amend/clarify that clause than to move almost a dozen teams around in the course of three years.