AHL team to be announced in Belleville

JungleJON

Registered User
May 10, 2011
306
10
Per the article it seems as though Binghamton already has a replacement AHL team lined up. Would anyone care to guess who it might be?

Utica is out of the mix.
Albany is about a 50/50 choice.
Would have to say Hartford.
Outside choice could be Charlotte, only team down south.
 

ek93

Registered User
Dec 28, 2014
1,664
1,187
New York
Per the article it seems as though Binghamton already has a replacement AHL team lined up. Would anyone care to guess who it might be?

Utica is out of the mix.
Albany is about a 50/50 choice.
Would have to say Hartford.
Outside choice could be Charlotte, only team down south.

Everyone here in Bingo is under the impression it will either be the Devils or Rangers. But we've been disappointed here before so I'm trying not to get my hopes up.
 

HamiltonOHL

BulldogsFan00
Jun 30, 2005
4,375
27
Hamilton, Ontario
Melnyk purchased the team so Ottawa owns the rights also the deal is worth 8 years and the deal will see 20 million be invested into Yardman Arena to bring the arena up to AHL standards?
 

go comets

Registered User
Jul 10, 2013
3,532
1,471
Per the article it seems as though Binghamton already has a replacement AHL team lined up. Would anyone care to guess who it might be?

Utica is out of the mix.
Albany is about a 50/50 choice.
Would have to say Hartford.
Outside choice could be Charlotte, only team down south.

Will not be Charlotte. I'm guessing the Rangers are coming back.
 

Cupcheck

Registered User
May 16, 2007
68
4
Binghamton, NY
My guess is the Rangers though Albany had been inquiring about come here recently. Binghamton is a Rangers town and it would serve the ownership group well to bring them back.

Also, in Tom Mitchell's produced interview with our radio guy, as soon as he was talking about not being able to name the new affiliate they inserted footage of a guy walking in the concourse of our arena wearing a Ranger jacket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJt7rB6-pwI
 

go comets

Registered User
Jul 10, 2013
3,532
1,471
My guess is the Rangers though Albany had been inquiring about come here recently. Binghamton is a Rangers town and it would serve the ownership group well to bring them back.

Also, in Tom Mitchell's produced interview with our radio guy, as soon as he was talking about not being able to name the new affiliate they inserted footage of a guy walking in the concourse of our arena wearing a Ranger jacket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJt7rB6-pwI

I think that is called a clue!!!!
 

go comets

Registered User
Jul 10, 2013
3,532
1,471
It's not the size of the city, it's how many fans and corporate support they get. AHL teams tend to get ignored in big cities.
 

Canadian Game

Registered User
Jul 18, 2005
4,937
1,945
Ontario
I was at the press conference today and I think there's more to it than just attendance. Melnyk spoke about the Marlies and Montreal's AHL team, which will be in Laval next season, and how fans of both teams can travel to see their team here as well. He also talked about this move (among other things) helping strengthen their Sens fan base here in Belleville. If the AHL team is growing the overall Sens fan base in a location that is fairly central to Leafs, Habs, and Sens fan bases, then the attendance likely isn't as high of a priority because there is a higher importance of growing the overall Sens fan base, which converts to brand loyalty and increased profits in the form of NHL tickets & merchandise, Ottawa Sens tv ratings, etc.

Currently some local kids hockey teams are called the Junior Bulls. I think it's only a matter of time before they are called the Sens as well. There is going to be a whole generation of kids who grow up being part of a local minor league Sens hockey team, and/or attend AHL Belleville Sens games. Eventually some of the local AHL heroes they were fans of here will become NHL stars. Once they move on to the NHL, it's tough to cheer against the guys you just admired, got autographs of, and slapped hands with at the tunnels during games. Those are the kinds of memories adults of all ages talk about when explaining why they cheer for a certain team: "my parents took me to a Leafs game as a young kid and (Mats Sundin) flipped me a puck during warm-ups. I still have that puck", "my Dad and I used to watch the Canadiens on tv every Saturday night and I grew up watching Guy Lafleur. I've been a die-hard Habs fan ever since". I hear these types of things all the time. As for me, I grew up outside of Edmonton during the 80's and took an interest in hockey by myself as my parents weren't hockey fans. In 1990 our minor hockey team started going to Oilers games each year and that same season my parents took me to the Oilers' Stanley Cup parade, which is something I'll never forget. I've never given my loyalty a second thought. Even though I like the Leafs, the Oilers are my #1 without a question. Once kids are hooked from an early age, it's tough to get them to change their loyalty. This could be a way for the Sens to start building a better fan base around Belleville, which is why I think their sole focus won't be on just ticket sales and attendance. This area is in a unique location in terms of being near 3 NHL regions and the Ottawa Senators are jumping in to increase their share.
 

MiamiHockey

Registered User
Sep 12, 2012
2,087
187
Belleville's metro population is 92,540. Binghamton's is 251,725.

That's one measure provided by Wikipedia. That definition includes only Belleville, Trenton, and the surrounding county.

You should also consider how many people are withing an hour's drive of each city.

Binghamton is quite isolated. Outside of the immediate area, there are no cities within an hour's drive.

Belleville is less than an hour from Kingston (pop > 150,000), Napanee (20,000), and Cobourg (20,000) with other towns in between. Within an hour of Belleville you easily have over 300,000 people.
 

MiamiHockey

Registered User
Sep 12, 2012
2,087
187
I was at the press conference today and I think there's more to it than just attendance. Melnyk spoke about the Marlies and Montreal's AHL team, which will be in Laval next season, and how fans of both teams can travel to see their team here as well. He also talked about this move (among other things) helping strengthen their Sens fan base here in Belleville. If the AHL team is growing the overall Sens fan base in a location that is fairly central to Leafs, Habs, and Sens fan bases, then the attendance likely isn't as high of a priority because there is a higher importance of growing the overall Sens fan base, which converts to brand loyalty and increased profits in the form of NHL tickets & merchandise, Ottawa Sens tv ratings, etc.

Currently some local kids hockey teams are called the Junior Bulls. I think it's only a matter of time before they are called the Sens as well. There is going to be a whole generation of kids who grow up being part of a local minor league Sens hockey team, and/or attend AHL Belleville Sens games. Eventually some of the local AHL heroes they were fans of here will become NHL stars. Once they move on to the NHL, it's tough to cheer against the guys you just admired, got autographs of, and slapped hands with at the tunnels during games. Those are the kinds of memories adults of all ages talk about when explaining why they cheer for a certain team: "my parents took me to a Leafs game as a young kid and (Mats Sundin) flipped me a puck during warm-ups. I still have that puck", "my Dad and I used to watch the Canadiens on tv every Saturday night and I grew up watching Guy Lafleur. I've been a die-hard Habs fan ever since". I hear these types of things all the time. As for me, I grew up outside of Edmonton during the 80's and took an interest in hockey by myself as my parents weren't hockey fans. In 1990 our minor hockey team started going to Oilers games each year and that same season my parents took me to the Oilers' Stanley Cup parade, which is something I'll never forget. I've never given my loyalty a second thought. Even though I like the Leafs, the Oilers are my #1 without a question. Once kids are hooked from an early age, it's tough to get them to change their loyalty. This could be a way for the Sens to start building a better fan base around Belleville, which is why I think their sole focus won't be on just ticket sales and attendance. This area is in a unique location in terms of being near 3 NHL regions and the Ottawa Senators are jumping in to increase their share.

This move really has nothing to do with attendance, other than the Sens ensuring that attendance in Belleville is reasonable enough to pay some bills.

The economics of the AHL have changed, and it is no longer essential that AHL franchises be financially viable on their own. As has been often discussed in regards to the AHL West, teams can save $1-2M in NHL salary by having their AHL franchise close to their home arena. To make a long story short, it enables them to carry fewer players on their roster, and they can more easily send down players on two-way contracts for short periods to save NHL salary.

There are several other benefits (building a fan base - as you mentioned - better access to development staff) but the biggest driver of these moves is the difference in NHL salary, and the ability to capitalize on that with a farm team in close proximity to the NHL franchise.

So, really, there is no point in debating whether Binghamton is a better or worse market than Belleville. That's not what is driving this decision.
 

zeeto

Registered User
Oct 28, 2011
280
30
Endwell, NY
That's one measure provided by Wikipedia. That definition includes only Belleville, Trenton, and the surrounding county.

You should also consider how many people are withing an hour's drive of each city.

Binghamton is quite isolated. Outside of the immediate area, there are no cities within an hour's drive.

Belleville is less than an hour from Kingston (pop > 150,000), Napanee (20,000), and Cobourg (20,000) with other towns in between. Within an hour of Belleville you easily have over 300,000 people.

Both Scranton and Syracuse are within an hours drive of Binghamton. You also then have Elmira and Cortland that are the equivelant size of Napanee/Cobourg.
 
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MiamiHockey

Registered User
Sep 12, 2012
2,087
187
Both Scranton and Syracuse are within an hours drive of Binghamton. You also then have Elmira and Cortland that are the equivelant size of Napanee/Cobourg.

Scranton and Syracuse are an hour's drive if you drive like a madman through the mountains. I've driven that route several times in the winter, and it's not one you speed on.

But, since we're in the mood to stretch our definition of an hour's drive, let's include Oshawa, Ontario in our calculations. I've done Belleville-Oshawa in an hour, so it must be.
 

mmazz22

Registered User
Jan 24, 2010
237
62
Scranton and Syracuse are most deifantly an hour drive from center of Binghamton. I drive like an old lady and I m there in an hour.
But the point is mute as both those cities have their own AHL team and the Binghamton AHL team is no longer drawing from those two markets like they used to before 94 when the Crunch came and years after when WBS came into the league.
I get the Bellville move. They will draw well, they will build the Sens brand and that to me seems to be the mission. You will have kids growing up to be Sens fans there just as you did here. When the Sens came here 15 years ago you most certainly converted kids whos Mom and Dad's were Isles/Rangers/Devils/Sabres fans into Sens kids. The kids could watch a MIke Hoffman here and then follow him up to Ottawa and root for the O- Sens.
 

210

Registered User
Mar 5, 2003
12,393
961
Worcester, MA
210sportsblog.com
Picking the longest route shown...according to Google Maps:
Syracuse to Binghamton covers 73.1 miles
Scranton to Binghamton covers 62.8 miles
Elmira to Binghamton covers 64.6 miles
Cortland to Binghamton covers 46 miles
 

Hoverhand

Barry Trotzky
Dec 6, 2015
2,411
1,247
Ontario
I still think Belleville is way too small of a city for AHL hockey...

Although I agree it's a junior town, we most certainly will be able to hold up the AHL franchise. Belleville isn't the most exciting city in the world so we relied on the Bulls pretty hard. We got a little lazy after 30 years but now that they've been ripped from us and then replaced by the Sens we now know what it feels like to have loved and lost so we'll be much more careful this time.

I can almost guarantee the first season, season ticket sales will be through the roof.
 

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