Checkers V: Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy Edition

[tarheelhockey]

The Wolves Are probably paying double in affiliation fees.

Inside sources say they threw in a complimentary year of Costco membership as a sweetener.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Inside sources say they threw in a complimentary year of Costco membership as a sweetener.

I’m not saying it’s smart, but Dundon doesn’t see why executives get paid so much and won’t pay his market value so why would he not take every cent he could get from an affiliation agreement? Motherf***er fired Chuck Kaiton because it cost too much.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Yes. We're cheering for laundry and always have been.

Well, sometimes we are cheering for teams associated with laundry.

As annoying as it'd be, I'd certainly stop caring about the Checkers and start cheering for Chicago.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Maybe it's a precursor for moving the Canes to Charlotte!

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Maybe it's a precursor for moving the Canes to Charlotte!

Weird spelling of Houston, must be regional.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I wish I could give you guys good news here, but your reaction is pretty much spot on. Wolves are very independently minded and focused on winning and drawing local crowds to the potential detriment of parent prospects that need development. A lot of fun to attend their games as they're always trying to build a contender, but even their proximity isn't enough to make me remotely interested in the Hawks partnering with them.

I don't get this from your team's perspective unless there's a major case of acrimony between the Raleigh and Charlotte ownership groups.

 

[Chrispy]

I really thought those rumors were too ridiculous to be true. This is monumentally dumb. You can have a Checker in Raleigh in a couple hours in a car. Road games will be slightly easier from ORD but Charlotte isn't bad there.

The potential travel gains are offset by the marketing loss of having a chance to finally leverage Charlotte and SC.

 

[AD Skinner]

I don't get this from your team's perspective unless there's a major case of acrimony between the Raleigh and Charlotte ownership groups.

That's the only reason I can see but I am the opposite of an insider

 

[HisIceness]

Someone check on @HisIceness. I'm pretty sure that dude is not okay right now.

You would be correct. I am thoroughly pissed the f*** off.

 

[WreckingCrew]

You would be correct. I am thoroughly pissed the f*** off.

I think you and I will be by far the most livid if this comes to pass

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

I wonder what the excuse will be. Or if they'll even throw one out there after Chuck Kaiton's forced retirement was met with a collective "meh" from the fanbase.

 

[GoldiFox]

FWIW I heard they offered Kaiton a good deal of money (~$200k) to stay on with the Canes and he scoffed at it. I see a USA Today article suggesting he was offered an 80% paycut, maybe he was making $1 million a year before but I just can't see any radio announcer being worth that kind of money these days. I'd have dropped him too if that is true.

Personally I didn't care for Kaiton's broadcast and prefer John so maybe that is just my bias.

 

[Highest Boss]

Interesting. Dont really know anyone that goes to Wolves games. My impression is they just try to build a winner by getting a bunch of AAAA guys and dont really care for prospect development.

Wonder how this affects the Shaya/Forslund relief scenario. I'm sure they could find other guys to fill in but if this sets off a butterfly effect where Forslund walks...

 

[Joe McGrath]

Interesting. Dont really know anyone that goes to Wolves games. My impression is they just try to build a winner by getting a bunch of AAAA guys and dont really care for prospect development.

Wonder how this affects the Shaya/Forslund relief scenario. I'm sure they could find other guys to fill in but if this sets off a butterfly effect where Forslund walks...

They could have anyone Fox Sports employs pinch hit. Won’t be difficult.

 

[MinJaBen]

Wonder how this affects the Shaya/Forslund relief scenario. I'm sure they could find other guys to fill in but if this sets off a butterfly effect where Forslund walks...

They could have anyone Fox Sports employs pinch hit. Won’t be difficult.

When I heard Mike Maniscalco do the play-by-play at one point last year on the radio, I was impressed. Much better than Shaya in my opinion.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I really thought those rumors were too ridiculous to be true.

Two things I’ve learned with this front office, 1. They don’t keep things close to the vest and 2. If there’s a rumor out there, even if it sounds ridiculous, there’s probably some merit to it. Skinner trade, Aho offer sheet, Pesce to Toronto trade rumors, etc...

 

[HisIceness]

I think you and I will be by far the most livid if this comes to pass

Yep.

This is the only connection the franchise has to the city of Charlotte. But Dundon is going to f*** it up and put both Charlotte Hockey and the development of the Canes prospects in jeopardy just so he can save a dollar over spending two. Oh the joys of being a league outlier.

Actually I don't think he saves that. The Wolves play in the Western Conference and will be taking road trips to California, Arizona, Manitoba, Colorado, Texas, and Nevada.

But since no one will be attending games for two years, I guess it doesn't matter.

 

[A Star is Burns]

When I heard Mike Maniscalco do the play-by-play at one point last year on the radio, I was impressed. Much better than Shaya in my opinion.

I think people are pretty hard on other announcer options sometimes because they aren't Forslund. No matter who is there, there will probably be plenty of griping.

Watching some late 90's highlights with Forslund on the call though, I can say, he sounded pretty bad to me. He's much much better now than he was back then. Guys usually take time to get really good. I didn't get to listen to them regularly until I got Center Ice in 2002, and by the, they were pretty good on the call.

As far as Kaiton, I was a big fan. When I wasn't in person, I listened to our games the Cup year via Chuck as I had no other options. But I can also say he rarely comes up these days except as an occasional dig on ownership. Not many really care about the radio call these days. I know I haven't listened to a radio feed since 06 and won't be anytime soon. Even on a phone in the car it's just as easy to pull up the TV broadcast on my phone.

 

[hblueridgegal]

From the Checkers:

While we are aware that the Carolina Hurricanes are nearing an affiliation agreement with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, the Hurricanes have had little dialogue with us regarding this matter.

In an era when NHL teams are placing great value on affiliations with closer proximity between the two clubs, we understand the confusion that such a move would cause.

We will explore other options for our affiliation and look forward to continuing in the American Hockey League when play resumes.

 

[Chrispy]

Two things I’ve learned with this front office, 1. They don’t keep things close to the vest and 2. If there’s a rumor out there, even if it sounds ridiculous, there’s probably some merit to it. Skinner trade, Aho offer sheet, Pesce to Toronto trade rumors, etc...

I'm hoping, related to both 1 and 2, this is playing hardball with Charlotte to get more out of the relationship. It's doubtful Charlotte would call the bluff and unless Nashville gives up Milwaukee there isn't another good option around.

But the AHL affiliate you worked hard to get as a franchise isn't a relationship I would risk over a little more $$ in affiliate fees.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

I think that no matter what happens, Dundon and Waddell are both hardball as hell. This is just more evidence to that thinking. No matter what ends up happening, I'm just happy that our big club is now legitimately a cap-ceiling team and he's not actually cheapening out on putting a top-of-the-line product on the ice. I still don't like this, though, and what it could mean for our prospects. I hope that the Canes do stick in Charlotte.

 

[A Star is Burns]

A campaign to keep them likely would have worked better when the rumors started than a week before it could happen. Seems like must just put their fingers in their ears and hoped it wouldn't happen cause it sounded crazy. I do hope this is just a negotiating tactic, but I doubt this regime is going to back down easily.

 

[HisIceness]

It shouldn't be out of line to think that eventually Orlando, Atlanta, and maybe even Norfolk again could get on board the AHL wagon. Those would be close-ish opponents.

No one thought the AHL would go to California and Texas but they did. Charlotte was considered a long shot even up until the rumors started swirling that Khan was buying the River Rats. Teams change their affiliates regularly and franchise relocations are not rare in this league. It would be incredibly short-sighted to make this move and then suddenly see that the Lightning want to "upgrade" the Solar Bears from the ECHL.

 

[A Star is Burns]

I guess the only good news is it sounds like we'd have a yearly opt out option. At least it leaves it open for this to be corrected some day.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

FWIW I heard they offered Kaiton a good deal of money (~$200k) to stay on with the Canes and he scoffed at it. I see a USA Today article suggesting he was offered an 80% paycut, maybe he was making $1 million a year before but I just can't see any radio announcer being worth that kind of money these days. I'd have dropped him too if that is true.

I'd have dropped him too. What bugged me about how Kaiton was handled in the public eye is how the 'Canes weren't content to simply cite the absurdity of paying a radio guy who brought nothing else to the org- as if Mike's 30 second blurbs are worth however much he makes, he also does fan relations and produces content for the website, something Kaiton never did- 6 figures in the era of unlimited data. but they added the narrative that they "offered" to let Kaiton make up his salary by selling sponsorships.

Which was 1) a slap in the face and an offer Kaiton would never, in a million years, have accepted and 2) presented to the fanbase as if it were a reasonable compromise.

Just like how Hanifin/Lindholm were being unreasonable, Skinner had a bad attitude, and Pesce was angry about his playing time (so we HAD to trade him for Nylander, our hands were tied!!). But I heard nothing of this sort with Faulk or de Haan, so maybe they figured after the first great season in a decade fans are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

On topic: I hate this move.