CHL to expand (max) 2 teams for 14-15

[Gearhead82]

Wow, Only 2k for Brett Hull night thought that would bring more people. I know they're called the Chill but, Do they have to have so cold in the arena? About froze to death the game I was at.

 

[Off da post and in]

What do you think the chances Tulsa goes to the SPHL like the MS Riverkings did?

ZERO chance of that happening. Tulsa is a 'Geographically Undesirable Location' for the SPHL. The travel time, distance, and costs don't fit the economical model of the SPHL.

Tulsa will either relocate or stay put as a bridge to the west when the CHL survivors and ECHL merge.

So let me see if I got this straight, you are justifying keeping around a horrible team that's owned by another team for the sole purpose of it being a doormat to make the other teams look good? A Washington Generals analog if you will?

In a tongue-in-cheek sort of way, yes.

 

[mfrerkes]

I'm glad I didn't buy a Cutthroats jersey when I had the chance. What do you think the chances Tulsa goes to the SPHL like the MS Riverkings did?

When the rumors were swirling around Tulsa (before Wichita bought them up) I often heard the NAHL being mentioned as their most likely move. There are a good number of NAHL teams in the region, but I'm not sure it will happen now that the Thunder have control. I don't see an SPHL move for the Oilers either.

The biggest CHL-to-SPHL rumors are linked to Quad City and Saint Charles. With the SPHL moving into Bloomington and Peoria, it's not out of the question. However, I don't believe the transition would happen unless the entire CHL itself folded this summer. That doesn't seem likely right now.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

I don't get why people want this league to fold up shop. I get its a mess of sorts as far as how its run but in some ways I like this league and the old UHL more than the ECHL. These guys are playing for the love of the game and some stay committed to cities like in the old UHL. These ECHL kids a lot of them act like the entitled spoiled brat 20 somethings they are

 

[mfrerkes]

I don't get why people want this league to fold up shop. I get its a mess of sorts as far as how its run but in some ways I like this league and the old UHL more than the ECHL.

There aren't very many posting here who explicitly want the league to fold. Maybe one poster here espouses that view, but the rest of us are just looking at the numbers game and being realistic about its future.

Forty percent of the league is owned by two groups right now. That's a business model the IHL 2.0 was able to keep working for about three years. Forty percent of the league can't get 2500 people to buy tickets to a typical game. Look at how many teams in AA hockey with that kind of attendance stick around for any meaningful length of time. Those numbers tell a story, and it isn't a pretty one.

This thread isn't about cheering the imminent death of a league. It's about discussing the ill-advised and desperate measures CHL officials have taken -- and continue taking -- to keep the plug from being pulled.

 

[PCSPounder]

Sometimes a league that just barely hangs on like this ruins the business for more deserving teams and leagues trying to find a home. The CHL hanging on longer maybe kills Rapid City before it can escape to the ECHL. Someone pulls funny business in (pulling city out of hat) Tulsa and- perhaps- the arena operators never want to deal with hockey again.

I'm not sure the CHL "rises" to that level... but that contract keeping teams stuck there could be an issue not too far down the road.

 

[mfrerkes]

Sometimes a league that just barely hangs on like this ruins the business for more deserving teams and leagues trying to find a home. The CHL hanging on longer maybe kills Rapid City before it can escape to the ECHL.

Excellent point, and it's one I've been making since the CHL put the hammer down on Allen and Rapid City last summer. The league would rather keep those two teams legally chained to its sinking ship than give their respective fans a better chance in a more stable league. It's disgusting. But, the CHL views it all purely as a business transaction. Fans be damned.

That's my biggest problem with the CHL right now. Instead of honestly addressing their deficient business model, they're taking hostages in a desperate ploy to remain afloat another season. I don't wish ill on the CHL. I just think they should allow teams with a promising future to follow whatever path those franchises desire.

 

[mfrerkes]

Casper looks like a no-go for this fall...

http://trib.com/news/local/casper/h...cle_12ade990-16d1-540e-b9e1-2ec80334e35c.html

 

[paul-laus]

Whatever happened to the CHL touting a maximum expansion of two teams? I guess that they should have clarified that it also meant a minimum of 0 teams joining. Couple that with the loss of St.Charles and they are below the 10 team threshold again and I'm wondering if they won't get into a tug-of-war with the ECHL to try to snag the Peoria market from the SPHL and attempt to get back to the 10 team mark.