Cities Without Hockey That Would Do Better Than Elmira, Wheeling, and Brampton
- Thread starter My Cozen Dylan
- Start date
GindyDraws
I will not disable my Adblock, HF
Understandable, but all three have had teams over the years, and they all fizzled out in a few years.
I'd argue more for a Lowell or New Haven.
My Cozen Dylan
Registered User
History is not always indicative of the past. If Orlando didn't have a team now and I put them on the list, similar reasoning would be used, yet they now have one of the best attendance records in minor league hockey.
HansH
Unwelcome Spectre
Jacksonville's arena is too large and costly for most mid- and low-minors budgets (see the SPHL attempt there). Maybe the AHL, eventually, but no time soon.
Baltimore is a TOTAL nonstarter without a different facility. Period.
Baltimore is a TOTAL nonstarter without a different facility. Period.
Baltimore and Richmond are pretty much in the same boat. Even if someone wanted to try in either building, it will still require significant renovations to the locker rooms, and either a renovation or construction of a weight and training room.
The opportunity for minor league hockey in Lowell ended when the building was sold to UMASS-Lowell. There's no place to play in New Haven, since the Coliseum was imploded (Yale is not an option).
The opportunity for minor league hockey in Lowell ended when the building was sold to UMASS-Lowell. There's no place to play in New Haven, since the Coliseum was imploded (Yale is not an option).
Cornwall, Ontario. The heart of hockey country. It has a good ECHL-sized barn and is close to other small cities (Brockville, Valleyfield) from which it could draw support. If it was affiliated with Montreal or Ottawa, I think it would be successful.
My Cozen Dylan
Registered User
Sounds more OHL-esque than minor-pro. Brampton is a prime example of why minor-pro (other than AHL) won't work in Ontario IMO.
Brampton and Cornwall could not possibly be any more different. Brampton is a major city / suburb or Toronto whose population is majority first or second generation Canadians, whereas Cornwall is a small city far from any major city. Brampton had an under-supported OHL team for many years, owing as much to the terrible location of the arena (a five-minute drive to the Mississauga OHL team's arena) as the city itself. Cornwall currently provides strong support to a Jr A franchise (the Colts) and could support an OHL team, as it has in the past, but it could also support an ECHL franchise. However, it's not accurate to suggest that Cornwall would be unable to support minor-pro because Brampton's support is underwhelming.
My Cozen Dylan
Registered User
GindyDraws
I will not disable my Adblock, HF
Back when I was against the Beast, I often cited that Brampton underperformed in their support for the OHL Batallion, before they moved to North Bay.
Personally, I think that one solution to the problem is providing them with more regional opponents to get some interest in, because I think it's hard to get people excited over repeated meetings with Tulsa and Wichita. I still think they should be closer to the AHL outcasts under the new alignment.
Avsrule2022
"No more rats"
How about anywhere West of the Mississippi? There is no need for more teams in the East.
Casper, Denver, Albuquerque, Lincoln, Fargo, Billings, Portland.
Fire away.......
Casper, Denver, Albuquerque, Lincoln, Fargo, Billings, Portland.
Fire away.......
My Cozen Dylan
Registered User
How about anywhere West of the Mississippi? There is no need for more teams in the East.
Casper, Denver, Albuquerque, Lincoln, Fargo, Billings, Portland.
Fire away.......
Denver has this team called the Avalanche...Maybe you've heard of them...
Also, Lincoln and Fargo have USHL teams, and Portland has a WHL team.
Casper and Billings...That's the middle of "Stay Away"ville in regards to pro sports.
Albuquerque...I don't know. Maybe.
Avsrule2022
"No more rats"
Yep, I know who the Avs are......
The Eagles would add 500 to attendance during their visits to an ECHL team in Denver. But I agree, it's still a bad idea. I was just throwing out locations in the West who I think have as good a chance to support a team as anywhere in the saturated East.
The funny thing is, Albuquerque is the one from my list that I think would be the worst of all of them. They couldn't even support a Junior A WSHL team, and their nice new arena is in the middle of nowhere.
How about anywhere West of the Mississippi? There is no need for more teams in the East.
Casper, Denver, Albuquerque, Lincoln, Fargo, Billings, Portland.
Fire away.......
Denver? Seriously?
In a perfect world, I would like to see a team in Jacksonville, Louisville, Peoria, Bossier Shreveport and Vegas.
Hans, I understand what you stated about the Jacksonville arena being too large and costly for mid major hockey, but for the SPHL team that was there, was the lower bowl seating only used for their games? In terms of business, can a team have a lease (and rent amount) based only on the lower bowl seats?
Speaking of Shreveport, I don't remember why the Mudbugs closed their doors. Was it a situation of losing money or did the owner decide he didn't want to have the team anymore?
Hans, I understand what you stated about the Jacksonville arena being too large and costly for mid major hockey, but for the SPHL team that was there, was the lower bowl seating only used for their games? In terms of business, can a team have a lease (and rent amount) based only on the lower bowl seats?
Speaking of Shreveport, I don't remember why the Mudbugs closed their doors. Was it a situation of losing money or did the owner decide he didn't want to have the team anymore?
Cornwall is a hour from both Ottawa and Montreal that is not far now with that said Cornwall has had a Ahl team in the past.
Toronto area is not a good hockey market out it this way there are jr a teams that draw better then minor pro teams do in the Gta.
GindyDraws
I will not disable my Adblock, HF
Yeah... Cutthroats... nah.
If I'm the ECHL, the Mountain West should be exploded a bit.
Avsrule2022
"No more rats"
Hard to pick future markets based on past results, but Bossier would be near the top of my list if they could generate half the interest they had when they were in the CHL. Great fanbase and good town to visit. Still its hard to judge how a town reacts after losing a team. Generally lower level minor league hockey does better in less sophisticated markets, meaning the southern markets do better than towns up north with either a good college or major junior alternative.
The fascination with the northeast continues, but its a college hockey market, especially with all the Junior teams fighting for space. In the end, the ECHL won't have any teams in the northeast, you can't beat college hockey, its weekend games only, and talent wise, not much different than the ECHL.
Al?
RLR
The fascination with the northeast continues, but its a college hockey market, especially with all the Junior teams fighting for space. In the end, the ECHL won't have any teams in the northeast, you can't beat college hockey, its weekend games only, and talent wise, not much different than the ECHL.
Al?
RLR
No Fun Shogun
34-38-61-10-13-15
Unless they rip out the Olympic sized ice sheet, that's not happening.
Owner could not secure enough season ticket holders to justify the cost of operating the team. SMG, the arena operator, didn't make the team's life easy either. They felt they could make more money with other events.
