Ducks hiring for an AHL related position in San Diego

[go comets]

Charlie Pompea used to show up in Springfield fairly often when Landon was running the team. He's now taken the role of being a silent owner, for whatever reason. I haven't seen him at all this year (but I don't attend every game), and his daughter has been the public face of the franchise since officially taking over prior to this season. As I've stated in the other thread, there are a lot of things different about the way Springfield is being run since Landon stepped aside.

My opinion: the wild card regarding the Springfield franchise is the MGM casino(website link) that will be built diagonally across the street from the MassMutual Center, opening probably in 2017.

The casino plans to utilize the MM Center as their de facto on-site arena for entertainment (see "FAQ" quote below), with an airwalk linking the arena/convention center to the casino property. The Falcons could either be part of that entertainment mix, and thus benefit greatly...or could be marginalized by the other events booked by MGM. (Who knows, I suppose that MGM could even obtain an ownership stake in the team, if they were so inclined.)

I would think that the prudent move for the Pompea family would be to determine which direction the casino will push the franchise, and act accordingly. If the Falcons are embraced by MGM, sit tight for now and reap the benefits at that time. If MGM has plans that will marginalize the team, now is a great time to have an AHL franchise on the market, due to Western demand driving up franchise values.

Sounds like great news for Springfield!!! But falcons does not sound right... Why did they go away from the Indians name?????

 

[offkilter]

Sounds like great news for Springfield!!! But falcons does not sound right... Why did they go away from the Indians name?????

The Springfield Indians moved to Worcester to become the Icecats in 1994 after Roy Boe purchased them. That same year Springfield was granted an expansion franchise and a contest was held to find a new name. The Falcons were chosen in honor of a pair of rare falcons that set up a nest on the roof of the town hall.

 

[MM658]

offkilter summed it up well.

Peter Cooney sold the Indians to NYI owner Roy Boe, ending the franchise's nearly 60-year run in Springfield (minus a few years spent in Syracuse in the Fifties). Boe relocated the franchise and renamed them the Worcester IceCats.

At that point, former Indians/Kings goalie and later Cooney's GM, Bruce Landon, and fellow former Springfield Kings player Wayne LaChance were granted an expansion franchise, and ran a contest to name the team. "Falcons" won, based on the popularity of a pair of Peregrine Falcons that nested on the office tower which now houses the AHL Headquarters.

There was even a local access cable channel dedicated to the Peregrine pair's nest for a while (like watching paint dry most of the time). Apparently, a new pair continued the nesting tradition a few years ago: http://monarch-place.com/falcons.htm

I have seen Peter Cooney attend Falcons games in recent seasons, in relative anonymity. In the early years of the Falcons franchise, he likely would have been run out of town on a rail.

Trivia time: the IceCats (the old Indians) eventually moved to Peoria and became an incarnation of the Rivermen. And of course, that franchise later relocated to a place that "go comets" should know well -- Utica! Yes, gc, the franchise you now root for used to be, in fact, the Springfield Indians. And now you know.........the REST of the story.

Sorry for the thread hijack.