ECHL 2020-21 Season Plans

[I Hate Philadelphia]

So the owners should put on games in empty rinks and lose millions of dollars because... why exactly?

Ever been to an ECHL game? "Social distancing" is already enforced by default via the extremely low attendance. These franchises rely on the small crowds they draw to survive but now apparently it makes more sense to destroy the league altogether.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Ever been to an ECHL game? "Social distancing" is already enforced by default via the extremely low attendance. These franchises rely on the small crowds they draw to survive but now apparently it makes more sense to destroy the league altogether.

By my count, I've been to over 1,000 ECHL games.

If the government prohibits indoor gatherings, there's not a lot those teams can do. They still need the ticket revenue to operate at a de minimis loss, and if that revenue stream isn't there, it's financially impossible to operate the team.

So again, the owners should put on games in empty rinks and lose millions of dollars because... why exactly?

 

[crimsonace]

Toledo, Cincy, Indy, Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo, and Wheeling are all on the clock.

Indy & Wheeling are in the group beginning Dec. 11. Training camp starts in nine days.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Indy & Wheeling are in the group beginning Dec. 11. Training camp starts in nine days.

A lot can happen in nine days.

 

[royals119]

I'm a Royals STH and just got an email from the team. They are suspending for 20-21, and plan to return in 21-22. They will also be announcing more perks for season ticket holders, activities during the next 10 months (I expect more fundraisers, online stuff like the podcasts where they interview former players and the like), and that the current coaches and staff are all staying on. The team is owned by the arena authority which gets money from hotel taxes. Although hotel stays are obviously down, they do have some income to support retaining staff. Word on the street is the arena security, ushers, concession workers, etc were all told to clean out their lockers and apply for unemployment back in September.

 

[Atlantian]

It’s official. All 6 North teams have opted out. That brings the total to 8 out of 26 teams with at least 5 teams still in limbo

North Division Elects Suspension of Play for 2020-21 Season

 

[JMCx4]

It’s official. All 6 North teams have opted out. That brings the total to 8 out of 26 teams with at least 5 teams still in limbo ...

Misery loves company, as they say.

 

[wildcat48]

Many of these teams, including my local Mariners, will no longer exist after this idiotic decision. This is a death knell for numerous teams and most likely for the league as a whole.

Maine will be fine. The team is owned by Comcast and the arena is managed by Comcast which needs a tenant. They need each other to be successful.

 

[wildcat48]

“You look at our division and we have two Canadian teams that can’t cross the border and Adirondack who can have zero fans, and then just recently Worcester’s rink has turned into a hospital overflow,” said Riley Armstrong, the Mariners’ head coach and assistant general manager. “That leaves Maine and Reading, and for us to travel every weekend without playing in our division, there’s a cost that comes with that as well.”

The decision to convert the DCU Center in Worcester to a 240-bed field hospital was made Friday.

The league announces suspension of play for the 2020-21 season for all six franchises in the North, including the Mariners.

 

[wildcat48]

Looming deadline could thwart Komets' season | Ice Chips | Journal Gazette

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Indy & Wheeling are in the group beginning Dec. 11. Training camp starts in nine days.

A lot can happen in nine days.

Looming deadline could thwart Komets' season | Ice Chips | Journal Gazette

Twelve years ago, both the Fresno Falcons and the Augusta Lyunx folded mid-season. Fresno folded right about this time of year, Augusta about three weeks later.

Both teams strung fans along. The diehards were convinced that neither team was folding until the press release came out. Dan Troutman, the owner in Augusta, admitted to the Augusta Chronicle that the team was in financial trouble but stated that the team would finish the season less than 48 hours before the Governor's conference call where a vote was taken to terminate the membership.

The League Office got out over its skis here by setting a November 30 deadline to make a decision. If they stick to it, I'm certain my reasoning that 12 or fewer teams will play will hold up. Things are only going to change for the worse between now and then. Case counts , hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 are only going to rise. Restrictions on gatherings are only going to get tighter.

The AHL isn't starting play until February 4 because the NHL teams who own franchises in that league know it's not feasible to play before then. I'd bet most ECHL owners realize that by now, too.

 

[royals119]

The League Office got out over its skis here by setting a November 30 deadline to make a decision. If they stick to it, I'm certain my reasoning that 12 or fewer teams will play will hold up.

The only way they could move the Nov 30 deadline back would be to change the start date for the season. If the season starts Jan 15, and camps therefore open Jan 1, then the teams and the league need a month to get ready. The CBA requires the team to provide housing for players. Most teams rent apartments. That means they need to put security deposits down and sign leases by Nov 30 at the absolute latest, and likely before that. Plus getting the players in town and able to practice for Jan 1 camps was going to be difficult already with states requiring either a negative test or 14 day quarantine.

The way things are going, I don't think the deadline date is an issue. With cases, hospitalizations, and deaths rising there will only be more restrictions, not less. The Philadelpia Eagles did have limited fan seating at their stadium, and just announced they are switching to no fans for the rest of the season. Deadline or no deadline I think the north division shutdown was going to happen this month.

 

[JMCx4]

... The League Office got out over its skis here by setting a November 30 deadline to make a decision. If they stick to it, I'm certain my reasoning that 12 or fewer teams will play will hold up. ...

Better out over their skis than this outcome ...

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Better out over their skis than this outcome ...

That's the FHL every year.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

The only way they could move the Nov 30 deadline back would be to change the start date for the season.

Like I said... They'll either change the deadline, or 12 or fewer teams will play.

 

[Atlantian]

Very sad we could see four of the longest continuously playing pro teams miss a year. Hershey (AHL), Fort Wayne, Rochester (AHL), and Kalamazoo are the longest pro teams in North America to field a team every year since their inception. Sadly I don't see many, if any, of these teams playing this year.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Very sad we could see four of the longest continuously playing pro teams miss a year. Hershey (AHL), Fort Wayne, Rochester (AHL), and Kalamazoo are the longest pro teams in North America to field a team every year since their inception. Sadly I don't see many, if any, of these teams playing this year.

No, what's sad is that 250,000 Americans died preventable deaths due to Covid-19.

Those four teams not playing hockey for a year is both a side effect of the pandemic and smart business by the owners. Better to have the franchise survive to play another day (or year) than to throw money down a black hole for the sake of playing a shortened schedule of games that, in the grand scheme of things, are largely meaningless. No minor league team that isn't owned and operated by a major league club can truly afford to play without gate revenue. The pandemic precludes opening the gates. If you're mad/sad the games aren't being played, you'd be better to direct your emotion towards the management of the pandemic by the nation as a whole and the failure of citizens to take responsibility and do what science has told us again and again will help to stop the pandemic.

That's not politics, by the way, moderators, that's reality.

 

[wildcat48]

No, what's sad is that 250,000 Americans died preventable deaths due to Covid-19.

Those four teams not playing hockey for a year is both a side effect of the pandemic and smart business by the owners. Better to have the franchise survive to play another day (or year) than to throw money down a black hole for the sake of playing a shortened schedule of games that, in the grand scheme of things, are largely meaningless. No minor league team that isn't owned and operated by a major league club can truly afford to play without gate revenue. The pandemic precludes opening the gates. If you're mad/sad the games aren't being played, you'd be better to direct your emotion towards the management of the pandemic by the nation as a whole and the failure of citizens to take responsibility and do what science has told us again and again will help to stop the pandemic.

That's not politics, by the way, moderators, that's reality.

A-F'n-Men!

 

[Big Z Man 1990]

Indy and Wheeling should be in the East this season since they are both in the Eastern Time Zone

 

[JMCx4]

Indy and Wheeling should be in the East this season since they are both in the Eastern Time Zone

Thank you for that insightful observation. It will be passed along to the appropriate department for due consideration.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Indy and Wheeling should be in the East this season since they are both in the Eastern Time Zone

You have been told countless times that time zones have absolutely no influence on which division/conference teams belong in.

AHL Colorado Eagles and NHL Calgary Flames and NHL Edmonton Oilers are in the Mountain Time Zone. Yet they are in the Pacific Division, with teams almost exclusively part of the Pacific Time Zone, for their leagues because that is the division that makes the most sense for them.

There is more to league alignment than time zones, Z.

 

[Roadhog]

There hasn't been an official announcement, but a STH friend claims his "regular" usher told him the Beast are done in Brampton. No surprise really.

 

[210]

There hasn't been an official announcement, but a STH friend claims his "regular" usher told him the Beast are done in Brampton. No surprise really.

Yeah, because an usher would have that kind of insider information...

 

[JMCx4]

Yeah, because an usher would have that kind of insider information...

But his usher was a "regular." If they'd been an "irregular," THEN you'd have good reason to doubt their story.

 

[Atlantian]

Indy and Wheeling should be in the East this season since they are both in the Eastern Time Zone

Would not surprise me. Especially if the number of teams stays at 13. Has nothing to do with time zone though.

There hasn't been an official announcement, but a STH friend claims his "regular" usher told him the Beast are done in Brampton. No surprise really.

Also is not surprising. Ushers have a lot of the inside info a lot of times at least in my arena. Even if they played this year, I think they'd be done specifically due to the loss of the insane subsidy they were getting from the city.