ECHL to 30 Teams?

[CHRDANHUTCH]

guess we will find out next month and state not province

the only expansion team is T-R.... and no league meetings will be held until at least 2022..... expansion or other league business

 

[royals119]

If you listen to the video the reporter says a "sports franchise in the United States". That may or may not be hockey. He could be buying a minor league baseball team or indoor lacrosse or something. Although the short term outlook for sports isn't good, if you have money to invest and time to wait, this would be a great time to pick up teams or arenas at a low price. I'm sure that is part of his motivation in talking to the city about the mile one center. If he can take it off their hands for next to nothing, invest in the infrastructure, and then act as concert promoter and landlord for his own hockey team, he will make a nice profit in the long term, and the city gets out from under an ongoing expense at a time when they likely have more pressing needs and reduced income. So he gets a building on the cheap and looks like a hero for bailing out the city. Win-win.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

guess we will find out next month and state not province

Based on what he has done so far, he has put it in markets that are 1). near a NHL team that 2). wants to improve prospect development by adding a close affiliate a AA team within easy access.

St. John's is an cheap, easy 3-4 hour direct flight to their AHL/NHL affiliates in Toronto, Trois-Rivières is less than 2 hours driving away from their AHL/NHL affiliates in Montréal and Laval. Dean MacDonald has regularly praised this method of operation and is unlikely to change.

If you want to look at possible solutions, look for NHL teams that fit this mold. Boston certainly doesn't. They care more about getting their concessions revenue from Providence than developing their prospects. And unless they've suddenly changed after many long years of apathy, that counts out Manchester. Savannah is a five hour drive away from their closest NHL affiliate. That closest affiliate, Carolina, is already affiliated with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits less than two hours away. And unless the Hurricanes want to cancel that relationship they've spent a year praising and reportedly reaping rewards from, that counts out Savannah. I saw you mention San Antonio, Dallas is the only reasonable affiliate and they've been affiliated with the Steelheads for 15 years.

The only realistic situations to my knowledge is him getting a ECHL tenant for University of Iowa's new arena in Coralville and affiliating with the Minnesota Wild or the new arena to be building in Clarksville, TN and affiliating with Nashville. They have both been properly publicized, yet not linked to anyone let alone Dean MacDonald, and it fits his mold of operating, which he has been very clear about not changing.

You also have to take into consideration that in the past 5 years alone, there have been many different groups of people saying they will be bringing in a ECHL team to a market. Off the top of my head, people at different times have said they will be bringing a team to Reno, Richmond, among others. None of them happened. Speculating is one thing, but believing it will actually happen is another,

 

[210]

the only expansion team is T-R.... and no league meetings will be held until at least 2022..... expansion or other league business

What? They meet via conference call or video meeting at least once every three months. My guess is it's been a lot more frequently than that as of late.

 

[hurricanesfan123]

Based on what he has done so far, he has put it in markets that are 1). near a NHL team that 2). wants to improve prospect development by adding a close affiliate a AA team within easy access.

St. John's is an cheap, easy 3-4 hour direct flight to their AHL/NHL affiliates in Toronto, Trois-Rivières is less than 2 hours driving away from their AHL/NHL affiliates in Montréal and Laval. Dean MacDonald has regularly praised this method of operation and is unlikely to change.

If you want to look at possible solutions, look for NHL teams that fit this mold. Boston certainly doesn't. They care more about getting their concessions revenue from Providence than developing their prospects. And unless they've suddenly changed after many long years of apathy, that counts out Manchester. Savannah is a five hour drive away from their closest NHL affiliate. That closest affiliate, Carolina, is already affiliated with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits less than two hours away. And unless the Hurricanes want to cancel that relationship they've spent a year praising and reportedly reaping rewards from, that counts out Savannah. I saw you mention San Antonio, Dallas is the only reasonable affiliate and they've been affiliated with the Steelheads for 15 years.

The only realistic situations to my knowledge is him getting a ECHL tenant for University of Iowa's new arena in Coralville and affiliating with the Minnesota Wild or the new arena to be building in Clarksville, TN and affiliating with Nashville. They have both been properly publicized, yet not linked to anyone let alone Dean MacDonald, and it fits his mold of operating, which he has been very clear about not changing.

You also have to take into consideration that in the past 5 years alone, there have been many different groups of people saying they will be bringing in a ECHL team to a market. Off the top of my head, people at different times have said they will be bringing a team to Reno, Richmond, among others. None of them happened. Speculating is one thing, but believing it will actually happen is another,

i mean manchester and san Antonio would make sense for him both close to possible nhl and ahl affiliates he already convinced two nhl franchises with his teams so i can see it again. Who knows though. Maybe this is the unnamed manchester owner. @royals119 could be right though

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

i mean manchester and san Antonio would make sense for him both close to possible nhl and ahl affiliates he already convinced two nhl franchises with his teams so i can see it again. Who knows though. Maybe this is the unnamed manchester owner. @royals119 could be right though

T-R took care of Manchester and any other market is a non-starter, especially in a pandemic..... this isn't a speculation thread.... then there's why or if SJSE has indeed and/or finally relinquished control of the arena in St. John's

 

[210]

T-R took care of Manchester and any other market is a non-starter, especially in a pandemic..... this isn't a speculation thread.... then there's why or if SJSE has indeed and/or finally relinquished control of the arena in St. John's

Seriously? All this is is a speculation thread.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Seriously? All this is is a speculation thread.

then where is the 3 other ownerships outside of Trois Rivieres, then.....Darryl, since you are the so-called know-it-all about everything there is to know.... maybe you should buy the Railers and move then to Manchester or Savannah

 

[hurricanesfan123]

then where is the 3 other ownerships outside of Trois Rivieres, then.....Darryl, since you are the so-called know-it-all about everything there is to know.... maybe you should buy the Railers and move then to Manchester or Savannah

as I've said before sometimes i really dont get hutch

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

as I've said before sometimes i really dont get hutch

you're the one speculating, dude..... the league is still at 27, even without a pandemic, and whether or not T-r ACTUALLY Happens, remember the thread title, the league needs to go to 32, now, not 30, and that's predicated on getting those teams interested or supportive of affiliating, either by expansion, or existing markets.... now that Seattle is on its way, and they cannot even get their AHL Affiliate up and running due to the pandemic, which is why no league outside of the NHL at present is playing since the pandemic began in March.....

 

[hurricanesfan123]

id say at least 80% of this thread has been speculation nothing new

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

id say at least 80% of this thread has been speculation nothing new

and since March, outside of T-R, WHICH HAD ITS OWN thread, how many teams have been announced in the midst of a pandemic..... when the 2019-20 season ended in March, there is no news about expansion, Manchester, or not, and the pivot toward 12/4/21, EVEN if that occurs

all minor leagues in the US are not playing due to COVID 19.... NOT even the Canadian Major Junior leagues

 

[hurricanesfan123]

to be fair I thought manchester has gonna be official by now due to all the chatter about there being a owner i mean even mark divver was talking about it but since that didn't pan out i am looking (speculating) what other expansion options might work ex. savannah , san Antonio, Richmond with fred festa , etc. Dean Macdonald might be potentially looking at one of these options

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

to be fair I thought manchester has gonna be official by now due to all the chatter about there being a owner i mean even mark divver was talking about it but since that didn't pan out i am looking (speculating) what other expansion options might work ex. savannah , san Antonio, Richmond with fred festa , etc. Dean Macdonald might be potentially looking at one of these options

Richmond went the same way but that a different thread.... there's no arena in Richmond, hasn't been since the Renegades and Riverdogs collapsed...... and Navy Hill was rejected by the Commonwealth..... it's the same reasoning why Norfolk hasn't replaced Scope, and there's little option to even a temporary facility if it happens

 

[210]

id say at least 80% of this thread has been speculation nothing new

The entire topic is about speculation. There are some folks, or maybe it's just one specific person, that can't separate facts from speculation and then interject completely unrelated information that has no connection to anything, and that's what causes issues.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

The entire topic is about speculation. There are some folks, or maybe it's just one specific person, that can't separate facts from speculation and then interject completely unrelated information that has no connection to anything, and that's what causes issues.

I've watched Richmond FOR YEARS, where's the arena now that the Coliseum is not viable and has been closed since 2017, and who posted that..... not YOU

Richmond Coliseum closed permanently in February of 2019.....there is no arena in Henrico County, even being proposed or under discussion.... that's why the FPHL abandoned all attempts to go there, and settled on Fraser, MI

 

[210]

I've watched Richmond FOR YEARS, where's the arena now that the Coliseum is not viable and has been closed since 2017, and who posted that..... not YOU

Richmond Coliseum closed permanently in February of 2019.....there is no arena in Henrico County, even being proposed or under discussion.... that's why the FPHL abandoned all attempts to go there, and settled on Fraser, MI

One, your post has nothing to do with what I said...which essentially proves my point; and two, I was in the Richmond Coliseum on two different occasions. How many times were in that arena "watching"?

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

i mean manchester and san Antonio would make sense for him both close to possible nhl and ahl affiliates he already convinced two nhl franchises with his teams so i can see it again. Who knows though. Maybe this is the unnamed manchester owner. @royals119 could be right though

They’re both near NHL/AHL teams that have absolutely no interest in having an ECHL affiliate in that town. Boston is well known to not even care about their AHL affiliate outside of concessions revenue and Dallas has a ECHL team less than an hour away from them in Allen, but are clearly content with continuing their longstanding relationship with the Idaho Steelheads. They need to have both 1 and 2 to meet Dean MacDonald’s standards. This geography you’ve pointed out is only half of what he wants, the other half is much more important.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

to be fair I thought manchester has gonna be official by now due to all the chatter about there being a owner i mean even mark divver was talking about it but since that didn't pan out i am looking (speculating) what other expansion options might work ex. savannah , san Antonio, Richmond with fred festa , etc. Dean Macdonald might be potentially looking at one of these options

Take out Richmond. Not happening without a new arena, which was voted down harshly and isn’t going to be revisited. Fred Festa hasn’t opened his yapper since then and won’t be opening it back up any time soon.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

i mean manchester and san Antonio would make sense for him both close to possible nhl and ahl affiliates he already convinced two nhl franchises with his teams so i can see it again. Who knows though. Maybe this is the unnamed manchester owner. @royals119 could be right though

A ECHL team in San Antonio needs to have the perfect revenue scenario for the spurs to give up arena date's. Most likely something like the spurs getting a cut of Gameday revenue but having no ownership of the team.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

San Antonio is like Houston, and it's highly doubtful the Spurs, just like Houston, will allow an outside entity to sign a lease....

remember the Aeros, no lease=no team, pandemic or no pandemic, SA's core business is the Spurs.

 

[GindyDraws]

Take out Richmond. Not happening without a new arena, which was voted down harshly and isn’t going to be revisited. Fred Festa hasn’t opened his yapper since then and won’t be opening it back up any time soon.

No new arena is ever going to be built in the state of Virginia this century, and I am willing to be extreme. Richmond doesn't want to spend any money on replacing that dilapidated barn due to the obvious risks involved in it (heck, simply demolishing the Coliseum should be the best solution), and the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area won't come to terms on an agreement on where a new place should be built to replace their own ancient arenas. Besides, the college venues that do exist do not want outside gigs interfering in their athletics, so if you live in that state, you're screwed.

A ECHL team in San Antonio needs to have the perfect revenue scenario for the spurs to give up arena date's. Most likely something like the spurs getting a cut of Gameday revenue but having no ownership of the team.

And we all know that ain't gonna happen. I'm surprised the Spurs don't own the Missions baseball team, given what a monopoly they had otherwise in the sports market for years.

 

[mk80]

The only way Houston and San Antonio are getting teams are both ways that have very small percentages (almost 0) of taking place:

Option 1: Either the Spurs, or Tilman Ferttita decide they want to operate an ECHL team.
Option 2: Covid has been a big enough hit to the budgets of the Spurs and Ferttita that they would be willing to have someone operate a team in their buildings and pay rent, plus probably some cuts of other things, in order to help get their books back where they would like to see them. That of course also assuming that there's some rich guy sitting around during the pandemic who wants to blow money on a minor league sports team in one of those buildings.

Overall: I don't think there will be much expansion in the ECHL for quite a few years after this pandemic, as it has wiped out a lot of investment, and dramatically altered budgets. The ECHL will be lucky to see the majority of it's teams even come out of this alive.

 

[hurricanesfan123]

Overall: I don't think there will be much expansion in the ECHL for quite a few years after this pandemic, as it has wiped out a lot of investment, and dramatically altered budgets. The ECHL will be lucky to see the majority of it's teams even come out of this alive.

we should start a wager on when brampton will fold

 

[mk80]

we should start a wager on when brampton will fold

Hasn't one for them and Wheeling been going on already?