According to this article, Binghamton is having disputes with their arena and could be moving to Utica following the 21-22 season. The arena spokesperson said that they would not have trouble finding a hockey team as a tenant. Binghamton has been an AHL market for years, but do you see it dropping down like Worcester, Portland, and Adirondack?
Potential move of AHL teams puts future of hockey in Binghamton in question
nope, they did try the UHL at one point, Atlantian... before the Senators arrived there.
2) the AHL rarely allows 2 teams to share a market, never mind a territory.... it's why Providence didn't return for fifteen years after 50 years which preceded the creation of the AHL, AS THE then Rhode Island Reds were founded in 1926, which is today's Hartford Wolf*Pack, if it wasn't for that relocation to a group in Binghamton, in 1977, it's unlikely Hartford exists today.... the genesis was Spectra (which owns Portland outright) AND to a lesser extent, Hartford, which is why the Rangers affiliation is here since the arrival of the ECHL in Portland in 2018.
that genesis was Rhode Island was going to split arenas with the AHL Mariners, but Spectra owns that territory here so that's why the Reds became the Binghamton Dusters, then Whalers, Rangers and then the subsequent sale/relocation of the Hartford Whalers (Carolina Hurricanes) allowed the Rangers to shift from Binghamton to Hartford... in fact, the operator of the Devils that is the liason between Binghamton and New Jersey... also was a part of that transition from Binghamton to Hartford... and that is Tom Mitchell, and when the Senators made their intention to leave Binghamton for Belleville, he's that check.
New Jersey, like Calgary's affiliation history, is so off the charts at times, posters could write books on it, tbth...
the genesis of that Devils history is, they bought the AHL Mariners in 1982-83, from Spectra indirectly, relocated it to Utica in 1987, which lasted until 1993, so it's been posted, but New Jersey then took an interest in the Islanders AHL Franchise in Albany (this was well before Bridgeport was even considered, as the successor to New Haven, whereas that Coliseum no longer active, and now to the annals of history) .... now the Islanders AHL Affiliate WAS at RPI and was then flipped to the Times Union Center in Albany.... along with Al Lawrence and Walter Robb under the Capital District Sports banner.... which brought the Albany/Adirondack rivalry to full boil. the Devils later traded the Albany River Rats, to Carolina, who later bought the franchise and license to Charlotte, and that's how the Checkers went up from the ECHL to the AHL, to the present day.
New Jersey then shifted their focus from Albany to Lowell, which is why the decree that no matter the market, the term "Devils" HAD to be part of any branding....Lowell then was summarily terminated due to an insistence by the trustees of the U MASS system decreed that the Riverhawks collegiate team in Hockey East would be the sole tenant of the Tsongas Center/Arena. so the Devils turned back to Albany, then Binghamton, when the decision referenced earlier by Ottawa to go to Belleville...
now the key to this is that Esche is the one who filed the trademark rights to the Devils branding, it doesn't mention either Vancouver, who owns the Comets franchise, or the Comets themselves.
the AHL has not received a request from either, Vancouver, the Comets, or Esche as to where this scenario will eventually resolve.
