royals119
Registered User
I don't believe it was common knowledge. I speculated on the AHL board that Seattle or Vegas might look at Fresno, and people said I was nuts - many thought the teams would go to Idaho before considering Fresno.
Failed/Rejected/Proposed ECHL franchise relocations and expansions
- Thread starter Atlantian
- Start date
PCSPounder
Stadium Groupie
To be fair, part of the issue is likely a stuck Fresno city council and a stubborn arena management in SMG... probably good reasons why nothing about Fresno apparently went public.
Since SMG is out, Fresno is probably worth a bit of discussion going forward. But I’m not sure the E would be first preference, or even involved at all.
royals119
Registered User
I'd be surprised to see and ECHL team there at this point. It's not really close to anything else, so they'd have to fly everywhere. More likely a potential AHL relocation site if something happened with one of the other cities out west. Unless an NHL team decided they were going with the Toronto model and signing a bunch of players to AHL deals and stocking an ECHL team, and they wanted that team close to their AHL team for quick callups.
Atlantian
Registered User
They will never be on this list since the title of this thread is "Failed/Rejected/Proposed ECHL franchise relocations and expansions" and the Rockers were an FPHL team.
Atlantian
Registered User
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
And if the rest of the crowd in this forum jumped off a bridge, would you follow us?
Atlantian
Registered User
Hell, I’ll go first.And if the rest of the crowd in this forum jumped off a bridge, would you follow us?
Along with the Ocean City arena, Hat Trick Consultants was also trying to work with the St. Louis suburb of Fenton along Interstate 44 for an arena and a team to be called the Fenton 44s.
Fenton Missouri – hockeynutsandbolts
Fenton Missouri – hockeynutsandbolts
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
That one fell through when the local fans kept calling the prospective team the "Farty-Fars" ...
Royalsflagrunner77
Registered User
LOL Ocean City they actually tried togo for that ? I heard whispers but I thought it was a joke . LOL
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
I'm not going to name names, you can do the research as to who runs HTC, but the former Central Hockey League GM in the pilot's seat is a huckster. He's great at losing other people's money, which is why anyone who can use google won't invest behind him in those boondoggles.
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
PCSPounder
Stadium Groupie
AND for another thread ... which I look forward to reading.
I’m almost ready to drop that thread. I’m just not sure it belongs in the Other Leagues forum.
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Brief FloHockey.tv interview with the ECHL Commish on the expansion topic ... Ryan Crelin Talks Iowa, Savannah & ECHL Expansion
Ed. Note: Let me know if you can access this clip. It might require a FloHockey subscription, and mine is running out soon.
Ed. Note: Let me know if you can access this clip. It might require a FloHockey subscription, and mine is running out soon.
Saginaw Gears tried moving to Canton, Ohio. Actually played a few games there, which is amazing as the Civic Center HAS NO ICE PLANT! (They used that synthetic ice (i.e. plastic sheet) used for outdoor skating rinks in warm climates)
Atlantian
Registered User
That's insane. Do you have a link for that? That sounds like something the Fed would do
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
The back story from Saginaw may be more sordid than the Canton tale ... WHILE SAGINAW IS LEFT IN THE DARK BY SHIFTING GEARS THE UHL'S WORST TEAM HAS A LEGACY OF UNPAID DEBTS, WORTHLESS SEASON TICKETS AND ANGRY FANS AFTER ITS NIGHT FLIGHT TO OHIO.
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
The Fed basically took the UHL's playbook, found a way to make the hockey 50% worse and turned the bush league antics up to 11.
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Atlantian
Registered User
Biloxi looks like a lot of hype over nothing. Thinking it is just Fed exhibition games and nothing else.
The Chicago Express were a one and done for several reasons. The major reason is the absolutely horrendous management of the Sears Center Arena. You simply cannot charge NHL prices for ECHL entertainment. $10 to park. $7 for a beer or a nasty slice of frozen pizza. $4.50 for a fountain RC cola. Yes, these were the prices 10 years ago! Ushers and arena staff that were clueless and rude. The entertainment value for the money just wasn't there. On dollar hot dog and beer nights, they were horribly understaffed. Lines were 30 people deep and served cold hot dogs. Unless you were a true hockey fan and were there for the hockey, it was an incredibly cold and expensive experience.
Marketing and branding of the team was heavily mis-targeted as well. You were putting a Chicago name in a Suburb 30 miles out of the city. This team was in an arena that was smack dab in the middle of heavily populated suburbs, 5 miles from the 3rd largest city in Illinois, the city of Elgin. This was a smack in the face to the locals. A huge marketing and branding mis-step. There was ZERO local flavor to latch on to. Team should have been named the Fox Valley Eagles or the Elgin Watchmen . The whole point of a suburban team is to have something away from the City of Chicago. A prime example of a complete success is the minor league baseball Kane Co Cougars.
The Sears Center has been a death bed for every Professional Team that has played there. The Chicago Hounds(UHL) , The Chicago Express(ECHL) Chicago Shamrox(MILL) Chicago Storm/Soul/Mustangs(indoor soccer), Chicago Slaughter( whatever indoor football league), Chicago Bliss(LFL). The Windy City Bulls, a NBA G league basketball team, is hanging by a thread.
Marketing and branding of the team was heavily mis-targeted as well. You were putting a Chicago name in a Suburb 30 miles out of the city. This team was in an arena that was smack dab in the middle of heavily populated suburbs, 5 miles from the 3rd largest city in Illinois, the city of Elgin. This was a smack in the face to the locals. A huge marketing and branding mis-step. There was ZERO local flavor to latch on to. Team should have been named the Fox Valley Eagles or the Elgin Watchmen . The whole point of a suburban team is to have something away from the City of Chicago. A prime example of a complete success is the minor league baseball Kane Co Cougars.
The Sears Center has been a death bed for every Professional Team that has played there. The Chicago Hounds(UHL) , The Chicago Express(ECHL) Chicago Shamrox(MILL) Chicago Storm/Soul/Mustangs(indoor soccer), Chicago Slaughter( whatever indoor football league), Chicago Bliss(LFL). The Windy City Bulls, a NBA G league basketball team, is hanging by a thread.
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