I've gone back over the developments from last summer. I've gone back over a couple blogs that revealed some other tidbits of information. Naturally, I do my usual bang-up job of reading between the lines (which is, of course, prone to the occasional mistake), so here we go.
http://jeffbromley.blogspot.com/
Jeff Bromley posts a blog entry bemoaning blaming the fans for Kootenay's attendance problems. Remember, there are no such things as attendance problems, but there are revenue problems (hence why, say, D-League basketball can have awful attendance in most markets and still thrive). The indication of Ron Robison throwing blame around is generally a precursor to the franchise moving. Generally.
What HAS happened?
Nanaimo arena proposal, privately funded.
Surrey ACCEPTING BIDS for an arena proposal.
Not much word on the supposed Boise interest in the Ice.
Abbotsford sits with an empty arena.
Now I don't know if there are market territory issues with this league, pointing to Everett moving in while the Thunderbirds still played at Key Arena. That is why I tend to think that the Canucks, not the Giants, have more to do with what happens next in Abbotsford. If there were a race, I think Abbotsford COULD have already won it.
I'm going to go one further now. Plan A for the Ice appears to be Nanaimo. However, I'm not finding any further information about that arena proposal after last June (and I was in the area at the time). I'm thinking that, IF Nanaimo has an acceptable arena plan (with solid financing and acceptable terms to ownership) that is close to breaking ground, the WHL will be happy to play in Frank Crane for a couple years.
That means Plan B is Surrey. If the WHL can handle Frank Crane for two years, they can also handle Queens Park for two years. Perhaps there's even a franchise switch involving the Giants...
...who obviously wouldn't like what they see as the Ice honing in on their territory, but if Surrey is the answer to the Ice, the league can probably convince the Giants that Seattle/Everett works and you can, too. OR, the Giants are available for Nanaimo (which is why I throw in the franchise switch wrinkle).
Or the Canucks want Surrey instead of Abbotsford? Just a thought.
Boise would be Plan C, break glass only in case of emergency. However, the WHL can also wait another year if Nanaimo or Surrey are "getting there, but not there yet." That's why this all stays close to the vest until the last possible minute. No league wants to be baited and switched, they want to do the baiting and switching.
* * * *
In the midst of reading back, I came across Emerald City Bruin's post...
This blog post (and linked Seattle Times articles) talks about 5 cities that have never had the WHL but were on their radar at some point in the last 25 years:
http://www.tbirdtidbits.com/2015/02/02/us-division/
(Disclosure: I am the author of the blog)
I remember when the WHL was fielding offers from Sacramento... and Anchorage. Obviously, they sought to protect the small markets and not make the WHL an airline league.
However, I can show you a laborious 3-step process for getting into Sacramento.
(1) Eugene. Of note, just 1 or 2 buildings away from Lane County Ice errrrrrrrr "The Rink Exchange" is the main building of the Lane County Expo Center, on the county fairgrounds. There have been previous proposals to convert that into an arena. Moreover, the fairgrounds board has been talking about moving the grounds out of town. So there are possibilities here. However, there's also other development possibilities, so don't hold your breath yet. One of those... the rumors of U of O following Arizona State into NCAA hockey.
(2) Medford. It's population is very comparable to Yakima, and its income level surpasses that of Yakima. They sell a lot of tickets (1,000-capacity Rrrink) for pay-to-play junior. So, yeah, they'd need an arena. County fairgrounds has a pavilion that has hosted indoor football, supposed capacity 3,500, not enough. 2.5 hours south of Eugene. It IS its own TV market.
(3) Redding. Larger population than Medford, overall metropolitan population plus Chico (with which a TV market is shared) probably puts it between Spokane and Tri-City size-wise. Needs an arena.
Obviously, you'd want to make a Southwest Division of the league in order to go this direction. I don't think it's going to happen. But I'd rather own a team in Eugene or Medford than Cranbrook... and I'm very skeptical about operating in Eugene in the shadow of UO.