No official word, but the New England Knights have been removed from the NA3HL website.
Junior Hockey: Additions and Losses
- Thread starter Barclay Donaldson
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Barclay Donaldson
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Well noticed. They have also been removed from the NA3HL footprint. Perhaps the Lovells chose a side in this USPHL-USA Hockey conflict?
It appears so. LovellHockey.com also has no references to the Generals (along with the Knights being listed as "Mite- U18), so barring any official word, which I don't think will be forthcoming at all, the most logical conclusion is that they're all-in on the USPHL.
I vaguely remember calling this, although it may have been just to myself. I doubt either side would be fans of the Lovells literally playing on both sides of the law. They still do have an impressive program and tremendous sway in the area. Turf war heating up again!
mk80
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Maybe it's just because I haven't looked since around the time they announced they were taking the season off, but I believe the WSHL redesigned their website Home - Western States Hockey League
It doesn't matter much in the sense of teams across junior hockey for this year but it is interesting.
Also regarding the NAHL: New Mexico, Shreveport, Wichita Falls, Lone Star, and Odessa have all made statements that they are planning to play this fall after Corpus Christi and KC both suspended and there was word on Twitter the entire south may not play. Nothing from Amarillo but they did tweet about their arena putting the ice in.
Also I can't confirm yet so this is purely rumor for now, but I have word that Fairbanks will be playing in Marshall, MN until January.
Edit: I know they've already been listed in the OP but for the NA3HL, Breezy Point was supposed to only be taking the year off but I saw on Facebook they just scrapped their bus, so there is that going forward.
It doesn't matter much in the sense of teams across junior hockey for this year but it is interesting.
Also regarding the NAHL: New Mexico, Shreveport, Wichita Falls, Lone Star, and Odessa have all made statements that they are planning to play this fall after Corpus Christi and KC both suspended and there was word on Twitter the entire south may not play. Nothing from Amarillo but they did tweet about their arena putting the ice in.
Also I can't confirm yet so this is purely rumor for now, but I have word that Fairbanks will be playing in Marshall, MN until January.
Edit: I know they've already been listed in the OP but for the NA3HL, Breezy Point was supposed to only be taking the year off but I saw on Facebook they just scrapped their bus, so there is that going forward.
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JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
And now their home ice has been named the Kraft Hockeyville USA 2020 award winner. A spiffed-up venue to come for the Rhinos?
Barclay Donaldson
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$150,000 might barely be enough for them to add brand new seating and updated paint.
Skylands Kings franchise was sold into dormancy for this season. No reasons given but players have dispersed.
Bruce Tenders and Signs with Runners | Texas RoadRunners
Bruce Tenders and Signs with Runners | Texas RoadRunners
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Sounds like "spiffed-up" to me. Heck, even a new skate sharpener might be a welcome improvement - especially if the Coliseum can't afford to replace the rubber padding in the dressing rooms & on walkways to the rink.
Barclay Donaldson
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Sounds like "spiffed-up" to me. Heck, even a new skate sharpener might be a welcome improvement - especially if the Coliseum can't afford to replace the rubber padding in the dressing rooms & on walkways to the rink.
I meant my comment as confirmation that they can <<spiff-up>> it. Anything more than this is full renovation. Other options include a new scoreboard, new glass, new boards, perhaps new seating arrangements?
Barclay Donaldson
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mk80
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I'd have to go back and watch the original video, but unlike some of the other finalists I didn't catch anything specific that sadi what the winnings would be used to improve. But either way it's nice to see a community that's probably not on a lot of hockey maps get a big event like that.
So by my count the 3HL eastern team number has dropped from 9 last season to 5 now. It hasn't been a good summer for the turf war with the USPHL.
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Seems their whole Hockeyville campaign was wrapped around community recovery from the August 2019 mass shootings at the local Walmart. And maybe a chance to put down fresh straw in the cattle stalls ...
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I'm pretty sure the league could not care less about a team going dormant in the hand of one owner or the hands of the league. My best guess would be that the kings' new owner planned to relocate the franchise (the team and rink were owned by the same company so I doubt they were welcome to stay) but the pandemic halted plans and we should expect to see them reappear in the future.
Boy oh boy is that ugly though. From a height of I believe 13 (plus additional teams in a "midwest division that included Pittsburgh, Upstate NY, and Ohio for some inter-division play) teams in 2016-17 down to 5 teams, on a complete island nonetheless.
Purely speculation, but you have to think some of those teams will feel a little left out here. With Bay State and Long Beach the only 2 not having an NAHL program attached, you can't help but feel that they may be on the outs sooner rather than later.
mk80
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Yes losing the Great Lakes region to USPHL was a huge loss (it's also a loss in my opinion that the NAHL lost it's own footprint in Michigan too a few years ago), as for the non NAHL owned Eastern teams, I'm not sure on what their ownership situation is like, Bay State though is now on their 3rd city in as many seasons Binghamton Jr. Senators -> Elmira Jr. Soaring Eagles -> Bay State Bobcats so it's somewhat concerning they haven't found a steady home.
As you said I expect the Skylands franchise to pop up somewhere in the league next season. For me personally I've been ok with the league shedding some teams the last few years, as they had teams like Evansville or Niagra that were just terrible, and the league having near 50 teams at one point was never going to be stable. I'd rather have a smaller number of competitive teams across the entire league than a huge blob just to maintain a rivalry with another.
Now USA Hockey/NAHL family of leagues probably see it differently than I do.
Aero 75
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Sounds like roof repairs are their main concern right now.
"The arena upgrade will be a big boost for the El Paso Events Center, where the Rhinos play their home games.
Rhinos Head Coach Cory Herman says roof repairs will be much needed to prevent the desert sun from damaging the ice.
“The roof is kinda the one thing that really we’d need help with," says Herman of a potential renovation.
"We're trying to cool the ground and the heating up of the roof, it's not properly insulated, not properly sealed,” adds Herman of the challenge of playing in the desert."
El Paso is Hockeyville; will host NHL game, get $150K for Rhinos rink upgrade - KVIA
Barclay Donaldson
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A little late to the party Alko as this event both happened and was noted on this thread in May...
Niagara was actually decent one year, but then their ownership bought a USPHL franchise and used the NA3HL team as a feeder, leading to all the better players to play in the USPHL. But I see your point, going further back to the years of futility by the Chicago Bulldogs, Maine Wild, College Station Spirit, just teams that were there simply for travel purposes and to collect checks.
As far as the Bay State Bobcats go, they left Binghamton because the owner/GM at the time, Ray Welch sold the team (I believe to the current coach although this could be wrong) and the existing community relationships were lost. The team name also no longer made any logical sense given that the AHL Senators had left town that year as well. I do not know what happened in Elmira to cause another move, but it has been a steady decline in on-ice performance and noticeable instability off of the ice, as evidenced by numerous relocations.
mk80
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You're right Niagara wasn't probably the best example. While you're always going to have bad teams or teams that have horrible seasons in any league in any sport, the NA3HL's vast expansion and footprint as you said created a lot of teams that were just punching bags and nothing more.
As for Elmira/Bay State, I know they were sharing the Elmira College arena with the school's D3 program, so maybe it was just an issue of ice times or something with that, but I'm purely speculating on that. Hopefully they can find some stability soon though it's hard to build momentum having to move cities year to year.
alko
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Barclay Donaldson
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It looks like the Keene Eclipse of the EHL are now the Maine Eclipse without any warning. Found an article from July which says the organization did not want to pay enough for ice, so they switched to Biddeford, ME very quietly. Up until a few weeks ago, the league website still had them in Keene, NH. Eclipse hockey team not coming to Keene, for now
mk80
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While I certainly understand the sentiment of not wanting to sell your ice time low, especially considering your rink has that much debt on it. At the same time you could sell already unused ice for a reduced price, and make that money rather than $0..... but then again this article is all over the place when it comes to whether that ice currently is used and profitable at the times the team wanted to use it
So is that ice used or not? And how many public skate session skaters are you getting? For example an early morning weekday skate session at my closest rink maybe brings 5 skaters at $10 a head. If we're talking full to the brim public skates where you're up over $1k a session then sure don't give that away. But I would bet even at $170 the Eclipse beat the revenue from those mid-day skates.
Barclay Donaldson
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Measuring ice sales is difficult. There is damage done to it while skating and it costs to run the zamboni over it, which accumulates over a season. I know many arenas and rinks that would prefer ice be unused than sell the ice slot for less than the asking price.
mk80
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That is true it's not a concrete thing to judge all rinks by. I would bet it's not the $170 price that caused the team to walk, rather than the inability to find a middle ground that covered the rink's cost but wasn't a prime time charge for the team at non premium hours.
