Manitoba Moose moving to St. John's (upd: confirmed)

[KingJet*]

How all the AHL Affiliates should go

Abbotsford (rename them from heat to something else) - Vancouver
Chicago W - Calgary
Atlanta/Winnipeg - St. John's

 

[Lux Aurumque*]

St. John's is the only market that makes sense... being in Canada and having an arena ready at a moment's notice with no major tenant.

I'd also label Halifax as a potential market. The Metro Centre could easily handle an AHL tenant. If there were conflict with the Mooseheads, they could easily be moved.

 

[Trevor3]

I'd also label Halifax as a potential market. The Metro Centre could easily handle an AHL tenant. If there were conflict with the Mooseheads, they could easily be moved.

The only issue there is how willing the Mooseheads ownership would be to move the club, and how much the Q would be willing (if at all) to fight to keep Halifax as part of its market. The entire atlantic expansion of the Q started with Halifax and spread from there to Moncton, Cape Breton and so on, to where we are with 7 atlantic clubs today. Without Halifax the Q loses a big city with a money making team and it leaves Cape Breton as an outpost compared to the rest of the league.

I don't know if the Q could do anything to protect itself in Halifax, but I assume there is some reason that the AHL is looking at St. John's ahead of a larger wealthier city like Halifax.

 

[phamJET]

if the NHL teams change affiliates does that mean they also swap players that they drafted in previous years?

If manitoba moose gets relocated and becomes Winnipeg's affiliate, then what happens to the players that vancouver drafted in the previous years who are currently playing on the manitoba moose?

 

[danishh]

if the NHL teams change affiliates does that mean they also swap players that they drafted in previous years?

If manitoba moose gets relocated and becomes Winnipeg's affiliate, then what happens to the players that vancouver drafted in the previous years who are currently playing on the manitoba moose?

the players are property of the NHL teams.

so atlanta prospects would go to st. john's, vancouver prospects would go to wherever vancouver has their AHL team (likely abbotsford or chicago).

 

[phamJET]

the players are property of the NHL teams.

so atlanta prospects would go to st. john's, vancouver prospects would go to wherever vancouver has their AHL team (likely abbotsford or chicago).

that kinda sucks for fans of AHL teams who have a fondness for certain players only to see them shipped off to another AHL team.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

that kinda sucks for fans of AHL teams who have a fondness for certain players only to see them shipped off to another AHL team.

Fans of AHL teams know they're there to develop players and send them to the NHL. Sure there are some vets that are career AHL players that fans develop attachments to but for the most part fans of AHL teams know that most of the players aren't going to be fixtures on the team for more than a few years at most.

 

[Ozzie Bear]

Neil Young was spotted wearing a MB Moose cap at the Sharks game. I kinda doubt that there will be a song in it though.

 

[bodybreak]

How all the AHL Affiliates should go

Abbotsford (rename them from heat to something else) - Vancouver
Chicago W - Calgary
Atlanta/Winnipeg - St. John's

Isn't Abbotsford under the same ownership as the Flames?

the players are property of the NHL teams.

so atlanta prospects would go to st. john's, vancouver prospects would go to wherever vancouver has their AHL team (likely abbotsford or chicago).

Not necessarily... the Moose have worked out agreements to have players owned by the Ducks and Stars come to Manitoba over the years, despite the Canucks affiliation. Don't know if it would be an automatic swap between the two teams... Haven't seen anything like this happen before. At last count, there were 12 Moose who are Canucks property and 15 Wolves who are Thrashers property. If the Moose get all the Thrashers prospects, they would benefit from the return of Jason Krog and Team Canada star at the 2009 World Juniors Angelo Esposito.

Mark Flood, Travis Ramsey, Marco Rosa and Shawn Weller were all strictly Moose property last year. I think Garth Murray falls into that group as well... started as a pro tryout contract, but since he played 55 games with the Moose last year, I think he would have had to sign a "regular" contract with the AHL club to remain on that long.

 

[GKJ]

Wasn't there talk of Victoria moving up from the ECHL and being Vancouver's AHL affiliate?


St. John's probably won't work. The travel logistics are just too much. It's not the same as going to Abbotsford.

 

[Brodie]

How is it different? They'd have to pay travel expenses, too.

Victoria got a WHL team instead.

 

[GKJ]

How is it different? They'd have to pay travel expenses, too.

Victoria got a WHL team instead.

Well, considering it was the biggest reason that the league left St. John's the first time, and last time I checked, the Rapture didn't force a geological shift that brought Newfoundland closer to the rest of the continent, so what has really changed?


The AHL evacuated Atlantic Canada for a reason, I'm assuming.

 

[Canadienjet]

Well, considering it was the biggest reason that the league left St. John's the first time, and last time I checked, the Rapture didn't force a geological shift that brought Newfoundland closer to the rest of the continent, so what has really changed?


The AHL evacuated Atlantic Canada for a reason, I'm assuming.

Problem was they realigned us in the wrong division.Before we played all the teams in New England and Canada.

We had to travel to Chicago,Cleveland etc and it was too much.

The AHL left atlantic Canada due to attendence but it was never a real concern to us here it was MLSE who took the team.

We also have a direct flight to Newark,New Jersey now so we could bus to other cities.

 

[OthmarAmmann]

Problem was they realigned us in the wrong division.Before we played all the teams in New England and Canada.

We had to travel to Chicago,Cleveland etc and it was too much.

The AHL left atlantic Canada due to attendence but it was never a real concern to us here it was MLSE who took the team.

We also have a direct flight to Newark,New Jersey now so we could bus to other cities.

Who's flying direct to Newark?

 

[Brodie]

EWR is one of the largest hubs on the continent, and United the largest airline. Direct flights to and from Newark makes transport to and from the rock very, very easy.

 

[roccerfeller]

i was told today that they're going to St Johns

will pm a mod re: source

 

[Canadienjet]

Who's flying direct to Newark?

The potential team to St.John's. They fly daily to Newark through Continential airlines? I believe.

 

[Duke Silver]

Well, considering it was the biggest reason that the league left St. John's the first time, and last time I checked, the Rapture didn't force a geological shift that brought Newfoundland closer to the rest of the continent, so what has really changed?

The biggest reason the St. John's Maple Leafs left was because Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment wanted Toronto's farm team in Toronto so that they could re-brand the team and turn it into a more profitable venture, while reducing travel costs. I'm assuming Danny's deep pockets might play a part in covering some of these travel costs for the new team.

That's not to say the SJML weren't profitable in Newfoundland. Fan support was great.

 

[justincredible]

Anybody have an idea of how much the Manitoba Moose are worth?

 

[Brodie]

The potential team to St.John's. They fly daily to Newark through Continential airlines? I believe.

It's all United Airlines now. Which means they fly every freaking place on the continent from EWR.

 

[Alberta]

It's not horrible to travel between Winnipeg and St. John's. With a stopover in Montreal or Toronto it's about five or six hours TOTAL travel time (including the stopover).

WestJet also flies direct into Calgary should the team be playing somewhere on the west coast when they need to call someone up.

Another alternative, if they're playing somewhere far away like Dallas is one stop in New York then direct to Dallas.

It's really not bad at all, similar to Edmonton/Oklahoma City in a lot of ways.

 

[Duke Silver]

It's not horrible to travel between Winnipeg and St. John's. With a stopover in Montreal or Toronto it's about five or six hours TOTAL travel time (including the stopover).

WestJet also flies direct into Calgary should the team be playing somewhere on the west coast when they need to call someone up.

Another alternative, if they're playing somewhere far away like Dallas is one stop in New York then direct to Dallas.

It's really not bad at all, similar to Edmonton/Oklahoma City in a lot of ways.

I'd be interested to see a graph/chart which lists the distances between NHL teams and their affiliates. People use the "out of the way" excuse but I'm willing to bet Winnipeg-to-St. John's isn't the greatest distance between franchises.

 

[Brodie]

LA to Manchester, New Hampshire? San Jose to Worcester, Massachusetts? I can promise you it's not the most out of the way affiliate.

 

[Street Hawk]

LA to Manchester, New Hampshire? San Jose to Worcester, Massachusetts? I can promise you it's not the most out of the way affiliate.

As a Canuck fan, sad to see the end to the Manitoba Moose relationship with the Canucks, but happy for the people of Winnipeg if they get a franchise back.

I personally, don't like the idea of having our AHL team in BC. Main concern is the travel, given that the closest AHL teams to Abbotsford are OKC, Milwaukee, Chicago doesn't lend itself to good travel for the minor league club. How many practices do the Heat lose in a year due to the travel, being in the PST while all other teams are in the CST and EST zones.

As mentioned the 3 other PST NHL clubs have their AHL teams in the EST zones, so no big deal for the Canucks to do the same. They've had their AHL clubs located in Milwaukee, Syracuse, Fredericton, Hamilton, Kansas City in the past, so going to the east isn't a big deal.

With prospects, better to give them more practice time rather than have them do more traveling.

 

[Alberta]

I'd be interested to see a graph/chart which lists the distances between NHL teams and their affiliates. People use the "out of the way" excuse but I'm willing to bet Winnipeg-to-St. John's isn't the greatest distance between franchises.

It's 3,257 km or 2,023 miles between Winnipeg and St. John's.

Here are 2010-11 NHL/AHL distances (in miles):

San Jose to Worcester - 2645 miles
Los Angeles to Manchester - 2574
Anaheim to Syracuse - 2316
Edmonton to Oklahoma City - 1467
Miami to Rochester - 1229
Denver to Cleveland - 1223
Vancouver to Winnipeg - 1163
Saint Paul to Houston - 1052
Phoenix to San Antonio - 858
Tampa to Norfolk, VA - 717
Atlanta to Chicago - 582
Columbus to Springfield, MA - 563
Nashville to Milwaukee - 482
Buffalo to Portland, ME - 442
Calgary to Abbotsford - 393
Montreal to Hamilton - 346
Pittsburgh to Wilkes-Barre - 250
Philadelphia to Glens Falls, NY - 245
Ottawa to Binghamton - 221
Dallas to Austin - 169
St. Louis to Peoria - 147
Newark, NJ to Albany - 140
Detroit to Grand Rapids - 122
Raleigh to Charlotte - 122
Washington to Hershey - 98
Chicago to Rockford - 95
Manhattan to Hartford - 92
Uniondale, NY to Bridgeport - 52
Boston to Providence - 49
Toronto to Toronto - 2