Monarchs seek new ownership

[Centrum Hockey]

They alienated a lot of fans in the last few seasons of the AHL Monarchs with their business practices, and then doubled down on the ECHL Monarchs by essentially acting like nothing changed. The current owners didn't do anything to counteract the previous issues, and according to fans there in some cases made it worse.

Did people around the Railers organization hear anything regarding the bruins going to Manchester or a New owner buying the team over the past few weeks.

 

[wildcat48]

Would markets like Hartford and Manchester be a good landing spot for junior hockey the echl level of play was rejected by Manchester and would be by Hartford if the rangers leave and the echl tries to get into the market. Junior teams can still produce quality nhl players

NO! (See Lewiston)

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Did people around the Railers organization hear anything regarding the bruins going to Manchester or a New owner buying the team over the past few weeks.

Boston hasn't said either way what their plan is, Centrum, I just feel it might be too late to salvage the market, if the reports are whomever is at fault, here, was it LA through their ownership, or is it the current ownership

the question is and has been out there, whomever takes Manchester has to negotiate or renew with LA, because it's obvious unless a financial report comes out as to how much Manchester has lost financially, nevermind the attendance decline since the transition.... nobody in any other market can really state....

it's like the Riverkings or how Newfoundland dealt with the Edge and that whole sidebar over potential legal or arbitration over how the Growlers began.

Sometimes, and more than likely, these agreements develop faster than folks can get it out even when you know something was occurring, like Portland went through in 2015, sometimes as 210, and wildcat can attest to, they've been told to not release certain things even radio and TV broadcasters were caught off guard, and the 1st thing you think is someone hacked the team's social media or something similar.

 

[wildcat48]

Not every market will embrace the echl. there is going to be few options when the ahl eventually pull's out of Springfield, Hartford and Bridgeport

Either they embrace they have to they go without. It's a pretty simple equation.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

NO! (See Lewiston)

correct, and Lewiston has rebounded quite well with the Nordiques, and we have as well with the Thunder here at NSBA...

 

[wildcat48]

There's no AHL team waiting for Manchester in the wings. The days of the high density AHL Northeast strongholds with Worcester, Lowell, Springfield, Manchester, Portland, Hartford, and Albany all having strong AHL franchises within a stone's throw of each other are done. Markets evolve or die. Atlantic Canada preceded New England as an AHL power region, with St. John's, Saint John, PEI, Cape Breton, Fredericton, Halifax, and Moncton all having teams. They all either joined the Q or died, save for St. John's who floated between teams and leagues and have finally settled on the EC.

If Manchester doesn't survive, then you'll see a trickle down effect. There's plenty of hockey options around them. Boston is more of a commute than a hike nowadays. Take Lowell for example. UMass-Lowell bought the arena and the AHL Devils left after a bit of a messy lease negotiation. Those former minor pro fans became college hockey fans. UML, even during their down years, is still a hot ticket and average attendance is rarely below 5,000. The same thing will probably happen in Manchester, fans will find somewhere else. It isn't going to be a new team that pops up, but people will gravitate to other established hockey institutions.

This....

 

[wildcat48]

Doesn't Spectacore own Hartford if the rangers pull out wouldn't the team remain and just find another affiliate

MSG owns the franchise. They hired Spectra to operate it at the XL Center. MSG could pull the franchise at anytime.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

MSG owns the franchise. They hired Spectra to operate it at the XL Center. MSG could pull the franchise at anytime.

Utica whould sell out every single night if the rangers take over the lease from the Canucks

 

[wildcat48]

Utica whould sell out every single night if the rangers take over the lease from the Canucks

They sell out every night now...

 

[Centrum Hockey]

They sell out every night now...

True it whould be a win win from the leagues perspective if the rangers went to Utica.The ahl whould get to keep a strong market and the canucks can be free to move out west.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

True it whould be a win win from the leagues perspective if the rangers went to Utica.The ahl whould get to keep a strong market and the canucks can be free to move out west.

DISAGREE

Why would Vancouver want to fund an affiliate team, even its own, BC wants nothing to do with pro hockey, and Victoria was an abject failure, as was Abbotsford in the AHL.....

WHY do you think Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley have not pursued any hockey franchise, this is also why you're seeing Seattle potentially backing away from Everett or Kent as landing sites for their top affiliate.....

WHY is there no pro franchise hockey-wise in Kentucky, Centrum, after USA Hockey ended their association with the now Comets, you also deal with Big Blue, aka UK in Lexington and Louisville with their facility and the inherit rivalry between the 2 cities, an hour apart to boot....

 

[Tater Tot]

"Utica's not going anywhere for 6 years or longer" - It is not a guaranteed 6 years. There is a provision for them to exit the agreement at the 2 and 4 year mark if they choose to. Utica Affiliation Extension

 

[Centrum Hockey]

"Utica's not going anywhere for 6 years or longer" - It is not a guaranteed 6 years. There is a provision for them to exit the agreement at the 2 and 4 year mark if they choose to. Utica Affiliation Extension

If the rangers assume the deal after Hartford’s deal is up I dobut esche whould mind

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

If the rangers assume the deal I dobut eschew whould mind

why would the Rangers pull further away and add travel expenses when they are roughly an hour from MSG as it has been since 1997?

 

[Centrum Hockey]

why would the Rangers pull further away and add travel expenses when they are roughly an hour from MSG as it has been since 1997?

Why whould the far and away most valuable team in the nhl care about travel expenses

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

True it whould be a win win from the leagues perspective if the rangers went to Utica.The ahl whould get to keep a strong market and the canucks can be free to move out west.

Canucks signed in December to stay in Utica for another 12 years. They outright love having their AHL affiliate there, don't expect them to leave anytime soon. Comets, Canucks extend affiliation deal

Rangers might have better luck sniffing around Albany if they're so keen on leaving Connecticut in the next decade.

They sell out every night now...

I've played against Utica College and they sell out the Aud every night, too. They have a great situation that the players, fans, organizations, and city loves.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Why whould the far and away most valuable team in the nhl care about travel expenses

Toronto is the hockey center, not the Rangers, why is Toronto back in St. John's then after 15 years, and they don't own the ECHL franchise

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Canucks signed in December to stay in Utica for another 12 years. They outright love having their AHL affiliate there, don't expect them to leave anytime soon. Comets, Canucks extend affiliation deal

Rangers might have better luck sniffing around Albany if they're so keen on leaving Connecticut in the next decade.



I've played against Utica College and they sell out the Aud every night, too. They have a great situation that the players, fans, organizations, and city loves.

Hartford is more bruins/whalers diehards territory than the rangers.I assume the ability to have rangers fans easily drive to their games whould be a factor in where to put their ahl team next if they decide to leave Hartford.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Hartford is more bruins/whalers diehards territory than the rangers I assume the ability to have rangers fans easily drive to their games whould be a factor in where to put their ahl team next if they decide to leave Hartford.

no it's not who are the Whalers, Centrum, those rights belong to Carolina.....

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Hartford is more bruins/whalers diehards territory than the rangers.I assume the ability to have rangers fans easily drive to their games whould be a factor in where to put their ahl team next if they decide to leave Hartford.

Not really, Hartford is definitely within the line of NYC influence rather than the Boston. The Munson-Nixon line has been shown to be pretty uniform for all Boston-New York sports loyalties, not just baseball. Interactive Map Shows Border Between Red Sox, Yankees Fans (Photo)

And you have to discount the Whalers diehards, there are some left but they're dying off quick. Most started following the Rangers and some gravitated towards Boston. Even fewer held out for the return of pro hockey. A decent number started following UConn hockey after becoming disillusioned with pro hockey. No one became a Hurricanes fan. It's a lot like Quebec City. There's some holdouts, but everyone under the age of 30 either quickly picked up the Canadiens or never grew up with the Nordiques.

If the Rangers do bolt from Hartford, I can pretty much only see them going for Albany or somewhere in the city. No other market that makes sense is open, or will likely be open soon.

 

[Tater Tot]

Canucks signed in December to stay in Utica for another 12 years. They outright love having their AHL affiliate there, don't expect them to leave anytime soon. Comets, Canucks extend affiliation deal .

12 years? The article linked even says six years and clearly mentions the options to leave after year 2 and 4. And do you think they would publicly say they didn't want their prospects there or they didn't like the city? That would be a PR nightmare if they did that. I think the future of an AHL team in Utica, regardless of the number of sellouts, will depend on what Seattle does with their team.

Anyway............this thread is supposed to be about the Monarchs and their issues.

 

[210]

Did people around the Railers organization hear anything regarding the bruins going to Manchester or a New owner buying the team over the past few weeks.

I've not asked and have no plans on doing so.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

I've not asked and have no plans on doing so.

Fair enough

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

12 years? The article linked even says six years and clearly mentions the options to leave after year 2 and 4.

My bad, I meant to say 12 total, they're in the sixth year of being Vancouver's affiliate in Utica now with another six to go. I don't know why I said another 12 years, too many concussions.

 

[Growler]

Toronto is the hockey center, not the Rangers, why is Toronto back in St. John's then after 15 years, and they don't own the ECHL franchise

Travel to/from St. Johns is much more expensive than Orlando. It's even cheaper to fly between Orlando and Toronto than it is St. Johns and Toronto. I don't think travel expenses are a factor whatsoever.