Pirates Moving To Springfield

[MM658]

I feel like naming a team the Indians wouldn't fly today.

No need to worry about it.

 

[210]

No need to worry about it.

Correct link:
http://www.masslive.com/falcons/index.ssf/2016/06/will_springfield_thunderbirds.html

 

[Ralph Slate]

http://www.masslive.com/falcons/index.ssf/2016/06/springfield_ahl_team_names_cit.html

This will hopefully squash the rumor that Sarah Pompea is still going to be running the team. It seems like a pretty good find - a Springfield native who worked for the San Antonio Rampage, and then worked in the AHL office as VP of Team Business Services. This guy is going to know how all 30 AHL teams did things, and will have a full toolbox of things to get people excited about this team.

 

[wildcat48]

There is no explaining this one....

The Portland Pirates hockey team was losing about $500,000 a year and sought major concessions from the operators of the county-owned Cross Insurance Arena to cover more than half that amount before the team was sold and relocated in May.

Both sides had agreed to extend the original five-year lease, which ran through April 2019, by two years if the financial alterations could be worked out. Although the two sides were just $45,000 apart over financial arrangements, they couldn’t reach an agreement before Cain announced the team had been sold.

READ MORE>>>>

 

[LadyStanley]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/17/portland-pirates-arena-were-45k-apart-before-sale-/

(Similar story, different site)

$45k is a drop in the bucket to what they are losing.

 

[Cacciaguida]

I feel like naming a team the Indians wouldn't fly today.

Sure it would. Political correctness is a dying animal.

 

[Cacciaguida]

hockey is just one of those sports that sticks to it's roots. this moniker won't last.


will we call them the indians and refuse to stop will they get the picture?

I want their franchise to fail, they chose to disregard the most popular choice because it's not 'politically correct'. Classless move.


the team will probably be bought and moved again anyways. then Springfield get a different ECHL team. just enjoy the hockey for now

 

[Ralph Slate]

It's not a matter of "politically correct" - it is a matter of not naming a sports team after an unrelated ethnic group using stereotypical imagery. That's just basic respect.

 

[GindyDraws]

My main issue is how unoriginal the Thunderbirds logo is. It's just the Falcon from the old team logo.

 

[SemireliableSource]

It's actually a brand new logo that purposefully hearkens back the the Falcons logo.

Most of their Springfield fan base has ties to the Falcons more than they do the Indians now. That's another reason to not go with the name. But continue blaming the imaginary PC Police if it floats your boat.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Honestly, I wonder if this will open the door to the QMJHL. I know they've tried Maine before, but they have some really struggling franchises and nowhere left to go in Canada. Being the only part of the CHL without any American franchises, this might be an enticing spot to expand their footprint.

Lewiston collapsed and they had been a charter member even prior to their arrival from Sherbrooke, CC, IT'S unlikely now that the Fighting Spirit (N3EHL) are in Lewiston.

ECHL may be an option but it's like 1992 redux

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I actually feel really, really bad for Hutch today.

Even if he went to like two games in 23 years.

thx, but it caught everyone off guard, but it was more than 2 games, it was about 15-20 a year, not including the 2 All Star Classics, 3 if you count the '01 game in WBS

THE OTHER inkling something was up is when social media was suspended that day.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Had a feeling Portland was going to lose their AHL team. Sad to see it happen but hopefully this opens the door for an ECHL team that could probably do well there.

a) we didn't lose them; It's not the first time Springfield got shafted by the Jets/Coyotes, and Roy Boe's movement to Bridgeport due to conflict of multiple team ownership forced the Ice Cats eventual relocation much as San Jose did w/ the Barracuda.

b) Worcester, as I recall, was the impetus for keeping Springfield in the league. how were the Falcons created to keep continuity there, this is the same principle...

 

[royals119]

a) we didn't lose them; It's not the first time Springfield got shafted by the Jets/Coyotes, and Roy Boe's movement to Bridgeport due to conflict of multiple team ownership forced the Ice Cats eventual relocation much as San Jose did w/ the Barracuda.

Portland didn't lose the Pirates? You mean they are still there? Or are you splitting hairs to say they weren't "lost" they were "taken"?

b) Worcester, as I recall, was the impetus for keeping Springfield in the league. how were the Falcons created to keep continuity there, this is the same principle...

I don't understand what this has to do with the current situation? Worcester doesn't have an AHL team anymore. They are bringing in an ECHL team next season. Why would they be the impetus for keeping an AHL team in Springfield? Seems to me like it would benefit the current Worcester owner to have Springfield go ECHL also.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Portland didn't lose the Pirates? You mean they are still there? Or are you splitting hairs to say they weren't "lost" they were "taken"?


I don't understand what this has to do with the current situation? Worcester doesn't have an AHL team anymore. They are bringing in an ECHL team next season. Why would they be the impetus for keeping an AHL team in Springfield? Seems to me like it would benefit the current Worcester owner to have Springfield go ECHL also.

1994,royals, Worcester went from Springfield by definition of history, and were owned privately, before the St. Louis to Peoria fiasco (now Utica)

the Pirates exist, there is no active franchise, but they will if/when an ECHL club arrives.

Springfield's done this before, as part of allowing the former club to leave, they struck a side deal to keep hockey there, hence the Falcons branding since, legally binding.

 

[210]

I think it's funny that people in Worcester have long since gotten over the Blues selling the IceCats and moving them but Hutch still can't move on about it. It really says a lot.

 

[BTV]

It's not the first time Springfield got shafted

I think you may be the only person to look at this situation and conclude that SPRINGFIELD got shafted. I can't possibly see how anyone even in Springfield would think they have been shafted.

 

[royals119]

1994,royals, Worcester went from Springfield by definition of history, and were owned privately, before the St. Louis to Peoria fiasco (now Utica)

Springfield's done this before, as part of allowing the former club to leave, they struck a side deal to keep hockey there, hence the Falcons branding since, legally binding.

So this part is just ancient history and has nothing to do with the current situation, right?

the Pirates exist, there is no active franchise, but they will if/when an ECHL club arrives.

By "exist" do you mean someone in Portland still owns the rights to use the Pirates name and logo? Because that isn't a team. If there isn't a franchise, there isn't really a team. The team formerly known as the Portland Pirates moved to Springfield and was renamed the Thunderbirds, unless I misunderstood?

I hope a team does end up there, don't get me wrong, I'm a big Brad Church fan from his days in Reading, and my sister lives in NH, so I'd love an excuse to make a road trip to visit her and see the Royals play in Maine. But, currently there is no team in Portland.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

So this part is just ancient history and has nothing to do with the current situation, right?


By "exist" do you mean someone in Portland still owns the rights to use the Pirates name and logo? Because that isn't a team. If there isn't a franchise, there isn't really a team. The team formerly known as the Portland Pirates moved to Springfield and was renamed the Thunderbirds, unless I misunderstood?

I hope a team does end up there, don't get me wrong, I'm a big Brad Church fan from his days in Reading, and my sister lives in NH, so I'd love an excuse to make a road trip to visit her and see the Royals play in Maine. But, currently there is no team in Portland.

it isn't ancient history, royals.....

Even before 1992, we've had franchise switches ie dormant for continuity purposes... why do u think the franchise history-lineage here exists as a sticky thread

when the Indians moved to Worcester, and the Falcons were summarily granted that's the same group legally that now bought Portland, just as Providence legally was under Maine Hockey LLC when it was transferred.

remember, Baltimore has never had a franchise and that's where the Pirates originated.... Church himself stated the name was never sold a la the Falcons. All it's waiting on is a franchise, whether expansion or an existing one to be transferred.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I think you may be the only person to look at this situation and conclude that SPRINGFIELD got shafted. I can't possibly see how anyone even in Springfield would think they have been shafted.

it's not the first time, BTV, I can remember Winnipeg 1.0(Arizona) pulling out of Springfield but not buying the franchise affiliate outright, and the outrage, by all fanbases as to why such moves are made.

and then there's the faction that Arizona is leaving there entirely based off a deluded sense because no one believes IA actually owns said franchise.

which is worse, having Springfield buy your franchise or Arizona/IA DO IT, which is wht we had to be on guard for when they affiliated w/ the Pirates.

 

[Tommy Hawk]

it's not the first time, BTV, I can remember Winnipeg 1.0(Arizona) pulling out of Springfield but not buying the franchise affiliate outright, and the outrage, by all fanbases as to why such moves are made.

and then there's the faction that Arizona is leaving there entirely based off a deluded sense because no one believes IA actually owns said franchise.

which is worse, having Springfield buy your franchise or Arizona/IA DO IT, which is wht we had to be on guard for when they affiliated w/ the Pirates.

Totally agree.

The whole of the AHL is heading down the toidy. Schedule is a joke. The level pf play has dropped significantly due to the lack of experienced players. Loyalty to fans is non-existent. Holding cities hostage for better arena deals has become the status quo like in the NHL.

 

[Ralph Slate]

The whole of the AHL is heading down the toidy.

I agree. I feel more and more like the AHL is just an appendage of the NHL, a temporary holding tank to deal with salary cap issues. Winning isn't important, "player development" is now paramount. It makes me feel like the AHL is just an extended scrimmage/practice vehicle to keep high-paid bodies warm.

The AHL has always, in my memory, been linked to the NHL, but not to the extent where they need the ability to exchange players on an hourly basis instead of on a monthly basis. Used to be that when a guy got sent down, he was down, and when a guy got called up, he was up. Now I look at the transaction wires and, no lie, I have seen a callup and a senddown in the same day, one in the morning, one in the evening.

 

[Dallman]

I agree. I feel more and more like the AHL is just an appendage of the NHL, a temporary holding tank to deal with salary cap issues. Winning isn't important, "player development" is now paramount. It makes me feel like the AHL is just an extended scrimmage/practice vehicle to keep high-paid bodies warm.

Too damn right.

I was a season ticket holder in Springfield between 1988 and 2000; a short blip in the history of the AHL, right? But of the 130+ teams in league history (including name and city changes), I saw forty of them play. That's nuts ... and in the sixteen years since I moved from Springfield, there've been over forty more.

17 AHL teams this season haven't broken 5000 average attendance. What the hell is Albany doing averaging less than 3000 fans a night? How are the Marlies, when Leafs tickets are sold out since forever, not getting to 5K a night? Milwaukee's way down. Hershey's way down. Grand Rapids is way down. Hartford's at 3500.

Even less than ever before, AHL fans don't get to know their players. Even less than before, they don't get traditional rivalries.

 

[go comets]

Too damn right.

I was a season ticket holder in Springfield between 1988 and 2000; a short blip in the history of the AHL, right? But of the 130+ teams in league history (including name and city changes), I saw forty of them play. That's nuts ... and in the sixteen years since I moved from Springfield, there've been over forty more.

17 AHL teams this season haven't broken 5000 average attendance. What the hell is Albany doing averaging less than 3000 fans a night? How are the Marlies, when Leafs tickets are sold out since forever, not getting to 5K a night? Milwaukee's way down. Hershey's way down. Grand Rapids is way down. Hartford's at 3500.

Even less than ever before, AHL fans don't get to know their players. Even less than before, they don't get traditional rivalries.

Pretty normal that teams lag in attendance early in the season. Ussualy picks up around the holidays, and peaks during Jan thru March.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

Milwaukee's way down.

Through 4 home games

2015-16: 4,701
2016-17: 5,661

Attendance will probably be down overall this season but that will be attributed to moving from a 17,000+ seat arena to one that seats 9,500.