Prospect Info: Portland Pirates AHL - Arizona Coyotes Minor League Affiliate III

[KG]

Hey Wildcat, If I don't get the chance before the season ends, thank you a ton for your reporting on this thread. I don't post much on this thread as I am not up on what goes on over there, except for your reporting. Thanks again, and good luck with your next affiliate.

Seconded.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Hey, so I'm mainly a Penguins fan, but living in Tucson I've adopted the Coyotes as a secondary team. (I might start following them a lot more in the future now that I have cable and am considering canceling Gamecenter.) What do you all make of the rumors that they're considering putting their AHL affiliate in Tucson?

I'm obviously all for it for selfish reasons. I'd buy season tickets in a heartbeat if it happened next year. I think the population is here to sustain the team if they're decent and well marketed.

The major problem is that the only rink in town is the Tucson Convention Center, which has decent capacity but lacks a lot of the amenities I'd think an AHL arena would need. It was just renovated this year, so I doubt anyone will be willing to throw their weight behind additional upgrades. I kind of figure that the Coyotes would need to find a way to build at least two more rinks. One for practice (ideally this might be a multi-surface complex) and a solid, modern 10,000+ seater for games. It seems like a longshot.

That said, it could be a fantastic long-term option. Aside from making a ton of logistical sense (call ups for home games would be a breeze), putting an affiliate in the state's second city could really help grow the fanbase. I thought changing the name from Phoenix to Arizona was great, simply because I feel like there's way more Cardinals and Diamondbacks gear around here than Suns. (The Coyotes have a negligible presence on that front.) This would be the ultimate consolidation of the effort to build a real state-wide brand.

Sorry if you've already discussed this a lot.

 

[XX]

The Coyotes need to find the money to buy an AHL franchise, and find one for sale, for that to happen. I doubt any AHL owner is going to willingly move to Tucson.

 

[Mosby]

10,000+ seats is probably too many. The AHL average for attendance is 5,426, with a high of 9,767 (Hershey) and a low of 2,946 (Portland).

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

10,000+ seats is probably too many. The AHL average for attendance is 5,426, with a high of 9,767 (Hershey) and a low of 2,946 (Portland).

Fair point. My thought is that they'd probably have to offer something clearly superior to TCC to really get people behind it. Even if it would be half empty most of the time.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

The Coyotes are going to likely end up with their players going to Springfield, MA.

DENIED, Columbus & Springfield have a contract, wildcat, stop using twitter from outside markets.

 

[wildcat48]

Hutch... Stop it. You had your hand slapped at another board for being a child and I have no problem telling you to stop it here either.

 

[CC96]

Hutch... Stop it. You had your hand slapped at another board for being a child and I have no problem telling you to stop it here either.

Lmao.

 

[wildcat48]

Pirates fall 5-2 to the Penguins.....

 

[wildcat48]

Pirates lose sixth straight and only have two wins in their last 11 games.

READ MORE>>>

Martinook is likely out some time with a knee injury after Paul Bissonnette chopped him down Friday in Manchester.

 

[moosemeister]

Can't wait for Edwards to get the boot

 

[rt]

I really hope we don't bring Edwards with us to Springfield or wherever.

 

[KG]

Have any of prospects, ie Gormley, Lessio have any sort of positive impact since being sent down? If not, that's worrying.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Hutch... Stop it. You had your hand slapped at another board for being a child and I have no problem telling you to stop it here either.

then stop feeding these fans erroneous information, then, wildcat, that other board has been lame for years anyway since it's worse than here since it's the same 5 to 10 posters and an administration that does absolutely nothing but add to erroneous info.

Both Colorado and Columbus have denied the Rochester "writer" who formulated the 4 way split....both teams have a year remaining w/ both Springfield and Lake Erie, and both could remain there so have the Pompeas (who operate Springfield) have also denied, ever find that tweet, it's likely been removed by this forum and group Admins since it was posted.... I didn't call you out when it was a slam dunk that Arizona might have to settle for returning to San Antonio based off what transpired.

 

[Mosby]

Have any of prospects, ie Gormley, Lessio have any sort of positive impact since being sent down? If not, that's worrying.

Just from boxscores:

Gormley: 4 games, 1 assist, Even +/-, 15 shots (including 8 shots in a game)

Lessio: 17 games, 5 goals, 6 assists, -7, 56 shots. Seems to have really come on in the last 9 of those 17 games. In that stretch, 5 goals, 4 assists, -5, 31 shots.

 

[XX]

Pirates are barely hanging on to the final playoff spot, having blown a considerable cushion. 3 games left.

 

[wildcat48]

Pirates playoffs hopes fading away
By Chris Roy | Updated: April 12, 2015

PORTLAND – There truly is no joy in Mudville.

The playoff hopes of the Portland Pirates are slowly beginning to fade away after the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins capped off the weekend sweep by sending the Pirates to their seventh consecutive loss with a 3-1 victory Sunday afternoon in front of 3,072 in attendance at the Cross Insurance Arena.

It was the tenth loss (2-5-4-1) for the Pirates in their last 12 games.

READ MORE>>>>

 

[wildcat48]

Have any of prospects, ie Gormley, Lessio have any sort of positive impact since being sent down? If not, that's worrying.

simple answer is no.... They have flashes or moments of success, but overall whether its been Lessio, Gormley or fill in the blank its been one giant dud over the last few weeks.

Only 12 days ago Portland was in a position to clinch a playoff spot and be in position to fight for home ice.... Now, they just need to win two of three and hope that Springfield has a bad weekend in St. John's.

Not really how you want to go into the playoffs against the top team in the AHL.

 

[wildcat48]

then stop feeding these fans erroneous information, then, wildcat, that other board has been lame for years anyway since it's worse than here since it's the same 5 to 10 posters and an administration that does absolutely nothing but add to erroneous info.

Both Colorado and Columbus have denied the Rochester "writer" who formulated the 4 way split....both teams have a year remaining w/ both Springfield and Lake Erie, and both could remain there so have the Pompeas (who operate Springfield) have also denied, ever find that tweet, it's likely been removed by this forum and group Admins since it was posted.... I didn't call you out when it was a slam dunk that Arizona might have to settle for returning to San Antonio based off what transpired.

Erroneous? You mean like there's no franchises for sale? OR, Manchester isn't going anywhere because they still have time on their lease? OR, the AHL Pacific Division won't until 2017?

See the pattern, Hutch??? It's you. You're the one who goes after anyone who says something that conflicts with your own personal idea of how things should to be, you're the one who acts like he knows everything and constantly spouts random historical crap that has nothing to do with the topic at hand, and you're the one who acts like he's a well-connected insider when all you do is sit at home in your basement and parrot whatever you read on the Internet, usually without giving credit where credit is due including stuff that I've written.... I'm sorry to everyone who has to read this. It's been an issue for years and while a group of us have attempted to fix things in private it always seems to find it's way into the public.

Bottomline is Colorado is working - likely a done deal - to move its affiliation to San Antonio and Columbus is working to move its affiliation to Cleveland regardless of what you say about agreements because any agreement can modified or changed and that means Arizona goes to Springfield because they're the only one left.

 

[CC96]

 

[XX]

I trust the credentialed journalist. Kinda crappy to end up in Springfield. If it takes two other teams to swap then the Coyotes not announcing anything (despite Portland already promoting the Panthers) yet jives with that.

All I remember was what a ****show Springfield was last time around, even by Coyote standards. At least get a new coach in there...

 

[CC96]

All I remember was what a ****show Springfield was last time around, even by Coyote standards. At least get a new coach in there...

What made it a ****show? I was too young to even bother paying attention to our AHL team, back when we were affiliated with Springfield.

 

[XX]

What made it a ****show? I was too young to even bother paying attention to our AHL team, back when we were affiliated with Springfield.

It was a shared affiliation at certain points with other teams, like the Islanders, LA, and Tampa. If I remember right, Tampa and Phoenix clashed over icetime for prospects. They only had two seasons above .500 during the affiliation. Almost no useful players came through the system during that entire period (96-04). Doan, Briere, Letowski, couple other role players like Radivojevic. Sjostrom hit a brick wall in the AHL. That was disappointing.

Nothing to do with the team or market I suppose. Just Coyote typical. Crap in, crap out.

 

[wildcat48]

The AHL is very different today compared to back then.... I don't think you'll notice much of a difference between the Pirates over the last four years and Springfield. Edwards will be the coach and it will be many of the same players i.e. Martinook, Shinnimin, Szwarz, Samuelsson etc.

Ultimately, I think getting into Springfield is a prelude to the Falcons being moved to Tucson in two years time.

 

[CC96]

Edwards is a great guy too, IIRC. No reason to get rid of him now.