The Future Of Minor League Hockey

[Royalsflagrunner77]

My thoughts on this subject Hockey is one of the most wide spread sports in the world. So i comfused when people say that NHL teams don't have interest or don't care about the AA level i look at how many pro and semi pro players there are around the world and say it could work. There is so much talent out there . I think that in the future the NHL could benifit from have talent stocked up i AAA and AA teams. I think minor league hockey continues to grow.

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[SemireliableSource]

It seems you've misinterpreted it. It's not that the NHL wouldn't care if AA hockey disappeared. It's that they see it as only a minor benefit to them. Most NHL teams see their ECHL "affiliates" as a place to get their 5/6 goalies minutes and maybe stick a guy who didn't pan out but is still on his ELC.

NHL teams have 50 contracts max for all their pro players (NHL and assigned to AHL/ECHL or loaned to Europe). They're not going to want add another 20ish to fill three rosters. And as a fan of a minor league team, you shouldn't want that either because there will be even less roster stability and minor league hockey will turn into minor league baseball: all the matters for the parent club is development, all that matters for the team owners in keeping attendance up by entertaining fans even if the team itself is in the cellar.

That model works for baseball because to most people the sport itself is boring and they treat the games as social/entertainment events.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

I see it as simple. One affiliated league that is the AHL.

Eventually the ECHL and SPHL merge and become the new age of AA hockey(what the UHL and CHL used to be) which would be great for fans.

 

[SemireliableSource]

I can tell you, there are SPHL owners who are more than happy to keep their current model with the salary cap being pretty much half that of the ECHL. They're not going merge with the ECHL.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

WTF is the NWHL?

SPHL has the old southern markets. It would make some sense. Maybe they could workout the details. The ECHL cap is likely double that because of the affiliations and all that. If the league became more geared toward vets...yeah they typically make more but "prospects" make way more than any vet minor leaguer.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

WTF is the NWHL?

National Women's Hockey League, starting up this year:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Women's_Hockey_League_(2015)

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Hahaha.

The only bet proposition is will this league be run better than the FHL. Can't see it lasting long term truthfully.

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

I can tell you, there are SPHL owners who are more than happy to keep their current model with the salary cap being pretty much half that of the ECHL. They're not going merge with the ECHL.

Thank you for this, it is clear that the SPHL have a nice model which is / can be / has a chance to be profitable within the markets and venues they play.

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

I see it as simple. One affiliated league that is the AHL.

Eventually the ECHL and SPHL merge and become the new age of AA hockey(what the UHL and CHL used to be) which would be great for fans.

There is no way the SPHL and ECHL merge. Not now. Not eventually.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

There is no way the SPHL and ECHL merge. Not now. Not eventually.

In what I'm thinking the ECHL goes for a decline more than it'd being an SPHL upgrade.

 

[Royalsflagrunner77]

could you guys ever see nhl teams purchaseing more AA franchise making the league more stable

 

[JackalsKnuckles]

could you guys ever see nhl teams purchaseing more AA franchise making the league more stable

How would NHL ownership make the league more stable?

We've seen what happened when New Jersey owned Trenton...and Lowell, and how things are struggling in Albany.

We're also seeing NHL owned teams pick up roots in the Northeast and move to the west coast.

Having ownership which is held in a distant city by an NHL owner who clearly only cares about the parent club does not make things more stable for fans in a smaller AA market.

 

[Royalsflagrunner77]

How would NHL ownership make the league more stable?

We've seen what happened when New Jersey owned Trenton...and Lowell, and how things are struggling in Albany.

We're also seeing NHL owned teams pick up roots in the Northeast and move to the west coast.

Having ownership which is held in a distant city by an NHL owner who clearly only cares about the parent club does not make things more stable for fans in a smaller AA market.

True but you also have to remeber we are talking about jersey here the only jersey fans are in the Newark area or scattered here and there . Trenton was to close to philly and philly fans are not gonna go see a devils affiliate.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

NHL ownership does the opposite of what people think. When it first started people were intrigued. Then we've seen what it became. If anything I think it'd hurt the league. They won't pump much into the team and it'd just be a tax write off.