Utica Comets enter 10 year affiliation with the New Jersey Devils

[CHRDANHUTCH]

It sounds like it will just be the comets branding with the devils Affiliation and color scheme.

The Rangers chould pull out of Hartford for anyone of the open Upstate NY markets but their is little reason to. Anyone who thinks Hartford will ever work as a ECHL market is kidding themselves.

which never will happen, Centrum:

unless Spectra gets out of the arena development and team ownership business..... Spectra runs Hartford for the Rangers once MSG lost that bid to buy XL Center...

why did Spectra start the AHL Team in 1977, and returned in 2018 while in between starting what eventually became Lehigh Valley at the Spectrum, the model for Cross Arena.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Did you guys know Rockford was in the IHL and Portland is the only AHL market to have won back-to-back championships?

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Did you guys know Rockford was in the IHL and Portland is the only AHL market to have won back-to-back championships?

Wow that is mind-blowing!

 

[Roadhog]

Did you guys know Rockford was in the IHL and Portland is the only AHL market to have won back-to-back championships?

 

[axecrew]

Did you guys know Rockford was in the IHL and Portland is the only AHL market to have won back-to-back championships?

Did you know that there is no way Vancouver is moving their team to Abbotsford....especially since that Calgary team failed right there in Canucks country. Never happen.

 

[GrGriffins]

Did you guys know Rockford was in the IHL and Portland is the only AHL market to have won back-to-back championships?

Did you guys know that the Charleston Chiefs won the Federal Hockey League?

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Did you guys know that the Charleston Chiefs won the Federal Hockey League?

Anita McCambridge was garbage for letting them all go down the drain!

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

on topic:

Comets insiders and those who follow the AHL are reviewing the proposal announced by the Devils publically about the renounced franchise that has called Lowell, Albany and Binghamton home at various times since the Devils bought the Lowell franchise from Carolina....

what that means is officially the process to terminate the member club and/or membership currently known as the Binghamton Devils is underway as reported several weeks ago....

 

[CrazyEddie20]

on topic:

Comets insiders and those who follow the AHL are reviewing the proposal announced by the Devils publically about the renounced franchise that has called Lowell, Albany and Binghamton home at various times since the Devils bought the Lowell franchise from Carolina....

what that means is officially the process to terminate the member club and/or membership currently known as the Binghamton Devils is underway as reported several weeks ago....

So that franchise is going to fold and there's going to be a completely new expansion franchise in Utica? Is that what you're saying?

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

So that franchise is going to fold and there's going to be a completely new expansion franchise in Utica? Is that what you're saying?

in essence, yes.... because the Canucks don't have the rights to the Comets brand.... since the franchise they own is rebranding

 

[MMC]

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

The organization will remain the Utica Comets, with jersey designs and colors to be revealed later this year. Throughout the process, both parties focused on the Utica community while introducing a new NHL partner into the City; the main component to that was ensuring that the team would still be called the Utica Comets.

---

Esche also announced that, to commemorate the first day the Utica Devils took the ice in 1987, they will open at home on Sunday, October 17, 2021 – exactly 34 years since the Devils’ AHL hockey debut in the City of Utica.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Wonder how Tom Mitchell would have handled this if Esche waited until today or even yesterday to file for the Utica Devils trademark. Would he have kept silent longer? Apparently other NHL parent clubs were interested in re-locating to Utica, teams without the Devils abandonment history. Those teams don't seem to have interest Binghamton.

 

[UticaHockey]

Wonder how Tom Mitchell would have handled this if Esche waited until today or even yesterday to file for the Utica Devils trademark. Would he have kept silent longer? Apparently other NHL parent clubs were interested in re-locating to Utica, teams without the Devils abandonment history. Those teams don't seem to have interest Binghamton.

Just speculating but keeping the Comets name may have been one of the final pieces in the negotiation with NJ and Esche had to trademark the Utica Devils name and website to prevent an internet domain name squatter from grabbing it. He probably didn't expect the news getting out that he trademarked that name.

 

[axecrew]

So that franchise is going to fold and there's going to be a completely new expansion franchise in Utica? Is that what you're saying?

So apparently the AHL is doing this all wrong by announcing that vancouver and new jersey are RELOCATING their franchises ,when in fact they are folding them and the AHL is awarding both teams an expansion franchise. You know you would think that the league would know what it was doing in it's own league. Thank god we have people on here who know how these things REALLY work and are willing to share their knowledge with those of us who know so little. It's so nice that they aren't selfish jerks who just keep that invaluable information locked up inside.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Esche, who also is president of the Mohawk Valley Garden Inc. group that manages the Utica team as well as the Adirondack Bank Center at Utica Memorial Auditorium, said there’s a “mutually agreeable option” after seven years the teams could exercise regarding the affiliation.

Utica Comets have new parent club affiliation with New Jersey Devils

 

[wildcat48]

Did you guys know Rockford was in the IHL and Portland is the only AHL market to have won back-to-back championships?

Just a friendly FYI... He does not live in Portland. He lives in Auburn, 45 minutes north. He does not attend games. Not all people from Portland are ignorant. In fact most people I know have a great amount of hockey knowledge. Please do not associate us with him.

*patiently await an attack*

 

[Seattle Totems]

Utica has the best fans and Robert Esche seems to be a pretty shrewd businessman. Canuck fans can also leave the situation guilt free which is quite nice. Congratulations Uticans. You've worked hard for this.

 

[Roadhog]

Utica has the best fans and Robert Esche seems to be a pretty shrewd businessman. Canuck fans can also leave the situation guilt free which is quite nice. Congratulations Uticans. You've worked hard for this.

Another sellout streak with a new affiliate would be nice to see.

 

[axecrew]

Just a friendly FYI... He does not live in Portland. He lives in Auburn, 45 minutes north. He does not attend games. Not all people from Portland are ignorant. In fact most people I know have a great amount of hockey knowledge. Please do not associate us with him.

*patiently await an attack*

Believe me Wildcat...we have interacted with each other on here for years and there is no conceivable way I could think of that would allow me to add his name to yours and knowledge of hockey in the same sentence

 

[CrazyEddie20]

Believe me Wildcat...we have interacted with each other on here for years and there is no conceivable way I could think of that would allow me to add his name to yours and knowledge of hockey in the same sentence

I'm not allowed to reference what you discuss here by order of the board's George Parros's, who apparently are as good at their job as George Parros is at his.

 

[bleedblue94]

I think Binghamton's future is with the ECHL at this point, I know of a group that has reached out to the league about putting a team there.

Seems they would be good fits for each other if they can get a deal done locally that works.

It also appears they will be going with the FPHL this year with a team relocating. Cannot imagine that works in that market but who knows anymore.

 

[CrazyEddie20]

It also appears they will be going with the FPHL this year with a team relocating. Cannot imagine that works in that market but who knows anymore.

Bang the gong.

 

[bleedblue94]

Bang the gong.

Any bets how long they make it into the season before they have to fold?

 

[UticaHockey]

I think Binghamton's future is with the ECHL at this point, I know of a group that has reached out to the league about putting a team there.

Seems they would be good fits for each other if they can get a deal done locally that works.

It also appears they will be going with the FPHL this year with a team relocating. Cannot imagine that works in that market but who knows anymore.

Binghamton has proven they can support an AHL team and I hope they can partner with another NHL team in the near future. The ECHL makes sense in the meantime. Both Utica and Binghamton were in the UHL for a stretch of time between AHL years for Binghamton and having continuity of minor league hockey I would think helped them land the Senators. I'm not sure going down the FPHL path is a good idea though.