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Abbotsford bankrupting itself to keep AHL Heat


Sodboy13

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As was alluded to...the reason it's not gonna happen is because these Northeast fans (Manchester, Worcester, etc.) would RIOT if their team was yoinked from them like that...about seven years back, I remember there being a group that wanted to put the Predators' AHL affiliate in Memphis...you know that never got off the ground (mainly because my Admirals have a loyal following here, in fact I'd say better than the Bucks).

Maybe, but they have much less of a following now than before they became the Preds' top affiliate. Ideally, I'd want the Ads to affiliate with a team that's not so concerned about developing prospects that they have to worry about development over actually winning titles. Aside from that, I'd want them to affiliate with a team from a bordering state.

Umm... Isn't that the point of the minor leagues? Isn't that the point of having an affiliate?
The minor league teams still need butts in the seats. Sometimes, there could be a conflict between maybe playing a career minor leaguer that's as good as he's gonna get but can help you win now versus playing a guy that's worse now but will be better in a year or two.
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As was alluded to...the reason it's not gonna happen is because these Northeast fans (Manchester, Worcester, etc.) would RIOT if their team was yoinked from them like that...about seven years back, I remember there being a group that wanted to put the Predators' AHL affiliate in Memphis...you know that never got off the ground (mainly because my Admirals have a loyal following here, in fact I'd say better than the Bucks).

Maybe, but they have much less of a following now than before they became the Preds' top affiliate. Ideally, I'd want the Ads to affiliate with a team that's not so concerned about developing prospects that they have to worry about development over actually winning titles. Aside from that, I'd want them to affiliate with a team from a bordering state.

Umm... Isn't that the point of the minor leagues? Isn't that the point of having an affiliate?

The old IHL, whence the Wolves and Milwaukee Admirals came, was more concerned with winning for the sake of winning than the AHL, which traditionally knew its role. The Wolves were a terrible affiliate for the Thrashers, but great fun for paying customers. Teams like the Sharks and Flyers, which always seem to be churning through futures to win now, would be best served affiliating with a major-market AHL team like Milwaukee. Paradoxically, the Flames operated that way for about eight years, but also ran a bare-bones minor-league operation on the basis of "only caring about development," while never actually caring about development. But who gets the Flames?

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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Umm... Isn't that the point of the minor leagues? Isn't that the point of having an affiliate?

The old IHL, whence the Wolves and Milwaukee Admirals came, was more concerned with winning for the sake of winning than the AHL, which traditionally knew its role. The Wolves were a terrible affiliate for the Thrashers, but great fun for paying customers. Teams like the Sharks and Flyers, which always seem to be churning through futures to win now, would be best served affiliating with a major-market AHL team like Milwaukee. Paradoxically, the Flames operated that way for about eight years, but also ran a bare-bones minor-league operation on the basis of "only caring about development," while never actually caring about development. But who gets the Flames?

Right, and I'd get that for the IHL or the CHL/SPHL/etc and even the ECHL because they operate on their own accord. (I know the ECHL has affiliations, but that's not really for any real invested development by the parent club.) But the AHL, on the whole, is run by the parent club. The players are prospects from the parent club, the coaches are chosen by the parent club, the management is from the parent club. I just find the complaint of "we'd rather have a winner" at the AHL level to be a little misguided.

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Milwaukee and the Bradley Center are both big by AHL standards. There's more to gain from putting on a good show there than in Utica. I mean, I know the AHL will never be more than the AHL, but it would be encouraging to see them as an organization near the ceiling of what minor-league hockey can be. The London Knights do this well, and it was basically the whole raison d'etre of the Manitoba Moose.

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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Pretty much this.^ I'll add that for most of their IHL existence, the Admirals were either independent or had multiple affiliates of whom they housed maybe one or two players. Most of their roster was made up of guys who chose a stable, top flight minor league career over being a journeyman in the NHL. That all changed with the Predators affiliation and subsequent move to the AHL. I also don't think most Admirals fans ever got over the fact that they were now serving an expansion team without nearly as much tradition and history as their own team... I know I never have.

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That's a nice thought about New England rioting, but I don't think the Worcester Sharks draw more than 3,000 a game. Thing of it is, it doesn't really matter that they don't draw exceptionally well, because they barely have to go far for their road games and can thus keep expenses low and practice time high, something The NHL's Best Fans don't seem to grasp in their zeal to put another team in the butt:censored:ing Cow Palace.

Is this a comment about the organization, or the actual fan base? If it's the organization and their absurd statements then cool, I get that completely. But if it's the former, where exactly are you getting this from? (HF Boards doesn't count). I've yet to hear any fans talk about the true feasibility of playing in a building that was old when Barry Goldwater was still in diapers.

I mean sure, it'd be nice to have the highest level of prospects in a spot like San Francisco, Stockton, Sacramento, or even Reno (oh boy) due to the close proximity for call ups, but I think most people understand how that's quite a tall order considering hockey even at the professional level is a tough sell in the west. Both the organization (I hope anyway after the Bulls disaster) and their fan base understand the challenges that would bring.

I do feel that despite the logistics of how the AHL is set up currently, there has to be a more logical solution for a minor league hockey system that isn't stashed on the opposite coast. Bus trips or trips on prop planes from Ontario to Stockton would be a bitch and a half for players, but that's kind of the nature of minor league sports, isn't it? And I can't see that being all that more of a cost burden than the current model. If all three California based teams were to move their affiliates to the west coast, and the Coyotes were to move their team to, I dunno, [spins wheel of random podunk cities in Arizona] Snowflake (Hey! That sounds cool! Still better than Glendale, too!), this could sorta work.... Sorta.

:censored: it. If Major League Baseball could do it with two teams in the late 1950s and make it work, so can the AHL!...

... Wait, what were we talking about again?

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On 11/19/2012 at 7:23 PM, oldschoolvikings said:
She’s still half convinced “Chris Creamer” is a porn site.)
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Rework the CBA and affiliation agreements so you can stash your "oh :censored: we need this dude because of injuries" players on the ECHL West Coast teams. Most of them could use the added money anyway.

Problem solved.

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

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POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Maybe this is old news but the Flames decided, and got approval from the AHL board, to move the team to NY. Could be called the Adirondack Heat or Adirondack Flames? Could still use the flaming "A" logo. I was kind of hoping they would just move to Atlanta.

http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=718079

http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/04/30/report-calgary-flames-moving-ahl-club-to-new-york

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yep, they're using the same crappy uniforms.

On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said:

For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA.

PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12.

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Because it's the Flames, and they can't be bothered.

On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said:

For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA.

PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12.

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