Geoff

Said by whom? People with practically no knowledge of the AHL or the elite level leagues in Europe?

Still not seeing how that is a good thing beyond the name (which was still an inferior name to the Winnipeg Jets). What San Jose and Winnipeg are doing with the AHL team in the same building makes little sense for the AHL. It's turning the AHL squads into glorified reserve teams nothing more. Hopefully in both cases it's just temporary. It is. Both teams have said as much. Brampton currently has an ECHL team, I'm not sure I follow this statement. I mean, I won't be surprised if the team folds because, well, attendance is . Besides a pocket schedule available at in line at the beer store, I haven't seen much advertisement for the team either. And I drive by the arena daily (on my way to and from work) Seems like you follow the statement perfect. Brampton is on thin ice.

Well, if they did move to the AHL it would be a completely new set of players for the simple fact that the players they have signed, not assigned, are on ECHL contracts. There's no need to even consider the current roster when talking a possible (let's be real, there's no ing chance) move to the AHL.

It's possible the way the league by-laws are written. Is it possible to be independent and put together a competitive team with out crippling the wallet? No. It's damn hard just to fill the roster of an independent AHL team. Forget about being competitive due to the lack of free agent talent that would want to go to the AHL over more money and fewer games in Europe.

Flawed logic. I don't enough about the ownership to say you're wrong but I can tell you just because the ownership "goes out of their way to promote the team," doesn't mean that it would be feasible to go AHL. The SPHL team I used to work for has a great owner who is very involved in the community, understands the value of advertising, and puts a good amount of money into it. That said, there's no way he could afford a move up to the ECHL.

Cinci gets AAA level attendance... kinda. They're averaging 4,330 this season. I could see that number falling with a bump to AHL prices. There are 10 teams in the A that are currently averaging less than the Cyclones. One of those (Utica) is averaging 3,707 in a barn that only holds 4,000 while three (Worcester, Adirondack, and Oklahoma City) won't even be in the A next year. But can the ownership handle it? That's the more important question. Is there ownership out there willing to field a AAA team in Cincinnati? C

MLB clubs really could care less about their minor league teams winning a championship. The only reason NHL teams even sorta care about minor league championships is that it gets their prospects valuable time in the playoffs. Game experience is great, do or die importance is even better. You think the Lightning are where they are now without Norfolk and Syracuse making back-to-back trips to the Calder Cup Finals and winning one? Yes, because you can successfully judge how a player will react to stressful, in-game situations via intrasquads.

Re: Brampton/Montreal: They might not exist much longer. Rumor has it they're not doing too hot financially. They're reported average attendance is second last in the league at 2,468. They're also offering some internships that the responsibilities/duties for read a lot like a list for a paid position with most other teams. Re: Vancouver: they should go west with the ECHL club when their AHL squad is still in Utica for one more year? Okay... I could see this being the year Allen finally switches to Dallas. Dallas wanted them in the ECHL in the first place to be their AA team, then old ownership pissed off Dallas but the move was still attempted after the ownership change (resulting in the CHL's lawsuit), new ownership has been trying to rebuild the connection last I heard.

As long as Alaska keeps subsidizing travel for other teams, I think they'll be fine. You do realize this organization has been around for decades and started out in the semi-pro Pacific Southwest Hockey League with teams in Calfornia and Nevada, right? They've been doing this for over 25 years now,

Quite simple actually: they fly everywhere. They already fly to places like Colorado, Idaho, and Utah, now they just won't be flying into California and will add trips to Rapid City. lolwut? No... No, they're not owned by the Coyotes and Avs. Those franchises are dead and were never owned by the NHL teams in the area. Sun Dogs are owned by this guy: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/arizona-sundogs--owner--gm-will-be-buried-alive-to-sell-season-tickets-163041733.html No, they're not. That franchise is dead. They didn't make the move from the WPHL dba CHL to the ECHL and the WPHL dba CHL is now dead. Same with Denver.

Exactly, to enter the league you need an affiliation but once you're in, there's nothing explicitly forcing you to keep it. I don't see it ever happening but it's definitely technically possible.

lolwut? No... No, they're not owned by the Coyotes and Avs. Those franchises are dead and were never owned by the NHL teams in the area.

AHL West could be announced as early as the All-Star Break. Also the league's considering dropping to 66 or 72 games from the current 72. I think 66 is too few. The ECHL is at 72, the Central league was 66, the SPHL is 56. Keep it at 76 or drop it to 72 but don't drop all the way to 66.

Alaska already flies everywhere. It's entirely possible that they stick around in a division with Colorado, Idaho, Rapid City, and Utah. I could see this break down assuming all three Cali teams go AHL and every former CHL team sticks around: Western Conference Northwest Division: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Rapid City, Utah Central Division: Allen, Missouri, Quad City, Tulsa, Wichita Eastern Conference Northeast Division: Brampton, Elmira, Reading, Toledo, Wheeling Midwest Division: Cincinnati, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Kalamazoo Southern Division: Florida, Greenville, Gwinnett, Orlando, South Carolina Back to the two uneven conferences but whatever. This clearly doesn't account for any markets that might be or are coming in like Norfolk. And with the model you'd have a ton of in-division play for the Northwest and you'd have to have cross over for the Central with the Eastern Conference.

Which still puts them at a disadvantage. When they get an equal amount as everyone else, they'll still be paying more in travel than anyone else. Yes, the cash they'll have then that they don't have not will help but the fact remains, they'd still be paying more. I just don't see UCF/USF joining the league. The directional aspect isn't the kind of stature the Big XII is looking for (hell none of the options really are) but I think IF they do expand, they'll likely grab someone like Cinci to not make the WVU situation perfect but make it moderately better.

Alabama originally wasn't supposed to have a coastline but they wanted one. Florida said, "Sure, whatever. You can have Mobile. Who the cares about Mobile anyway?" and Alabama was happy.

With UAB's announcement, any of the newer C-USA schools could count:

So now his right is higher. He's a switch.

I was thinking UMass might make the move to C-USA but I saw an argument on Twitter yesterday (forget who it was, maybe Wolken) that C-USA wants their schools to be all sports members and UMass probably wouldn't want to sacrifice their basketball program for a football home. The Minutemen roundball squad would rather play in the A-10 than C-USA. I could see a western Fun Belt team trying to go for it such as NMSU, Texas State, ULL, or Arkansas State but South Alabama does allow the league to keep a foothold in the state of Alabama making it easier to pick off those recruits who were just a bit off of being SEC type players.

The team that was the Huntsville Stars moves to Bilxoi, Mississippi to become the Shuckers. And the colors are the same as the SL team just down I-10 from them in the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. https://twitter.com/Brandiose/status/537033986036355072

Just got this bad boy today:

:censored:ing brilliant idea. Expand into a market where they'll be contractually obligated to be the 3rd tenant in the arena behind a men's and women's college team. Ton of thought went into that one there.

In the same vein, Florida State vs. the Phillies

That's been discussed in this same thread at lease a couple times.