Geoff

If they go with Cinci and UC/SF it'll be along with BYU. I could see: West Baylor BYU Oklahoma Oklahoma State Texas Texas Tech TCU East Cincinnati Iowa State Kansas Kansas State UCF USF West Virginia

Too many unnecessary caps. Clean it up and try again.

I'm not acting like it only happens there. I'm stating a fact that they'd need to worry about it. Also, UCCS doesn't have varsity hockey. Colorado College does though. UCCS has a club team that's ACHA D3 so that's not a worry at all. A team in a population base that size should be able to do well but you're not factoring in not only having to compete for sports dollars from fans and corporate partners but competing with the loyalty towards the established team. CC averaged 6,530 last season. That's fourth in the nation for D-I hockey.

I wasn't just referring to the arena. You have to factor in their fan base, even if it's not sizable. You also have to factor in scheduling around other AFA sports. I don't know about their basketball attendance but their football team averaged 26,026.33 last season. That's a big chunk of the local population and when the other academies come to town, you're looking at a crowd about 10k above average (last year's Army game was 37,716).

Don't forget that Colorado Springs is actually home to two D-I hockey teams. CC and Air Force. I think scheduling to avoid too many overlapping dates would be damn near, if not completely, impossible.

Same reasoning that kept Fort Wayne out of the ECHL for so long is why Utah prefers the Coast to the A: more control over hockey operations/player personnel.

Doesn't mean it worth putting a team there. There's more to it than capacity. Also, I wouldn't hold my breath about Owensboro. Even if come back, Geary has made his bed with area hockey fans and SPHL Evansville will have a year up on them.

I honestly don't think the market will bear the price increase needed to support today's ECHL.

I can tell you for a fact, the ECHL wants Pensacola. I won't comment on much else other than saying, it's not happening any time soon.

So three D1 schools in San Diego? ...

Dear Hockey Gods,

Connelly's piece was tongue-in-cheek/theoretical in an alternate universe.

Oh, they do. They just don't give a damn.

A buddy of mine is/was the broadcaster for the Falcons. Nothing on Twitter or Facebook from him today. The team's Twitter account is already gone. This post on their Facebook talks of refunds so it looks like another move into the market isn't likely.

Minot State and Simon Fraser both considering moves to D1 in hockey SFU is the NCAA's only Canadian school and they currently have a club level team competing in the BCIHL. Minot State currently has a fairly successful ACHA club team.

FSU ain't going anywhere. The ACC members all signed a deal where they'd forfeit media rights money if they left. Considering the process is usually at least two years, they're not leaving unless some other conference says, "here! Here's $60M!"

And this has what to do with the AHL/ECHL shake up of last season?

My last NHL game was Lightning at Hurricanes on 2/21. I saw a fake blue Lightning jersey as soon as we got in the rink and pointed it out to my dad. He and I spotted so many in just the few minutes we spent in the concourse. They're so noticable ... the logo is basically a circle. So noticable that I pointed it out as a fake without any details and my dad knew recognized the logo immediately. Being in Florida and working for a hockey team, I see them a lot. We have a Lightning theme night this Saturday so I'm sure I'll see some more.

Either a bat swinging a bat or a dancing couple with the guy reaching around his partner and swinging a bat.

It's NHL first. They're willing to deal with the delay in a guy getting from the Coast to the A. Also keep in mind that teams aren't required to call up from their ECHL team. Tampacuse just signed a goalie who is (and still is) playing for Norfolk. If Stockton is playing at Toronto and finds themselves in need of a forward, it's entirely possible they could sign a guy from Brampton (Montreal/St. John's) if they liked him enough.

Hell, 5/7 of a division really. San Antonio and Texas still play 76.

1. And? It was an interesting idea at the time but it's also a totally separate and different situation to what's being discussed. 2. You do realize Kazakhstan is below the eastern/central part of Russia, right? So from the east to the east? Good job. 3. No one is saying the minor league has to be the exact same geographic footprint as the major league. Farm teams don't even have to play in the same league as each other. Just off the top of my head: Medvescak has farm hands in the EBEL (and has some of the duel-nationals play for the club's second team in the Croatian league), Dinamo Riga in the Latvian League, Dinamo Minsk in the Belarusian league. There's actually a Russian team in Asia League Ice Hockey already. Beijing doesn't need a VHL team, they could just invest in China Dragon and create a new ALIH team. 4. In short? No. Because the league already exists, they don't need to create the league. Being less obtuse, yes. That's why the SPHL isn't national. Hell, it's why the ECHL hardly sees teams like Florida and Alaska square off. 5. How the hell did we get from the moronic nature of the AHL California league of pampered princesses to the VHL? It's not his fault you didn't get the reference. Let me educate you:

Nice reference.

So you think the AHL uses a 3-point system? God, don't I wish they did. Any argument for why any team in any league should be allowed to play fewer games than other teams in the same league is a moronic argument.

Owensboro is about 2 hours from Louisville. So, no, Louisville doesn't have an ECHL team again. And I'm pretty sure they're keeping the Icemen name in Owensboro.