Omaha Knights AHL team to move to Quad Cities

[RedEye]

Looks like the Omaha Knights are poised to move to the Quad Cities next season after 2 years in Omaha. Apparently the Mallards of the UHL will be forced out of the arena... does this mean they will move or go under????

Sucks cause The Knights are by far the best hockey in town.... now we are left with the UNO Mavs college hockey and the Lancers USHL club....

[BigMac12]

The problem was the Knights didn't play their home games at the Qwest Center. If they did, they would of stayed.

[TBGKon]

The problem was the Knights didn't play their home games at the Qwest Center. If they did, they would of stayed.

What was the reasoning for the Knights to not play in the Qwest Center?

[Seadragon76]

ACK! No... Why? Two years and they are giving up on the Knights?!?

That's pathetic. I've been in the Civic Auditorium for a UNO game and it was packed.

I don't understand. Two years and they give up.... It's a shame. Iowa fans are going to lose a good rival.

[illwauk]

ACK! No... Why? Two years and they are giving up on the Knights?!?

That's pathetic. I've been in the Civic Auditorium for a UNO game and it was packed.

I don't understand. Two years and they give up.... It's a shame. Iowa fans are going to lose a good rival.

Actually, the rivalry will probably get more intense. Des Moines is about the same distance from the Quad Cities as it is from Omaha. And while the team will probably play in Illinois, the Quad Cities encompasses towns in Iowa as well, making it an intra-state rivalry.

Besides, Omaha doesn't need the AHL when they already have a team in one of the best college hockey leagues around. I know the AHL is technically a higher-level of hockey than the NCAA, but the college game begets much more rabid support than any hockey other than the NHL (and even that's debatable). In fact, the Badgers winning the national championship last year was a MUCH bigger deal in the Milwaukee area than the Admirals winning the Calder Cup a few years ago.

[Ez Street]

My hopes was for them to move to KC.

Looks like AEG still thinks they have a shot at the NHL. We shall see....

[DEAD!]

My hopes was for them to move to KC.

Looks like AEG still thinks they have a shot at the NHL. We shall see....

no kidding?

[slapshot]

It looks like Lowell may join Omaha in the ranks of former AHL cities. The City Council tonight has voted to turn ownership of Tsongas Arena over to UMass-Lowell and force the Lowell Devils out as tenants.

[-Helix-]

If I lived in Omaha I would probably be going to UNO games anyway. College hockey >>>>>>> minor league

Heck, even the USHL is pretty damn good hockey. I was surprised how good those kids were when I went to Columbus. They were more entertaining than the NHL game I saw the night before.

[EatSleepJeep]

This does nothing to the rivalry between Stars and Knights. They just jumped 3 hours to the east instead of three hours to the west. From the traveling fans, it seemed the knights had a core group that was loyal, but just not very big.

The Stars have to compete for the hockey dollar with the USHL Des Moines Bucs, so I can imagine it was very difficult for the Knights to take hold with established USHL and NCAA franchises in place.

[TBGKon]

It looks like Lowell may join Omaha in the ranks of former AHL cities. The City Council tonight has voted to turn ownership of Tsongas Arena over to UMass-Lowell and force the Lowell Devils out as tenants.

I know I've heard rumors of the NJ Devils moving the Lowell Devils to the Continental Airlines Arena once the big league club moves to Newark, wonder if this is not a possibility, otherwise where could the team move?

[WBGMike]

Rumour has also had Lowell moving to Trenton and Trenton to AC

[Sodboy13]

The move itself comes as virtually no surprise. Despite an 8% uptick in attendance, Omaha averaged a measly 3,543 fans per game - 1,900 below the league average, and better than only Springfield and lame-duck Lowell. Plus, having watched the Wolves play in Omaha on TV, the half-empty dasher boards were a far better indicator than anything that the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights were not gonna be around much longer unless something changed drastically. Best record in the conference, and they still couldn't draw flies or corporate dollars.

The location of relocation - well, that does surprise me a bit. Quad Cities comes across as being a market on the wane, with average attendance consistently dropping 500-1,000 fans over each of the last six seasons. Perhaps Mallards fans felt they deserved better than the U-Haul, I dunno. But with this higher-tier league will likely come higher ticket prices, and since people in Moline already appear barely interested in shelling out $16 for seats on the glass, well, I don't know what the market will bear.

So, if this goes through, you now have Chicago, Peoria, Rockford, Quad City, Milwaukee, Iowa... and Houston and San Antonio. Realignment is in order, and I've got an idea that might work... but I'd rather not violate the "stop reel line mints" unofficial policy.

[TheAK47]

man i have a friend back in nebraska that is going to be pissed. she loved the knights. Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights right? yeah but where they play is scary it is sso old. seriously. i went there for an omaha beef game and i thought it was going to crumble down.

[Lee.]

I can only hope that this means easier flight travel for the teams who had to go through hell and back to get to Omaha. I mean really, there should be four world-class airports in the Quad Cities for teams to choose from, right?

Right?

[DEAD!]

I can only hope that this means easier flight travel for the teams who had to go through hell and back to get to Omaha. I mean really, there should be four world-class airports in the Quad Cities for teams to choose from, right?

Right?

Actually, it's five.... right?

[Sodboy13]

I can only hope that this means easier flight travel for the teams who had to go through hell and back to get to Omaha. I mean really, there should be four world-class airports in the Quad Cities for teams to choose from, right?

Right?

I've been told that, from an architectural standpoint, the main terminal at Bettendorf International is truly a wonder to behold.

And DEAD!, I never knew before this moment that the Quad Cities do, in fact, consist of five municipalities. Who the hell snuck East Moline in there?

[Brian in Boston]

Who the hell snuck East Moline in there?

East Moline, Illinois wasn't exactly "snuck" in there. The city was a member in good standing of the "Quad Cities" for at least a decade before Bettendorf, Iowa's growth displaced East Moline as a "Quad". Although Davenport, Moline, Rock Island and Bettendorf are recognized as the modern "Quad Cities", East Moline residents maintain - if only in their own hearts and minds - that their city is still a "Quad".

My great-aunt actually married a guy from Rock Island, Illinois who remembered the area being referred to as the "Tri-Cities" until the late 1940s, with membership limited to Davenport, Moline and Rock Island.

[FrankCostanza]

Who the hell snuck East Moline in there?

East Moline, Illinois wasn't exactly "snuck" in there. The city was a member in good standing of the "Quad Cities" for at least a decade before Bettendorf, Iowa's growth displaced East Moline as a "Quad". Although Davenport, Moline, Rock Island and Bettendorf are recognized as the modern "Quad Cities", East Moline residents maintain - if only in their own hearts and minds - that their city is still a "Quad".

My great-aunt actually married a guy from Rock Island, Illinois who remembered the area being referred to as the "Tri-Cities" until the late 1940s, with membership limited to Davenport, Moline and Rock Island.

In fact there used to be an NBA team named the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, now known as the Atlanta Hawks.

[Viper]

The location of relocation - well, that does surprise me a bit. Quad Cities comes across as being a market on the wane, with average attendance consistently dropping 500-1,000 fans over each of the last six seasons. Perhaps Mallards fans felt they deserved better than the U-Haul, I dunno. But with this higher-tier league will likely come higher ticket prices, and since people in Moline already appear barely interested in shelling out $16 for seats on the glass, well, I don't know what the market will bear.

As I've mentioned in the past, Cedar Rapids might have made a better location for an AHL team than the Quads. CR is basically a hub for the entire eastern half of Iowa (for instance, all the major TV networks have a single station to cover CR, Waterloo, Dubuque and Iowa City, and IIRC all but the NBC affiliate are based in CR). Taken together, the East Iowa market is over a million people, well bigger than the Quads. Plus, CR is a bit more centrally located between Des Moines, Peoria and Rockford than the Quads which are an hour-and-a-half farther from Des Moines, and slightly farther from Rockford if you stick to the major highways. The one potential drawback for CR is their smallish arena (around 7-8,000) but at least then they would have a better chance of filling it close to capacity each night.