Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Devils

[JQK]

Keep in mind, this is fiction.

With the Flyers having to move their AHL affiliate, the Phantoms, for the 2009-10 season, the AHL world was once again thrown into affiliate hell. Where would they move the team? Would they look for another affiliation? Would the Phantoms dissolve? These actions would set off a chain of events that led to yet another AHL game of musical chairs. The Phantoms would eventually settle on Reading, PA as their home, that is until their new Lehigh Valley arena was built (right next to Coca-Cola Park). With this, the Brooks Group, who now owns the Phantoms (as well as part of the Penguins), are disappointed. They were hoping to convince the Flyers to agree to have the team play in Wheeling, WV. The Brooks group wanted this in the hopes of drawing bigger and more enthusiastic crowds with AHL talent, instead of the ECHL club that has been there, the Wheeling Nailers. The Flyers refused, stating the distance was farther than they were willing to go. Now because of this, the Brooks Group had a meeting with the other owners of the Pittsburgh Penguins, including majority owner, Mario Lemeiux. The Brooks Group tried to convince the other owners that while their AHL club in Wilkes-Barre has been a rare minor-league success story, the distance between the parent club and the Baby Pens was too great, encuring extra travel costs and lost time in call-up's and send-down's. The solution to this? Wheeling, West Virgina. Being only forty-six miles away, the Penguins owners found this to be most agreeable, and so ordered the AHL Penguins re-location to Wheeling and WesBanCo arena.

Now the AHL was in a panic. Wilkes-Barre had been in the top three in AHL attendance ever since they were admitted into the league in 1999. The league couldn't afford to have that market missing from the league, especially with the way finances were. A solution soon showed up. The Lowell Devils had been the worst in league attendance, and with arena issues in Lowell, the team was looking for an out. They found it in Wilkes-Barre. Two days after the announcemnet of the Baby Penguins depature from the Wachovia Arena, Lou Lamoriello announced that the Devils AHL franchise would re-locate from Lowell, MA, to Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Here are your Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Devils

[slapshot]

Uniforms and logos look clean, pretty much expected for the Devils.

I see the Devils moving the AHL team to Trenton or Atlantic City before WB/S.

to leaving Lowell.

[TalktoChuck]

I love the logo, and the story behind it (although fiction) is great. A good story and an even better concept.

[VC//]

Thank god this is fake, I was tripping out thinking this was actually going to happen.

[elliott]

I love the logo, and the sory behind it (although fiction) is great. A good stroy and an even better concept.

Dang, misspelling the same word twice in two sentences, two different ways. Must be a record.

Pretty good logo, although some of the finer details might get lost when looking from a small distance. As for the uniforms, I expect a little rather than just taking the Devils unis. Maybe try to modernize the look a little by curving the striping or something.

[BJBerthiaume]

This is a pretty good concept. Maybe tone down the flames a tiny bit on the devil's back. My favorite part is the halp pitchfork half hockey stick. Awesome.

[maz]

I like how you not only get your favorite team to move its AHL club to your city, but you do it in realistic fashion.