BBTV Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Charlotte being a major market is why the AHL wouldn't work. Minor-league teams in major-league towns often seem to struggle.If Milwaukee, Cleveland, Houston, and San Antonio see no problem with it, why should Charlotte?And let's not forget that Philadelphia, even in a crowded minor-league landscape, was able to sustain a team for thirteen seasons, and the only reason that they moved was the closing of the Spectrum.Right. Besides the major-league teams, the Phantoms had to compete against the Soul, Kixx, Wings, and whoever else played down there, and they did extremely well. I know that the Flyers didn't want to sell/move them, but they couldn't have them sucking up dates at the Wachovia Center while a new "minor league" arena was built (and I'm not sure that's going to happen now.) "The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvrdgsfn Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 hmmm, I would find it rather interesting if they just switched leagues, Charlotte in the A while Albany goes to the E, that is a rumor going around some of the hockey boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashcarson15 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 If only Richmond could have jump on this sort of thing about 10 years earlier when the Admirals and Renegades were approached to merge.If only there was hockey in Richmond... I think there will be very soon...just not at the Coliseum (but at that SportsQuest arena they're building in Chesterfield, will also be home to the IFL's Richmond Revolution)Yup, also helps that the Commissioner of the E mentioned Richmond as a potential city back in the summer...http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/07/12/echl-commissioner-brian-mckenna/There are some other ones in places like Greenville, Richmond, VA, Greensboro, NC, San Diego, Fresno, some of those markets make sense. If there?s an interested ownership group, if there?s a good business plan and proper lead time, I think all those markets would be of interest to us in the future.Back to the subject matter, I heard that Albany did a press conference to do damage control.So... four of those five markets have had ECHL teams fail in the last 10 years right? Sounds like a great idea to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illwauk Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 But there kinda is a problem with it, that's the thing. The Admirals are an afterthought on the Milwaukee sports scene, and that's a scene that includes the Bucks, who are themselves generally kind of an afterthought. They have their fans, like every team does, but between PACKERS, college basketball, Badger football, Badger hockey, and the Bucks, there's not really a hunger for inferior but relatively affordable hockey-related entertainment. 3000some people scattered around the Bradley Center doesn't paint the picture of a flourishing team. Cleveland is in the midst of proving for a second time that they're not really an AHL town.I don't really care about the AHL but I think you are short-changing the attendance numbers for these teams. Are they selling out NBA arenas? Of course not, but that doesn't mean they aren't doing well. Even if you throw out the 12000+ game Milwaukee just had, they are averaging almost 4300 a game and Cleveland is over 5000. If they operate the arena like KeyArena did when the Thunderbirds played there (upper deck closed off, not all concession stands or restrooms open, etc.) they probably aren't doing too bad.Not to mention the Ads were drawing 7,000-8,000 in the IHL days and reguarly broke the 10,000 mark during the 94-95 lockout. They have become an afterthought in the Milwaukee sports scene like admiral said, but that's more due to their inability to properly market the team than the fact that they play in a city with major league teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcrosby Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 MIlwaukee could support an NHL team. Bold statement, eh? But I wholeheartedly believe that. The Admirals have had decent attendance, and for a period of time had some of the best attendance in the AHL or IHL. I go to school at UW-Madison, and it's been great attending packed hockey games. I see a lot of NHL jerseys at the games, most are of former Badgers, but there are plenty of NHL supporters that are wearing a jersey with no association to either of the teams playing that night. We all know how well the Packers have been supported, and the Brewers have been gaining support in recent years, due in part to better play and in part to Mark Attanasio. He is part owner of the Admirals, and thus we get a lot of Brewer-Admiral cross promoting. As long as beer is served (or guaranteed in a house basement near the Kohl Center) Wisconsin fans will be in attendance. Minor league teams' attendance doesn't fluctuate as much with on-field (ice/court) performance as in the bigs, it doesn't get much time on the news. Proper management would be key, as in any market. It could be done. Back to Charlotte. I spent some time in the Carolinas this summer, I did not attend any hockey games...surprise. I stayed with relatives while there, and they go to a lot of minor league baseball games. Whether or not this support for the minors would spill over to hockey is debatable. The Hurricanes have pretty good attendance, so I could see it working, then again, maybe not. https://twitter.com/OutOfThisWC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rams80 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 If only Richmond could have jump on this sort of thing about 10 years earlier when the Admirals and Renegades were approached to merge.If only there was hockey in Richmond... I think there will be very soon...just not at the Coliseum (but at that SportsQuest arena they're building in Chesterfield, will also be home to the IFL's Richmond Revolution)Yup, also helps that the Commissioner of the E mentioned Richmond as a potential city back in the summer...http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/07/12/echl-commissioner-brian-mckenna/There are some other ones in places like Greenville, Richmond, VA, Greensboro, NC, San Diego, Fresno, some of those markets make sense. If there’s an interested ownership group, if there’s a good business plan and proper lead time, I think all those markets would be of interest to us in the future.Back to the subject matter, I heard that Albany did a press conference to do damage control.So... four of those five markets have had ECHL teams fail in the last 10 years right? Sounds like a great idea to me...Clearly you are unfamiliar with minor league logic.Well...that and your possible team locales are limited by arenas and existing franchises. It is also possible that sometimes markets need to lie fallow for a year or two, especially if the dead team had bad and/or shady owners. After awhile, the sport can return for another decade-odd run in the market./Actually, all of those locales are former ECHL haunts in the last decade. 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. "The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert 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) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 MIlwaukee could support an NHL team. Bold statement, eh? But I wholeheartedly believe that. The Admirals have had decent attendance, and for a period of time had some of the best attendance in the AHL or IHL. I go to school at UW-Madison, and it's been great attending packed hockey games. I see a lot of NHL jerseys at the games, most are of former Badgers, but there are plenty of NHL supporters that are wearing a jersey with no association to either of the teams playing that night. We all know how well the Packers have been supported, and the Brewers have been gaining support in recent years, due in part to better play and in part to Mark Attanasio. He is part owner of the Admirals, and thus we get a lot of Brewer-Admiral cross promoting. As long as beer is served (or guaranteed in a house basement near the Kohl Center) Wisconsin fans will be in attendance. Minor league teams' attendance doesn't fluctuate as much with on-field (ice/court) performance as in the bigs, it doesn't get much time on the news. Proper management would be key, as in any market. It could be done.I think Milwaukee's window for the NHL has opened and closed already. I fear that the sports news cycle has been pretty well crystallized at this point, and it would be hard to shoehorn the NHL in. The Ads have their fans, but Milwaukee is foremost and forever a football/college basketball town during the autumn/winter months (ugh, it's a football town in May if the Brewers aren't in first), and I worry that hockey would be lost in the shuffle amidst the well-supported existing teams. Also it's kind of a small market (though bigger and better than freakin' Nashville), and would far and away be the smallest four-sport town, miles behind respectably mid-sized Denver. You could reach and say the market comprises the whole state of Wisconsin, but the logistics of that would make it kind of disingenuous. It's too bad, because an NHL division that matched the NFC North (+St. Louis and Toronto) would've been good stuff. Just be happy with a really big college hockey program. That's unique and cool.Oh and apparently the arena isn't good enough, which I'm not buyin'. I'm amused/confused by the whole Bradley Center imbroglio. Herb Kohl builds a privately financed arena for a public school and demands a publicly financed arena for a private business. Quid pro quo, or just silly and ironic? ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illwauk Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 I have to agree that the window to make a Milwaukee NHL team happen has probably closed, but it doesn't change the fact that Greater MKE could still support a team. As I've said before, the Bucks have set the bar so low that all a NHL team would have to do is be moderately competent, as in making the playoffs more often than not (which isn't that hard in the NHL) to outdraw them. It won't happen because of the "gentlemen's agreement" between the NBA and NHL about not competing in the smaller markets, which sucks because I can promise that the hoops programs at Marquette and UWM are more than capable of filling whatever trivial void the Bucks left if they were to leave town.But I think you're overstating the significance of Badgers hockey in Milwaukee. They definitely have a following here, but the idea of an entire state being a teams' market really only works for sports where the games are played mainly on weekends (read: football and soccer). That said, a more realistic goal would be to get either of the hockey clubs at Marquette or UWM to jump to D1 (most likely Marquette, given the prohibitive cost of such a program). College hockey is way too big in Wisconsin for us to only have one team.So... how bout those Checkers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Ooh, I like the idea of D1 Marquette hockey. That could take off. ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadragon76 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 If Charlotte wants an AHL team so badly, they can have what's left of the Iowa Chops. Get some new ownership to take care of the mess the old owner left and there you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashcarson15 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 If only Richmond could have jump on this sort of thing about 10 years earlier when the Admirals and Renegades were approached to merge.If only there was hockey in Richmond... I think there will be very soon...just not at the Coliseum (but at that SportsQuest arena they're building in Chesterfield, will also be home to the IFL's Richmond Revolution)Yup, also helps that the Commissioner of the E mentioned Richmond as a potential city back in the summer...http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/07/12/echl-commissioner-brian-mckenna/There are some other ones in places like Greenville, Richmond, VA, Greensboro, NC, San Diego, Fresno, some of those markets make sense. If there?s an interested ownership group, if there?s a good business plan and proper lead time, I think all those markets would be of interest to us in the future.Back to the subject matter, I heard that Albany did a press conference to do damage control.So... four of those five markets have had ECHL teams fail in the last 10 years right? Sounds like a great idea to me...Clearly you are unfamiliar with minor league logic.Well...that and your possible team locales are limited by arenas and existing franchises. It is also possible that sometimes markets need to lie fallow for a year or two, especially if the dead team had bad and/or shady owners. After awhile, the sport can return for another decade-odd run in the market./Actually, all of those locales are former ECHL haunts in the last decade.Alright, didn't know if Richmond had a failed one in the last decade and this is true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvrdgsfn Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 If only Richmond could have jump on this sort of thing about 10 years earlier when the Admirals and Renegades were approached to merge.If only there was hockey in Richmond... I think there will be very soon...just not at the Coliseum (but at that SportsQuest arena they're building in Chesterfield, will also be home to the IFL's Richmond Revolution)Yup, also helps that the Commissioner of the E mentioned Richmond as a potential city back in the summer...http://shorthandedbreakaway.com/2009/07/12/echl-commissioner-brian-mckenna/There are some other ones in places like Greenville, Richmond, VA, Greensboro, NC, San Diego, Fresno, some of those markets make sense. If there’s an interested ownership group, if there’s a good business plan and proper lead time, I think all those markets would be of interest to us in the future.Back to the subject matter, I heard that Albany did a press conference to do damage control.So... four of those five markets have had ECHL teams fail in the last 10 years right? Sounds like a great idea to me...Clearly you are unfamiliar with minor league logic.Well...that and your possible team locales are limited by arenas and existing franchises. It is also possible that sometimes markets need to lie fallow for a year or two, especially if the dead team had bad and/or shady owners. After awhile, the sport can return for another decade-odd run in the market./Actually, all of those locales are former ECHL haunts in the last decade.Alright, didn't know if Richmond had a failed one in the last decade and this is true.Yeah, I can speak on that behalf, The first gades had a pretty good ownership until around 97-98. Basically when the owner doesn't even show up for your games, that's not a real good sign, a few really bad moves & we were out, The Riverdogs weren't much better when there were lawsuits involved between the two owners, we didn't think there was even going to be a third season after hearing this bombshell & plus it didn't help that one owner basically blasted the city for not "paying the bills" . The 2nd coming of the Gades well, it just sucked, we tried to push for attendance but it wasn't enough & Allan Harvie, well I give the man credit, he did what he could but it just simply wasn't enough or he just didn't cared.A lot of people don't come to the realization that Richmond is a hockey city, we have a huge following but really bad owners. That's why I was thrilled to see that this new arena was being built by a guy who knows what's he doing. Plus, getting back in the E would be great, I always like that caliber of hockey.Lastly, the one thing that bothered me, in the UHL & SPHL, we were in the top 5 at least for attenedance, yet we fold? I hate money grubbing owners, espeically in the minors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rams80 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Well...Top 5 attendance is less impressive in a 7 team (typically) league. 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. "The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert 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) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvrdgsfn Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Well...Top 5 attendance is less impressive in a 7 team (typically) league.Sad but true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigboy1083 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 From what I have been hearing at games, so that doesn't mean it's true, is the River Rats (Hurricanes AHL affiliate) will move to Charlotte, then the Checkers (Rangers ECHL) will move to Bridgeport CT, and the Sound Tigers (Islanders AHL affiliate) will move to Albany.There is also a rumor that the Edmonton Oiler don't want to be in Springfield MA anymore, and want to restart the Roadrunners, and that Lowell will move to Springfield. There might be some truth behind this because Edmonton had the Falcons take the Oiler logo off their jersey.Also the Adirondack Phantoms will be moving back to the Philidelphia area in a couple of years, once an arena is built.I don't know if any of this has any truth behind it, but that's what I have been hearing from a lot of people. Thanks KaTo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sodboy13 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 There is also a rumor that the Edmonton Oiler don't want to be in Springfield MA anymore, and want to restart the Roadrunners, Talks between the Oilers and Oklahoma City are quite hot-and-heavy. In fact, the OKC Blazers, one of the top draws in all of minor league hockey, suspended operations this season allegedly to get the organization and arena ready for a move up to the AHL. Most of the other rumors, though, are thing I'm hearing for the first time. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rams80 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 However the OKC plan involves using the dormant Roadrunner franchise, not the Falcons franchise.Of course, Austin is still looking for a permanent franchise. 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. "The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert 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) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDixonDesign Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Checkers make it official today: http://gocheckers.com/news/checkers/index.html?article_id=137Think a redesign will be in the works? I know the Checkers just updated thier identity, but man i've hated it since it was revealed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sodboy13 Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 My guess? A switch over to Canes colors and the Canes' jersey template, keeping the same logo. Could be nice to see the Hurricane flags along the hem get replaced with 2x2 or 3x3 checkerboard. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Bummer. Who'd have ever guessed that North Carolina would poach two hockey teams from east of the Hudson? ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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