Chris18 wrote:
Pokecheque wrote:
http://www.uticaod.com/news/20170706/ahl-to-add-expansion-team-for-2018-19-season
In the interim it's gonna be a bit crowded in the minors. The Blues lost their affiliate in Chicago to the Golden Knights and will have to move some players. Hasn't been confirmed yet but as many as five could be moved to the San Antonio Rampage (Avs current affiliate). No big deal as the Avs probably don't have enough warm bodies to fill out an AHL roster as is.
What could be interesting is where this affiliate ends up. Rumors were abounding that the Colorado Eagles of the ECHL (who just won the Turner Cup) could be moved to the AHL. They've been wildly successful in Loveland/Windsor, it's a definite possibility. But there's also interest in places like Kansas City, and Houston remains dormant.
The Nassau Coliseum now holds 13k for hockey. Sound Tigers have a lease through 2021.
The AHL had 31 teams a few years ago, when the league put in their own team. What a shock that didn't last!
I've never understood all the affiliation changes. It must be such a pain in the ass to deal with. But I guess it is worth it or they wouldn't do it so often. I'd think all the NHL teams would want their AHL affiliates as close as possible.
You'd think, right? For years the Kings had their AHL affiliate in Manchester, NH, about as far as you could possibly put an AHL affiliate and still be in North America.
Didn't help that the Kings of the early 2000s were a budget team sporting a roster as fragile as a knockoff IKEA collection.
It wasn't until, what, a couple years ago that the AHL made a major push into West Coast markets and teams like the Kings, Sharks, and Ducks all got affiliates that weren't all the way over in places like Worcester, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.
I don't profess to know all the goings-on when it comes to affiliations and the negotiations therein. I seem to remember the Rochester Americans owners were bitching loudly about not being able to ice a competitive team, but then Terry Pegula opened his bottomless pocketbook and rendered that moot. Avs were affiliated with the Hershey Bears forever, then abruptly ended it and opted for the then-expansion Lake Erie Monsters (now Cleveland Monsters).
On a side note, sometimes the league itself can weigh in. The Rockies had their AAA affiliate since their inception just an hour south of Denver in Colorado Springs (the Sky Sox), but in recent years inexplicably ended the affiliation and opted for the fucking Albuquerque Isotopes. Now I'm hearing the Sky Sox will cease to exist entirely because Major League Baseball pressured those in power to get rid of the team. Why...I don't know.
But I wouldn't put it past the NHL to do shit like that.
I think the AHL should opt for some of those ridiculous minor-league baseball names. To this day my very favorite hockey team name remains the...