Vicky Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 Abby bound? This just makes so much sense for the franchise. Finally will be able to develop our own prospects and the fans will be able to see the development happen (if the Abbotsford move takes place). Win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cs2016 Posted April 18, 2013 Share Posted April 18, 2013 Have fun with the Wolves STL. So glad we got our own minor league team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgyfan Posted April 19, 2013 Share Posted April 19, 2013 I don't know why Cal would give up the sweetheart deal they have with Abby. I also wonder what effect a Nuck move to Abby would have on the Giants. I'm thinking a team can't be moved to any city on a whim -it would have to be approved by the AHL. This would limit the cities that can take on an AHL team. Seattle would be nice, but would it get the approval? They may just stay in Peoria (really no difference in travel than Chicago) and wait for a viable city like Seattle/Portland. In the AHL most of the teams are in the east, so the travel time is much better in Peoria than Seattle. For call-ups, not so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrucci Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 So I know how utterly ridiculous these kind of statements sound, and I'm not sure how it rates on the scale of rumor->fact, but I heard something regarding the Heat. I work at a locally owned grocery store in Abbotsford and my boss attended a lunch meeting that the abbotsford heat put on. During that meeting he talked to Ryan Walters about getting some cross-promotional stuff going on between the store and the Heat, and Walters mentioned that there's no harm in it, since the Heat will be around for at least one more year for the sake of a smoother transition. So, that meeting could be totally false, but it came from a co-worker who doesn't seem like the make-up-a-story kind of guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 So I know how utterly ridiculous these kind of statements sound, and I'm not sure how it rates on the scale of rumor->fact, but I heard something regarding the Heat. I work at a locally owned grocery store in Abbotsford and my boss attended a lunch meeting that the abbotsford heat put on. During that meeting he talked to Ryan Walters about getting some cross-promotional stuff going on between the store and the Heat, and Walters mentioned that there's no harm in it, since the Heat will be around for at least one more year for the sake of a smoother transition. So, that meeting could be totally false, but it came from a co-worker who doesn't seem like the make-up-a-story kind of guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Heyman Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Eh, I'm just disappointed that WolfKeeper turned out to be a giant douchenozzle. He seemed like an alright guy who was devoted to his team and made good highlight videos. Guess nothing good comes out of Chicago after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Eh, I'm just disappointed that WolfKeeper turned out to be a giant douchenozzle. He seemed like an alright guy who was devoted to his team and made good highlight videos. Guess nothing good comes out of Chicago after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Why what did he say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 News1130 Sports @News1130Sports City of Abbotsford confirm that AHL Abbotsford Heat will play in Abbotsford 2013-14 season. #AHL #abbotsfordheat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Heyman Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 PUT THEM IN VICTORIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stexx Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 should put them in cloverdale and kill the heats tickets sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 http://www.wolfkeepe....php?f=1&t=8691 and it goes on from there. bunch'a assholes and jackasses over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 @gordmcintyre: #Heat are staying in Abbotsford next season, says Abbo mayor. City "unable" to make deal with Canucks, Bruce Banman said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostViking Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Wolfkeeper just sounds like a bitter fan that's trying to blame the Canucks. You should ask him where their golden boy Darren Haydar went when the games really mattered. Or how the coach set a franchise record for starting a goalie to the point where he was burnt out in the second half. For a guy that seems to watch the Wolves alot, he doesn't seem to realize that 70% of the roster were Wolves signings in the majority of games. If they wanna blame anyone, blame Wolves management for its failures. Chicago has missed the playoffs 3 of the last 5 years, two of them being when the Canucks weren't even their affiliate. So if he wants to point fingers, point them at the organization. When the Canucks were with the Moose they made the playoffs 5 years in a row before switching to the Wolves. Including two division titles and a trip to the Calder Cup finals. With Canucks prospects playing key roles in every one of those years. And if they think St.Louis is going to be better, they're in for a surprise. Peoria has missed the playoffs 5 of the last 7 years, and have finished lower than the Canucks affiliate all 7 of those years. Feel free to share any of these points with Wolfkeeper if you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 Canucks AHL affiliate not coming to Abbotsford, Heat staying put The Vancouver Canucks will not be stationing their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford – at least not in the immediate future. Abbotsford mayor Bruce Banman told The News on Monday that talks between the city and the NHL club have reached a stalemate, eliminating any possibility of the Canucks bringing their AHL team to the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre (AESC) in time for the 2013-14 season. "There were time constraints, and at the end of the day, the city is not going to do a deal unless it's in the best interests of the taxpayers," Banman said. Reports of an imminent game of AHL franchise musical chairs surfaced last month. The speculation held that the Canucks would purchase the Peoria Rivermen from the St. Louis Blues and move them to Abbotsford; the Calgary Flames would move the Abbotsford Heat to Utica, N.Y.; and the Blues would partner with the Chicago Wolves (whose two-year affiliation agreement with the Canucks expires at the end of this season). When the Canucks confirmed on April 1 that they'd purchased the Rivermen – the first domino to fall, it seemed – the rumour mill shifted into overdrive. But the city and the Canucks were unable to agree, and Banman said he was "naturally disappointed" a deal didn't come together. Banman declined to delve into specifics of negotiations with the Canucks, but said they did not request a supply fee agreement similar to the one that the Heat have with the city. The Heat have completed the fourth year of that 10-year contract, which guarantees the team a $5.7 million break-even budget. Attendance issues have compelled the city to cover shortfalls totalling $3.58 million to date ($450,000 in 2009-10, $1.37 million in 2010-11, and $1.76 million in 2011-12). The final numbers for 2012-13 won't be known until the fall. Both of the parties which run the Heat – the Flames, who own the team and handle the hockey operations, and Fraser Valley Sports and Entertainment (FVSE), which manages the business side – were willing to step aside and make room for the Canucks. That's according to FVSE's Lane Sweeting, who said his group gave the City of Abbotsford and the Canucks "the opportunity to make a deal." "Our goal is to have a successful American Hockey League team in Abbotsford," Sweeting explained. "It doesn't matter whether we own it or whether the Flames own it or the Canucks own it. "We would like to see the American Hockey League stay here, we would like to see the fans support it, and we would like to see that the city isn't cutting subsidy cheques. That's a long-term business cycle for us, and it probably would have been a shorter business cycle if the Canucks had successfully negotiated a new lease (in Abbotsford)." The Canucks declined interview requests on the topic, but did issue a general statement. "The purchase of the Peoria Rivermen franchise allows Canucks Sports & Entertainment to assume full control of their minor league development program. No determination has been made relative to the operation of the franchise for the 2013-14 season and at this time no further details will be disclosed." In order to facilitate an Abbotsford/Canucks deal, Sweeting said the Heat asked the AHL for extensions on deadlines pertaining to scheduling for the 2013-14 season. Sweeting expressed surprise that a deal wasn't reached, though he pointed out he wasn't privy to any details of those negotiations. "From my perspective, I thought it was an easy thing to do, because both parties were interested in having it done," he said. "I think the Canucks were interested in having their development team 65 kilometres away, and I think the city was interested in having a lease without a supply fee. Why or how it didn't get done, I don't know. "Eventually, they ran out of time, basically. They should have had this done months ago. It was putting pressure on our staff, it was putting pressure on the league." Asked if he anticipated any negative feedback from taxpayers and hockey fans alike that the city was unable to strike a deal with the Canucks, Banman left the door open for future negotiations. "If negotiations happened once, they can happen again," he said. "We would leave the door open to anyone who can improve the current position that we have. I think that some of that is our own responsibility, quite frankly, to support the team we have. "The worst thing the fans can do would be to turn their backs on this team. That will make negotiations down the road even more difficult. If the fans want a great deal, the best thing we can do is show them we're a hockey town regardless of AHL affiliation." The AESC has been home to the Heat since the 2009-10 season, but the team – affiliated with the Flames, a division rival of the Canucks – has struggled at the box office. The Heat have never averaged more than 4,000 fans per game, and they drew an average crowd of 3,778 this season, which left them 28th out of 30 teams in the AHL. The Heat's attendance this season represented a 6.6 per cent increase over the 3,545 they drew last year – the first time they've trended in an upward direction after two straight years of decline. While that can be partially attributed to heightened exposure during the NHL lockout, the local team's attendance growth did outpace the league-wide increase of 1.3 per cent. "I think we built our fan base, but we still have work to do," Sweeting said. "The taxpayers aren't obligated to come to these games – we have to make them want to come to these games. I think we're doing a good job of pricing it and showing that it's an evening's entertainment for a good dollar." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonberries Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 should put them in cloverdale and kill the heats tickets sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonberries Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 What kind of a ???? loser lives in Chicago and devotes his time to following the Chicago Wolves anyway. They're not even affiliated with the Hawks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonberries Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 PUT THEM IN VICTORIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stexx Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 i really dont get what the mayor is saying. the canucks didnt ask for a supply fee agreement but yet the deal wouldnt have been better for the city? how is that possible without the flames asking for a huge severance package that apparently wasnt asked for either? "Banman declined to delve into specifics of negotiations with the Canucks, but said they did not request a supply fee agreement similar to the one that the Heat have with the city." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostViking Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 i really dont get what the mayor is saying. the canucks didnt ask for a supply fee agreement but yet the deal wouldnt have been better for the city? how is that possible without the flames asking for a huge severance package that apparently wasnt asked for either? "Banman declined to delve into specifics of negotiations with the Canucks, but said they did not request a supply fee agreement similar to the one that the Heat have with the city." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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