TOMapleLaughs Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 If you don't know already, the AHL is planning on creating an AHL West Division for the 15/16 season. Even though everyone and their pet dog in the lower mainland knew that a Calgary affiliation in Abbotsford would see it fail, especially with no other western ahl teams around, the AHL eventually realized that an island Abbotsford team wasn't feasible, and the NHL is realizing that teams can save a pile of money by having their affiliates closer. Now there's a western AHL division coming. And your Vancouver Canucks aren't in on it. From HF 10 On Your Side sources confirm that the move (Anaheim buying Norfolk to move them west) is inevitable as part of a new AHL Western Division that is expected to be created by five NHL teams. The Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, L.A. Kings, San Jose Sharks and Anaheim all have AHL affiliates on the east coast and moving those affiliates to the west would save time and money when players are sent up and down from the major league level to Triple-A. Admirals owner Ken Young said Wednesday the team has not been sold but acknowledges that his options may be limited. There have been serious discussions regarding west coast teams wanting to own their AHL franchises and being able to move them closer to their parent cities, he said. This will be discussed at a league meeting in New York in the next three weeks. Sources tell WAVY-TV and FOX 43 Sports Director Bruce Rader the sale of the Admirals may not be finalized but it appears to be a done deal. The AHL franchise would be sold by Young to the Ducks, and this would be its last season in Norfolk. AHL West Division San Diego (Anaheim) Ontario (LA Kings) Bakersfield (Edmonton) Stockton (Calgary) San Jose (San Jose) Confused as to how we are losing out on this opportunity, considering our division rivals are all making this move? The 'Utica travel is better' argument makes literally no sense, and has been debunked by the reasoning for our rivals to move their affiliates out west. There is time and money to be saved. You'd think a 'green' city like Vancouver would want to be linked to an AHL affiliate that creates a smaller travel carbon footprint. Not to mention our callups usually ride the pressbox for weeks at a time anyway, so what's the validity of the easier travel reasoning? They ultimately have to be sent up and down between Vancouver and Utica. As for the 'loyalty to Utica' argument, it appears that other NHL teams have zero problems with just scooping up AHL teams and moving them. So why should we? AHL affliation changes all the time. Heck, we bought the St. Louis affliate and moved them. Where was the loyalty to that city? If there is something to be worked out with the City of Abbotsford to get a move done, then just get it done already. There is a lot of money to be made there. Jesus, wake up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dasein Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Utica is better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRussianRocket. Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Utica is better. This. I'll be honest a year or two ago I wanted the team here in Abby but after seeing how well the people of Utica have supported and treated that team, it's first class status. Plus JB has talked about how if we had a team here, it'd be longer travel = a lot less days to practice and what not (I think it was something like 30+ days lost in a season). People of NY have embraced the team really well and they deserve to continue doing so unless something else says otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 Utica is better how? It's farther? Has less Canucks fans around? Or is more expensive for the team to travel to and from? If our division rivals are all moving their affiliates out west, maybe they're doing it for a foreseen improvement? Wondering if the Canucks are blind? Asleep? Or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberz21 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I think stability is the best argument for our farm to stay in Utica. The mess of not owning our team and moving around every year sure didn't help our prospect make it to Vancouver. Now that we have a great thing going in Utica we should stick there. AT least for a few more years. Who care if they are in the east or west. There is actually minimal callups during the year and most of the time the player end up playing 10 min or less. Also Jensen was actually recalled while we were on an Eastern roadtrip. Paying a player's plane ticket from the West instead of the east on a call up is not what's going to "save money". Time maybe, but like I said not like callup have an impact on their first game anyways. Montreal tried put their farm in their own back yard of Laval and Quebec City and it didn't work. Junior hockey is probably more interesting for people than AHL hockey. I don't see why you're so upset, really not that big of a deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tystick Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Linden and Benning like Utica I guess. Fans are going to games, selling out. Although I think Benning said if it made sense he would look into a move for next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzle Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 After reading about Utica and its fans, it's totally cool that it's staying over there. I think Abbotsford made its bed when it dealt with Calgary. Nothing against either city, but Abbotsford's impatience has cost them. They gave such a good deal to Calgary that Calgary would be stupid to abandon it. It involves payments that Calgary wouldn't have to make. Therefore, it's not happening. Utica has a strong fanbase. Furthermore, the team is doing really well under them. Finally, it's a stable environment. The Eastern aspect of this team allows call-ups to come faster on road games. Stick with Utica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 I think stability is the best argument for our farm to stay in Utica. The mess of not owning our team and moving around every year sure didn't help our prospect make it to Vancouver. Now that we have a great thing going in Utica we should stick there. AT least for a few more years.Who care if they are in the east or west. There is actually minimal callups during the year and most of the time the player end up playing 10 min or less. Also Jensen was actually recalled while we were on an Eastern roadtrip. Paying a player's plane ticket from the West instead of the east on a call up is not what's going to "save money". Time maybe, but like I said not like callup have an impact on their first game anyways.Montreal tried put their farm in their own back yard of Laval and Quebec City and it didn't work. Junior hockey is probably more interesting for people than AHL hockey.I don't see why you're so upset, really not that big of a deal.We own the Comets, so that's not changing when the team would move to a better location. The problems were created when we didn't own the AHL affiliate. Now we do, but for some reason we're keeping it out east in a forgotten land, while our rivals are scooping up teams to bring them closer, and Abbotsford has no major tenant. This does not compute at all. Just get it done already. Our rivals bought teams with 'super cool fans' too and are abandoning them. Who gives a frack? It's a business. Some other NHL team can put an AHL team in Utica and it makes literally no difference to them. There is no strategic significance of having our affilate there and we're losing ground to our rivals at the same time. Canucks look asleep at the wheel here, unless there's some politics are stopping them from taking action. The 'road game callup' reasoning makes no sense. Half of the games are at home, and half of our road games are near Utica. We'd clearly save travel money if the affiliate was a short drive away instead. Holy crap, who actually believes this is a valid reason? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-SN- Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 We own the Comets, so that's not changing when the team would move to a better location. The problems were created when we didn't own the AHL affiliate. Now we do, but for some reason we're keeping it out east in a forgotten land, while our rivals are scooping up teams to bring them closer, and Abbotsford has no major tenant. This does not compute at all. Just get it done already. Our rivals bought teams with 'super cool fans' too and are abandoning them. Who gives a frack? It's a business. Some other NHL team can put an AHL team in Utica and it makes literally no difference to them. There is no strategic significance of having our affilate there and we're losing ground to our rivals at the same time. Canucks look asleep at the wheel here, unless there's some politics are stopping them from taking action. The 'road game callup' reasoning makes no sense. Half of the games are at home, and half of our road games are near Utica. We'd clearly save travel money if the affiliate was a short drive away instead. Holy crap, who actually believes this is a valid reason? Your reasoning to move is: Because other teams are doing it. Because Abbotsford has an empty building. No strategic significance (what do you even think that means?) The team is fine in Utica as is. It's stable, controlled, and has a great fanbase. The team itself has low travel times, which is good for players. You don't really make a good point to change that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerrDrFunk Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Calgary is getting it's AHL team relocated to Stockton. That's all the reason I need to not move the Comets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberz21 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015   We own the Comets, so that's not changing when the team would move to a better location. The problems were created when we didn't own the AHL affiliate. Now we do, but for some reason we're keeping it out east in a forgotten land, while our rivals are scooping up teams to bring them closer, and Abbotsford has no major tenant. This does not compute at all. Just get it done already. Our rivals bought teams with 'super cool fans' too and are abandoning them. Who gives a frack? It's a business. Some other NHL team can put an AHL team in Utica and it makes literally no difference to them. There is no strategic significance of having our affilate there and we're losing ground to our rivals at the same time. Canucks look asleep at the wheel here, unless there's some politics are stopping them from taking action. The 'road game callup' reasoning makes no sense. Half of the games are at home, and half of our road games are near Utica. We'd clearly save travel money if the affiliate was a short drive away instead. Holy crap, who actually believes this is a valid reason?  Omg we don't charter a million dollar jet to fly off a callup. There is about 10-20 callup during the year. We'll pay the 1000$ air fare instead of the 100$ bus ride. So what we'll save a few thousand dollar, the cost of moving the franchise will cost few hundred thousand!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horvat Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 something that is over looked is keeping our prospects away from the same fans who want the team here, having our prospects out of the limelight is a good thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ossi Vaananen Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 No reason to move out west where travel costs would explode. Hard enough to keep an AHL team profitable without having to fly to every away game. As is Utica has something like 8 teams within a 4 hour bus ride. That reduced travel cuts costs and enables more down and practice time. I'm a huge fan of Utica, it's a little pocket of a manic fan base. Perfect for our prospects to develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 Your reasoning to move is: Because other teams are doing it. Because Abbotsford has an empty building. No strategic significance (what do you even think that means?) The team is fine in Utica as is. It's stable, controlled, and has a great fanbase. The team itself has low travel times, which is good for players. You don't really make a good point to change that.Considering the reason we got Utica in the first place was because it was an available building, and that's it, I find the loyalty given towards Utica now to be hilarious. We showed no loyalty to Peoria though, a better fanbase with a long AHL history. Too bad for them I guess. With the potential earnings to be made by a Canucks affliate being located in the Fraser Valley, you get the sense that they're squandering a gold mine. Hard to believe that Faq isn't in on this unless there's something else in play. I guess we'll find out the hard way whether or not staying out of the AHL West is a bad idea or good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 something that is over looked is keeping our prospects away from the same fans who want the team here, having our prospects out of the limelight is a good thing...Oh in that case I guess the Canucks should move out east too. Save big on travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerrDrFunk Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I guess we'll find out the hard way whether or not staying out of the AHL West is a bad idea or good idea. Actually I think uprooting the team across the country would be finding out the "hard way" whether the relocation is a good idea or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giant Inflatable Beaver Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 The canucks won't be able to move until after next season, when the lease agreement in Utica expires. JB said so in an interview a few weeks back. So its not even up for discussion. The season afterwards might be a different story. But 15/16 is impossible. And since they have to be there another year, it would be a dumb business decision to announce plans for a western team of their own so soon and have the franchise sitting as a lame duck for a year. I'm sure this happens for the Canucks in 16/17 (Assuming the western division next year is a success). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avelanch Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 If you don't know already, the AHL is planning on creating an AHL West Division for the 15/16 season. Even though everyone and their pet dog in the lower mainland knew that a Calgary affiliation in Abbotsford would see it fail, especially with no other western ahl teams around, the AHL eventually realized that an island Abbotsford team wasn't feasible, and the NHL is realizing that teams can save a pile of money by having their affiliates closer. Now there's a western AHL division coming. And your Vancouver Canucks aren't in on it. From HF Confused as to how we are losing out on this opportunity, considering our division rivals are all making this move? The 'Utica travel is better' argument makes literally no sense, and has been debunked by the reasoning for our rivals to move their affiliates out west. There is time and money to be saved. You'd think a 'green' city like Vancouver would want to be linked to an AHL affiliate that creates a smaller travel carbon footprint. Not to mention our callups usually ride the pressbox for weeks at a time anyway, so what's the validity of the easier travel reasoning? They ultimately have to be sent up and down between Vancouver and Utica. As for the 'loyalty to Utica' argument, it appears that other NHL teams have zero problems with just scooping up AHL teams and moving them. So why should we? AHL affliation changes all the time. Heck, we bought the St. Louis affliate and moved them. Where was the loyalty to that city? If there is something to be worked out with the City of Abbotsford to get a move done, then just get it done already. There is a lot of money to be made there. Jesus, wake up! because they still wouldn't be in Abbotsford if they were to move them to AHL west. they'd be in cali like all the other AHL west teams, otherwise they'd still be flying to all their road games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberz21 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Considering the reason we got Utica in the first place was because it was an available building, and that's it, I find the loyalty given towards Utica now to be hilarious. We showed no loyalty to Peoria though, a better fanbase with a long AHL history. Too bad for them I guess. With the potential earnings to be made by a Canucks affliate being located in the Fraser Valley, you get the sense that they're squandering a gold mine. Hard to believe that Faq isn't in on this unless there's something else in play. I guess we'll find out the hard way whether or not staying out of the AHL West is a bad idea or good idea. You're assuming Canucks fans will rush to buy AHL season tickets and sell out every night. The Habs had an affiliate team in Quebec City and that didn't work. Yet the Quebec junior team gathers the biggest crowd in the league (10,000+). I don't know what the Giants' assitance are, but I bet they would bring more people than an AHL affiliate. It's far from a gold mine like you says. I don't know where you get that idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warhippy Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Something you didn't think about and it's the most common sense reason of all MONEY The eastern US is one of the most densely populated area's in the west. Having our prospects grow up there gives Aquilinni more money via merch sales, once they move in to the bigs even more merch sales high premium ticket prices for canucks games overall more $$$$ Endless reasons to keep the team there few if any to move them here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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