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AHL West division to be announced today 12:30 pacific


avelanch

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Watch today's AHL press conference live

The American Hockey League is hosting a press conference on Thursday, January 29, to make a major announcement regarding the 2015-16 season. The live stream will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT.

Starting the topic here instead of the comets section since this will most likely not have to do with the comets (according to rumours). but if it does, I'll ask a mod to move it at that time.

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Utica's movement (or lack thereof) will most likely not be part of this press conference, though you never know, they may mention them moving one year after the rest of them. i just don't see them announcing a team moving with an entire full season left to play after this current season. they are going to want to continue to receive support from the local fans in utica for as long as possible.

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News1130 Sports@News1130Sports 1h1 hour ago

2 #AHL sources say the #Canucks farm team most likely will be in B.C in 2016. Abbotsford or Langley would be logical destinations.

Canucks would be better off having their farm team based in California like the rest of the AHL western conference teams would be. Sacramento, Fresno, Oakland, San Francisco would be suitable landing spots for the Canucks' farm team.

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AHL approves formation of Pacific Division

January 29, 2015

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. ... American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced today that the league’s Board of Governors has formally and unanimously approved the steps necessary to create a Pacific Division within the AHL beginning with the 2015-16 season.

The Board has approved the following:

• The Anaheim Ducks will purchase the Norfolk Admirals AHL franchise and will relocate it from Norfolk, Va., to San Diego, Calif.

• The AHL franchise owned by the Calgary Flames will relocate from Glens Falls, N.Y., to Stockton, Calif.

• The AHL franchise owned by the Edmonton Oilers will relocate from Oklahoma City, Okla., to Bakersfield, Calif.

• The AHL franchise owned by the Los Angeles Kings will relocate from Manchester, N.H., to Ontario, Calif.

• The AHL franchise owned by the San Jose Sharks will relocate from Worcester, Mass., to San Jose, Calif.

Full division alignments and schedule formats for the 2015-16 season will be determined by the Board of Governors at a later date.

“Relocating five teams is a complex process, and we are very excited to have brought this initiative to a successful outcome,” said Andrews. “The Western-based NHL clubs have been in dialogue with our league for almost three years, and today’s announcement launches a new era for the American Hockey League and for professional hockey in California.”

“This is a wonderful growth opportunity for the game of hockey in the Western region and it will have a tremendous impact for years to come,” said Luc Robitaille, President of Business Operations for the Los Angeles Kings. “I want to commend each of the participating clubs, along with Dave Andrews, Bill Daly and Gary Bettman, for their commitment, patience and willingness to work through a very challenging but worthwhile process in order to get to this day.”

“The immense growth of the game of hockey in the state of California shows that hockey fans here love the game and they support it,” said San Jose Sharks Chief Operating Officer John Tortora. “Having our top prospects playing on the same coast as our National Hockey League team will greatly enhance our ability to monitor and enhance their development. The creation of this Pacific Division of the American Hockey League has been a long time in the making and is the result of an immense amount of hard work by the AHL, the NHL and the five Pacific Division teams. We are extremely excited to have this division become a reality and we can’t wait for October 2015.”

Formed in 1936, the American Hockey League serves as the top development league for players in all 30 National Hockey League organizations, as well as coaches, officials, executives, trainers and broadcasters throughout the NHL. More than 88 percent of today’s NHL players are graduates of the American Hockey League, and through the years the AHL has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

http://theahl.com/ahl-approves-formation-of-pacific-division-p196033

basically an official statement of what we already knew. nothing on utica, but that was expected. I'd rather utica not move, espescially to BC, since all the other teams are in so-cal.

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Personally, I have absolutely no problems with Utica moving to BC.

  1. It will better acclimate the players in our system to the kind of travel rigors to be expected if/when they make the NHL club -- less learning curve.
  2. It will give better access to players in our system to fans.

Nothing but good things, IMO. It will also make it easier for our scouts to pay more attention to players in our system.

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moving to bc will increase travel times and costs and reduce the amount of time for practice/development. there is no added advantage to it for the players or the team, only to us wanting to watch them. you don't need to get used to nhl traveling while developing,

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LOL. We can certainly see who the insiders are in this announcement..and the outsider.

How interested where any of these other folks, likely led by Brian Burke, of course, in letting VAN into their chummy loop of Pacific expansion plans, when the Aquilini's were negotiating with the Flames for the Heat when thye were in Abby? NOT! Screw 'em all!

Let's hope our Canucks' prospects turn-out to be the best they can become, while in Utica. Yet, conspiracy angles just loom larger over time. It's certainly paid-off to be a team with a recent history of paying Burkie, as an advisor.

(DPS member) Patrick Burke also gives a happy nod to the newest Prime-time Duck, Ryan Kesler. "You're welcome!" After Dorsett shook-up a League ALL-Star (So-Cal) like Getzlaff,...retribution by Kes is encouraged, if not rewarded. And, here we thought retributions were an added vice, in the scrutiny of any infraction. NOT in this case.

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moving to bc will increase travel times and costs and reduce the amount of time for practice/development. there is no added advantage to it for the players or the team, only to us wanting to watch them. you don't need to get used to nhl traveling while developing,

That's true... if no western division existed... which there now will be. You play far more frequently against divisional opponents than the rest of the league. Vancouver's travel times and reduced practice times would be the same as the other Western teams despite being in So-Cal relative to opposition elsewhere in the league.

Also, are you suggesting that teams don't practice while on the road?

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LOL. We can certaininly see who the insiders are in this announcement..and the outsider.

How interested where any these other folks, likely led by Brian Burke, of course, in letting VAN into their chummy loop of Pacific expansion plans, when the Aquilini's were negotiating with the Flames for the Heat when in Abby? NOT! Screw 'em all!

Let's hope our Canucks' prospects turn-out to be the best they can become, while in Utica. Yet, conspiracy angles just loom larger over time. It's certainly paid-off to be a team with a recent history of paying Burkie, as an advisor.

(DPS member) Patrick Burke also gives a happy nod to the newest Prime-time Duck, Ryan Kesler. "You're welcome!" After Dorsett shook-up a League ALL-Star (So-Cal) like Getzlaff,...retribution by Kes is encouraged, if not rewarded. And, here with though retributions were an added vice, in the scrutiny of an infraction. Not in this case.

Only you can somehow link this to Brian Burke.

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That's true... if no western division existed... which there now will be. You play far more frequently against divisional opponents than the rest of the league. Vancouver's travel times and reduced practice times would be the same as the other Western teams despite being in So-Cal relative to opposition elsewhere in the league.

Also, are you suggesting that teams don't practice while on the road?

Pretty much.

With all those teams moving West, the travel would not be nearly as much. It's not really an issue anymore.

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Personally, I have absolutely no problems with Utica moving to BC.

  • It will better acclimate the players in our system to the kind of travel rigors to be expected if/when they make the NHL club -- less learning curve.
  • It will give better access to players in our system to fans.
Nothing but good things, IMO. It will also make it easier for our scouts to pay more attention to players in our system.

1. Players don't need to get they're developmental curve screwed up because they're subjected to the kind of travel the canucks experience. I'd rather they use the increased practice time gained from decreased travel time to learn the game better.

2. With how some fans treat our current players, do you really want our prospects subjected to that? Being called busts by fans and media because they aren't ppg players in the AHL? I say keep them far away from here, developing right, until they're mentally ready and mature enough to handle the fish bowl that is Vancouver. 19-22 year olds shouldn't have to go through that kind of torture.

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LOL. We can certaininly see who the insiders are in this announcement..and the outsider.

How interested where any these other folks, likely led by Brian Burke, of course, in letting VAN into their chummy loop of Pacific expansion plans, when the Aquilini's were negotiating with the Flames for the Heat when in Abby? NOT! Screw 'em all!

Let's hope our Canucks' prospects turn-out to be the best they can become, while in Utica. Yet, conspiracy angles just loom larger over time. It's certainly paid-off to be a team with a recent history of paying Burkie, as an advisor.

(DPS member) Patrick Burke also gives a happy nod to the newest Prime-time Duck, Ryan Kesler. "You're welcome!" After Dorsett shook-up a League ALL-Star (So-Cal) like Getzlaff,...retribution by Kes is encouraged, if not rewarded. And, here with thought retributions were an added vice, in the scrutiny of an infraction. Not in this case.

Or, it could just be that the Canucks have chosen not to join, or can't.

They have a deal with Mohawk Valley Garden which involved tax dollars being used to renovate the Utica Memorial Garden. It seems that if Canucks wanted to buy MV out, they failed to come to an agreement.

There are some arguments in favour of leaving the team in Utica in comparison in with Langley or Abbotsford. They sell out in Utica anyway, the team's travel would likely actually be less in Utica (most of the AHL is in the east, with 6 teams in the state of New York), the fans there are enthusiastic about hockey and travel to and from any other team in the AHL from B.C. would be expensive and time-consuming. Presently Utica can make road trips that are a 3 hour bus ride or so from "home"-that wouldn't exactly be the case travelling from the Fraser Valley to California.

As opposed to that callups from the Fraser Valley would obviously be much quicker and easier and it would be easier for Canucks management to view the AHL team play.

Whatever they decide, it is difficult to see how the Canucks staying in Utica right now is due to a conspiracy involving Brian Burke.

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LOL. We can certaininly see who the insiders are in this announcement..and the outsider.

How interested where any these other folks, likely led by Brian Burke, of course, in letting VAN into their chummy loop of Pacific expansion plans, when the Aquilini's were negotiating with the Flames for the Heat when in Abby? NOT! Screw 'em all!

Let's hope our Canucks' prospects turn-out to be the best they can become, while in Utica. Yet, conspiracy angles just loom larger over time. It's certainly paid-off to be a team with a recent history of paying Burkie, as an advisor.

(DPS member) Patrick Burke also gives a happy nod to the newest Prime-time Duck, Ryan Kesler. "You're welcome!" After Dorsett shook-up a League ALL-Star (So-Cal) like Getzlaff,...retribution by Kes is encouraged, if not rewarded. And, here with thought retributions were an added vice, in the scrutiny of an infraction. Not in this case.

Yeah, the Canucks are the outsiders in all of this. Thanks for the laugh. Keep thinking that the NHL "insiders" are keeping the Canucks in the dark. It'd be very smart of them to alienate one of the top contributing teams to the NHL revenue stream.

Canucks have one more year left on their agreement with Utica and it's been known for awhile that the brass did not want to break their commitment to Esche's group and the fans in the Mohawk Valley.

It's not out of the realm of possibility, but I highly doubt the Canucks will end up with a AHL team in Abbotsford. If they did, it would be an unwise decision. If the Canucks move their farm team out west, it will most likely be in a market like Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco or Fresno. Close enough to the other teams in the newly formed Pac division so that the players will have plenty of time of practice and development time.

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Or, it could just be that the Canucks have chosen not to join, or can't.

They have a deal with Mohawk Valley Garden which involved tax dollars being used to renovate the Utica Memorial Garden. It seems that if Canucks wanted to buy MV out, they failed to come to an agreement.

There are some arguments in favour of leaving the team in Utica in comparison in with Langley or Abbotsford. They sell out in Utica anyway, the team's travel would likely actually be less in Utica (most of the AHL is in the east, with 6 teams in the state of New York), the fans there are enthusiastic about hockey and travel to and from any other team in the AHL from B.C. would be expensive and time-consuming. Presently Utica can make road trips that are a 3 hour bus ride or so from "home"-that wouldn't exactly be the case travelling from the Fraser Valley to California.

As opposed to that callups from the Fraser Valley would obviously be much quicker and easier and it would be easier for Canucks management to view the AHL team play.

Whatever they decide, it is difficult to see how the Canucks staying in Utica right now is due to a conspiracy involving Brian Burke.

Burke completely hard-balled and stone-walled the Aquilinis and the City of Abbotsford when these 2 groups hoped to turn what was clearly an un-profitable situation,.. into perhaps a more profitable one. And he did this -while formulating long-term plans with other teams (SJ and ANA, whom he'd been paid very handsomely by as an advisor in the past) to design and form a PAC division in the AHL. This was likely done in conjunction with persons within the NHL's king-pin group to grow the game.

Burke effectively thwarted VAN's efforts to bring their own prospects closer to home in the previous instance...and forced the Aquilini's to spend more of their money and efforts establishing a brand-new market for their farm-team elsewhere...when there was very healthy interest - here. With the waffling Canadian dollar,.. who knows what all of this may mean for our teams' future, financially. Burke did his own end-run to weaken a rival - that's for sure.

Any co-operative concession would have saved Abbotsford further political embarassment and financial ruin, the sorry PR of being annually robbed by that albatross of an agreement, with one of the Canucks' divisional rivals. The Heat's jersey flaunted that connection in taunting fashion, too. Few Nucks-fans showed interest in attending Heat games, except to watch 'em compete vs the Wolves and later the Comets. Folks in Abby developed far more invested interest in other leagues like the WHL and BCHL who have many teams nearby, other than appear to be a traitorous 'Lamer.

Burkie's been vindictively uncooperative with the Aquilini-gang ever since they did an end-run to acquire the Canucks from the Gaglardi-group, and fired Burke's chum Nonis to hire a former nemesis, in Gillis. This announcement gives us some evidence to that...in part.

EDIT: I'm not advocating for anything in particular now. Circumstances have clearly changed on many fronts. But as to 'what-might-have-been',..Burkie definitely had a big part to play in that - back then.

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