Jump to content
The Official Site of the Vancouver Canucks
Canucks Community

The move from Utica to Abbotsford opened doors

Rate this topic


cuporbust

Recommended Posts

Having good depth in your AHL and keeping them in your back yard is a big deal.

It is also a marketing bonanza.  If the team is good.

It will become very important to stock it from the draft . Hopefully it encourages them to keep their picks .

  • Like 1
  • Vintage 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, 250Integra said:

I would say living 45 minutes from Vancouver is better than middle of nowhere Utica, Manitoba, or Chicago. Both NHL and AHL players can have their families nearby for the entirety of their contract barring any trades.

Yeah the guys playing in Abbotsford can even live in Coquitlam or Burnaby and make the 30-45 minute drive to Abby.  They'd only be 30 minutes away from downtown Vancouver as well.  I'm sure their families would enjoy living on the West Coast versus Utica or Manitoba.

  • Cheers 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

that's something I had never though of either.

I was thinking how players who don't have to clear waivers, or even at times ones that do, if that becomes necessary, it would be way more simple to just travel down the road to Abby.  No jet lag or delay coming back either.  Which also makes the team overall more flexible for Green. Those decisions become more hockey decisions than logistic ones now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, cuporbust said:

Hey guys. Just listening to Benning on 650 talk about how many depth players that want to play in Western Canada are now signing here because weither they play for Van, or Abby,  they will be in BC now. He mentioned he hadn't realized the importance of that before.  Just curious how big of a deal u think moving our AHL team to abbotsford is? 

Yep.

 

Heard that on the radio as well.  Fringe NHLers/AHLers that are from Western Canada now have a good place to sign/play while taking in consideration of their families.  It's awesome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This was something that was a problem for a long time with the franchise. We had the Manitoba Moose for awhile. But in 2009 when Abbotsford got the flames farm team. It was a missed opportunity. But we had a good relationship with the Moose so it made sense to stay. However when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg it forced the Canucks farm hand to move out of town. We didn't have a better location in Chicago with the Wolves so we moved to Utica. While further we had some success there, went to a Calder cup final and the fans loved the team there. But finally we are where we need to be and the valley is an affordable and desirable place to play and live. Happy that it we are already seeing benefits to the new home even before the first puck has dropped.

 

Now we don't have to have any heart attacks when a goalie goes down and we have to emergency call Chris Levesque from the UBC thunder birds. Instead just get the call down to the farm, literally. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/29/2021 at 2:25 AM, EP Phone Home said:

This was something that was a problem for a long time with the franchise. We had the Manitoba Moose for awhile. But in 2009 when Abbotsford got the flames farm team. It was a missed opportunity. But we had a good relationship with the Moose so it made sense to stay. However when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg it forced the Canucks farm hand to move out of town. We didn't have a better location in Chicago with the Wolves so we moved to Utica. While further we had some success there, went to a Calder cup final and the fans loved the team there. But finally we are where we need to be and the valley is an affordable and desirable place to play and live. Happy that it we are already seeing benefits to the new home even before the first puck has dropped.

 

Now we don't have to have any heart attacks when a goalie goes down and we have to emergency call Chris Levesque from the UBC thunder birds. Instead just get the call down to the farm, literally. 

In principle yes , but with the Canucks road schedule and the likely schedule for the AC I doubt they will both be in the same area at the same time.

 

I think the easy recall issue is a misnomer 

  • Cheers 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/28/2021 at 4:37 PM, kilgore said:

that's something I had never though of either.

I was thinking how players who don't have to clear waivers, or even at times ones that do, if that becomes necessary, it would be way more simple to just travel down the road to Abby.  No jet lag or delay coming back either.  Which also makes the team overall more flexible for Green. Those decisions become more hockey decisions than logistic ones now.

They can run with a reduced roster on home stands to bank more cap space too. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...