I've always thought this could work. Fly teams in and have them play 3 games in 4 nights. Division teams and a rotation of other east teams . TB would fly south and do a 2 week road trip. flying in and out would not cost as much as the actual hotels and food but why not try?
i suppose the WHL travels huge distances to play but the OHL seems content trying to cram as many teams into a small geographic area without much concern for fan support.
one things for sure, a thunder bay team would have great fan support.