A little concerning that there doesn’t seem to be info other than the article in the OP. But if the article is correct, and there’s legit hockey people and NHL connections involved, this is promising.
Another good sign is that they’re going for a 2023-24 launch rather than a junior league popping up months before a new season. Hopefully that means there’s a plan to hire coaches a year in advance to go out and recruit top AAA talent then add some experienced Tier II junior players.
The old WSHL had it right with a showcase tournament in Vegas each season. Easy flights from all over and cheap hotels for scouts and college coaches to visit. The last few WSHL showcases pre-pandemic shutdown were hosted in the Golden Knights practice facility. Hopefully this new league would model a similar Vegas showcase.
The article makes a lot of comparison to USHL and major juniors but I’m not sure there’s many USHL-level facilities in the West that aren’t already used by AHL teams. The West Coast lacks a tier II league so something along the level of the NAHL or NCDC would be a more stable starting point. There’s also been rumors of some of the western USPHL teams wanting to build NCDC structure on top of their current tier III teams.
Bottom line. A lot of questions to figure out.
Exactly. If they are trying to be a USHL-type league, there is a complete lack of facilities available for this. And lack of open markets as well. In how many areas on the West Coast can you draw 1,500-3,000 fans every night to a facility that can hold that many people, if not more? If they were capable of hosting hockey, the NAHL would have been all over them. The NAHL has been trying to expand into the West Coast for years now and every time they saw it is due to the lack of any open markets and arenas.
If it is USPHL organizations trying to do the NCDC "team ownership also owns the arena to make your biggest expense go away" then that makes a lot more sense. However, the NCDC has tried that and it certainly hasn't attracted the high level of hockey the Boston Mafia thought it would have. In fact, there are fewer NCAA D1 commits now than there were with the EJHL despite the EJ having had fewer teams and being pay to play. The USHL is king, the NAHL is not very far behind. Anyone in the hockey community with a brain seeing players who are top 10 league wide in points in the NCDC going upper-middle of the line NCAA D3 tells a kid to go USHL, where more often than not you're already NCAA D1 committed, or NAHL, where the bottom feeding kids are the ones going middle of the line NCAA D3.
Either way, I'm really curious about this announcement tomorrow. And pessimistic about their chances regardless of the which avenue they choose.