End of an era

With the announcement today of the the Maple Leafs moving their AHL franchise after next season, so ends the AHL experience in Atlantic Canada. Unfortunate, but the writing was on the wall, with the loss of Fredericton, Moncton, Cape Breton, PEI, and Saint John before them... thanks for the memories! :cry:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=94211

:shakehead

I long for the days of the old AHL where teams weren't in big cities. With teams in places like Houston, Edmonton, Toronto, Chicago, Philly, Hartford, etc its almost as if the AHL is leaving behind the smaller cities one by one. This stinks. I say bring back The AHL of the late 80's and keep the farm teams in smaller markets.

Yeah!!!! It's just not the same. If the people don't come and gas prices rise, theowners look to move the team cause they don't want to lose money. Simple economics.

:shakehead

I long for the days of the old AHL where teams weren't in big cities. With teams in places like Houston, Edmonton, Toronto, Chicago, Philly, Hartford, etc its almost as if the AHL is leaving behind the smaller cities one by one. This stinks. I say bring back The AHL of the late 80's and keep the farm teams in smaller markets.
What about Winnipeg, Manitoba and what about Hamilton. There could be more. I'm not sure.

That's too bad. When the Barons played the Leafs this past season, there was alot of talk during the broadcasts about how much St. John's loved their team. As a Barons fan in Cleveland, I can sympathize. We have constant rumors of our Barons leaving Cleveland, and I feel bad for the people of St. John's who have supported the Baby Leafs, and are now losing them.

What about Winnipeg, Manitoba and what about Hamilton. There could be more. I'm not sure.

winnipeg and hamilton are not exactly smaller markets in the ahl.

the ahl is going to destroy itself if it keeps moving into these nhl cities.

I see this board over-reacts on everything.

Edmonton will be trading their AHL to Saskatoon for the WHL team. Give Saskatoon everything it wants, a professional hockey team, close to Edmonton for player considerations and Edmonton gets its WHL team

That sounds interesting. I like it.

Edmonton will be trading their AHL to Saskatoon for the WHL team. Give Saskatoon everything it wants, a professional hockey team, close to Edmonton for player considerations and Edmonton gets its WHL team
That's not a guarantee. I have nothing against Saskatchewan but travel to Saskatoon isn't the best. The Oilers are going to try their best to make it work in Edmonton. I really can't see them move the RR to Saskatoon. Travel would be worse from Saskatoon than from Edmonton. Is there an airport in Saskatoon?

Saskatoon does have a very nice airport, I believe it is a small international airport as well.

winnipeg and hamilton are not exactly smaller markets in the ahl.

the ahl is going to destroy itself if it keeps moving into these nhl cities.

Those cities aren't exactly financially structed for an NHL team either. Winnipeg does have a chance of supporting an NHL team if the CBA turns out for the better, and Hamilton is too close to Toronto to support an NHL team.