The OHL Finals are the London Knights vs the Barrie Colts. As has been my rule in the west, I've cheered for "Not London" each and every time. Barrie Colts share a division with my IceDogs & they Mitchell Theoret to Barrie at the deadline. So I'm rooting for Barrie in a "Go Mitchell, boo London, Central division is the best" kinda way.
But mostly BOO LONDON.
On to the NHL playoffs which can be summed up in large font too:
WOOOO LEAFS!!!!1
Also my predictions:
West:
1)Chicago vs 8) Minnesota
Chicago in 4, easy sweep for the Blackhawks, plus sucks to Hockey Wilderness
2)Anaheim vs 7)Detroit
Anaheim in 6, Red Wings will give their fans the slightest bit of hope then the Ducks will destroy that. i welcome the return of the "Dead Things" era (sorry Granpa)
3)Vancouver vs 6) San Jose
I'm going off the board here and saying San Jose in 6. Every year they're a big deal going into the playoffs and choke, so maybe in a season i forget about them they'll do well. This is purely emotional. Plus I want the Canucks to start Schnieder every game of the loss just so their media & fans can freak out over the summer.
4)St. Louis vs (5)Los Angeles
I'm giving it to the cup champs in 7. I like both these teams but I don't like St. Louis goal tending Their pair of Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk however is dreamy.
Eastern Conference
1)Pittsburgh vs 8)Islanders
I want to say Islanders in 7 but that's coming from the fan in me who also suffered through bad management and no playoffs. Pittsburgh in 6, I see lots of fight in the Isles plus MAF is still the goalie in in igloo.
2)Montreal vs 7)Ottawa
A lot of people are picking Ottawa but I don't get it. Montreal in 6, which isn't that great since they get all 6 games as home games.
3)Washington vs 6)Rangers
Rangers in 7. Ovi's got the scoring touch again but Lundqvist saves the Rangers bacon. Again. Seriously guys whats the deal?
4)Boston vs 5)Toronto
Leafs in 7. Why? THE TIME FOR DELUSIONAL OPTIMISM IS NOW. GO LEAFS GO! WOOOOO PLAYOOFS!!1
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Monday, 22 April 2013
Hardware
A few weeks ago I posted about missing my teams championship game.
This past Friday was the GHL Awards Banquet and, it made up for it. My teams not very social apparently and I think only 1 other member was there aside from my wife and I. The anticipation of the night was high since my wife and I were both nominated for awards; Best Defenseman and the GHL Spirit Award for me, Most Improved for Lady (who, despite being in her rookie year wasn't nominated for Rookie of the Year, I say she got "most improved" because no one realized she was a rookie).
Our coach gave us our individual championship trophies early in the evening before taking over as emcee for the night. Videos and slideshows abounded, making ours the best beginners league ever. No, your arguments are wrong.
After some points awards they announced the Team MVP's, as voted by the players, and my team was so awesome I voted for another forward but everyone else made a different choice, and I was named our teams MVP. It was great of them to do so, I really didn't know how to feel about it, awesome was one, but amazed other thought so highly of me. We were a great team together, and never let a loss get in our way or get us down. Easily the best team I've ever been a part of.
The GHL Spirit award went to someone else, but I'm not disappointed, i know others carry the spirit of the league better than I.
Then there's the big one. Best Defenseman. nominated 3 years in a row. Lost the previous 2. nominees are read. and the winner?
Yes! I am the greatest! Woooooooooooo! Seriously though, voted by my peers, again, an awesome feeling. Sadly, Lady did not win Most Improved, but did get a sweet Penguins Zamoni bank as a door prize.
It was a great night, and I left knowing I'm in the best league ever & really felt the spirit of the League that night. If you don't believe me you can see for yourself with the Top 10 Best Things about the GHL & below with the banquet opening video. I'm the guy in the grey Rangers sweater with giant red pants.
This past Friday was the GHL Awards Banquet and, it made up for it. My teams not very social apparently and I think only 1 other member was there aside from my wife and I. The anticipation of the night was high since my wife and I were both nominated for awards; Best Defenseman and the GHL Spirit Award for me, Most Improved for Lady (who, despite being in her rookie year wasn't nominated for Rookie of the Year, I say she got "most improved" because no one realized she was a rookie).
Our coach gave us our individual championship trophies early in the evening before taking over as emcee for the night. Videos and slideshows abounded, making ours the best beginners league ever. No, your arguments are wrong.
After some points awards they announced the Team MVP's, as voted by the players, and my team was so awesome I voted for another forward but everyone else made a different choice, and I was named our teams MVP. It was great of them to do so, I really didn't know how to feel about it, awesome was one, but amazed other thought so highly of me. We were a great team together, and never let a loss get in our way or get us down. Easily the best team I've ever been a part of.
The GHL Spirit award went to someone else, but I'm not disappointed, i know others carry the spirit of the league better than I.
Then there's the big one. Best Defenseman. nominated 3 years in a row. Lost the previous 2. nominees are read. and the winner?
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| oh, the sweet taste of SUCK IT LOSERS |
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| Armloads of trophies |
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Musical Franchises
With reports out now that Otters owner Bassin has had zero local investors interested in the team rumours are once again out about a move out of Erie and with Bassins quotes there's more meat to the story now. Looking at the Otters franchise history there's a lot of indicators that their stay in Erie was due to end soon.
The Otters Franchise began in Windsor, ON as the original Spitfires. They were there for 7 years when they moved to Hamilton. They spent 24 years in Steeltown with 3 different names (and 1 year briefly in St. Catharines) before moving to Brantford for 6 years. finding no luck as the Alexanders they returned to Hamilton for 4 more years then drove down the QEW to Niagara Falls. 8 years in the Falls and it was off to Erie where the Otters have been for 17 years, but will they make it to 20? only 1 more year on the current lease, and the current owner says he wont sign long term deals.
So what's in the Otters future? With the lack of interest in Erie two options: outside ownership keeping the team in Erie and Relocation.
Population: 209,000 metro area.
Arena: Tullio Arena
Capacity: 5500
Closest OHL team: Niagara IceDogs, 207km
Staying in Erie is an option for the new owners. Attendance the past 3 season has averaged 3,148 per game (3,476 10-11, 2,855 11-12, 3,115 12-13) with 11-12 season being the disaster year that got them Connor McDavid, and that's good for 13th in the OHL. Their arena has gone through upgrades the past off seasons and the city wants to keep the Otters in town after spending that money.
Population: 1,135,509 Metro Area
Arena: No OHL size arena, JrA plays at Amherst Ice Center, NCAA at Buffalo State Sports Arena, NHL in First Niagara Centre
Capacity: 1,800 (JrA & NCAA arenas), 19,070 (NHL Rink)
Closest OHL team: Niagara IceDogs, 52km
Current Jr teams: Buffalo Jr Sabres, Jr A - OJHL, Buffalo Blades, Jr B - GOJHL
Buffalo is a favourite choice of mine. Its a strong hockey city, the Sabres and JrA Blades have good attendance (okay JrA attendance isn't a marker for anything since the leagues at that level and below don't carry any prestige, but they average almost 200 people per game), and we'll pretend the JrB Sabres don't exist. Moving down the Erie shore to Buffalo would keep the team in the US, and plunk it in a town with love for hockey. I have spoken to a few people who regularly come to Niagara for OHL games. It brings them closer to the border and other OHL teams, and there is a JrA team in the city to use as a farm team (so you don't run short on goalies again). Average family income is about $40,000 per year, not quite friendly for being a season ticket holder, but out of 1.1 million people there should be 2,000 who are interested & can afford it, the Sabres also average 18,500 in attendance for the past 7 years. A new arena would have to be built to accommodate the team, there are no OHL sized arenas (3500-9000 seats) in Buffalo and with the city still paying off debt related to the construction of the First Niagara Centre I don't think they would be interested in tacking on another $40,000,000. Buffalo is easily connected with other OHL teams by the QEW just across the Niagara River.
Population: 135,501 metro area
Arena: Brantford Civic Centre
Capacity: 2,981
Closest OHL team: Kitchener Rangers, 44km.
Current Jr teams - None
Brantford, former home to the Brantford Alexanders (who, as noted above, later became the Erie Otters) for several years never held onto the OHL for a long time. A city whose name is brought up whenever relocation is mentioned, but never taken seriously. The Civic Centre hold almost 3,000 people and could do as a temporary arena, but is about 1,000 less that the standard and would require sell outs almost every night to stay afloat (The Niagara IceDogs call the Jack Gatecliff arena home, which holds 3,150 and average attendance is at the max capacity in Brantford - this rink is only temporary as a new 4,500 seat rink is under construction). The local economy isn't terrible but is becoming stagnant. Brantford hosts offices for Proctor & Gamble, SC Johnson, and Ferrero SpA (Kinder Eggs) but is facing challenges of being a minor city in Canada. The population isn't too small, and the average income is $42,601, not awful but thinking of $800 seasons tickets is still a long consideration. The Civic Centre would require upgrades in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to meet even the barest OHL standards, before considering expanding seating/adding suits to the civic centre or replacing it with a new building, which would be a challenge to a city with barely half a million dollars in surplus. Brantford would be easy travel to attract fans from Hamilton as they are just down highway 403.
Population: 182,250
Arena: Sixteen Mile Sports Complex
Capacity: 1,500
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads, 24km
Current Jr teams - Oakville Blades, OJHL
Oakville, Ontario is city on the edge of the Greater Toronto Area with a midsized population, and bordered on both sides by cities with equal or greater populations. A mix of offices and commuters keeps housing development strong in the city and northern expansion. Average yearly income for the city is higher than average with $60,000, a salary that could support multiple games/season tickets to a junior team. What could hurt Oakville, and the next two entries (Burlington & Markham) is the heavy amount of commuters that reside in the cities. Travel in and out of town could hurt attendance of weeknight games, as well as proximity to the City of Toronto could have the "GTA Effect" which pretty much means that since the city is so close to Toronto there are more entertainment options available nearby for residents so the Jr. Team is lost in the options and seen as a last option, for example Mississauga has seen it's average attendance hang below 2,400 since the move from St. Michaels College and Bramptons last five seasons saw a peak of 2,400 but averages of 2,000. Another downside for GTA teams are a lack of local media, most cities don't have their own newspapers for daily reporting so getting the word out on the teams is a large challenge
Oakville also does not have an arena suitable for even temporary housing so shovels would need to be in the ground immediately as the Otters hang out in Erie for some lame duck seasons, or the franchise finds a temp. home in another city, like the Adirondack Phantoms. The Oakville Blades Attendance was about 600 per game last year, very good for Jr.A.
Population: 175,779
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads,
Current Jr teams - Burlington Cougars, OJHL
(Cougars play at Wave Twin Rinks, capacity is >1,000 City website has no info on other arena capacities)
Burlington has a lot of similarities to Oakville, a mix of offices and commuting keep a lot of people employed average income is $50,000, and there is no current arena capable of hosting a Major Junior team. Burlington gets off a bit easier in that aspect since Hamilton is a short drive away and diehards could make the trip for games, but the weeknight games would suffer for the extra travel, especially with the QEW/403 such a mess leading up to game time. Burlington is bordered by Oakville and Hamilton so there are large populations to try and draw fans from.
Population: 301,709
Arena: Markham Centennial Centre
Capacity: 2,500
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads, 50km.
Current Jr teams - Markham Waxers, OJHL
Markham Ontario has a population that could easily support a Jr team, if it was farther away from Toronto. Markham is strong with youth hockey but has a serious case of GTA Effect going on as it shares a border with Toronto. Investors in Markham have their sights set higher than the OHL with efforts to build an NHL arena underway. A strong bedroom community has resident seeking entertainment within the bright lights of the big city or trying to draw such acts to their city. Markham Centennial Centre is barely big enough for a temp home and with the focus on the big show no one will want to build an OHL rink in the meantime. A team in Markham is setting itself up to be the next Battalion.
Population: 103,671 metro area
Arena: Chatham Memorial Arena
Capacity: 2,500
Closest OHL team: Sarnia Sting, 74km / Windsor Spitfires 77km (faster driving to Windsor via 401)
Current Jr teams - Chatham Maroons, JrB - GOJHL
Chatham was brought up recently in the new with an unnamed OHL team approaching them for possible relocation. City Council is pondering either a new 5,000 arena on the St. Clair College campus, or renovating the memorial to 3,500 seats, the latter would not support an OHL team. It would be easy for Knights & Spitfires fans to attend as it's in between on the 401. The Memorial Arena could be a very temporary home but I would assume it would need at least a dressing room upgrade for a team. The prospects of a town barely over 100k in population could or would be willing to shell out for a new OHL rink is very low, and you would need about 5% of the population at a game each night to keep the team afloat. I believe Chatham will forever be the city used to tease relocation to get arena upgrades, never a serious consideration.
Population: 390,317 metro area
Arena: Gale Centre
Capacity: 2,170
Closest OHL team: Niagara IceDogs, 21 km
Current Jr teams - Niagara Falls Canucks, JrB - GOJHL
Niagara Falls is only on here because I would love to have a St.Catharines/Niagara Falls rivalry. Sharing a fair sized population in the Niagara Region with St. Catharines, would be risky for both as the local economies aren't terrible but aren't growing either. Niagara Falls was also home to the Otters right before they moved and two factors were attendance and the arena, neither of which are solved today. Niagara Falls was first offered the chance to host the IceDogs, but they did not want to expand the design of the Gale Centre from 2,000 seats, so it doesn't seem likely they would be willing to expand it in the future to split the region with the IceDogs. Also of note would be whether the IceDogs could protest/block a team from moving into the Falls & they would also have to change to the St. Catharines IceDogs to keep confusion low, a change they've been vocally against already.
Population: 121,596 metro area
Arena: Fort William Gardens
Capacity: 3,630
Closest OHL team: Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, 700 km.
Current Jr teams - Thunder Bay North Stars, SIJHL
Thunder Bay comes up every few years with a story of someone building a rink for an ECHL team or a Jr one. ECHL/AHL would maybe if their owner pays for flights but TB is 10 hours from The Soo, so 19 hours from most OHL teams. Those rides may fly in the WHL but we're more civilised here. (TB is also 10 hours from the closest WHL team, Brandon MB so the W isn't realistic either). Location kills any other considerations, but I wanted 10 cities for the list and picked one that would sound nice but there's no way anyone with the talent to withhold would even want to sign with a team there.
Population: 58,957 metro area
Arena: Cornwall Civic Centre
Capacity: 5,000
Closest OHL team: Ottawa 67's, 104km
Current Jr teams - Cornwall Colts, CCHL
Cornwall is the former home of Memorial Cup champions Cornwall Royals and the AHL's Cornwall Aces. A small population that I would say can't make it work, but it is in line with North Bay, who just got an OHL team. Average income is a low $35,000. A stop on the 401 on the way to Montreal, it has an arena that could host an OHL team without any upgrades aside form a dressing room for the home team, which is a plus to anyone who may want to move a team here, but the economy and population may prevent that from happening ever again.
Population: 126,748
Arena: Galt Arena Gardens
Capacity: 1,100
Closest OHL team: Kitchener Rangers, 18km.
Current Jr teams - Cambridge Winter Hawks, GOJHL
Cambridge a good sized town a stones throw from the Rangers barn, they were home to the Galt Black Hawks/Red Wings/Canadiens and have one of the most beautiful rinks in the province. Galt Arena Gardens is 92 years old and not capable of going above Jr A level, and currently hosts the JrB Winter Hawks. Located just south of Kitchener it's really much to close to the territory of the diehard Rangers fans, but makes a good segue into...
Population: 477,160 metro area
Arena: Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex
Capacity: 4,132
Closest OHL team: Kitchener Rangers, 10km.
Current Jr teams - Waterloo Siskins, GOJHL
Waterloo is one people will dismiss quickly but I do think it would work, with a fan cycle following the OHL players one. Putting a team in Waterloo would be like Brampton/Mississauga again where if the coach is mad about a loss he could make the players walk back to their home rink from away games. BUT the difference here is K-W is a strong major junior area with the Aud averaging just over 6,000 fans. These are diehard fans and getting tickets can be near impossible some nights, having been establish in the community for 50 years.
What a Waterloo based team should have is 1) proximity to the universities 2) undercut Rangers tickets by a couple bucks 3) have a section for students reserved and release a hundred as game day walk ups for discounts with student cards like the Penguins do. Identify themselves with the students. Let the Rangers have the locals and go hard after the students & those moving into town for work. They would need great sales reps and marketing because they would be getting new potential fans in every year. You would also have locals who either want easier access to games or are the usual rebels who will jump ship to the new team because they are new. And make games vs the Rangers "double platinum" to gouge the Rangers fans who will try to invade your rink. The K-W region has double the population of most markets and while the Waterloo Hurricanes only lasted two seasons in the 50's, much has change since then for Waterloo and I believe they would be able to host an OHL team, smaller profile than the Rangers, but stable. The current JrB arena has the capacity to host OHL with small expansion for a couple suites and a few hundred more seats.
And finally, the most obvious choice:
Population: 721,053 metro
Arena: Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena & Skating Centre 2,500 / Copps Coliseum 17,383
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads, 48km.
Current Jr teams - Hamilton Jr red Wings, OJHL
Hamilton is always associated with the Otters moving. The Bulldogs owner has said he would like an OHL team. The biggest drawback is Copps. Too big for anything but an NHL team. However in a recent interview he has said he would be willing to help pay for a "6-10,000 seat arena more suited to AHL/OHL hockey.". The question he himself raised was, could both the AHL & OHL survive in the same city? The Bulldogs are averaging 4,000 per game which is good for minor/junior leagues but with more than twice as many tickets available for the Bulldogs, the appetite doesn't really seem to be there for two teams. The Bulldogs affiliation with the Montreal Canadiens is expiring in a few years and the always there rumours of moving their farm team closer to Montreal perhaps dumping the AHL for the OHL could actually boost attendance. The most important thing for junior hockey is for people to identify the team with their city. Something else missing from GTA cities is the feeling "this is my town", having the options to go somewhere else for whatever you need can hurt that. Hamilton & the Golden Horseshoe has lots of Maple Leafs fans who won't support the Canadiens affiliate, but and a Junior Team that represents nothing but Hamilton could lose that stigma of Habs-ness and bring more people to the rink to cheer for "their" team.
So to sum up, everyone but Brantford, Waterloo, Buffalo, and Hamilton do not have arenas that could currently host an OHL team, using 3,000 seats as the minimum. Buffalo & Hamiltons arenas are way too big for the OHL on a permanent basis (ask 67's fans how the atmosphere in ScotiaBank Place is) Waterloo has the capacity now to be comfortable without major renovations, and Brantford could do it, with grumbling for more right away.
I would prefer to see the Otters stay where they are in Erie, but if no one wants to keep them there, they are faced with the task of finding a new home city and home arena.
Of the 11 possible new markets for Erie I would rank them as below:
1)Hamilton
2)Waterloo
3)Buffalo
4)Brantford
5)Oakville
6)Burlington
7) Niagara Falls
8)Cornwall
9)Chatham-Kent
10)Markham
11)Thunder Bay
Most of these cities have already hosted an OHL team (or two) but there really isn't many more markets than them to choose from (aside from Thunder Bay, which LOLNope). I think the OHL has maxed out at 20 teams so we'll just be shuffling the franchises around as needed.
The Otters Franchise began in Windsor, ON as the original Spitfires. They were there for 7 years when they moved to Hamilton. They spent 24 years in Steeltown with 3 different names (and 1 year briefly in St. Catharines) before moving to Brantford for 6 years. finding no luck as the Alexanders they returned to Hamilton for 4 more years then drove down the QEW to Niagara Falls. 8 years in the Falls and it was off to Erie where the Otters have been for 17 years, but will they make it to 20? only 1 more year on the current lease, and the current owner says he wont sign long term deals.
So what's in the Otters future? With the lack of interest in Erie two options: outside ownership keeping the team in Erie and Relocation.
Staying Put - Erie, Pennsylvania
Population: 209,000 metro area.
Arena: Tullio Arena
Capacity: 5500
Closest OHL team: Niagara IceDogs, 207km
Staying in Erie is an option for the new owners. Attendance the past 3 season has averaged 3,148 per game (3,476 10-11, 2,855 11-12, 3,115 12-13) with 11-12 season being the disaster year that got them Connor McDavid, and that's good for 13th in the OHL. Their arena has gone through upgrades the past off seasons and the city wants to keep the Otters in town after spending that money.
Buffalo, New York
Population: 1,135,509 Metro Area
Arena: No OHL size arena, JrA plays at Amherst Ice Center, NCAA at Buffalo State Sports Arena, NHL in First Niagara Centre
Capacity: 1,800 (JrA & NCAA arenas), 19,070 (NHL Rink)
Closest OHL team: Niagara IceDogs, 52km
Current Jr teams: Buffalo Jr Sabres, Jr A - OJHL, Buffalo Blades, Jr B - GOJHL
Buffalo is a favourite choice of mine. Its a strong hockey city, the Sabres and JrA Blades have good attendance (okay JrA attendance isn't a marker for anything since the leagues at that level and below don't carry any prestige, but they average almost 200 people per game), and we'll pretend the JrB Sabres don't exist. Moving down the Erie shore to Buffalo would keep the team in the US, and plunk it in a town with love for hockey. I have spoken to a few people who regularly come to Niagara for OHL games. It brings them closer to the border and other OHL teams, and there is a JrA team in the city to use as a farm team (so you don't run short on goalies again). Average family income is about $40,000 per year, not quite friendly for being a season ticket holder, but out of 1.1 million people there should be 2,000 who are interested & can afford it, the Sabres also average 18,500 in attendance for the past 7 years. A new arena would have to be built to accommodate the team, there are no OHL sized arenas (3500-9000 seats) in Buffalo and with the city still paying off debt related to the construction of the First Niagara Centre I don't think they would be interested in tacking on another $40,000,000. Buffalo is easily connected with other OHL teams by the QEW just across the Niagara River.
Brantford, Ontario
Population: 135,501 metro area
Arena: Brantford Civic Centre
Capacity: 2,981
Closest OHL team: Kitchener Rangers, 44km.
Current Jr teams - None
Brantford, former home to the Brantford Alexanders (who, as noted above, later became the Erie Otters) for several years never held onto the OHL for a long time. A city whose name is brought up whenever relocation is mentioned, but never taken seriously. The Civic Centre hold almost 3,000 people and could do as a temporary arena, but is about 1,000 less that the standard and would require sell outs almost every night to stay afloat (The Niagara IceDogs call the Jack Gatecliff arena home, which holds 3,150 and average attendance is at the max capacity in Brantford - this rink is only temporary as a new 4,500 seat rink is under construction). The local economy isn't terrible but is becoming stagnant. Brantford hosts offices for Proctor & Gamble, SC Johnson, and Ferrero SpA (Kinder Eggs) but is facing challenges of being a minor city in Canada. The population isn't too small, and the average income is $42,601, not awful but thinking of $800 seasons tickets is still a long consideration. The Civic Centre would require upgrades in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to meet even the barest OHL standards, before considering expanding seating/adding suits to the civic centre or replacing it with a new building, which would be a challenge to a city with barely half a million dollars in surplus. Brantford would be easy travel to attract fans from Hamilton as they are just down highway 403.
Oakville, Ontario
Population: 182,250
Arena: Sixteen Mile Sports Complex
Capacity: 1,500
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads, 24km
Current Jr teams - Oakville Blades, OJHL
Oakville, Ontario is city on the edge of the Greater Toronto Area with a midsized population, and bordered on both sides by cities with equal or greater populations. A mix of offices and commuters keeps housing development strong in the city and northern expansion. Average yearly income for the city is higher than average with $60,000, a salary that could support multiple games/season tickets to a junior team. What could hurt Oakville, and the next two entries (Burlington & Markham) is the heavy amount of commuters that reside in the cities. Travel in and out of town could hurt attendance of weeknight games, as well as proximity to the City of Toronto could have the "GTA Effect" which pretty much means that since the city is so close to Toronto there are more entertainment options available nearby for residents so the Jr. Team is lost in the options and seen as a last option, for example Mississauga has seen it's average attendance hang below 2,400 since the move from St. Michaels College and Bramptons last five seasons saw a peak of 2,400 but averages of 2,000. Another downside for GTA teams are a lack of local media, most cities don't have their own newspapers for daily reporting so getting the word out on the teams is a large challenge
Oakville also does not have an arena suitable for even temporary housing so shovels would need to be in the ground immediately as the Otters hang out in Erie for some lame duck seasons, or the franchise finds a temp. home in another city, like the Adirondack Phantoms. The Oakville Blades Attendance was about 600 per game last year, very good for Jr.A.
Burlington, ON
Population: 175,779
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads,
Current Jr teams - Burlington Cougars, OJHL
(Cougars play at Wave Twin Rinks, capacity is >1,000 City website has no info on other arena capacities)
Burlington has a lot of similarities to Oakville, a mix of offices and commuting keep a lot of people employed average income is $50,000, and there is no current arena capable of hosting a Major Junior team. Burlington gets off a bit easier in that aspect since Hamilton is a short drive away and diehards could make the trip for games, but the weeknight games would suffer for the extra travel, especially with the QEW/403 such a mess leading up to game time. Burlington is bordered by Oakville and Hamilton so there are large populations to try and draw fans from.
Markham, ON
Population: 301,709
Arena: Markham Centennial Centre
Capacity: 2,500
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads, 50km.
Current Jr teams - Markham Waxers, OJHL
Markham Ontario has a population that could easily support a Jr team, if it was farther away from Toronto. Markham is strong with youth hockey but has a serious case of GTA Effect going on as it shares a border with Toronto. Investors in Markham have their sights set higher than the OHL with efforts to build an NHL arena underway. A strong bedroom community has resident seeking entertainment within the bright lights of the big city or trying to draw such acts to their city. Markham Centennial Centre is barely big enough for a temp home and with the focus on the big show no one will want to build an OHL rink in the meantime. A team in Markham is setting itself up to be the next Battalion.
Chatham-Kent, ON
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| Image Search is not kind to Chatham |
Arena: Chatham Memorial Arena
Capacity: 2,500
Closest OHL team: Sarnia Sting, 74km / Windsor Spitfires 77km (faster driving to Windsor via 401)
Current Jr teams - Chatham Maroons, JrB - GOJHL
Chatham was brought up recently in the new with an unnamed OHL team approaching them for possible relocation. City Council is pondering either a new 5,000 arena on the St. Clair College campus, or renovating the memorial to 3,500 seats, the latter would not support an OHL team. It would be easy for Knights & Spitfires fans to attend as it's in between on the 401. The Memorial Arena could be a very temporary home but I would assume it would need at least a dressing room upgrade for a team. The prospects of a town barely over 100k in population could or would be willing to shell out for a new OHL rink is very low, and you would need about 5% of the population at a game each night to keep the team afloat. I believe Chatham will forever be the city used to tease relocation to get arena upgrades, never a serious consideration.
Niagara Falls, Ontario
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| most images of Niagara Falls don't include the city |
Arena: Gale Centre
Capacity: 2,170
Closest OHL team: Niagara IceDogs, 21 km
Current Jr teams - Niagara Falls Canucks, JrB - GOJHL
Niagara Falls is only on here because I would love to have a St.Catharines/Niagara Falls rivalry. Sharing a fair sized population in the Niagara Region with St. Catharines, would be risky for both as the local economies aren't terrible but aren't growing either. Niagara Falls was also home to the Otters right before they moved and two factors were attendance and the arena, neither of which are solved today. Niagara Falls was first offered the chance to host the IceDogs, but they did not want to expand the design of the Gale Centre from 2,000 seats, so it doesn't seem likely they would be willing to expand it in the future to split the region with the IceDogs. Also of note would be whether the IceDogs could protest/block a team from moving into the Falls & they would also have to change to the St. Catharines IceDogs to keep confusion low, a change they've been vocally against already.
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Arena: Fort William Gardens
Capacity: 3,630
Closest OHL team: Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, 700 km.
Current Jr teams - Thunder Bay North Stars, SIJHL
Thunder Bay comes up every few years with a story of someone building a rink for an ECHL team or a Jr one. ECHL/AHL would maybe if their owner pays for flights but TB is 10 hours from The Soo, so 19 hours from most OHL teams. Those rides may fly in the WHL but we're more civilised here. (TB is also 10 hours from the closest WHL team, Brandon MB so the W isn't realistic either). Location kills any other considerations, but I wanted 10 cities for the list and picked one that would sound nice but there's no way anyone with the talent to withhold would even want to sign with a team there.
Cornwall, Ontario
Population: 58,957 metro area
Arena: Cornwall Civic Centre
Capacity: 5,000
Closest OHL team: Ottawa 67's, 104km
Current Jr teams - Cornwall Colts, CCHL
Cornwall is the former home of Memorial Cup champions Cornwall Royals and the AHL's Cornwall Aces. A small population that I would say can't make it work, but it is in line with North Bay, who just got an OHL team. Average income is a low $35,000. A stop on the 401 on the way to Montreal, it has an arena that could host an OHL team without any upgrades aside form a dressing room for the home team, which is a plus to anyone who may want to move a team here, but the economy and population may prevent that from happening ever again.
Cambridge, ON
Arena: Galt Arena Gardens
Capacity: 1,100
Closest OHL team: Kitchener Rangers, 18km.
Current Jr teams - Cambridge Winter Hawks, GOJHL
Cambridge a good sized town a stones throw from the Rangers barn, they were home to the Galt Black Hawks/Red Wings/Canadiens and have one of the most beautiful rinks in the province. Galt Arena Gardens is 92 years old and not capable of going above Jr A level, and currently hosts the JrB Winter Hawks. Located just south of Kitchener it's really much to close to the territory of the diehard Rangers fans, but makes a good segue into...
Waterloo, ON
Arena: Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex
Capacity: 4,132
Closest OHL team: Kitchener Rangers, 10km.
Current Jr teams - Waterloo Siskins, GOJHL
Waterloo is one people will dismiss quickly but I do think it would work, with a fan cycle following the OHL players one. Putting a team in Waterloo would be like Brampton/Mississauga again where if the coach is mad about a loss he could make the players walk back to their home rink from away games. BUT the difference here is K-W is a strong major junior area with the Aud averaging just over 6,000 fans. These are diehard fans and getting tickets can be near impossible some nights, having been establish in the community for 50 years.
What a Waterloo based team should have is 1) proximity to the universities 2) undercut Rangers tickets by a couple bucks 3) have a section for students reserved and release a hundred as game day walk ups for discounts with student cards like the Penguins do. Identify themselves with the students. Let the Rangers have the locals and go hard after the students & those moving into town for work. They would need great sales reps and marketing because they would be getting new potential fans in every year. You would also have locals who either want easier access to games or are the usual rebels who will jump ship to the new team because they are new. And make games vs the Rangers "double platinum" to gouge the Rangers fans who will try to invade your rink. The K-W region has double the population of most markets and while the Waterloo Hurricanes only lasted two seasons in the 50's, much has change since then for Waterloo and I believe they would be able to host an OHL team, smaller profile than the Rangers, but stable. The current JrB arena has the capacity to host OHL with small expansion for a couple suites and a few hundred more seats.
And finally, the most obvious choice:
Hamilton, ON
Population: 721,053 metro
Arena: Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena & Skating Centre 2,500 / Copps Coliseum 17,383
Closest OHL team: Mississauga Steelheads, 48km.
Current Jr teams - Hamilton Jr red Wings, OJHL
Hamilton is always associated with the Otters moving. The Bulldogs owner has said he would like an OHL team. The biggest drawback is Copps. Too big for anything but an NHL team. However in a recent interview he has said he would be willing to help pay for a "6-10,000 seat arena more suited to AHL/OHL hockey.". The question he himself raised was, could both the AHL & OHL survive in the same city? The Bulldogs are averaging 4,000 per game which is good for minor/junior leagues but with more than twice as many tickets available for the Bulldogs, the appetite doesn't really seem to be there for two teams. The Bulldogs affiliation with the Montreal Canadiens is expiring in a few years and the always there rumours of moving their farm team closer to Montreal perhaps dumping the AHL for the OHL could actually boost attendance. The most important thing for junior hockey is for people to identify the team with their city. Something else missing from GTA cities is the feeling "this is my town", having the options to go somewhere else for whatever you need can hurt that. Hamilton & the Golden Horseshoe has lots of Maple Leafs fans who won't support the Canadiens affiliate, but and a Junior Team that represents nothing but Hamilton could lose that stigma of Habs-ness and bring more people to the rink to cheer for "their" team.
So to sum up, everyone but Brantford, Waterloo, Buffalo, and Hamilton do not have arenas that could currently host an OHL team, using 3,000 seats as the minimum. Buffalo & Hamiltons arenas are way too big for the OHL on a permanent basis (ask 67's fans how the atmosphere in ScotiaBank Place is) Waterloo has the capacity now to be comfortable without major renovations, and Brantford could do it, with grumbling for more right away.
I would prefer to see the Otters stay where they are in Erie, but if no one wants to keep them there, they are faced with the task of finding a new home city and home arena.
Of the 11 possible new markets for Erie I would rank them as below:
1)Hamilton
2)Waterloo
3)Buffalo
4)Brantford
5)Oakville
6)Burlington
7) Niagara Falls
8)Cornwall
9)Chatham-Kent
10)Markham
11)Thunder Bay
Most of these cities have already hosted an OHL team (or two) but there really isn't many more markets than them to choose from (aside from Thunder Bay, which LOLNope). I think the OHL has maxed out at 20 teams so we'll just be shuffling the franchises around as needed.
Friday, 5 April 2013
Technically A Champion
Technically a Champion.
That's how my last post ended, with those three words. What do they mean though? That's the tricky part. I missed my leagues playoff weekend, and my team won the championship game in a shootout. I was a member of the GHL Rangers, and the GHL Rangers won the championship.
I played my best all season. 2 Goals, 6 Assists, not bad for a defensive d-man in a beginners league. Good enough for a best defenseman nomination. My wife, 3 goals in 2 playoff games, her line on fire, she gets a "most improved" nomination because it wasn't obvious it was her first year. We knew we wouldn't be there, you can't skip holidays with family for a hockey game. Unless you're getting paid, not the one paying. Having our priorities in order, our champsionship moment would be helping to get them in, and played our hardest to get them there.
It's a silly thought really. Miss one game and you don't count? Nonsense. I know our contributions over the season and the playoffs helped. We're members of that team and our mates are great people and would never treat us as anything less.
But I missed that moment. That feeling you get when that puck goes in the net to seal your teams fate. The sudden rush of....."WOOOOOOOOO"....that feeling.
You play for fun, you play for exercise, but you also play for that moment. It's something I never missed until I watched the game winning shootout. Thats where the technically comes into play. I didn't get my moment. I'll see the team at the banquet, I'll get my little trophy, we'll have fun being together again, I'll know we won, I'll know what we are.
We'll just have to try and do it again, and hey, Easter's at the end of April next year.
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Bro, do you even play the game?
A common question when someone disagrees with another persons opinion on hockey. As in, if you've never strapped on skates and been concussed you're opinion doesn't matter and has no value. Well yeah bro, I do.
I started playing hockey just before my oldest son was born, actually the day of a game our doctor said the ball was rolling for him to show up, so being the dutiful husband I am, I looked at my lady, knowing my team needed me, and said "I'll bring my cell phone to the bench in case you need anything"
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| Yes, we took the bus to the hospital at delivery time. Parking downtown's expensive. |
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| Me, right before my first ever hockey game. No, I did not know that was a road hockey stick. |
It was a summer of truly awful hockey. Then came the playoffs. one weekend, 4 games. Now standard fare for a tournament, but not something an out of shape beginner was prepared for. 1 game Friday night, stayed up way too late, early AM game next morning, no sleep, no breakfast led to a pretty cranky Adam. I yelled at a little kid. Sunday: We made it to the championship game. one problem, we only had 8 players. "How can you skip the finals!" I yelled, knowing we're doomed. But the game must go on. it was a close affair, and halfway through the second period there was a scuffle in front of the net and my brother went down. We thought he had a concussion, as he had trouble getting to his feet as was pretty incoherent. My sister took him to the change room and we were down to a 6 person bench for half the game. Only 1 person resting at a time can spell danger, but do you believe in miracles? I do now because we came back to win that game and become the first ever Adult Rookie League CHAMPIONS!
Oh the sweet taste of victory. We assembled a great team for the winter season and dreamed of repeating.
We didn't. We were terrible. We came in last.
But the next summer! Oh what a summer that was. We went undefeated for 15 games including playoffs and we were CHAMPIONS! once again.
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| Even sweeter was beating my sister. |
3 seasons, two championships, thats the way to do it. Not wanting to drive 100km round trip for hockey anymore, I retired from the ARL a two time champion. Next league to dominate was the closer to home Genesis Hockey League. Drafted to the Canucks we had a superstar in net and my big presence on the blue line what could go wrong?
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| We also had a tank. |
Everything. First place and unstoppable and post-Christmas we couldn't bribe our way to a win. Yet another last place finish.
No problem, it's a pattern, season 2 in virgil will be the year.
Drafted to play for the Blackhawks that year we were doing well, the trade deadline came and went and no problem, we kept on going. Then I got an e-mail.
A late trade had to be done. Bad news for me:
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| I'm in the back on the far right. hiding in shame of the crest. |
Well, I'll be fine, I was asked for specifically, so thats a boost to the ego. Besides, this was the year to break the curse right? Kinda. My team won the championship. Just...not my current team. The Blackhawks would win the championship and the Canadiens? Last place. Did I trade trophies for travel?
Season 3. With my wife on my team we're playing for the Rangers and I like the look of our team. We're all having a good time, despite sucking it up. Seriously. Look at this record.
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| That 5-0 win? The goalie put on pads for the first time ever. |
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| Yeah, complete 180 |
Awesome right? Except one thing: We were out of town for Easter that weekend. I knew this was coming so my goal was to help get my team into the finals. Lady scored 3 goals in the final two games and her line was on fire. Me? I directly led to all 3 goals against us in the playoffs. However, our mission was accomplished. All we could do is drive away and hope.
Saturday came and went and what did we wake up to Easter Sunday?
Oh yeah. Technically a Champion once again.
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