The conversation about the AHL going west not only isn’t going away, it picks up a bit of steam after the recent NHL Governors meeting in Florida. If one looks at the issue and apply common sense, there are some major pros and cons to the issue. The logic behind such a move is has merit, from the NHL perspective. If the Kings, Sharks, Ducks and Canucks had the same good fortune as the Maple Leafs and have their AHL prospects play just a few miles away from their home ice. The legendary story of Frankie Corrado from last season is a prime example of that. The Utica Comets defenseman was told early on Saturday morning that he was needed in Vancouver. He packed his stuff, bought tickets for the game he’d miss in Utica because it was a promotion giveaway for veterans and started his journey to the west coast. Once he got to Rogers Arena Corrado was told he was not in the lineup and he could go to the airport, but don’t board a flight until the Canucks game was over. So, Frankie sat in an empty bar room and watched the game on TV before taking a flight back, cross country, to make a game in Utica the next afternoon. Unlike the trip out west, where he gained three hours, Frank lost those three on the return trip. Still, he got to the Aud just in time for the faceoff of a Sunday matinee. Exhausting! The benefit of a close proximity between major league and minor league affiliates should be obvious. What might need a little consideration are the many cons of the concept. Let’s say that the Rocky Mountains are the eastern boarder of the west, there are 8 western franchises in the NHL; Colorado, Calgary, Edmonton, Arizona, Anaheim, San Jose, L.A. and Vancouver. We don’t know if any or all of those NHL teams are planning to take their affiliates out west. But, let’s say that 5, as is often referenced, or all 8 were to pack up and move…where would they go? A recent post on an NHL oriented blog identified Ontario, Bakersfield and San Diego California as possible relocation targets along with Colorado Springs, Tucson and Salt Lake City. Other places that could be in play would be Seattle, the bay area and, if they don’t land an NHL team, Las Vegas. Let’s just look at the distances between 6 locations mentioned in the blog. The distances between the California locations are not out of line with the distances you’ll find between teams in New York State. But, it seems improbable that you will locate 5 or 8 teams in the Golden State, where there are already 3 NHL teams playing. The distances between the California cities and the 3 non-California cities make this idea somewhat tenuous, I think. The distance between Tucson and the California locations exceeds 400 miles, Salt Lake City and the California cities exceed 650 miles and Colorado Springs is over 1,000 from the California locations. As Trevor Linden, President of Hockey Operations for the Canucks and an alternate governor for the NHL, said in Utica a few weeks back “What we really like about being here (Utica) is that we maximize our practice days and minimize our travel days.” Linden noted that that is caused by being located in the heart of the AHL. From Utica; it is 54 miles to Syracuse, 136 miles to Rochester, 101 miles to Binghamton, 94 miles to Albany, 109 miles to Glens Falls, 179 miles to Springfield Ma, 222 miles to Worcester Ma. Do I need to continue? The idea of a real geographic western division still doesn’t add a hell of a lot to the logistics of the league. Scheduling would be a challenge; travel could be daunting, unless you set up a majority of games for the western teams among themselves. That would dramatically skew the dynamics of the league toward development as opposed to competition. Will something like a move west happen, may be…who knows? But, it will cost money and not gain a heck of a lot, I think. Even if you established a true geographic west and east division, the old days of the AHL-IHL set up didn’t even achieve that, a western division geographic spread would be costly. Depending on who moves west, if there is such a move, Utica has a lot going for it. An improved facility that is regularly filled with loud and loyal fans and a geographic proximity to other AHL franchises, who, I expect, would remain in the league. Local fans have a lot to do with the first factor in that equation.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 16:10:58 +0000
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