2021/22 Utica Comets and ECHL Talk

[Emperoreddy]

Season over, Devils AHL affiliate is now the Utica Comets.

Click to read more...

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Rob had Grady Whittenburg call the game with him and tell stories of pbp in Binghamton through the years. Rob interned for Whittenburg. It was fun to listen to them talk about the behind the scenes stuff in the biz.

I didn't listen to any of the four NJD games Rob did with Chico, but that is his pinnacle for now.

He will find work again. It was great to watch him grow over the past four years.

Hot mics are fun on ahltv.

 

[tr83]

So were 10 years or an opt out clause from going back to Albany.

I don't get it. Oh wait, I do...bankers.

 

[UticaHockey]

Rob had Grady Whittenburg call the game with him and tell stories of pbp in Binghamton through the years. Rob interned for Whittenburg. It was fun to listen to them talk about the behind the scenes stuff in the biz.

I didn't listen to any of the four NJD games Rob did with Chico, but that is his pinnacle for now.

He will find work again. It was great to watch him grow over the past four years.

Hot mics are fun on ahltv.

I'm not sure what the Comets PxP announcer status is for next season. We had Jason Shaya this year who was terrific but I don't know if he plans on staying in Utica next year or if he is going back to Charlotte. Shaya had been the voice of the Checkers since 2007 but when Charlotte opted out of the AHL this season he was offered a job by Rob Esche.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

So were 10 years or an opt out clause from going back to Albany.

I don't get it. Oh wait, I do...bankers.

nope, it's at minimum 7 more years or as long as Rob retains control over the Comets franchise, as he did with Vancouver.... there's been no discussions of a 3rd trip or return to Albany

 

[Devils731]

Updated logo. Colors reflect the Devils organization.

 

[FooteBahl]

Our B team has always been the Devils right? Utica, Albany and Binghamton were all the devils IIRC

I just remembered the river rats...I had a bowl of stupid for breakfast today lol

 

[tr83]

nope, it's at minimum 7 more years or as long as Rob retains control over the Comets franchise, as he did with Vancouver.... there's been no discussions of a 3rd trip or return to Albany

I was being snarky. I should have used the sarcasm emoji.

Albany part 2 was doomed since the devils moved pretty quickly out of there for a few years before crawling back to Albany. Im sure the market didn't give a shit about them. Plus the devils minor league franchise has been terrible for the most of their existence. Hard to build a fanbase if you dont give the locals a winner to cheer for

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I was being snarky. I should have used the sarcasm emoji.

Albany part 2 was doomed since the devils moved pretty quickly out of there for a few years before crawling back to Albany. Im sure the market didn't give a shit about them. Plus the devils minor league franchise has been terrible for the most of their existence. Hard to build a fanbase if you dont give the locals a winner to cheer for

NOPE, it actually wasn't....

you forgot... the River Rats were an Islanders affiliate until Robb bought Al Lawrence out. Carolina is the franchise that forced the transfer to Charlotte at the tail end of CDS in Albany....otherwise Charlotte doesn't exist today

 

[SKNJD9]

When utica said they were keeping the name I was hoping the branding would be unique as well. That logo with our colors is meh at best. If they just use our uniform template with that logo ( they used the Canucks template during that affiliation) it will be a big miss

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

I'm not sure what the Comets PxP announcer status is for next season. We had Jason Shaya this year who was terrific but I don't know if he plans on staying in Utica next year or if he is going back to Charlotte. Shaya had been the voice of the Checkers since 2007 but when Charlotte opted out of the AHL this season he was offered a job by Rob Esche.

Maybe Rob Lippolis?

 

[Guttersniped]

I was being snarky. I should have used the sarcasm emoji.

Albany part 2 was doomed since the devils moved pretty quickly out of there for a few years before crawling back to Albany. Im sure the market didn't give a shit about them. Plus the devils minor league franchise has been terrible for the most of their existence. Hard to build a fanbase if you dont give the locals a winner to cheer for

It depends on the era, the Albany River Rats were successful and oddly popular-ish throughout the 90s. Winning a Calder Cup early and have a rat on your jersey helps a lot, a long with a number of successful seasons. The River Rats then declined, then imploded in a very bad 2001-02, and all that hurt attendance. People didn’t immediately take to the “new” River Rats either before Carolina left. (Our last season was 2005-06.)
Albany River Rats (Jersey):

Carolina:

 

[Peterpuck7810]

Updated logo. Colors reflect the Devils organization.

Not a fan of that .. to me they should do a complete rebrand and do something else.

But it may be a case where a new logo would take too much time before ordering jerseys, ect let alone ordering stock for the gift store....

 

[Guttersniped]

Lowell already had bad attendance before we got there. It’s not shocking, the Lowell Lock Monsters were the Islanders and Kings AHL affiliate for three years, then the Hurricanes, then the Hurricanes/Flames and then the Hurricanes/Avalanche at the end. All over an eight year period.

Then Carolina/Colorado and the Devils swapped towns. Colorado stayed in Albany for a year and then switched to the Cleveland Monsters until 2015. Carolina stayed in Albany until 2010 when they turned the River Rats into Charlotte Checkers (who they then dumped this season for the Chicago Wolves).

I thought that getting rid of a fun name, with a fun minor league logo, like the Lowell Lock Monsters and slapping an out of state NHL team name was bad move at the time. The Lowell Devils were genuinely awful in 2007-08 and that couldn’t have helped. That team was solid addition in “I didn’t know he had a brother” era though with Stephen Gionta, Mike Pandolfo and Jordan Parise (bonus points for cousin Mark Pandolfo).

The move from Lowell in 2010 was precipitated by UMass taking control of the arena from the city though. Unlike a city or county government, a University isn’t going to care about overall economic benefits of having local sport team.

Lowell Lock Monsters:

Lowell Devils:

 

[Guttersniped]

Not a fan of that .. to me they should do a complete rebrand and do something else.

But it may be a case where a new logo would take too much time before ordering jerseys, ect let alone ordering stock for the gift store....

They are going to update the logo and uniforms, they just haven’t had time to design something. This just a place holder so they don’t have Vancouver colors on the logo on the website. Eche mentioned the Devils and Comets designing something new.

 

[Guttersniped]

The Albany Devils weren’t bad, after their first season with a .438 winning %, they were pretty good and made the playoffs twice. They were a lunch-pail, hardworking team rather then one with a lot of talent. I assume the last year’s attendance was hurt by the news that they were leaving.

Albany Devils:

 

[Guttersniped]

And here’s Binghamton Senators and Devils attendance. The Devils had a rough start with two seasons with matching .414 win %. The excitement was building for the 2019-2o team, who had a .581 win % at the shut-down, but we can’t have nice things.

Bing Senators:

Bing Devils:

 

[Guttersniped]

And here’s Utica Comets attendance. (All of this is from Hockeydb)

 

[UticaHockey]

Maybe Rob Lippolis?

If Shaya goes back to Charlotte I would think he would be considered.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Not sure if he's available, but Princeton University play-by-play man Jeff O'Connor would be a great fit.

 

[Quest for Stanley]

Dennehy finishes with 7 wins 29 losses. 3 winning seasons in past 17 as head coach. Dennehy is a perennial loser. Utica needs a head coach with a proven winning track record to create a winning culture

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Esche said he has a good relationship with New Jersey General Manager Tom Fitzgerald, who is a "longtime mentor and friend."

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

GWG

 

[TrufleShufle]

It depends on the era, the Albany River Rats were successful and oddly popular-ish throughout the 90s. Winning a Calder Cup early and have a rat on your jersey helps a lot, a long with a number of successful seasons. The River Rats then declined, then imploded in a very bad 2001-02, and all that hurt attendance. People didn’t immediately take to the “new” River Rats either before Carolina left. (Our last season was 2005-06.)

Two biggest mistakes coming back were not securing the River Rats logo, something everyone is familiar with and helped disconnect for any NYI/NYR/BUF etc fans. Just Albany River Rats.

Second was ticket pricing, as attendance went down, prices went up.... made no sense. I was a season ticket holder, but I could see someone randomly deciding to bring their family, kids, and some friends and it being an insane bill, before any food or drinks. I remember going as a kid and I really don't think we spent hundreds of dollars for those nights, nor did the entire packed arena.

Albany is a two tier arena, the entire time NJ was there (the last time,) the top tier was completely draped off and the years I wouldn't be a season ticket holder, I would buy the cheapest seats knowing I could go sit anywhere I wanted and spread out. They did a kids get in free night and they had to open the top tier and even that was packed.... So people wanted to go, it was just too much.

Interesting side bit, I don't know the truth to it, or where I heard it at this point so feel free to fact check. But I heard Lou didn't care at all about losing money, he liked that Albany had such a professional setting, everything from the locker room to the benches. He cared more about the farm team being familiar with that setting than the fact they were losing money. Shero saw it differently and that's why they moved to Bingo.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]