Chatham

[frontsfan2005]

The hot rumour right now in the OHL is the Whalers moving to Chatham. Should that happen, will Karmanos continue to own the team, or is he looking to sell the club? If he stays, will they remain the Whalers, or get a new name (I saw Maroons as a possibility).

Secondly, would Chatham just take Plymouth's place in the West Division, or would the league do some sort of realignment? Chatham slides in quite well in taking Plymouth's spot, where as if they moved to Cornwall, Hamilton or Western New York, then realignment would be taking place. There was realignment rumours about a year ago, however, nothing came from them.

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[mouse 29]

Well it seems this tends to come up every year or so. Anyway IMO I just don't see Chatham as a viable alternative. I understand the proximity to London, Windsor, and Sarnia but just can't see it as a viable business scenario, not just from the playing accommodations but from a populus demographic alternative as well.
Like most I see the league chomping at the bit to have a team in the Buffalo area, and for my part I would agree. Love to see a team in the Buffalo area.

However ISMO that Cornwall is probably the best scenario at this point in time. The disruption to the league would be minimal, quite possibly be beneficial.
Plymouth moves to Cornwall and slides into the Eastern conference with Ottawa, Kingston, Belleville, and either Peterborough or Oshawa.
Either Peterborough or Oshawa move to the central in the East and Niagra moves to the Western Conference.

Or we see Plymouth move to the NY State area and either Belleville or Missy move to Cornwall. Or someone moves into the new area in Markham. my head hurts

Anyway just my point of view and all could change depending on what happens in Missy and Belleville.

 

[NaughtyDog]

Well it seems this tends to come up every year or so. Anyway IMO I just don't see Chatham as a viable alternative. I understand the proximity to London, Windsor, and Sarnia but just can't see it as a viable business scenario, not just from the playing accommodations but from a populus demographic alternative as well.
Like most I see the league chomping at the bit to have a team in the Buffalo area, and for my part I would agree. Love to see a team in the Buffalo area.

However ISMO that Cornwall is probably the best scenario at this point in time. The disruption to the league would be minimal, quite possibly be beneficial.
Plymouth moves to Cornwall and slides into the Eastern conference with Ottawa, Kingston, Belleville, and either Peterborough or Oshawa.
Either Peterborough or Oshawa move to the central in the East and Niagra moves to the Western Conference.

Or we see Plymouth move to the NY State area and either Belleville or Missy move to Cornwall. Or someone moves into the new area in Markham. my head hurts

Anyway just my point of view and all could change depending on what happens in Missy and Belleville.

Plymouth to Chatham means there will not be any realignment. Chatham slides right into West Division perfectly.

If Plymouth were to relocate to Cornwall, i dont see how the "disruption to the league would be minimal". Cornwall would obviously join the East Division, kicking out Oshawa or Peterborough like you said. Aren't the Petes and Generals big rivals though? I'm sure the league and both those teams wouldn't want to split up.

If the league did kick Oshawa to the Central Division, then Niagara would need to be moved to the Western Conference, where they probably should be anyways. I've read many times, however, that the IceDogs have no desire to leave the Eastern Conference.

If Niagara were to be moved to the Midwest Division, where they probably should be as their Erie's closest opponent, London would have to be kicked back into the West Division which I bet they would not like since they'd lose Kitchener and Guelph and have to be in the same division as the Soo.

Relocation to Cornwall IMO would be very disruptive.

 

[dcook872]

Plymouth to Chatham means there will not be any realignment. Chatham slides right into West Division perfectly.

If Plymouth were to relocate to Cornwall, i dont see how the "disruption to the league would be minimal". Cornwall would obviously join the East Division, kicking out Oshawa or Peterborough like you said. Aren't the Petes and Generals big rivals though? I'm sure the league and both those teams wouldn't want to split up.

If the league did kick Oshawa to the Central Division, then Niagara would need to be moved to the Western Conference, where they probably should be anyways. I've read many times, however, that the IceDogs have no desire to leave the Eastern Conference.

If Niagara were to be moved to the Midwest Division, where they probably should be as their Erie's closest opponent, London would have to be kicked back into the West Division which I bet they would not like since they'd lose Kitchener and Guelph and have to be in the same division as the Soo.

Relocation to Cornwall IMO would be very disruptive.

Mississauga is not moving anywhere for at least another 3 years.

 

[NaughtyDog]

Mississauga is not moving anywhere for at least another 3 years.

I think you quoted the wrong guy. I never said anything about Missy

 

[frontsfan2005]

The problem with Cornwall is population, I think they'd be the second smallest OHL market (Owen Sound the smallest). Owen Sound markets themselves as a regional team, they get fans in from some of the smaller towns up there (Wiarton, Hanover, Walkerton, Durham, etc...) to make up for the lack of population in the city. The one plus that Cornwall has is an OHL ready arena that was renovated to fit 5000 seats in 2008.

Chatham-Kent has the population base (over 100,000), but no OHL ready arena. I'm not sure the Memorial Arena would even be ok to use as a temporary venue, it only seats 2400 (although that is higher than the Whalers current avg. attendance) and is nearly 70 years old. You would think there would have to be a commitment for a new arena before the OHL would allow a move there.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Well it seems this tends to come up every year or so. Anyway IMO I just don't see Chatham as a viable alternative. I understand the proximity to London, Windsor, and Sarnia but just can't see it as a viable business scenario, not just from the playing accommodations but from a populus demographic alternative as well.
Like most I see the league chomping at the bit to have a team in the Buffalo area, and for my part I would agree. Love to see a team in the Buffalo area.

However ISMO that Cornwall is probably the best scenario at this point in time. The disruption to the league would be minimal, quite possibly be beneficial.
Plymouth moves to Cornwall and slides into the Eastern conference with Ottawa, Kingston, Belleville, and either Peterborough or Oshawa.
Either Peterborough or Oshawa move to the central in the East and Niagra moves to the Western Conference.

Or we see Plymouth move to the NY State area and either Belleville or Missy move to Cornwall. Or someone moves into the new area in Markham. my head hurts

Anyway just my point of view and all could change depending on what happens in Missy and Belleville.

I don't think Chatham would be a bad market. I am in the Chatham area 2-3 times a month I see different people all the time and they continually wear Chatham Maroon's gear, all they talk about are the Maroon's and how they're playing. It's a very small sample size and their facility certainly needs an upgrade but I do think there would be interest. Obviously the price point would change with their tickets being $9 and if they became an OHL team it would increase and I am not sure how the public would react but one thing is for sure Chatham is extremely passionate about their hockey probably more than some other current OHL franchises.