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Failed/Rejected/Proposed ECHL franchise relocations and expansions

Sometimes I wonder if I have a toxic presence, but subsequent to that southwestern trip, the Gold Kings played another 3 seasons, and the Scorpions played 6 seasons in Tingley before hiatus before 3 seasons in a new arena? WTF?

Thing is, World Arena was quite well adorned with Colorado College accoutrements, and Tingley seemed to belong to cattle. However, a Mexican concession in Tingley was pretty damn good.

The trip my friends ask about the most, however, that’s another story.
 
Atlantian said:
one league owner's plan to buy the Charlotte Checkers AHL team, move it to where his current ECHL team is, and relocate that franchise to Savannah
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Not sure how I missed this earlier.

This one is interesting to me. Savannah hosts something called the "Savannah Hockey Classic". A "tournament" that sees the winner capture the "Thrasher Cup". At one time I believe it was just U of Georgia and Georgia Tech but now Florida State and U of Florida have joined the fray. I had heard of the "Thrasher Cup" but was unaware it was being played in Savannah.

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Here is a picture of the Savannah Civic Center hosting the tournament. This building was built around the same time as James Brown Arena in Augusta, former home of the Lynx of the ECHL who infamously disbanded during the 2008-09 season. It also hosted the RiverHawks of the SPHL, who left because the arena's ice melted during the 2012-13 season. Costly Ice System Problems Could Mean Augusta Riverhawks Hockey Team Flies Away - Lean Blitz Consulting -

I guess the question here is, aside from needing an owner and a commitment from potential customers, is this building even suited for a professional Hockey team in the current year? The climate in Savannah isn't much different from Augusta although that situation was different, but still, warm weather and a bad ice system don't mix.
 
HisIceness said:
... I guess the question here is, aside from needing an owner and a commitment from potential customers, is this building even suited for a professional Hockey team in the current year? The climate in Savannah isn't much different from Augusta although that situation was different, but still, warm weather and a bad ice system don't mix.
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So let's review ... The title of this thread is "Failed/Rejected/Proposed ECHL franchise relocations and expansions" ... You're asking about the possibility of a hockey team playing in Savannah ... Did you miss this news?
 
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While not a new team or a one-and-doner, the travails of the Las Vegas Wrangles in trying to find a new home after being expelled from their old arena probably fits within this topic.

After the Las Vegas Wranglers were denied a new lease by the Orleans Arena and suspended operations for a year while trying to secure a new facility , they had several fairly absurd propositions for new venues. Billy Johnson, who ran the show for the Wranglers, was a pretty creative guy in game promotions. He also was in coming up with ideas for a new venue for his team. I remember one being the construction of an ice arena on the roof top at the Plaza Hotel in downtown Vegas. There were a couple of others that I can't recall now that were pretty "creative" with little to no change of coming to fruition.

IIRC, Vegas ended up with a new hockey team in some other league shortly after the Wranglers gave up on finding a new facility and called it a day.
 
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Cyclones Rock said:
While not a new team or a one-and-doner, the travails of the Las Vegas Wrangles in trying to find a new home after being expelled from their old arena probably fits within this topic.

After the Las Vegas Wranglers were denied a new lease by the Orleans Arena and suspended operations for a year while trying to secure a new facility , they had several fairly absurd propositions for new venues. Billy Johnson, who ran the show for the Wranglers, was a pretty creative guy in game promotions. He also was in coming up with ideas for a new venue for his team. I remember one being the construction of an ice arena on the roof top at the Plaza Hotel in downtown Vegas. There were a couple of others that I can't recall now that were pretty "creative" with little to no change of coming to fruition.

IIRC, Vegas ended up with a new hockey team in some other league shortly after the Wranglers gave up on finding a new facility and called it a day.
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I wanted to see that rooftop plan come together just for the sheer absurdity of it. I get the sense that the brainchild of that plan had just been on a toke or coke bender. But that would have been classic.
 
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PCSPounder said:
I wanted to see that rooftop plan come together just for the sheer absurdity of it. I get the sense that the brainchild of that plan had just been on a toke or coke bender. But that would have been classic.
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Me too. We were definitely going to make a trip out there to see a game if they managed to pull it off. There were actual proposals drawn up, with 3-D renderings and engineering plans for how the extra weight on the roof would be supported. Sort of a semi-permanent installation of a temporary rink, with bleachers and a tent type structure to contain the conditioned air. IIRC the building has a section with a larger footprint that is only a couple stories, and then a smaller tower that rises much higher. The rink was going to be on that lower roof that covers a pool/restaurant/parking structure type area.
 
Cyclones Rock said:
While not a new team or a one-and-doner, the travails of the Las Vegas Wrangles in trying to find a new home after being expelled from their old arena probably fits within this topic.

After the Las Vegas Wranglers were denied a new lease by the Orleans Arena and suspended operations for a year while trying to secure a new facility , they had several fairly absurd propositions for new venues. Billy Johnson, who ran the show for the Wranglers, was a pretty creative guy in game promotions. He also was in coming up with ideas for a new venue for his team. I remember one being the construction of an ice arena on the roof top at the Plaza Hotel in downtown Vegas. There were a couple of others that I can't recall now that were pretty "creative" with little to no change of coming to fruition.

IIRC, Vegas ended up with a new hockey team in some other league shortly after the Wranglers gave up on finding a new facility and called it a day.
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Las Vegas Wranglers to build new arena on Plaza Hotel roof - Arena Digest

No hockey at the Plaza; Wranglers seek another venue
 
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Getting back to failed expansion bids, I recall reading a one upon a time that Burlington, Vermont was in the mix for an echl team. Obviously the lack of a suitable arena was a major stumbling block, but I always thought that city would be a great candidate for a pro team.
 
ForsbergForever said:
Getting back to failed expansion bids, I recall reading a one upon a time that Burlington, Vermont was in the mix for an echl team. Obviously the lack of a suitable arena was a major stumbling block, but I always thought that city would be a great candidate for a pro team.
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The biggest stumbling block is the fact it is Catamounts country and the college hockey team is top and will always be top. The metro area is about 200,000 people sparsely populated over a large geographic area. The only non-collegiate competition in town is a baseball team that plays over the summer when school is out, the only time they can actually attract a fanbase.

Small market with insurmountable competition makes Burlington an exceptionally poor candidate for a pro hockey team.
 
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ForsbergForever said:
Getting back to failed expansion bids, I recall reading a one upon a time that Burlington, Vermont was in the mix for an echl team. Obviously the lack of a suitable arena was a major stumbling block, but I always thought that city would be a great candidate for a pro team.
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The Fed tried Vermont as well, albeit not Burlington, but Morrisville about an hour east. With a population of under 2,000, the team failed in 10 games. I do not think Vermont will host pro hockey anytime soon as long as the only suitable arena is host to both the mens and womens Catamount teams.
 
Just found something interesting. The Atlantic City Admirals. Apparently, when Norfolk (then known as Hampton Roads) was going to go to the AHL, the franchise was going to move to Atlantic City. They even had a logo drawn up and everything. Instead, for some reason or another (can't find too much on the subject), the team went dormant for a season, then moved to Columbus for the 2001-02 season. After the 2000-01 season, the Birmingham Bulls picked up and moved to Atlantic City to become the Boardwalk Bullies. Who has the story of what happened with the relocations and why the Admirals never played a game in AC?
 
Atlantian said:
Just found something interesting. The Atlantic City Admirals. Apparently, when Norfolk (then known as Hampton Roads) was going to go to the AHL, the franchise was going to move to Atlantic City. They even had a logo drawn up and everything. Instead, for some reason or another (can't find too much on the subject), the team went dormant for a season, then moved to Columbus for the 2001-02 season. After the 2000-01 season, the Birmingham Bulls picked up and moved to Atlantic City to become the Boardwalk Bullies. Who has the story of what happened with the relocations and why the Admirals never played a game in AC?
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Norfolk posters aren't usually active here as they once were, if there were any that chimed in, but their fan pages might have an more direct answer to that really....

but this was before Norfolk insisted on that being a part of the franchise, and one reason why the regional moniker faded away....

as I recall back then... Washington was the affiliate partner before Chicago bought the rights and upgraded the franchise, before Rockford became the centerpiece of that relationship....

it may have been simply the timing and how the ECHL was run late under the Kelly regime as it transitioned to McKenna, and now Crelin.... you have to remember the then ownership of Garcia and Johnson were running the Admirals and before Ken Young stabilized the franchise... it also could have something to do with the regulation that if an ECHL Franchise fails or is relocated... the ECHL has the option for five years on that market...
 
CHRDANHUTCH said:
Norfolk posters aren't usually active here as they once were, if there were any that chimed in, but their fan pages might have an more direct answer to that really....

but this was before Norfolk insisted on that being a part of the franchise, and one reason why the regional moniker faded away....

as I recall back then... Washington was the affiliate partner before Chicago bought the rights and upgraded the franchise, before Rockford became the centerpiece of that relationship....

it may have been simply the timing and how the ECHL was run late under the Kelly regime as it transitioned to McKenna, and now Crelin.... you have to remember the then ownership of Garcia and Johnson were running the Admirals and before Ken Young stabilized the franchise... it also could have something to do with the regulation that if an ECHL Franchise fails or is relocated... the ECHL has the option for five years on that market...
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ok, this is what I found @Atlantian:

the merger of the CHL, and WSHL is what caused the demise of the Columbus Cottonmouths as members of the ECHL FROM 2001-04 after the ownership of the HR Admirals was abandoned when the AHL and the Blackhawks acquired the AHL Admirals franchise (now in San Diego); there never was an agreement or proposal brought to the ECHL to take the dormant ECHL Admirals 1st franchise to AC.

THE Current ECHL Admirals franchise arrived from Edmonton via Anaheim, because at the time, neither Anaheim nor Arizona were in the owner/operation business that trend that claimed much of the Eastern teams with the advent of the Pacific Division in 2014/15... which is why IT BECAME reality in that off season once LA/SJ agreed to help faciliate the creation of the AHL'S Western movement and the Pacific Division... and the caveat as to why 68 games became the norm standard for those franchises as compared to the original 80, then revised to 76, which is what the rest of the league has since then...

the loss of affiliates and the demise of the OKC Blazers, which is why Edmonton created the OKC Barons by AHL MANDATE or face the revocation of the affiliate which had remained dormant ad infinitum after the failed run in Toronto's backyard AROUND THE TIME as well as the NHL Lockout of 2004.... (this is why the Marlies now are in Toronto today... rather than St. John's/Newfoundland).... the Condors AHL team went there to Bakersfield...

the AHL released their master schedule like they've always done, even if the NHL had been locked down.... and then Edmonton pulled a fast one by abruptly switching their affiliate from Toronto to Edmonton to replace the locked out Oilers, which drew the ire of the AHL.... THERE was also a ridiculous 5 way Oiler prospect developmental affiliation for a year thrown in to this at one point.... now you know why the defensive posture some posters take about New Jersey, AND to a degree, Calgary, that's where it generates from...
 
First off, I wanted to figure out if the old Fresno Falcons owners still owned the Grizzlies when the baseball reorganization nailed them. On the way there, I found this (even though the subject matter relates more to the AHL than to the ECHL). Interesting to say the least. Since I really wasn’t giving this board the attention at that point, maybe you saw this and I didn’t.

Puck dropped: How failed hockey bid adds to Fresno Convention Center drama

Anyway... the Falcons folded some months after they moved back into Selland Arena. That move was based on about $5 million in renovations the city made to Selland while Save Mart Arena remained devoted to Fresno State athletics.

The same people owned the Falcons and the Grizzlies. Obviously, the folding caused problems between the city and the ownership given the debt the city had at the ballpark. By 2012, the ownership announced they would sell the Grizzlies... and it took 5 and a half years between that announcement and an actual sale to occur. New ownership has been rewarded for this with their team demoted to Low A ball.

At least that’s my understanding of the details. The article indicates the city has gotten over the last set of issues, though they are obviously trying to sell people on Selland. Maybe a gut-and-rebuild would help?
 
Nordekes said:
Wicomico County may have an ice hockey team by 2018

Not sure if this progressed far enough to count, but the Salisbury/Ocean City, MD area was bandied about a few years back
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all that was was conjecture by Monumental after what was tried in Baltimore, it's never gotten real traction at either level since the Ducks tried it in Baltimore, then made the unfortunate error by trying to take on Cincinnati's established Cyclones
 
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