Monarchs seek new ownership

[Nightsquad]

Not really, Hartford is definitely within the line of NYC influence rather than the Boston. The Munson-Nixon line has been shown to be pretty uniform for all Boston-New York sports loyalties, not just baseball. Interactive Map Shows Border Between Red Sox, Yankees Fans (Photo)

And you have to discount the Whalers diehards, there are some left but they're dying off quick. Most started following the Rangers and some gravitated towards Boston. Even fewer held out for the return of pro hockey. A decent number started following UConn hockey after becoming disillusioned with pro hockey. No one became a Hurricanes fan. It's a lot like Quebec City. There's some holdouts, but everyone under the age of 30 either quickly picked up the Canadiens or never grew up with the Nordiques.

If the Rangers do bolt from Hartford, I can pretty much only see them going for Albany or somewhere in the city. No other market that makes sense is open, or will likely be open soon.

I have no doubt the Rangers AHL team would do well in Albany. That area is Ranger's territory, never was it really Devils territory. The way the Devils ran their operation in Albany just sealed their fate. I have used the train between NYC and Albany, in 2.5 hours the Rangers can have their call ups in practically the basement of their arena without almost having to step foot outside of MSG lol. I think Albany wouldn't pass up that opportunity but it has to be the Rangers or nothing else. I believe the movers and shakers in Albany don't want to disrupt a good thing up in Glens Falls NY with the ECHL nearby in essentially the same market. They are doing a good thing in the ECHL with the Thunder, and Albany seems content with arena football being a huge draw, college basketball, and Albany is a attractive spot for major concerts. The Rangers in Albany would be awesome, but would hate to see how it may negativity affect the ECHL in Glens Falls, the AHL Rangers in Albany would be no joke, I can see that being a good draw.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

I have no doubt the Rangers AHL team would do well in Albany. That area is Ranger's territory, never was it really Devils territory. The way the Devils ran their operation in Albany just sealed their fate. I have used the train between NYC and Albany, in 2.5 hours the Rangers can have their call ups in practically the basement of their arena without almost having to step foot outside of MSG lol. I think Albany wouldn't pass up that opportunity but it has to be the Rangers or nothing else. I believe the movers and shakers in Albany don't want to disrupt a good thing up in Glens Falls NY with the ECHL nearby in essentially the same market. They are doing a good thing in the ECHL with the Thunder, and Albany seems content with arena football being a huge draw, college basketball, and Albany is a attractive spot for major concerts. The Rangers in Albany would be awesome, but would hate to see how it may negativity affect the ECHL in Glens Falls, the AHL Rangers in Albany would be no joke, I can see that being a good draw.

I agree, it's AHL Rangers or nothing for Albany. College basketball is a big draw there, certainly bigger than any hockey option that isn't the AHL Rangers. I'm curious as to how much Adirondack actually draws from Albany, it's about an hour drive. They surely get some of the hardcore fans, but I wonder how much they actually attract.

 

[Nightsquad]

I agree, it's AHL Rangers or nothing for Albany. College basketball is a big draw there, certainly bigger than any hockey option that isn't the AHL Rangers. I'm curious as to how much Adirondack actually draws from Albany, it's about an hour drive. They surely get some of the hardcore fans, but I wonder how much they actually attract.

Albany the city itself is small, doesn't even qualify as a medium size city. The city over built the arena, there was a huge public corruption case behind the arena build which originally called for a maximum capacity of 7500. The area is comprised of like 5 or 6 micro cities and the population count extends all the way north to Glens Falls. All the money of that area lies north of Albany in Saratoga County, about halfway between Albany and Glens Falls so I am sure the Devils departure provided a sizable boost to the ECHL. Looks like Adirondack benefited nicely. We might wanna check Adirondacks attendance numbers from when they started to the last two seasons after the Devils moved.

 

[Nightsquad]

Adirondack Thunder yearly attendance at hockeydb.com

As of this moment the bump appears to be almost 500 more on average after 2016. Not too bad, and will be more accurate at regular seasons end.

 

[BruinsFan37]

This thread is getting wayyyyy off-topic.

Question is, would be be cheaper/better for a new owner to let the Monarchs fold, and bring in an expansion team in a year or two, or buy the Monarchs and rebrand (an absolute must imho.) and take on the current Monarchs debt.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

This thread is getting wayyyyy off-topic.

Question is, would be be cheaper/better for a new owner to let the Monarchs fold, and bring in an expansion team in a year or two, or buy the Monarchs and rebrand (an absolute must imho.) and take on the current Monarchs debt.

short-term it won't be a rebrand..... and it has to be the existing club, because it hasn't violated league rules to terminate a franchise or let it fold a la Elmira.... it's 650K to get the League's interest as that what Worcester was charged, and that's not a guarantee you get a franchise, from what I understand, LA still has the option to stay if an owner is found, OR some OTHER NHL franchise ends an existing contract, OR lets that contract expire, hence the Atlanta/Boston CHATTER since Nashville is also in Atlanta...

why alienate the fans remaining by shutting down for a year, or more, and there's no way SNHU will let that happen

 

[Centrum Hockey]

This thread is getting wayyyyy off-topic.

Question is, would be be cheaper/better for a new owner to let the Monarchs fold, and bring in an expansion team in a year or two, or buy the Monarchs and rebrand (an absolute must imho.) and take on the current Monarchs debt.

The team needs a new name and affiliation they should probably take a year off and try to get fans to trust them again

 

[wildcat48]

This thread is getting wayyyyy off-topic.

Question is, would be be cheaper/better for a new owner to let the Monarchs fold, and bring in an expansion team in a year or two, or buy the Monarchs and rebrand (an absolute must imho.) and take on the current Monarchs debt.

I'm not sure it would be cheaper, but I'm not sure its even needed.... Not to you personally, but this topic has been beaten to death. The Monarchs trouble stem from a fanbase latching onto the Kings and growing complacent to the world of minor league hockey. Cities like Worcester and Portland were able to endure the change to the ECHL because the franchise was built from the ground up and both cities have experience at being shuffled around like a deck of cards whether it be the franchise or affiliation. The Kings tried to pull a fast one over on the fanbase and the fans responded with a giant single finger salute. The Kings could have allowed the fanbase an opportunity to have a say in the branding. They could have brought back the original color scheme or redesigned the logo or any myriad of options to give the fans the feeling they were involved. That's why attendance is terrible now.

If a new owner enters the picture along with the Bruins I suspect they will rebrand the team by adopting a new color scheme and perhaps a new logo. If they want to go drastic they might even change the name, but I suspect they'll keep the Monarchs name but adopt some form the Bruins scheme into the uniform.

We should know fairly soon what is going to happen because the schedule for next season is due out within the next couple months if not sooner.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

I'm not sure it would be cheaper, but I'm not sure its even needed.... Not to you personally, but this topic has been beaten to death. The Monarchs trouble stem from a fanbase latching onto the Kings and growing complacent to the world of minor league hockey. Cities like Worcester and Portland were able to endure the change to the ECHL because the franchise was built from the ground up and both cities have experience at being shuffled around like a deck of cards whether it be the franchise or affiliation. The Kings tried to pull a fast one over on the fanbase and the fans responded with a giant single finger salute. The Kings could have allowed the fanbase an opportunity to have a say in the branding. They could have brought back the original color scheme or redesigned the logo or any myriad of options to give the fans the feeling they were involved. That's why attendance is terrible now.

If a new owner enters the picture along with the Bruins I suspect they will rebrand the team by adopting a new color scheme and perhaps a new logo. If they want to go drastic they might even change the name, but I suspect they'll keep the Monarchs name but adopt some form the Bruins scheme into the uniform.

We should know fairly soon what is going to happen because the schedule for next season is due out within the next couple months if not sooner.

The monarchs name is poisoned beyond repair they should become the Manchester bruins assuming they get the affiliation.

 

[Woo Hockey]

We should know fairly soon what is going to happen because the schedule for next season is due out within the next couple months if not sooner.

May 14th should be the date, as it is usually released on the second Tuesday of May...

 

[Growlers]

I feel the ECHL is more exciting then AHL. The AHL is too "Structured" We had AHL here for years in St. John's, But I personaly like ECHL better.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

The thread has devolved into petty bickering, barely relevant examples, and is short on any actual news. If the conversation and speculation was productive it'd be one thing, but it's not. I'm closing this until some real news comes forward.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

SNHU Arena sells out concerts, but Monarchs struggle with attendance

 

[wildcat48]

I was just there Saturday for the Monarchs/Mariners game as part of a group that I planned and we were told the team is coming back next season. They signed an agreement to return to the ECHL as the LA Kings affiliate for one more season. The story doesn't change that from being the case, but it certain does throw into question how close deal is to being complete. Cheek certain sounds like a total tool so the sooner he's out of the picture the better for the franchise.

As for attendance, we've beaten to death why the Monarchs didn't do well in the switch from the AHL to the ECHL, but at the same time I think there has to be an expectation in New England that ECHL is not going to match what the AHL team did in its height. Portland had 16 straight sellouts in 1994-95 and averaged over 5,000 for much of the time until Petrovek really screwed up the franchise. Yet, we averaged over 3,000 for the Mariners and that was largely considered a success for this market. We have room to improve, however... it was a good first start.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

I was just there Saturday for the Monarchs/Mariners game as part of a group that I planned and we were told the team is coming back next season. They signed an agreement to return to the ECHL as the LA Kings affiliate for one more season. The story doesn't change that from being the case, but it certain does throw into question how close deal is to being complete. Cheek certain sounds like a total tool so the sooner he's out of the picture the better for the franchise.

As for attendance, we've beaten to death why the Monarchs didn't do well in the switch from the AHL to the ECHL, but at the same time I think there has to be an expectation in New England that ECHL is not going to match what the AHL team did in its height. Portland had 16 straight sellouts in 1994-95 and averaged over 5,000 for much of the time until Petrovek really screwed up the franchise. Yet, we averaged over 3,000 for the Mariners and that was largely considered a success for this market. We have room to improve, however... it was a good first start.

Same with the Icecats Worcester was doing great in the ahl until the Blues took over. The sharks was always going to be a temporary arrangement some good players did come through Worcester during the sharks era though like Logan Couture

 

[UNITEDINBLUE]

Monarchs for sale listing has been taken down from the website. Source:
\Teams For Sale

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Monarchs for sale listing has been taken down from the website. Source:
\Teams For Sale

Its been down since last week.The question now will be if the new owner acknowledges that the franchise needs fixing or it will be more of the same with generic pr statements and the status quo.

 

[BruinsFan37]

Just have to wait and see what the details of the sale are. At this point it could be that someone has bought the team to relocate it, bought the team and will re-brand it but stay in Manchester, or some sort of Majority/Minority involvement with Cheek still involved.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Aldermanic panel supports SNHU Arena request for $1.13 million in improvements

 

[crimsonace]

Aldermanic panel supports SNHU Arena request for $1.13 million in improvements

This could be taken at just about any game outside of a couple of markets (Toledo & Fort Wayne, for example). Playoff attendance is usually pretty low throughout all of minor pro hockey (and, for that matter, baseball).

Minor pro teams rely on group sales, advance sales, promotional nights, et al, which are very difficult to do when you have one or two days' notice. Your diehard fanbase of STH's is going to be there, but it's difficult to branch out beyond that.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

I feel the ECHL is more exciting then AHL. The AHL is too "Structured" We had AHL here for years in St. John's, But I personaly like ECHL better.

It's been a while since I've watched the AHL regularly, but I agree that the ECHL is a good product. There's enough skill, grit, fighting and scoring to keep me entertained.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

This could be taken at just about any game outside of a couple of markets (Toledo & Fort Wayne, for example). Playoff attendance is usually pretty low throughout all of minor pro hockey (and, for that matter, baseball).

Minor pro teams rely on group sales, advance sales, promotional nights, et al, which are very difficult to do when you have one or two days' notice. Your diehard fanbase of STH's is going to be there, but it's difficult to branch out beyond that.

Most people don't understand the dynamics of ECHL playoff attendance. I was thrilled when the Cyclones averaged almost 4000 for their first two home playoff games (Friday and Saturday games). They got a few over 2000 last night for the series decider vs. Kalamazoo-not great, but not bad given that there was a 3 day selling window.

Tomorrow's opener vs. Toledo might get 2000 if there are a few Toledo fans who venture down.

 

[Royalsflagrunner77]

To be honest I think it would be better to re-brand seeing all the comments about how there fans had issues with the organization under the kings . Plus it would also help other league fans from mixing up Readings and Manchester's logo . Do they were designed by the same person and were designed to purposely look similar.

 

[Gazoobz]

I've heard about a possible Boston affiliation in the future. As well as a rebrand... but not next season.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I've heard about a possible Boston affiliation in the future. As well as a rebrand... but not next season.

Boston's PDC IS EXPIRING that's why there likely won't ever be a rebrand, because why hasn't Reading rebranded since LA PULLED OUT of there, as well.... there's no confusion logo-wise either