NCAA to allow CHL players to play hockey?

[TheLegend]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1843802502799733012

 

[jigglysquishy]

There's going to be at least one team that will end up in the WHL. But a more humble league similar to a wealthier SJHL is the most likely future.

I could see a second island team being attractive just with travel.

 

[LadyStanley]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1844391400223408223

USHL commissioner interview

 

[jetsmooseice]

There's going to be at least one team that will end up in the WHL. But a more humble league similar to a wealthier SJHL is the most likely future.

I could see a second island team being attractive just with travel.

Who would end up in the WHL other than Penticton? Penticton is the only place in the BCHL that arguably has all the ingredients making them pretty much a slam dunk... good market size, big modern building, good track record, not infringing on another market.

Every place else is missing at least one piece. Chilliwack is very close to Langley, is a second Lower Mainland team going to be allowed to fly? Cranbrook has the building, but it is on the smaller size and the WHL has struggled there in the past. Brooks, Vernon and Nanaimo don't have sufficient buildings - if they get WHL teams, then bring back the Winnipeg ICE with an apology from the league.

The WHL could probably stand to add a couple of teams given that the talent pool will expand with the NCAA's changes, but they aren't adding an entire division. At least not yet.

 

[MeHateHe]

Who would end up in the WHL other than Penticton? Penticton is the only place in the BCHL that arguably has all the ingredients making them pretty much a slam dunk... good market size, big modern building, good track record, not infringing on another market.

Every place else is missing at least one piece. Chilliwack is very close to Langley, is a second Lower Mainland team going to be allowed to fly? Cranbrook has the building, but it is on the smaller size and the WHL has struggled there in the past. Brooks, Vernon and Nanaimo don't have sufficient buildings - if they get WHL teams, then bring back the Winnipeg ICE with an apology from the league.

The WHL could probably stand to add a couple of teams given that the talent pool will expand with the NCAA's changes, but they aren't adding an entire division. At least not yet.

Penticton is too close to Kelowna; again, they will have too much crossover on corporate sponsors and Kelowna's owner is strong enough to have a virtual - if not literal - veto on another team in the south Okanagan. There never zero chance of anything (outside of the Leafs winning a second round) but the likelihood of Penticton coming to the WHL is very low.

Chilliwack remains a viable option. Its proximity to Langley is less of a barrier than Penticton's proximity to Kelowna, because there isn't the same interconnectedness between the two cities. Chilliwack sees itself as separate from Vancouver entirely, where as Langley, while still in the valley, is more drawn to the rest of the lower mainland. Nanaimo remains an option if they can find someone willing to risk their own money on a rink. Frank Crane is too small (still 50% bigger than that Winnipeg rink), although one suspects the league would gladly bend their rules on a promise of that a new rink was coming, especially if they could drive a knife into the BCHL in the process - and eliminating the Clippers franchise would sting the Junior A league.

 

[jetsmooseice]

Penticton is too close to Kelowna; again, they will have too much crossover on corporate sponsors and Kelowna's owner is strong enough to have a virtual - if not literal - veto on another team in the south Okanagan. There never zero chance of anything (outside of the Leafs winning a second round) but the likelihood of Penticton coming to the WHL is very low.

Chilliwack remains a viable option. Its proximity to Langley is less of a barrier than Penticton's proximity to Kelowna, because there isn't the same interconnectedness between the two cities. Chilliwack sees itself as separate from Vancouver entirely, where as Langley, while still in the valley, is more drawn to the rest of the lower mainland. Nanaimo remains an option if they can find someone willing to risk their own money on a rink. Frank Crane is too small (still 50% bigger than that Winnipeg rink), although one suspects the league would gladly bend their rules on a promise of that a new rink was coming, especially if they could drive a knife into the BCHL in the process - and eliminating the Clippers franchise would sting the Junior A league.

I suppose the strongest argument for Penticton is the Vees' existence as a thriving entity... they already have sponsors, ticket buyers and an overall fanbase. That more or less proves their viability, it would not be a huge step up from where they are now to the WHL.

I guess Chilliwack could work but it seems harder for junior hockey to break through in urban areas which tend to have much more crowded sports and entertainment markets. The Giants don't really have it easy, adding another team to the mix could be a recipe for trouble, especially when you consider that the Giants, Abbotsford Canucks and Chilliwack would be competing for basically much of the same fanbase.

Nanaimo would be in the same situation that Winnipeg was in... a desirable market without a proper junior arena. I guess the big difference is that the ICE couldn't really get anyone to build them an arena because they were so far down the sports pecking order here. But it's easy to imagine Nanaimo building a new arena as a major civic amenity that the WHL could use. I wonder if the WHL would be prepared to let a team play at Frank Crane for several years until that happens, though.

 

[MeHateHe]

I suppose the strongest argument for Penticton is the Vees' existence as a thriving entity... they already have sponsors, ticket buyers and an overall fanbase. That more or less proves their viability, it would not be a huge step up from where they are now to the WHL.

It isn't that Penticton couldn't support the team. It's that Bruce Holland, who owns the Rockets, is also the WHL board chair, and he would never let someone come in and carve out something from what he sees as his territory.

I guess Chilliwack could work but it seems harder for junior hockey to break through in urban areas which tend to have much more crowded sports and entertainment markets. The Giants don't really have it easy, adding another team to the mix could be a recipe for trouble, especially when you consider that the Giants, Abbotsford Canucks and Chilliwack would be competing for basically much of the same fanbase.

I meant to add in that Chiefs have a stranglehold on the market, and the building. I don't think they're terribly interested in another foray in the WHL.

But it's easy to imagine Nanaimo building a new arena as a major civic amenity that the WHL could use. I wonder if the WHL would be prepared to let a team play at Frank Crane for several years until that happens, though.

Frank Crane is a decent rink that seats about 2,300, just a touch smaller than Prince Albert's barn, but Nanaimo could absolutely support a larger facility, one that could attract shows (aside from hockey). Keep in mind that the population from Duncan to the north end of the island - which would be the market for arena concerts and other shows - is in the range of 400,000, so while that might not be where hockey fans come from, it would certainly factor into the economics of building an events facility that includes a hockey arena. Voters resoundingly rejected a referendum on a new arena, so any new building will have to be built with private money. But if the WHL Clippers or Islanders or whatever could survive a couple of years in Frank Crane while someone was rounding up private funding for a new facility, it could turn into a real draw for the mid- and north-Island.

 

[jetsmooseice]

It isn't that Penticton couldn't support the team. [snip]

Thank you for those insights, that was an exceptionally informative post.

 

[Takuto Maruki]

The Giants don't really have it easy, adding another team to the mix could be a recipe for trouble, especially when you consider that the Giants, Abbotsford Canucks and Chilliwack would be competing for basically much of the same fanbase.

As someone who has lived in the GVRD, I doubt that the Giants, Abby Canucks and Chilliwack WHL team would be fighting *that* much for space if it came to fruition. Langley is rapidly growing (especially the area around the LEC, as my friend would attest) and for most people, Abbotsford is simply a far flung place that's better served driven through on the way to Cultus Lake, or towards the interior. Even with the big club downtown, most people in Surrey, Richmond, Delta, etc. aren't at all making the trip down Highway 1 to watch Abby Canucks hockey, and that's being generous. The same can be said for Chilliwack, tbh.

Frank Crane is a decent rink that seats about 2,300, just a touch smaller than Prince Albert's barn, but Nanaimo could absolutely support a larger facility, one that could attract shows (aside from hockey). Keep in mind that the population from Duncan to the north end of the island - which would be the market for arena concerts and other shows - is in the range of 400,000, so while that might not be where hockey fans come from, it would certainly factor into the economics of building an events facility that includes a hockey arena. Voters resoundingly rejected a referendum on a new arena, so any new building will have to be built with private money. But if the WHL Clippers or Islanders or whatever could survive a couple of years in Frank Crane while someone was rounding up private funding for a new facility, it could turn into a real draw for the mid- and north-Island.

Yeah, I feel like this is the best case scenario for Nanaimo as a WHL expansion team, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's what the WHL ultimately demands for any team to begin to prevent another Winnipeg fiasco.