OHL Expansion

[frontsfan67]

As someone who's a season ticket holder in Grand Rapids, AHL hockey is not better than OHL hockey. There's almost nothing to get invested in as a fan unless its the few future NHLers that a team may have. Guys move up and down all the time. You're never quite sure how good your team is. Is mostly NHL 4th liners playing 4th liner hockey. Rivalries don't mean as much. Like Chicago and Rockford are our rivals, but I don't really care about them. With OHL hockey you're keeping an eye on draft rankings, WJC squads/tourneys, real regional rivalries, you know where you're team stands going into the season, there's exciting play/actual skill on display.

I don’t watch much ahl so I shouldn’t have called it better but more experienced. Still weird one is professional hockey and I believe the O is amateur hockey and both are similar price

 

[LeProspector]

if you market the team correctly off the hop don’t see how you wouldn’t be able to draw a good crowd night in and out.
most of those teams in Detroit failed before social media exploded In popularity. And if they’re an expansion team, instead of a relocation I imagine it’ll drum up more interest.

If the OHL is serious about growing a team in Detroit, you have to make sure some serious talent is on the team in the formative years. So make sure they get the #1 pick in their inaugural OHL draft.

Is it fair to the other OHL teams, no but growing, and having a successful team in Detroit only helps the other franchises. Just throwing out ideas.

 

[frontsfan67]

If the OHL is serious about growing a team in Detroit, you have to make sure some serious talent is on the team in the formative years. So make sure they get the #1 pick in their inaugural OHL draft.

Is it fair to the other OHL teams, no but growing, and having a successful team in Detroit only helps the other franchises. Just throwing out ideas.

Definitely disagree with this one. Give them a top 5 pick yes, definitely not 1st overall that wouldn’t be fair to the other 4 teams.regardless I don’t see them trying out that experiment anytime soon

 

[LeProspector]

Definitely disagree with this one. Give them a top 5 pick yes, definitely not 1st overall that wouldn’t be fair to the other 4 teams.

In the long run, it’ll make sense. If a team in Detroit is successful, the rest of the league’s teams only go up in value and the ownership of the 4 other teams don’t care as much about picking one spot lower for that one year. Does it suck not having a chance at #1 for the year? Yeah. But for the betterment of the league as a whole it could be.

regardless I don’t see them trying out that experiment anytime soon

Agreed.

 

[EvenSteven]

Definitely disagree with this one. Give them a top 5 pick yes, definitely not 1st overall that wouldn’t be fair to the other 4 teams.regardless I don’t see them trying out that experiment anytime soon

Unless I’m mistaken, expansion teams have always gotten the first overall pick in their inaugural season.

When Detroit first got their franchise, the Detroit Ambassadors, they had the first overall pick. They took local Michigan player, Pat Peake. He was a star in the league, but didn’t do anything for attendance.

 

[three dog night]

Out of curiosity watch the USHL game last night in Muskegon looks like a nice arena and OHL ready only concern is the distance . Youngstown Ohio should be fine

 

[three dog night]

Wasn’t there supposed to be a new arena being built in Markham

 

[Kingpin794]

Out of curiosity watch the USHL game last night in Muskegon looks like a nice arena and OHL ready only concern is the distance . Youngstown Ohio should be fine

I think both of these cities are off the table until USA hockey and the CHL patch things up. And that could be a while.

 

[donjohnson]

Out of curiosity watch the USHL game last night in Muskegon looks like a nice arena and OHL ready only concern is the distance

Distance is for sure a concern. It will be another long trip for many teams especially if it's a Sunday getaway day. Even from Saginaw it's a 3hr bus ride to Muskegon...Flint's about 2.5hrs to get there. So a theoretical division game with Saginaw and Muskegon the players are getting home at probably 1am if the weather is good. Compare that with Flint, Sarnia and Windsor and you're home before midnight. I've done the back and forth to Sarnia a few times over the years and it's a pretty easy drive even with the border crossing. I wouldn't do that for a Muskegon trip, I'd have to spend the night over there.

 

[LeProspector]

Rochester is being rumoured as an expansion team.

 

[the dog]

Rochester is being rumoured as an expansion team.

Have an Ahl team don't think they can support 2 franchises

 

[LeProspector]

Have an Ahl team don't think they can support 2 franchises

 

[the dog]

Their average attendance this year was 569

 

[howler2]

Talking expansion when a large group of players are going NCAA does make no sence . This league will be nothing more than a midget league . It will be 16,17 year old players

 

[Kingpin794]

Talking expansion when a large group of players are going NCAA does make no sence . This league will be nothing more than a midget league . It will be 16,17 year old players

The OHL could add 2 teams right now, add zero NHL prospects in the process, and still not dilute the talent enough to be below the previous 5 year average talent concentration. There is certainly room to grow.

 

[OMG67]

The OHL could add 2 teams right now, add zero NHL prospects in the process, and still not dilute the talent enough to be below the previous 5 year average talent concentration. There is certainly room to grow.

And participation is continuing to grow heavily in the USA. The volume of players is increasing. Not to mention the additional Imports. They’ve gone from 2 to 3 and most teams have three quality Imports. And that was without any Russians.

 

[howler2]

The OHL could add 2 teams right now, add zero NHL prospects in the process, and still not dilute the talent enough to be below the previous 5 year average talent concentration. There is certainly room to grow.

Mention that to London, Windsor and Brantford .

 

[bobber]

I think the CHL should hold off on expansion until the smoke clears with the rules allowing skilled players to leave franchises to go to college. It has thrown a wrench in the system. Fans of the CHL are use to a higher standard of skill. How do the powers that be keep that level up without it becoming a glorified their two watered down game.

 

[three dog night]

Niagara Falls NewYork getting closer to building a new arenahttps://www.wkbw.com/niagara-county/niagara-falls-and-nfr-agree-on-settlement-for-city-owned-arena-and-nfr-data-center

 

[the dog]

Still think Cornwall is next either relocation or expansion

 

[Kingpin794]

Niagara Falls NewYork getting closer to building a new arenahttps://www.wkbw.com/niagara-county/niagara-falls-and-nfr-agree-on-settlement-for-city-owned-arena-and-nfr-data-center

Nice there' a settlement. Sounds though like it may be another year or two before shovels are even in the ground. Then you have to guess another 2 seasons for construction. While this is encouraging, it's probably something that is nearly 4-5 years out.

 

[frontsfan67]

Still think Cornwall is next either relocation or expansion

Brampton -> Cornwall

 

[the dog]

Brampton -> Cornwall

That's my guess

 

[tomschman]

As this develops, there seems to be 5 cities that are concluded to be the 4 expansion cities and a relocation target for Brampton. Cornwall, Chatham, Niagara Fall (NY), Oakville and Vaughn are the 5 cities. I am not sold on 4 of these.

Cornwall - I have the least concern about Cornwall. They have an arena, but it does need updates. They had a successful run with the Aces in the 70s and 80s. When they upgrade their arena, this has the makings of a successful franchise. The biggest downside is its location. It is on the periphery of the league's footprint. However, there will always be teams on the periphery. Soo, Saginaw, Erie and Ottawa fall into that category and are all successful. Cornwall does fit well with Ottawa and Kingston.

Chatham - They need an arena, but plans for a new arena are slowly moving forward. I question the size of the area and the fact that they have teams that are in close proximity to 3 other OHL teams. Their fanbase will be primarily Kent County which is limited and some of those people are already Sarnia, London or Windsor fans. These fans may become Chatham fans, or they may stay loyal to the teams that they already follow.

Niagara Falls (NY) - St. Catherines has a team and is less than 20 miles away, so I have a concern that they will get little support form Niagara Falls, Ont. Niagara Falls (Ont) has lost several teams due to lack of support. I believe that Sudbury, Saginaw and Erie were all once in Niagara Falls. The question is will Buffalo support this team. Buffalo has an NHL team and cities with major league teams often do not support Junior Hockey.

Vaughn and Oakville - I will address these two together. My question is the mindset of the population in each of these cities. These cities are similar to Brampton, Mississauga and Plymouth. They are suburbs of a large city with an NHL team. Oshawa falls into the same situation, but the people of Oshawa see themselves as part of Oshawa and not the GTA. Oshawa takes pride in supporting the Generals. Plymouth was never successful because people living in Plymouth see themselves as part of a major city and not part of the smaller suburb. If someone in Plymouth said they were going to the hockey game, they were talking the Red Wings not the Whalers. I don't have a feel for how this will work out. If they have the Oshawa scenario, they will be very successful.

I have a problem finding any additional viable cities. Thunder Bay doesn't fit geographically, and every possible US city has a USHL team of a pro team.