Heat Moving?

[Carty]

It looks like this time the rumors were true...

 

The Flames have pulled the Heat out of Abby as of the end of this season...   http://flames.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=714899

 

[travel_dude]

That is always a concern & possibles in Alberta or Sask. already have WHL teams. Ideally you want your AHL team realively close for when you need callups.

If the Heat were moved I wonder if the market would be receptive in Montana.

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When the agreement with St. John's ends in 2015 it looks like the Jets will place their AHL team (currently the Icecaps but that's a name chosen by the NL crowd) to Thunder Bay Ont. Closer proximity, built in fan base as west Ont. considers itself more Mb. then Ont. (still occasional petitions for them to join MB.) & no WHL competition.

Callups is one issue.  Having them close by so you can keep tabs on your prospects is another.  The problem with Abby was the travel schedule caused them to miss ~45 days of available days off/practice days.  Having them play in the midst of their division geographically probably makes more sense to the team.

[kehatch]

I know it won't happen.  But I would really like to see the Heat in the Calgary area.  I would go to a bunch of games personally.  But with the Flames owning the NHL and CHL teams in Calgary I can't see them adding another.  Saskatoon is another option but they have the Blades so that poses similar issues.  

 

Calgary isn't a draw outside of Calgary or our of a hockey market without a hockey team (i.e. Saskatoon).  You can put them out east, but the attendance just won't be there.  The AHL is a tough sell to fans at the best of times.  It is a rotating line up and your best players get called away constantly.  If you aren't a fan of the NHL team it is feeding it is even a tougher sell.  

[tmac70]

Why dont the flames just move to one of the saskatchewan cities? The AHL average attendance is about 6000 and abbotsford was well below that level:

http://www.hockeyattendance.com/league/ahl/2012/?sort=avg_att

 

If the saskatoon blades can get 6000 out to one of their games, surely an AHL team as well: http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph.php?tmi=7897

 

This way the flames have close recalls and its an extension of their market. They have the buildings to support it like the Credit Union Centre: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_indoor_arenas_in_Canada

 

Only real reason not to is if the worry is about impacting the blades.

Being from Sask, there is no way Saskatoon would support a AHL team, nor would Regina for that matter. They stat numbers you see are from season tickets holders mostly. I have been to games where there is hardly 2000 people in the building.

[robrob1974]

How many times have the Flames moved the farm team in the last few years? Saint John, Omaha, Abbotsford...this is ridiculous.  The city of Abbotsford signed a 10 year deal with the Heat, and like any contract, it should be honoured.

 

Ken King said there's a line between Moral and Law and that the moral wins for the Flames organization because they don't want to keep putting Abbotsford into debt. The city has forked over something like 15million to add to the cost of running the Heat. So it's just better the Flames move their affiliate in good faith to the city. 

Being from Sask, there is no way Saskatoon would support a AHL team, nor would Regina for that matter. They stat numbers you see are from season tickets holders mostly. I have been to games where there is hardly 2000 people in the building.

 

On top of that, they Blades would be ran out of town… Also not a good idea. 

[The_People1]

Like i said before, build an arena in Airdrie.

 

Airdrie is kinda booming with 42,000 residence.  Many Flames fans from Calgary also would help make up the rest of the attendance if residence from Airdrie cannot.  A 10,000 seat arena would do and all it has to do is break even financially.  There's a lot of open land to be had there so real estate is inexpensive.

 

Call-ups would be easier than ever.  The Calgary International Airport is also a convenience to Airdrie.

[cross16]

I think if an arena were to be built with public money the flames may be interested it but I can't see them putting out the cash. AHL teams probably break even at the best of times so I can't see the flames taking the risk especially when it's very Likely going to take away from the Hitmen fan base so all in all they are likely going to wind up losing on the deal.

I'm actually pretty happy about this decision. Sure it was nice having the heat close by but their insane travel led to almost no practice time according to ward and I'd rather have an AHL tan a little further away but way more time for practice and less travel. Increased travel also leads to more in juries which has been a small concern on the heat for me too.