ECHL San Francisco Bulls - new franchise 2012-2013
PollakOnSharks 1:10pm via Web ECHL says the Cow Palace will be home to one of its teams in 2012-13. A warm Bay Area welcome, please, for your San Francisco Bulls.
Wonder how well this will work to be honest. The ECHL West to me seems like it's future is in doubt. I have to wonder how much longer these teams can continue affording to fly and what not.
Wonder how well this will work to be honest. The ECHL West to me seems like it's future is in doubt. I have to wonder how much longer these teams can continue affording to fly and what not.
We know you are not a fan of the west coast teams, but these teams have been flying since the formation of the WCHL in 1995-96, so it is nothing new to them.
Wonder how well this will work to be honest. The ECHL West to me seems like it's future is in doubt. I have to wonder how much longer these teams can continue affording to fly and what not.
Most teams in the west do not fly everywhere. Vegas drives to all the California cities, even Stockton. They fly to Idaho, Alaska, and now Colorado. For the new San Francisco franchise, if they are smart with the schedule, whenever a team goes to Stockton, just have them bus across to SF. The Cow Palace is a horrible building for hockey, even though the Sharks played there. The sight lines are terrible, and the parking/traffic is bad too. But for ECHL hockey it could work. Didn't work in the IHL with the Spiders though.
The Cow Palace is one of the most famous arenas in the world. Perhaps you should do some research before you make that kind of comment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_Palace
We know you are not a fan of the west coast teams, but these teams have been flying since the formation of the WCHL in 1995-96, so it is nothing new to them.
Let's put it this way, I have never said that I am NOT a fan of the West teams. However I do think it's stupid for a AA league to think a cross country league will work long term. Especially when the 2 conferences hardly ever play in season. It's almost 2 different leagues anyway.
If you look at the ECHL and AHL Team Directory Pages I think you would say the league titles are messed up. The AHL should be the ECHL and the ECHL should be the AHL.
A cross country league in the minors only makes sense in the AHL in the long term IMO because you have the NHL backing(with a lot of AHL Franchises NHL Owned)
The Cow Palace is one of the most famous arenas in the world. Perhaps you should do some research before you make that kind of comment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_Palace
See above. Terrible sight lines for Hockey. Famous or not if it doesn't fullfill it's intended purpose then the point is irrelevant and matters next to nothing.
Kind of bummed they aren't playing in Oakland, though I understand the various schedule issues with the Warriors. I feel like their key draw would be the families and folks of the East Bay, and the Cow Palace isn't very easy to get to during rush hour. Its too bad there isn't even one more small quality arena in the area, like the San Jose Event Center (at SJSU). That said, I'll probably aim for a few games at least, when the Aces and Thunder come to town.
Most teams in the west do not fly everywhere. Vegas drives to all the California cities, even Stockton. They fly to Idaho, Alaska, and now Colorado. For the new San Francisco franchise, if they are smart with the schedule, whenever a team goes to Stockton, just have them bus across to SF. The Cow Palace is a horrible building for hockey, even though the Sharks played there. The sight lines are terrible, and the parking/traffic is bad too. But for ECHL hockey it could work. Didn't work in the IHL with the Spiders though.
The building wasn't the reason the Spiders failed. Their management was poor and they came in too quickly after the Sharks came to town. The Sharks made a lot of Sharks fans right away but it took years to make "hockey fans" out of the people in the Bay Area. I've watched the Shamrocks, Sharks and Spiders all play there. It's not great but it will do for now. The weeks after the circus and NFR are not great but other than that they will survive.
The Cow Palace is certainly not a state of the art building but it will do until they see what they can create for a fan base. This might be the right time to bring a cheaper alternative to the area. The Sharks have created plenty of hockey fans now but Sharks tickets are not easy to get or cheap to buy. With the economy the way it is and with the North Bay virtually untouched by the Sharks starting in the Cow Palace seems like a good idea to me. Spend a couple years and find out where your fan base comes from and then decide on a permenant home if you want. The city alone should attract enough good players to field a good team. Hopefully they market it well and really put in the work behind the scenes.
It's still a difficult place to get to for the North Bay folks but if the support is there maybe a place like Petaluma would be a future option. But at least in the beginning they should draw from all three directions. It's far enough away that it won't hurt Stockton but close enough to maybe start a rivalry that all the western ECHL haters think are missing out here.
The building wasn't the reason the Spiders failed. Their management was poor and they came in too quickly after the Sharks came to town.
For the record, I never said the Spiders failed because of the building. I went to one Spiders game when I lived there, and I just didn't enjoy watching the game there. The seats are not at enough of an incline so as spectators you are watching the game at more of an even level, rather than looking down like hockey buildings now. Don't get me wrong, for an ECHL team it is sufficient, and with all the talk of San Diego Sports Arena (or whatever it is called now) still being suitable, the Cow Palace is no worse.
All that being said, there is a market for minor league hockey there, as long as they can get to the building through the 101 traffic.
However I do think it's stupid for a AA league to think a cross country league will work long term. Especially when the 2 conferences hardly ever play in season..
*facepalm*
Do you HONESTLY not see the logical paradox between these two statements? I'm begging you, PLEASE start applying some critical thinking before you post.
Anyone know who is relocating there? Or if it is an expansion team...... Hopefully the west adds some CHL teams to even out those divisions now haha
Haven't seen anything except for Twitter posts. If its a new franchise then i'm sure the owners have paid the entry fee or something. IMO I bet it's just a new franchise considering the timing. How in Seotember of 2011 can you know whats going to happen in the summer of 2012? Unless a franchise has plans in place, i've heard several different rumors but you never know whats true.
Do you HONESTLY not see the logical paradox between these two statements? I'm begging you, PLEASE start applying some critical thinking before you post.
Looks like they are going with an SF Giants color scheme, plus gold (which they use sometimes anyway). It'll be good to see more Ducks' colors in the bay area.
New Franchise it will be. I don't have the time to do a search right now but who is this Pat Curcio guy? Apparently he's going to be the President, GM and Coach. I'm only interested because I wonder what connections he has in the Hockey world and being all 3 positions isn't easy.
New Franchise it will be. I don't have the time to do a search right now but who is this Pat Curcio guy? Apparently he's going to be the President, GM and Coach. I'm only interested because I wonder what connections he has in the Hockey world and being all 3 positions isn't easy.
Bumped around the low minors and overseas for 10 years. Coaching experience in Major Junior and a year as am assitant with the Grizzlies. I'd be more worried about the other 2 positions than I would with coaching.
For the record, I never said the Spiders failed because of the building. I went to one Spiders game when I lived there, and I just didn't enjoy watching the game there. The seats are not at enough of an incline so as spectators you are watching the game at more of an even level, rather than looking down like hockey buildings now. Don't get me wrong, for an ECHL team it is sufficient, and with all the talk of San Diego Sports Arena (or whatever it is called now) still being suitable, the Cow Palace is no worse.
All that being said, there is a market for minor league hockey there, as long as they can get to the building through the 101 traffic.
As someone who saw hockey at both the Cow Palace and San Diego Sports Arena.. Cow Palace has horrible sight lines + is a old dump, the Sports Arena is a dump with way better sight lines and a smaller rink
