If you had the opportunity to have a Hockey League, what would the name of the League be? What cities would be in it?
I'd call it the New World Hockey Association, and it would have teams that don't have hockey teams like Baltimore, Atlanta, San Diego, San Francisco, New Orleans, Orlando, Las Vegas, Portland, and Seattle to name a few.
A BIG IF...but IF the CHL goes under you need a league to rival the ECHL that offers like what the UHL/CHL were. Mostly for the vets who can still hack it, and to give the fans a non ECHL/AHL type product.
The FHL is a nice idea BUT PLEASE, higher quality skill and such, like the old UHL.
an old throwback to the Eastern Hockey League. AA bus league...8 teams, no vet rule, capped of course. And yes, I would poach existing ECHL towns for this league.
Teams:
"East"
Reading
Elmira
Trenton
Utica
"West"
Youngstown
Cincinnati
Toledo
Wheeling
If any AHL market were to give up the ghost in the NE, I'd entertain moving in...Adirondack would be a good place to go to name one.
I would not make the league bigger than 10-12 teams though. 70 game schedule...play everyone in the league 10 times. Top 6 make the playoffs.
senior representative league, top tier plays nationally, bottom tier(s) play within their province/state/region. 30 team national league (may contract or split east/west due to finances, but top 8 from each conference make playoffs. last two places in national league get relegated, all winners from provinces/states/regions play in a tournament for promotion
national league teams (most likely)
East:
Toronto, ON
Montreal, QC
Mississauga, ON
London, ON
Ottawa, ON
Quebec, QC
Laval, QC
Brampton, ON
Oakville, ON
Hamilton, ON
Burlington, ON
Sherbrooke, QC
Halifax, NS
Richmond Hill, ON
Rochester, NY
West:
Calgary, AB
Edmonton, AB
Winnipeg, MB
Saskatoon, SK
Regina, SK
Vancouver, BC
Anchorage, AK
Lethbridge, AB
Pittsburgh, PA
Red Deer, AB
Thunder Bay, ON
Victoria, BC
North Vancouver, BC
St Louis, MO
Kelowna, BC
an old throwback to the Eastern Hockey League. AA bus league...8 teams, no vet rule, capped of course. And yes, I would poach existing ECHL towns for this league.
Teams:
"East"
Reading
Elmira
Trenton
Utica
"West"
Youngstown
Cincinnati
Toledo
Wheeling
If any AHL market were to give up the ghost in the NE, I'd entertain moving in...Adirondack would be a good place to go to name one.
I would not make the league bigger than 10-12 teams though. 70 game schedule...play everyone in the league 10 times. Top 6 make the playoffs.
THIS.
Though i'm not familiar with the old EHL but this is similar to what i'd like. Give or take a few more than 10-12 teams
This is sorta the "heyday" of the EHL. Teams generally from Charlotte to New Haven.
Some of these markets wouldn't fly anymore -- no Long Island, New Haven, Clinton, Charlotte, or Philly (unless you put up arenas or poached teams from the AHL in Charlotte's case).
I could see a 10 team circuit working well -- markets like Richmond, Roanoke, Baltimore, and/or Johnstown would work.
This is sorta the "heyday" of the EHL. Teams generally from Charlotte to New Haven.
Some of these markets wouldn't fly anymore -- no Long Island, New Haven, Clinton, Charlotte, or Philly (unless you put up arenas or poached teams from the AHL in Charlotte's case).
I could see a 10 team circuit working well -- markets like Richmond, Roanoke, Baltimore, and/or Johnstown would work.
Nice. Wow, I had no idea the Charlotte Checkers were that old.
SHL and NAHL both failed after 76-77 and another Eastern League took over with the remnant of those teams. A couple of NAHL teams went into the AHL for a time. The mid 70's was pretty much fail city for minor league hockey outside of a few locations due to the crowded and expensive pro landscape with the WHA-NHL wars going on...there weren't many good markets to place teams with costs increasing quite a lot it was harder for the old bus leagues to make a go of it.
BTW (for those that didn't know), the NAHL was the league that Slap Shot was largely based off of.
Mine is more for cities that are big markets, but have NO NHL Franchises...so it'll be a Triple-A Franchise, and this is how it would look...
Quebec City
Hartford
Providence
Halifax, NS
Albany
Syracuse
Baltimore
Richmond, Virginia
Charlotte
Atlanta
Jacksonville
Orlando
Cleveland
Cincinnati
Indianapolis
Milwaukee
Kansas City
Birmingham, Alabama
New Orleans
Houston
San Antonio
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Sakstatoon
Salt Lake City
Las Vegas
San Diego
San Francisco
Sacremento
Portland, Oregon
Seattle
I still have to work how it'll be divided by divisions and conferences.
Mine is more for cities that are big markets, but have NO NHL Franchises...so it'll be a Triple-A Franchise, and this is how it would look...
Quebec City
Hartford
Providence
Halifax, NS
Albany
Syracuse
Baltimore
Richmond, Virginia
Charlotte
Atlanta
Jacksonville
Orlando
Cleveland
Cincinnati
Indianapolis
Milwaukee
Kansas City
Birmingham, Alabama
New Orleans
Houston
San Antonio
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Sakstatoon
Salt Lake City
Las Vegas
San Diego
San Francisco
Sacremento
Portland, Oregon
Seattle
I still have to work how it'll be divided by divisions and conferences.
Between you and akaces you have somehing here to Rival the A!
I tried to avoid markets that already had stable franchises in AA or juniors. The only exception is Kansas City because they could easily force out the CHL team.
Edit - Oh, and scratch Fairbanks and replace them with Yakima, WA. My bad.
Edit 2 - Swap West Virginia and Delaware for divisions. WV goes to the Atlantic, while Delaware goes to the Northeast.
I'd love to see AAA hockey in New Orleans, or AA back in Lafayette, LA (home of the Ice Gators who averaged over 11k attendance for 2 years in a row, and then 2 more of right under 10k- but now can barely draw 2k to the SPHL). I think if the skill level of hockey increased, and they did a better job of marketing the team they could be successful again.
The IceGators new ownership, GM, and coach have pissed off a lot of fans. So much so that a lot of the booster club has vowed to never support the team until a change is made.
you mean U.S. state of Hawaii ? if yes - 
