Soime QC fan on another forum emailed Club 9 and they admitted they lost big bucks but they feel they owe the market a seconf chance that the previous owners haven't given. I just don't see this year being any different. They have lost alltheir best players. The only good news is it will be a 10 team league? Maybe 9?
The ECHL has what - 23 teams? Merge with the CHL and create a 30 team league - this way each NHL team can have an AHL and an ECHL affilliate. In a perfect world....
Nah. The east coast ECHL teams hardly (if ever) play the west coast teams as I understand it. Take the strongest of the CHL teams and put them in the west division of the ECHL. 3 east divisions and 3 west divisions (finally) and the total number will be closer to 30 if not at it.
Yeah, for all intents and purposes the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference in the ECHL are two separate leagues. Don't think they ever so much as face each other besides the league championship and the All-Star Game, so don't think adding more teams in Texas and the Great Plains would affect them in any way if they were put in the Western Conference.
The single entity league that was so highly touted just a few years ago as a model seems to be a broken bussines plan.
With teams leaving to franchise leagues like ECHL, USHL, NAHL, CHL may wanna take a look at their plan.
You're totally confusing the Horn Chen-founded "Central Hockey League" (which was originally a "single-entity league", as you describe) with the current league, which is in actuality the "Western Professional Hockey League doing business as the CHL". Remember, the 2001 "merger" of the CHL and the WPHL was a joint operating agreement, but the nuts and bolts, as it emerged, basically involved using the CHL name, but leaving the WPHL brass, legal structures, and so on in place.
So, this isn't a case of a "single entity league" versus a "franchise league" model. This seems to me to be a case of the business model failing, but at a different level. The business model of Global Entertainment using the WPHL (dba the CHL) as a carrot to entice cities to pay them (in the person of ICC) millions of dollars to construct arenas, guaranteeing a WPHL tenant in those arenas -- THAT is what seems to be in the process of failing, in addition to the natural attrition we would see from marginal markets in an economic slowdown.
It would have no effect on the northeast teams. The east and west do not even play each other in the regular season. The only reason there are some cross over games this year is because certain teams volunteered, that is why not everyone plays cross over games. If a 30 team league happens which I hope it does there will still be heavy divisional play with occasional games against teams in the other divisions in the conference. The ECHL has realized making teams travel cross country is not good for the long term business model and stopped forcing them to years ago.
It would have no effect on the northeast teams. The east and west do not even play each other in the regular season. The only reason there are some cross over games this year is because certain teams volunteered, that is why not everyone plays cross over games. If a 30 team league happens which I hope it does there will still be heavy divisional play with occasional games against teams in the other divisions in the conference. The ECHL has realized making teams travel cross country is not good for the long term business model and stopped forcing them to years ago. As long as the ECHL adds quality markets expansion is fine and will only strengthen the league.
You are missing my point Drake. If we get a 30-30-30 setup...guys will only get called up by the affiliate. Not talking about the head to head nonsense.
You are missing my point Drake. If we get a 30-30-30 setup...guys will only get called up by the affiliate. Not talking about the head to head nonsense.
Untrue.
First of all, the ECHL recently voted in a cap of 24 teams. Though, as others have observed, that "cap" is worth just about the paper you're reading this on. However, it does clearly indicate to me that the ECHL is not interested in being locked into a strict 30-30-30 model, no matter how enchanted with the idea some fans are.
Second, just because there are 30 teams doesn't mean that the ECHL would go the AHL route of requiring an affiliation -- in fact, the history of the league pretty clearly indicates that affiliations, while useful, are far from the primary purpose of most teams.
Third, there will pretty much always be ECHL players who are not contracted by AHL or NHL teams, and I can't see ECHL owners signing affiliation deals that only allow their players to be called up by one AHL team.
First of all, the ECHL recently voted in a cap of 24 teams. Though, as others have observed, that "cap" is worth just about the paper you're reading this on. However, it does clearly indicate to me that the ECHL is not interested in being locked into a strict 30-30-30 model, no matter how enchanted with the idea some fans are.
Second, just because there are 30 teams doesn't mean that the ECHL would go the AHL route of requiring an affiliation -- in fact, the history of the league pretty clearly indicates that affiliations, while useful, are far from the primary purpose of most teams.
Third, there will pretty much always be ECHL players who are not contracted by AHL or NHL teams, and I can't see ECHL owners signing affiliation deals that only allow their players to be called up by one AHL team.
Exactly. What advantage would there be for 90% of the guys in the league to play if you could only be called up to the affiliate. Only 3 or 4 guys per team would be assigned and likely be the first in line for call ups. The advantage some ECHLteams have now in recruiting players is having relationships with multiple AHL teams and be able to offer a guy a better chance at getting an AHL look. Take that away and guys will flock to Europe to at least make more money.
As much as the ECHL wants people to believe that it is an NHL development league, it really isn't. People want to compare it with the AHL as having the same business model and the two leagues are vastly different and exist for vastly different reasons. ECHL teams aren't going to make anyone rich but most can't afford to lose money. They need to keep every single advanage open to them to attract good players and put a good product on the ice. There are AHL teams that would still exist if absolutely nobody showed up to watch.
