Why isn't the farm team in or near Montreal?

[montreal]

Originally Posted by Captain Smurf

Again, Andlauer owns the Bulldogs outright and is a part of the ownership group of the Habs. They'll be re-upped if he remains a part of Montreal's ownership.

I follow the Dogs very closely since they moved to Hamilton so I'm well aware of who owns the team.

[S Bah]

Originally Posted by montreal

I follow the Dogs very closely since they moved to Hamilton so I'm well aware of who owns the team.

As do all of the dogs fans on the Hamilton thread almost daily like Montreal and myself.The Laval idea has been thrown around for quite awhile now,I live on the west coast and would be happy with either location.Victoria,BC would be really good for me but not the Habs,so I'll be content when we get Justin TV to broadcast the Bulldogs games.This medium online AHL(Hamilton Bulldogs)games is something that has my interest for every season.The only problem that I foresee is conflicting game times with the Habs games,it would be really sweet if Andlauer and Molson could conceive a package for telecasts that make watching the Habs & the Bulldogs live at different times.The best of both worlds(hockey AHL & NHL)then I can watch all of the games in their entirety as a Hab Fanatic like myself thirsts for.

[zeeto]

I just wish they'd play in Binghamton, against the Sens, more than once a year.

[Belso]

Just today I had a conversation with my friend about this topic. It started out by me telling him I wrote both TSN and RDS this weekend to tell them I would be happy to see them broadcast bulldog games this season if there was no NHL season. We then shifted to the fact that unless you live on the North shore and can go see the Montreal Junior, the closet other place to watch hockey is in Ottawa.

Hamilton's Copps Center holds over 17,000 seats for hockey games. So the owner probably doesn't really want to move out of the Hamilton unless they play, for example, in the Bell center with more seats especially if there's a lock out and the AHL has more attendance. The Toronto Marlies play in the same arena as the Maple leafs. So it wouldn't be unheard of if the Bulldogs played at the Bell center. On top of it, the Habs have the facility in Brossard for the players to have more ice time so there wouldn't be an issue with Habs players not getting ice time.

But Hamilton has fans, season tickets holders, sponsors, Etc. which might bet a little peeved if the bulldogs move cities, especially only for the lockout.

As some mentioned maybe one day in Laval, but in Montreal it's Canadiens or nothing...

[Mue]

Originally Posted by Belso

The Toronto Marlies play in the same arena as the Maple leafs. So it wouldn't be unheard of if the Bulldogs played at the Bell center.

No they don't. The Marlies play at Ricoh.

[yoyo999]

Ah the happenings of Hamilton hockey.

As mentioned Michael Andlauer owns the Bulldogs and is part owner of the Canadiens. He lives in Burlington, ON just outside of Hamilton so he has ties to the area.

The lease for copps is up this year and he's denied the bulldogs will move as long as he is the owner of the team

http://www.hamiltonnews.com/news/bul...r-denies-move/

Now, that doesn't mean the habs farm team wont move to Laval, just the Bulldogs wont. They can still be affiliated with another NHL club.

This is all being compounded by the fact that the Erie Otters of the OHL are looking to move to Hamilton. They will not play at copps though, they will play at Dave Andreychuk Arena on the mountain if the AHL stays.

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...ve-to-hamilton

David Branch keeps denying this but Erie is holding their training camp, with 2 exhibition games in Dundas ans Ancaster, a suburb of Hamilton.

http://www.thespec.com/sports/bulldo...mp-in-ancaster

I think what shy's away the crowds is that Copps Coliseum is a dump and the area around it is not very fan friendly. It's on the periphery of downtown and easy enough to get to because it is central, but there is no mass public transit, no parking, no restaurants/bars (or the ones that are there are not the kind of places you wants to go to). The next block south is a low-income neighborhood that is very rundown. After the game it is very quiet and dark.

I've gone to plenty of Friday night games and the city is just not buzzing....at all...the main strip of bars called Hess village is a good 10 minute walk away and all the students usually party in westdale near McMaster university which is nowhere near Copps.

Downtown Hamilton is seeing a lot of new hotels and buildings going in, but nothing near copps that will get people buzzing about the Bulldogs imo

[Belso]

Originally Posted by Mue

No they don't. The Marlies play at Ricoh.

My bad.

[Pr3Va1L]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Bell_(Laval)

[beowulf]

Originally Posted by Pr3Va1L

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Bell_(Laval)

Wiki says it so it must be so!

[Kriss E]

Originally Posted by RC51

I remember the old days of the black aces playing at the forum.
So don't tell me it can't be done.
But if the Habs had a bunch or their own prospects playing in Laval, the place would be packed. The only reason the old black aces mover away was because the price of HAB tickets were way still affordable and everyone wanted to see the real Habs.
Now that you can't buy a cheap ticket anymore for the Habs, actually you can't buy a ticket at all unless it's from the scalpers. Laval arena would sell out.

If the Laval arena started selling out, then they'd raise their prices as well.

[Habs 4 Life]

Would love to see them move to Laval. Would suck for the fans in Hamilton but i'm sure they can get another team

[Belso]

Originally Posted by Pr3Va1L

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_Bell_(Laval)

Centre Bell, Place Bell.. Are they trying to confuse people? I can see a guy from out of town drive all the way to laval for a Habs game to only be told at the door he's nowhere near the right arena..

[Roulin]

Originally Posted by yoyo999

Ah the happenings of Hamilton hockey.

As mentioned Michael Andlauer owns the Bulldogs and is part owner of the Canadiens. He lives in Burlington, ON just outside of Hamilton so he has ties to the area.

The lease for copps is up this year and he's denied the bulldogs will move as long as he is the owner of the team

http://www.hamiltonnews.com/news/bul...r-denies-move/

Now, that doesn't mean the habs farm team wont move to Laval, just the Bulldogs wont. They can still be affiliated with another NHL club.

This is all being compounded by the fact that the Erie Otters of the OHL are looking to move to Hamilton. They will not play at copps though, they will play at Dave Andreychuk Arena on the mountain if the AHL stays.

http://www.thespec.com/news/local/ar...ve-to-hamilton

David Branch keeps denying this but Erie is holding their training camp, with 2 exhibition games in Dundas ans Ancaster, a suburb of Hamilton.

http://www.thespec.com/sports/bulldo...mp-in-ancaster

I think what shy's away the crowds is that Copps Coliseum is a dump and the area around it is not very fan friendly. It's on the periphery of downtown and easy enough to get to because it is central, but there is no mass public transit, no parking, no restaurants/bars (or the ones that are there are not the kind of places you wants to go to). The next block south is a low-income neighborhood that is very rundown. After the game it is very quiet and dark.

I've gone to plenty of Friday night games and the city is just not buzzing....at all...the main strip of bars called Hess village is a good 10 minute walk away and all the students usually party in westdale near McMaster university which is nowhere near Copps.

Downtown Hamilton is seeing a lot of new hotels and buildings going in, but nothing near copps that will get people buzzing about the Bulldogs imo

Great summary, thanks for posting this!