Albany River Rats moving to Charlotte

[Dude]

And the Portland Pirates are rumored to be one of the franchises that may move to the state capital to take their place: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=899138&category=SPORTS

[rbochan]

That'd be great to have the farm team just down the thruway again.

[OpIv37]

that would be bad news for the Sabres renewing their affiliation with Rochester anytime soon.

[trapezeus]

what a huge gamble. Let's take a team that is successful in albany and move it to an area that doesn't draw anyone unless the team is good.

[don137]

I am stoked that Charlotte is getting an AHL club. The ECHL is not really good hockey to watch but I love AHL hockey. It is a much better product. Now I get to see some legit Sabres prospects play.

[Michael82]

Wow! The River Rats are leaving? Why would they want to leave Albany? They've been very successful there.

[RockStar36]

Wow! The River Rats are leaving? Why would they want to leave Albany? They've been very successful there.


But the River Rats have been in the bottom 25 percent of the league in attendance for each of the past 10 seasons; owner Walter Robb has taken a loss since buying the team; and 12 pro sports franchises have left Albany in the past two decades.

Not to mention it makes sense to be closer to their NHL team for call-ups.

[BlackMetalNinja]

Oh boy, more hockey in NC that nobody cares about...

[CuseJetsFan83]

from what i have heard as a season ticket holder is that the sabres are rumored to possibly be moving their affiliation to albany or syracuse (syracuse already has a team and is at the end of the scheduled contract) as far as portland goes, they as well as springfield would be teams looking for affiliations (only anaheim is teamless after the iowa chops were suspended for illegal actions)

but realistically i see portland and buffalo staying together...... anaheim possibly getting a switch of one of the western teams, columbus will most likely move a to another franchise for ahl purposes and syracuse would be odd man out

ahhhhh the joys of minor league hockey

[CuseJetsFan83]

what a huge gamble. Let's take a team that is successful in albany and move it to an area that doesn't draw anyone unless the team is good.
plus the guy that took over the franchise already owned the same team down i charlotte in the ECHL...... they've been a respectable team in terms of standings and attendance

http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance

http://theahl.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance

those are the ahl teams and albany has fielded decent teams, but ever since the devils pulled out and moved their franchise to lowell mass, interest in the canes has been minimal

[Dude]

I am stoked that Charlotte is getting an AHL club. The ECHL is not really good hockey to watch but I love AHL hockey. It is a much better product. Now I get to see some legit Sabres prospects play.You would if the Sabres were moving their farm team to Charlotte.

[Dude]

from what i have heard as a season ticket holder is that the sabres are rumored to possibly be moving their affiliation to albany or syracuse (syracuse already has a team and is at the end of the scheduled contract) as far as portland goes, they as well as springfield would be teams looking for affiliations (only anaheim is teamless after the iowa chops were suspended for illegal actions)

but realistically i see portland and buffalo staying together...... anaheim possibly getting a switch of one of the western teams, columbus will most likely move a to another franchise for ahl purposes and syracuse would be odd man out

ahhhhh the joys of minor league hockeyThey couldn't move their affiliation to Albany since that franchise is moving to Charlotte. They would have to move the their current affiliate in Portland to Albany.

I lived in Albany for a few years back when I was in college. Worst. Sports. Town. Ever. Pepsi Arena is first-rate, especially for minor-league hockey. But people don't go to the games.

[CuseJetsFan83]

They couldn't move their affiliation to Albany since that franchise is moving to Charlotte. They would have to move the their current affiliate in Portland to Albany.

I lived in Albany for a few years back when I was in college. Worst. Sports. Town. Ever. Pepsi Arena is first-rate, especially for minor-league hockey. But people don't go to the games.
and ive been to games in albany, a group of 50 of us were louder than a few thousand of them lol..... their ice mice are cute though... lol

i understand that, but there is a strong rumor that one of the other struggling franchises might be moving to albany, new team, new ownership......... but if there is to be ateam in albany, it should be run by the NHL parents like hartford or lowell who are run by the rangers and devils and incur all losses and gains...... the only thing that sucks about that is they raise prices, which cause lowered attendance, but it does bring stability to a team not having to worry year to year about moving. over here in syracuse we don't have the best track record with minor league hockey, and our affiliations have been cloudy at best...... florida actually seems to be doing it right with rochester allowing the ownership in rochester to stock the farm team with vets to help groom the prospects, whereas in syracuse we have a muzzle on

[don137]

You would if the Sabres were moving their farm team to Charlotte.
Portland will be playing here against them so I will get to see them.

[CuseJetsFan83]

Portland will be playing here against them so I will get to see them.
well yes and no... it depends on the division alignment..... syracuse plays probably 70% of the teams in the unbalanced schedule.... but with norfolk being in that neck of the woods, i'd be surprised to not see a division consisting of wb-scranton, norfolk, hershey, charlotte, and maybe another team


also, the springfield team as i stated earlier, lost their franchise for 2010 and edmonton is moving the farm to OKC...... springfield will still have a team, but no affiliate agreement....