Quoting: Devil1122
I think the NHL/AHL should do a better job with team affiliates to help increase the growth of hockey. I know this isn't important at all but I think it's a missed opportunity. Many AHL teams are either extremely far away from their NHL affiliate or are very close. In my opinion, AHL teams should be in medium/big cities to draw hockey interest and are 1-3 hours away from the NHL team. AHL teams could even be in cities like Houston, Portland, Milwaukee to see if they can gain enough hockey interest to support a team.
Some teams I like
San Diego Gulls -> Anaheim Ducks
Cleveland Monsters -> Columbus Blue Jackets
Providence Bruins -> Boston Bruins
Some teams that need to move
Texas Stars -> Houston
Rockford Icehogs -> Milwaukee
I know this is super random and not important but I just wanted to share
If there's a market in Houston, it's likely going to be an NHL one, not for the AHL. The population is too high and it's already got 3 of the big 4 leagues in it. I recall there being potential for the Coyotes to relocate to Houston a couple years after the Seattle expansion to bring them into both a better market and closer to their divisional opponents. I feel similarly about Milwaukee: I really think they have a shot at being the next expansion franchise if Arizona relocates (second if Houston merely expands into the league). I'm always going to want to see Hartford and Quebec City make their comebacks but the NHL seems intent on not letting that happen.
The only teams that aren't genuinely capitalizing on having their AHL teams close (within a 2ish hour drive or 1 hour flight) to their actual NHL clubs are Calgary, Carolina, Edmonton, Florida, Nashville, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, and Vancouver. The Canucks might be moving into Abbotsford so their presence on this list might not be permanent.
I think there are two components to this issue: the first being that not all AHL teams are necessarily owned by their parent NHL clubs (most are) and that the AHL itself has the same "issue" with Canadian expansion as the NHL does, but less in terms of audience and more in terms of inter-divisional travel. It would make a ton of sense to put Edmonton's farm team in Saskatoon and Calgary's AHL club in Regina (owned in part or wholly by their NHL clubs to account for finances) for both distance and marketing reasons, but the divisional alignment ends up rather screwy. Beyond that, it's still drastically expensive to own an AHL team: access to the facilities is the hard part, then keeping them funded and profitable is another deal in itself.
I don't know why Carolina lost control of the Checkers. That seemed like a pretty optimal setup.
I think my optimal setup for the teams I listed would be as follows:
- Calgary = Regina
- Carolina = Charlotte
- Edmonton = Saskatoon
- Florida = Miami
- Nashville = Memphis or Atlanta
- Seattle = Portland
- St. Louis = Springfield (Illinois)
- Tampa Bay = Jacksonville
- Vancouver = Abbotsford
Regardless, I think both leagues put way too much emphasis on divisions and because of that, they frequently get in their own way.