Once the AHL enters Oklahoma City, you can bet that Tulsa and Wichita will following.

The BOK Center :yourock: will be great for the AHL, and Wichita, KS has a nice arena under construction near Old Town which will be ready in 2010:

Intrust Bank Arena (Downtown, Wichita, KS)

Intrust Bank Arena, Sedgwick County, Kansas - Welcome (http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/arena/)

It will be great having AHL franchises in this area with San Antonio, Houston and Austin with prospects of having Tulsa and Wichita on board with Oklahoma City.:welcome55

You will have to find willing owners, neither in Tulsa or Wichita

You are unbelieveable

I don't see Tulsa having a AAA hockey team for about another 5 to 10 years, because the last time I checked they don't have good attendence at their hockey games.

This thread gets the prestigious Jean-Luc Picard award for excellence....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/El_Gato_Pollo_Loco/picard.jpg

I don't see Tulsa having a AAA hockey team for about another 5 to 10 years, because the last time I checked they don't have good attendence at their hockey games.

Many based our attendance of Calvary games as to how we would fair as an NBA city. The experts were indeed right. You can use minor league anything to gauge as to how a city will perform in the major leagues. Oklahoma City is a living example. I feel an AHL franchise in Tulsa and/or Wichita will be successful.


Quote by Blairman: "You will have to find willing owners, neither in Tulsa or Wichita

You are unbelieveable!"

Don't knock me for being a believer! This substance will always be my nature.

But we aren't talking about a jump from CHL to NHL. This is still minor league.

Don't knock me for being a believer! This substance will always be my nature.[/QUOTE]

OK by nature you are unbelievable, so stop the babble

Reply to Blairman:

And... (?) Meaning...(?) ...So What?

Cavalry

Oh and are we getting AHL or is this still just speculation.

Search is your friend, metro. :wink:

:doh:yep, search found my answer too.

Cavalry

Oh and are we getting AHL or is this still just speculation.

Nothing set in stone at this point; however, all signs indicate that the AHL ( Edmonton Oilers are likely to become the parent club )will make a pitch for Oklahoma City after next season.

Here are some links with the first two being outside sources:

ReporterHerald- Blazers may be on the move from Oklahoma City (http://www.reporterherald.com/Sports-Story.asp?ID=20173)

Oklahoma City? - OilersNation.com (http://www.oilersnation.com/2008/11/oklahoma-city/)

Oklahoman:

http://www.newsok.com/article/3333670

Looks like the AHL deal might come to fruition after all.

Bye bye, Blazers.

If the Express people are involved it may very well retain the Blazers name, it has survived many ownership changes over the years and only six of the AHL teams carry the NHL team name out of 30 teams.

This is great news for OKC. I suggested in a thread last summer that OKC should try to jump "back" to a higher level (like we used to be during CHL-I). Anyway, I am happy about this news and hope it comes to fruition.

I live in Albuquerque now. They just announced that the Scorpions(CHL) are being put on hold. Albuquerque does not have the hockey tradition that OKC has and the city does not have a nice arena in the city. The Scorpions were playing in Rio Rancho-----a distant suburb and a hassle of a drive. Neither did the Scorpions have attendance numbers like OKC.

I do hope they keep the Blazers name. It has such a great history. BTW, the baseball team should re-take the 89ers name. The current owner's (dumfounding) decision not to keep the 89ers illustrates the point of why it would be best to keep the Blazers name. But since I did not live in OKC at the time that decision was made, perhaps there were some copyright issues in continuing the 89ers name?

Brian Barnett

I second that!

I hope they keep the Blazers' name and continue with that rich tradition which has been built over this past 17 years.

The Cox Convention Center (Myriad-13,400 est) will make a great home for an AHL franchise and don't be surprised that after a one year hiatus, the Blazers average 11-12,000 upon their return.

A different brand of hockey will definitely bring back old fans like me who was spoiled by a better quality of hockey.

Moving up to triple-A may be just the thing this city needs.

Bring on Tulsa, Wichita and Omaha to add to the mix of cities Iowa (Des Moines), San Antonio, Houston, and Texas (Austin).


NBA - Major League (Basketball)
PCL - AAA (Baseball)
AHL - AAA (Ice Hockey)

This is definitely a great fit for Oklahoma City!

Looks like they started negotiations for a AHL team starting today. Also on the news last night there was talk of COX Center upgrades to ensure success for an AHL team. I wonder how the City will approach this. They interviewed Mick Cornett and Jim Couch and they both seemed to be supportive. Wonder if we're going to get thrown for another MAPS 3 loop if the Blazers are wanting some COX upgrades. Looks like they are now pushing for keeping the Blazers name too, although Oilers wouldn't be bad since we are an oil state.

http://www.koco.com/video/19974511/index.html

It concerns me of the poor journalism in this piece and every piece I've seen on this topic. They act like it's the "Cities" team and that it's a publicly owned franchise, when they did no interviewing of Express Sports, the teams owners. Go figure, sloppy journalism.

Looks like they are now pushing for keeping the Blazers name too, although Oilers wouldn't be bad since we are an oil state.

If Oklahoma City tried to call the team “Oilers” the Tulsa Oilers would sue the crap out of them. Rightfully so.

true.

If Oklahoma City tried to call the team “Oilers” the Tulsa Oilers would sue the crap out of them. Rightfully so.
Not likely, it would be in a different league and the team affiliation would be with the Edmonton Oilers. The CHL/Tulsa ownership probably wouldn't have the resources or legal grounds for a fight since they do not have exclusive rights to the name. IF they copied logos and such, then you could have a trademark infringement suit but that is about all.

With that said, Oilers is the team name for Tulsa and should stay there, the OKC team should be the Blazers, which maybe if the CHL has some copyright claims on it (in addition to Express) they can use the possible use of the Oilers name as leverage to get a release of the Blazers name.

The NHL's Oilers have two minor league franchises: the Springfield Falcons and the Edmonton Road Runners. The Road Runners are a dormant team at this time, and this is the team we would get if Edmonton chooses to place their AHL team here. Their agreement with Springfield ends after this next season, so Oklahoma City would be their lone AHL club. Here's the logo that is listed on the Road Runners' Wiki page. The name change could be a moot point since the team has an existing team, jerseys, signage, merch, etc.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/16/Edmonton_road_runners_200x200.png

City Council authorizes negotiations with AHL Hockey Club, LLC

(July 7, 2009) - Oklahoma City Council approved a letter of intent today with AHL Hockey Club, LLC authorizing negotiations for an American Hockey League (AHL) team to play at the Cox Convention Center beginning with the 2010-2011 hockey season.

The AHL is a feeder league for the National Hockey League.

Pending negotiations of the Arena Use License Agreement, the City will enter into a five-year contract with AHL Hockey Club, LLC. At the end of the five years, the team has the option of extending their contract for two additional three-year leases. The agreement may be terminated if the average paid attendance falls below 4,000 per game.

The team will pay the City $7,500 per game. In return, the City will negotiate renovations to the Cox Convention Center that could include:

Renovations to the Cox Center’s ice-making system
Addition of loge boxes, a VIP club and party deck
A season ticket holder’s club on the upper deck
Improvements to meeting rooms
Professional signage, moving lights and projection lighting
Interactive advertising panels
Upgrades to locker rooms
AHL Hockey Club, LLC is affiliated with Express Sports, who have owned the Oklahoma City Blazers since 2000. The agreement with the Blazers lapsed with the 2008-2009 season and, as a result, will no longer play in Oklahoma City.

The letter of intent is on the City’s Web site at City of Oklahoma City | News (http://www.okc.gov).

Laramie....

FYI, Omaha was just in the AHL a few years ago and failed very quickly, relocating to Quad City (which has failed this past season as well). Speaking of failing, Des Moines just lost their second team in three years. The AHL DOES NOT WORK in Des Moines, despite a brand new Wells Fargo Arena.

Despite all of that, let´s enjoy our AHL OKC team while they last. Should be good entertainment for a few seasons at least.

Sweet & Sour:

Yes, I'm aware that Omaha was in the AHL; they played in the new Quest Center there.

You're right, without Omaha, Des Moines may follow the same pattern. The Des Moines team could then transfer to Tulsa and build from OKC's success! The BOK Center would welcome them with open arms.

My observation is this--with some old CHL rivals to compete with, a franchise in Omaha might have survived. Omaha at one time had a A-league franchise averaging 5,000 fans per game.

"Despite all of that, let´s enjoy our AHL OKC team while they last. Should be good entertainment for a few seasons at least"--Agree with you 100% and they will have my support!

Well here's my question about the whole deal. The Blazers have been well supported here, but they were starting to lose money because of dropping attendence. It wasn't dropping because the team was bad or because people didn't like the Blazers anymore. It was dropping because the Thunder stole some folks and the economy turned sour. We still have an excellent attendence record as far as the CHL goes, but that's not saying much. Look at the arenas that most of the cities we played had. We're looking at less than 10K seats in most of them...think old Tulsa arena.

Now here's the problem i see happening. With moving up a level, they're going to want to charge more for tickets because they'll have to recoop the higher cost of the player salaries. Dont' think for a second that they will cost the same as the Blazers' players...and those players won't be back. Out of their own mouth, they said they weren't good enough for that league....which is why they played in the CHL to begin with.

So with higher prices, and still being in not great economic times, do we expect a brand new team to be received well? It's the same owners as the Blazers, so they could still be called the Blazers, but with all new players. So it's like watching an entirely new cast of a show......It's the same Daren on Bewitched, right?

So do we really think that people are going to want to pay more just because it's one level up? It's still minor league...not NHL. There's a HUUUUUGE difference in supporting the pros compared to the minors.

The cavies are actually a good comparison. Minor league team....did extremely well as far as record, but attendence blew. We move to NBA and it's great. We had our try at the ABL or whatever for a while, and they had bad attendence too.

Unfortunately, I have a feeling that in a few years, we'll be without hockey again...and then wishing we never screwed up the good thing we had going.

Well here's my question about the whole deal. The Blazers have been well supported here, but they were starting to lose money because of dropping attendence. It wasn't dropping because the team was bad or because people didn't like the Blazers anymore. It was dropping because the Thunder stole some folks and the economy turned sour. We still have an excellent attendence record as far as the CHL goes, but that's not saying much. Look at the arenas that most of the cities we played had. We're looking at less than 10K seats in most of them...think old Tulsa arena.

Now here's the problem i see happening. With moving up a level, they're going to want to charge more for tickets because they'll have to recoop the higher cost of the player salaries. Dont' think for a second that they will cost the same as the Blazers' players...and those players won't be back. Out of their own mouth, they said they weren't good enough for that league....which is why they played in the CHL to begin with.

So with higher prices, and still being in not great economic times, do we expect a brand new team to be received well? It's the same owners as the Blazers, so they could still be called the Blazers, but with all new players. So it's like watching an entirely new cast of a show......It's the same Daren on Bewitched, right?

So do we really think that people are going to want to pay more just because it's one level up? It's still minor league...not NHL. There's a HUUUUUGE difference in supporting the pros compared to the minors.

The cavies are actually a good comparison. Minor league team....did extremely well as far as record, but attendence blew. We move to NBA and it's great. We had our try at the ABL or whatever for a while, and they had bad attendence too.

Unfortunately, I have a feeling that in a few years, we'll be without hockey again...and then wishing we never screwed up the good thing we had going.

I agree. I think people have an attachment to and love for the blazers. I don't see the difference in having the blazers and a chl team...except there will be less fights. Which I promise isn't a good thing for our hockey watchers. Nothing like a good layer of red ice on christmas night! The rivalry will be with whom? We like the rivalry with Tulsa - it was about the only solid one we have where we got to pound the crap out of them. So I don't know what the expectation will be for a new chl team. But I don't think it will do very well. I think the blazers were great and we should have kept them. The attendance would have gone back up. The tickets were cheap and the games were fun. In this economy it was a great trip for schools and churches to be able to fund.

For godsakes please don't touch the redhawks. We have had enough movement and hands in that pot. The field is great, the ticket prices are awesome, the promotions work....just leave them alone.

Bob Funk Jr.: 'Oklahoma City hockey fans deserve to have a team at the next level'

By Robert Przybyzlo, Staff Writer
Published: July 8, 2009

The Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League set several league attendance records. The team led the league in average attendance the last 17 years.

Despite the arrival of the NBA’s Thunder in Oklahoma City, the Blazers still led the next-closest CHL team by more than 1,000 fans in average attendance last season.

So when Express Sports, which owns the Blazers, announced last week that it was suspending operations for an indefinite period of time, Blazer fans wondered how it was possible.

And how, at the same time, could there be potential negotiations to bring an American Hockey League team to Oklahoma City?

It’s all about the business model, said AHL Hockey Club, LLC manager and Express Sports president Bob Funk Jr.

"We simply gave away too many free tickets through the years,” Funk said.

"It’s great to be No. 1 in attendance, but to do it at the expense of the ticket value is not good. It’s hard to recover from something like that.”

That ultimately led to the decision to close the door on the Blazers. Funk said his family has lost more than $6 million since Express Sports purchased the Blazers in 2000.

Funk said the company did what it could to survive when it made management changes last November, but it wasn’t enough. Five members of the Blazers’ front office, including former chief executive officer Brad Lund, left the company.

But Funk is optimistic about the chances of bringing an AHL team to Oklahoma City. One hurdle was cleared Tuesday when the city council unanimously approved a letter of intent with AHL Hockey Club, LLC, to begin negotiations for a prospective team and approving the terms of a five-year lease at the Cox Convention Center to begin with the 2010-11 AHL season.

"Oklahoma City hockey fans deserve to have a team at the next level,” Funk said. "We have such passionate and dedicated fans. Without them, this wouldn’t be possible.”

While the Blazers paid between $8,000 to $12,000 per game to rent the Ford Center last season, the new lease has the company paying $7,500 per game to rent the Cox Center.

"We looked at both (Ford Center and Cox) and had to do what is best for everybody,” Funk said. "Moving across the street will give us a better opportunity to do what we want to do.”

Funk said he is not sure what the fate of the Blazers will be. He hasn’t spoken to the CHL about selling the team and hasn’t been able to gauge how much interest there is from other cities about relocating the team. He said he is hoping to be able to arrange something.

http://newsok.com/bob-funk-jr.-oklahoma-city-hockey-fans-deserve-to-have-a-team-at-the-next-level/article/3383685?custom_click=headlines_widget

That helps explain how the Blazers could be top in attendance and still lose money.

I agree. I think people have an attachment to and love for the blazers. I don't see the difference in having the blazers and a chl team...except there will be less fights. Which I promise isn't a good thing for our hockey watchers. Nothing like a good layer of red ice on christmas night! The rivalry will be with whom? We like the rivalry with Tulsa - it was about the only solid one we have where we got to pound the crap out of them. So I don't know what the expectation will be for a new chl team. But I don't think it will do very well. I think the blazers were great and we should have kept them. The attendance would have gone back up. The tickets were cheap and the games were fun. In this economy it was a great trip for schools and churches to be able to fund.

For godsakes please don't touch the redhawks. We have had enough movement and hands in that pot. The field is great, the ticket prices are awesome, the promotions work....just leave them alone.

I meant AHL....duh.

Higher prices?

I heard that the current Blazer prices were comparable to the AHL's. I'm sure they will raise prices (How much higher? TBD); however, I'm sure they don't want to price themselves out of their own market.

A one-year hiatus will do this city some good. It may just starve the fans enough that we all become hungry for hockey.:fighting3:bow:

Look for Tulsa to take over an existing franchise with a move to the BOK Center and it will be OKC vs Tulsa all over again.

Higher prices?

Look for Tulsa to take over an existing franchise with a move to the BOK Center and it will be OKC vs Tulsa all over again.

Here you go again....Tulsa will NEVER have a AHL team, neither will Wichita.....

Blairman:

Wow!

I think it's great that a better grade of hockey will come to okc , has their been new about what team will move here ?
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff172/blackdawgz/n1019103268_344338_936003.jpg

Do we know a name of the AHL team that will come to okc

Well I won't say they won't ever get one...Tulsa would before Wichita. An arena, a population base does not make. Just beacuse Wichita will have a 15K arena, doesn't mean they have the base to support a team. Tulsa is pretty close to OKC in population, so it's not really a stretch. Plus since they don't have NBA in Tulsa, moving baseball or hockey up a level makes sense. They're AA in both right now...and when was the last time anyone gave a crap about Tulsa Baseball....including their residents?

But both CHL teams can be running into the financial sanfoo Express did. New arena means higher prices to rent it out...which means less $ in their pockets. Unless they can stay in their old arenas like OKC will be doing (and still have enough seats to make it turn a dime....which neither do), then the state of team itself would be in jeopardy.

Tulsa probably can weather it...but now that the rivalry is gone...maybe support won't be a strong. When your rival vanishes, it sort of makes you not work as hard and then the team gets worse...and the fair weather fans go away.

For now, I don't see any changes. Tulsa/Wichita....CHL for maybe 10 years of their new arena being open. Then we'll see.

Good take on Tulsa's situation; however, I feel the American Hockey League's presence in Wichita will completely turn that city around.

They drew 8,000-10,000 when the old Major Indoor Soccer League was in Wichita with the old Wichita Wings. An AHL franchise in Wichita and a new arena could win this city over. Remember I said that.

Blairman, a comment please? Seriously, and tell me why it won't work in Wichita.

Well it looks like the team that will be coming to okc will be the Springfield Falcons ? Oklahoma City Falcons ......I like the name, never liked the blazers name.

I don't see Tulsa having a AAA hockey team for about another 5 to 10 years, because the last time I checked they don't have good attendence at their hockey games.

actually I want to take back what I said about Tulsa not getting a AHL team for about another 5 to 10 years, I thank Tulsa should try to get a AHL team in 2011 or 2012, It will be great to see Tulsa and OKC battling each other in the AHL. I hope that I didn't upset anybody from Tulsa, If I did I really sorry.

So do we really think that people are going to want to pay more just because it's one level up? It's still minor league...not NHL. There's a HUUUUUGE difference in supporting the pros compared to the minors.

The cavies are actually a good comparison. Minor league team....did extremely well as far as record, but attendence blew. We move to NBA and it's great. We had our try at the ABL or whatever for a while, and they had bad attendence too.

Unfortunately, I have a feeling that in a few years, we'll be without hockey again...and then wishing we never screwed up the good thing we had going.

I think the AHL is way more than one level up from the CHL. Cripes, I think college hockey has more skill than the CHL.
I for one will be getting season tickets.

As for ticket prices I think the Blazers were way over priced for the skill level. I've been to many AHL games in Chicago and Milwaukee and they are about 20-25 bucks tops. Hopefully the guys at express don't price themselves out of fans.

The CHL got BAD when they added the league that went defunct with small town Texas teams. There was a reason why that league went defunct and it wasn't due to operating/travel expenses like the IHL. The better talent needing experience was staying away from the league because there was no hope of moving up. The last Blazers game that I went to (2003 season) before moving here it was very apparent. Then you had teams like Austin who were lucky to get a 1,000 when they were at the Expo Center and then moved the games to their practice facility and started playing there in front of 300-500 a game.

Wow, i didn't realize it had gotten that bad in Austin. That's some serious crap....and now I have completely turned my opinion. Go AHL!

I also think the Austin Ice Bats owners saw the writing in the wall and bailed out on the CHL a couple of seasons ago after the announcement by Tom Hicks of the building of the Cedar Park Center (6,800 seats for hockey and 8,700 seats for concerts) and a Stars AHL affiliate. The Cedar Park Center (http://www.cedarparkcenter.com/) is opening soon and the Texas Stars (http://www.texasstarshockey.com/) are slated to start this coming season.

I'm not that familiar with the situation in Austin; however, you would think that they would have built something bigger than 6,800 seats for an AHL franchise?

Tulsa Civic Assembly Center accommodated 6,909 and I thought that was a Cracker-Jack Box at the time we built the 9,790-seat State Fair Arena. The State Fair Arena doesn't look out of alignment. I only wish they could move it (State Fair Arena) to the Stockyards Area to replace the old ancient Stockyards Colisem (5,850) which burned before the turn of the century.

Houston, San Antonio and Texas (Austin) not bad for an early start on AHL rivals.

6,800 is probably a good number of seats for hockey in Austin, enough to get a decent crowd but small enough to not feel too empty. Austin's just not really a sports market for anything other than Whorn stuff and the majority of the 90,000+ here for a home football game are coming in from out of town. Part of the issue to me is the half the minor league teams are out in the far north burbs with the Round Rock Express baseball being the other (we sometimes go up to see the Redhawks play) and I live far south, since I work north now it isn't as big of an issue as when I worked south but trying to get to Round Rock for a baseball game up I-35 in evening rush hour traffic is a horrible and will be much the same thing with Cedar Park. The NBA-DL team (Austin Toros) play downtown in the convention center but there is a possibility that they could move to Cedar Park as well. The only one likely to stay in Austin is the U23 soccer team Austin Aztex, they are playing in an AISD high school stadium now.

I thought after the start of the Ford Center that it would be nice if there was some way to remodel the Myriad by capping off the top ring into exhibit/flex space and keep the lower bowl as a smaller arena. I don't know if that is structurally feasible let alone a cost effective thing to do, just seems like having a less than 10K facility across from the 19K facility would make some sense.

Those of you who want the CHL should push for a team to be called the

Central Oklahoma "Something."

Ice making equipment could be added to the Lazy-E arena which could easily accommodate 7,200 for CHL franchise. Edmond, Guthrie and Oklahoma City could support a CHL franchise as well as an AHL franchise.

I attended hockey games because of the finesse of the sport; if fights broke out, so be it.

Maybe we can shed that minor league image of being a Blazertown (someone give me a definition) rather than a good minor league hockey hotbed.

I thought after the start of the Ford Center that it would be nice if there was some way to remodel the Myriad by capping off the top ring into exhibit/flex space and keep the lower bowl as a smaller arena. I don't know if that is structurally feasible let alone a cost effective thing to do, just seems like having a less than 10K facility across from the 19K facility would make some sense.

The lower bowl of the Myriad's Great Arena seats about 6,500 and that was looked upon; however, it would have taken us out the mix for the Big XXII basketball tournament rotation making the Great Arena inside the Cox Convention Center smaller. Approximately 10,000 seats are needed to stage the Women's college conference tournament. Kansas City uses the old 10,000-seat Minicipal Auditorium for the women's and men's tournament is in the new Sprint Center. I understand that they are to demolish Kemper Arena.

Core-to-Shore is proposing a new convention center at the site of the old abandoned Main Post Office at S.W 3rd for addition exhibition space in expanding Oklahoma City's convention potential from a 3-tier to a 2-tier convention city which would put us in competition with cities like Nashville, Kansas City and Indianapolis. We will still need in excess of 6,000 hotel rooms downtown.

The way the economy is looking OKC is in the right proximity (central location) and people are burned out on Dallas.

Demolish Kemper and keep Municipal? Wow, that seems backwards. Municpial still has bleachers!!!!!!!!

Wichita is moving right along with the Intrust Bank Arena. Don't think that it is a far-fetched idea to see Tulsa and Wichita join the American Hockey League through relocation it the near future. Wichita finished second behind Oklahoma City in CHL attendance.

Wichita's Intrust Bank Arena:

15,000 seats for Basketball

Arena Construction progress 2009:

Construction of the Intrust Bank Arena, Sedgwick County, Kansas - Welcome (http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/arena/construction.asp)



Intrust Bank Arena, Sedgwick County, Kansas - Welcome (http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/arena/)

why are you getting so excited about tulsa and wichita?

Because for the AHL to be viable and successful in Oklahoma City, rivalries need to be formed to help with attendance and travel costs need to be lowered. More nearby teams help both those needs.

why are you getting so excited about tulsa and wichita?

Well, with a much better quality of hockey--Central Hockey League (Goon league hockey), I wouldn't call AA and this is the last minor professional sport in which we play Tulsa or Wichita--former members of the American Association AAA baseball, it would be nice to have some rivals close by without making a trip across the Red River (AHL's Houston, San Antonio & now, Austin).

I'm an old school fan dating back when we built the State Fair Arena and there were rival cities in our proximity (Dallas, Fort Worth, Kansas City, Omaha, Tulsa) with competitiveness and a good brand of ice hockey for the dollar.

Sorry, I didn't mean to get carried away!:

backtotop

It's going to be nice to welcome some familiar faces, let's hope Tulsa and Wichita come on board!

Nice to see we have some old school fans here and not a bunch of newbies.

Heck, while we're at it...let's add the Memphis Wings/South Stars....Fort Worth Wings/Texans.....Amarillo Wranglers...Kansas City Blues....etc.

Speaking of Kansas City....why Kansas City is not being brought up is ridiculous. How a dump of a town like Wichita - with some of the worst group of fans I've ever witnessed in my life - can be mentioned in an AHL thread, and not Kansas City....is absurd. Kansas City had some great hockey fans there for a long while....Blues/Scouts/Blades......and they are long overdue.

Kansas City has a terrible record with minor league hockey and the AHL specifically. And Kansas City is pushing for an NHL team, which if it did happen would never be successful.

In the just over 2 million strong Kansas City metro they already have NFL and MLB and right next door they have KU and the Royals already struggle with attendance. So a new hockey team would have to come in and compete with all of that for fans and corporate dollars, compete directly with KU Basketball and the Chiefs. Hockey is always going to be the loser there. Kansas City needs some strong population growth before they contemplate another pro sport.

I agree completely. I never said bring in an NHL team, a disaster in the making. But a minor league team was badly needed. I'm not sure the old school hockey fans in KC are going to care much for the CHL's Missouri Mavericks but we shall see.

At any rate, all this enthusiasm over the AHL may be short lived. Triple-A hockey tends to not last long nowadays anywhere other than the East Coast. If we have the AHL in OKC for three or four seasons, I'll consider it a 'minor' success.

Kansas City has a terrible record with minor league hockey and the AHL specifically. And Kansas City is pushing for an NHL team, which if it did happen would never be successful.

In the just over 2 million strong Kansas City metro they already have NFL and MLB and right next door they have KU and the Royals already struggle with attendance. So a new hockey team would have to come in and compete with all of that for fans and corporate dollars, compete directly with KU Basketball and the Chiefs. Hockey is always going to be the loser there. Kansas City needs some strong population growth before they contemplate another pro sport.
Royals attendance is poor because they have had a bad team for an extended period of time and ownership that has shown very little interest in getting better. That has more of an effect on fan support than anything else, they had great support back when they were a competitive team...30 years ago. It has been affecting the Chiefs as well but not to the same extent, they have been bad in recent years but not an extended streak yet. I know that it is easier to get season tickets for the Chiefs now than it was just five years ago.

I think it is going to be harder for all but the largest cities to keep a hold of the four major sports teams, the NBA has proven that a single sport town can work in their league for the very reasons that you mentioned, corporate support being number one. A co-worker of mine grew up in Detroit and lived in Indy before moving to Austin, he said that Indy is still pretty much one sport town. The support for the Colts was mediocre until they went on this latest string of winning seasons. The Pacers had plenty of support when they were the only game in town and still had support after the Colts moved from Baltimore when they were competing for Eastern Conference Championships but when they started becoming less relevant in the NBA and the Colts improved, the support shifted. It is a hard sell in mid-sized cities (by pro sports standards) to keep the support levels where they need to be with that much competition.

I agree completely. I never said bring in an NHL team, a disaster in the making. But a minor league team was badly needed. I'm not sure the old school hockey fans in KC are going to care much for the CHL's Missouri Mavericks but we shall see.

At any rate, all this enthusiasm over the AHL may be short lived. Triple-A hockey tends to not last long nowadays anywhere other than the East Coast. If we have the AHL in OKC for three or four seasons, I'll consider it a 'minor' success.

The AHL has held its own in Houston and San Antonio; so they will be just as successful in Austin and Oklahoma City.

Have the former owners considered the "Fair Grounds Arena" as a lower cost alternative? After all, that's where the original Blazers played in the '60's, before there was a Myriad or certainly before the Ford Center. It is a decent venue that provided the Blazer's parent club, at the time, the Boston Bruins with players like Gerry Cheevers, Bernie Parent and "Ace" Bailey. BTW former Blazer "Ace" Bailey lost his life as a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 175, one of the two airliners that struck the World Trade Center on 9/11. Mr. Bailey was, at the time, a scout for the LA Kings.

Have the former owners considered the "Fair Grounds Arena" as a lower cost alternative? After all, that's where the original Blazers played in the '60's, before there was a Myriad or certainly before the Ford Center. It is a decent venue that provided the Blazer's parent club, at the time, the Boston Bruins with players like Gerry Cheevers, Bernie Parent and "Ace" Bailey. BTW former Blazer "Ace" Bailey lost his life as a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 175, one of the two airliners that struck the World Trade Center on 9/11. Mr. Bailey was, at the time, a scout for the LA Kings.

I have many fond memories of the State Fair Arena (OKC hockey fan since 1963); it would be great for the CHL, as for the AHL, it wouldn't be in their best interest to play there.

If this new AHL Oklahoma City franchise is successful its first few years, I'm sure there will be a push to put them in the Ford Center or play some games there. Meanwhile, using the Cox Convention Center will afford the team flexible scheduling and a quality AHL-ready arena. I also have fond memories of the old Myriad Convention Center's Great Arena!

Oklahoma City council approves agreement with hockey group
By The Associated Press
Published: December 15, 2009

The Oklahoma City council has approved a lease agreement with a local group that would allow an American Hockey League franchise to play in the city next season.

The council unanimously approved Tuesday allowing SMG, which manages the Cox Convention Center, to enter into the agreement with Prodigal Hockey LLC.

The lease will be for five years initially, with two three-year renewal terms at the option of Prodigal Hockey. The team would play 40 regular-season home games at the downtown arena.

Prodigal Hockey President Bob Funk Jr. says he can't comment on any potential team that might move to Oklahoma City. But in July, Edmonton Oilers President Patrick LaForge said the NHL team was interested in having an AHL team in Oklahoma City as the Oilers' top minor-league affiliate.

NewsOK (http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-council-approves-agreement-with-hockey-group/article/3425171?custom_click=headlines_widget)

Have the former owners considered the "Fair Grounds Arena" as a lower cost alternative? After all, that's where the original Blazers played in the '60's, before there was a Myriad or certainly before the Ford Center. It is a decent venue that provided the Blazer's parent club, at the time, the Boston Bruins with players like Gerry Cheevers, Bernie Parent and "Ace" Bailey. BTW former Blazer "Ace" Bailey lost his life as a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 175, one of the two airliners that struck the World Trade Center on 9/11. Mr. Bailey was, at the time, a scout for the LA Kings.That would be interesting!

I agree AHL clubs in Kansas City, Wichita, and Tulsa could be successful. Unfortunately, that would hurt significantly the CHL as a league, these three cities being their keystones...

The problem for implementing these additional cities in the AHL is that the league is already at 30 clubs to match their NHL affiliations, starting during the next season. For these cities to move up to the AHL level, a current team will have to be bought and moved.

Most of the cities are up in the northeast area of the United States in cities not much smaller than these CHL cities. Their closeness provides for short bus rides when the clubs are on the road. Outside of a few clubs with losing records, these AHL cities have a good solid fan base as well. But there are a few clubs which could do better in Tulsa and Wichita. Worchester and Lowell in my opinion are much too close to Boston... a fact which is revealed in their attendance numbers...