The Albany AHL situation

First off, the Sound tigers are not going anywhere any time soon. The team is owned by Wang, who also has a stake in The Arena at Harbor Yard, so there will not be a reincarnation of the Capitol District Islanders. The only way Wang is selling the Sound Tigers is if he sells the Islanders outright.

Now a couple of things on Albany:

NEVER trust anything Billy Fucillo has to say. Ever. He is upstate’s version of Brad Benson, a Hyundai dealer who happens to be mobbed up and has a giant inflatable version of himself at one of his dealerships. If anyone has ever spent time upstate they are familiar with his famous Huuuuge! catchphrase.

They are desperate to get a new team in there though, or else they wouldn’t be reaching out to Bridgeport AND Hartford to move into the Knickerbocker (Both teams that are incidentally owned by their parent clubs). This is the first time in over a decade that Albany has had a geographic rival (Adirondack Phantoms in Glenns Falls), and both teams have benefited from it.

Unfortunately I doubt that Albany will have an AHL affiliate next season, it just doesn’t look like there is a team willing to move their affiliate there. I always thought once the Devils moved to Lowell that the River Rats days were numbered. No one is going to care about an AHL team when A) The parent club does not have a rooting interest in the area to begin with or B) The parent club’s games cannot be seen regularly on TV.

Well, Adieu River Rats, I have some very fond memories of going to games there during my time in Albany. Whether it was going to a game during a blizzard and being one of 50 in attendance (And the arena having to cancel the concert the following night because they were afraid the roof would collapse because of all the snow), watching Rick DiPietro as a Sound Tiger there in 2001-2002, the epic failures that were Ari Ahonen, Barry Tallackson and Toumas Pihlman and The Skrlac Pack, founded in honor of long time Albany enforcer Rob Skrlac.

With due respect to everyone, It’s not the first time in the past few weeks that i’ve heard the Bridgeport name come up in talks with potential moves to the Albany area. Dom knows well enough that I make it out to a good 70% of the games or so, so it’s a shame it’s come to seeing a relatively long hockey streak come to an end. The B’port to Albany speculation certainly wouldn’t hurt me, but I’m skeptical at the moment. In reference to Billy Fucillo, it could be one of the best moves to bring in a high octane guy who loves the face time. Albany needs a spark and a cash influx, and Fucillo gets his name out there (love him or hate him). What more can you ask of an owner than to promote the team and get people in the seats? He’d be a great addition to the Isles franchise at that.

The big question I have however, and one that i’ve asked around for several weeks without a definitive answer is why a team like Anaheim isn’t at the very least taking a look at the Rats. From my understanding, the Rats themselves are being bought out and moved to Charlotte, to replace the former (IHL?) Checkers into the AHL. However, we’ve had 29 teams in the AHL for countless years, and 2009-2010 looked to be the first year where every NHL team had an individual affiliate…..until the HOGS didn’t pay up. If it’s only for a one or two… or even three year agreement, it gives Anaheim and Albany time to consider options for the long term future in the meantime. It’s certainly reaching at the moment, but it’d be a crying shame for Albany to lose out on minor league hockey..

According to the Albany Times Union article, the two main teams that could be replacing the River Rats in Albany are the Hartford Wolfpack or Lowell Devils. The Devils used to have their affiliate in Albany, and began an affiliation with Lowell in 2006. I believe that move was based on the idea that the Devils purchased what was the Lowell Lock Monsters. I also heard rumblings about the Adirondack Phantoms moving to Albany, but my understanding is that the owners of the Phantoms have a 3 year lease in Glens Falls.

I don’t think the Sound Tigers will be moving to Albany. However, as an Upstate New York resident who certainly spends plenty of time around Albany, I wouldn’t mind it at all.

Its sad that the River Rats are moving and probably changing names too.

The Devils and River Rats were like the Yankees to the Columbus Clippers.

This sucks! I grew up watching the Rats while they were the Devils team for years. We had season tickets when they played in Troy and were the Isles farm team. Never drew very well there, but picked up once they switched to Albany and became the Rats. Hope they can get another team soon. Adirondack just got a team back and they didn’t have time to renew their rivalry. Back when Adirondack was the red wings farm team, the Rats set the single game attendance record for the AHL in a game against the Wings.

The Edmonton Oilers just announced that they are yanking their AHL agreement with the Springfield Falcons and relocating to Oklahoma City. That leaves Springfield without an NHL affiliate. GM Bruce Landon said that the franchise is committed to Springfield for another season, 2010-11, but after that all bets are off.

Albany could be a possible landing spot for the Springfield Falcons. The Falcons have had poor attendance and poor teams since an improbable playoff run in 2002-3 when Rob Murray was back with the team. Attendance sucked back then, I interned with the Falcons writing online content and game reports and they averaged 2,500 any given night, maybe 4,000 for the playoffs.

Maybe Balsille can move the Hamilton team there.

As I recall, the Rochester Americans are currently affiliated with the Florida Panthers. They used to share that affiliation with the Sabres, so the Rochester/Buffalo thing made sense, but now… The problem is, Florida doesn’t seem to be enough of a hockey hotbed to support an AHL team. I think (going off old info) that there are ECHL teams in Pensacola and south FLA (the Everblades?), I can’t look it up right now. I can understand if the ‘Canes want their guys close by for emergency call-ups and such, but it’s not unworkable to have an affiliate at a distance.