Thursday News
| Texas Tornado face territorial threat as Global Entertainment drops a new arena and CHL franchise in neighboring Allen in 2009... Fargo breaks ground on arena. Hmmm, USHL franchises run $750,000... Niagara IceDogs annual rent: $2, or $1.88 American... |
posted by Marc Foster at 6/28/2007 06:52:00 AM
Comments on "Thursday News"
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Anonymous said ... (10:22 PM, June 28, 2007) :
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Marc Foster said ... (5:42 AM, June 29, 2007) :
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Anonymous said ... (7:25 AM, June 29, 2007) :
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Anonymous said ... (8:50 AM, June 29, 2007) :
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Marc Foster said ... (9:09 AM, June 29, 2007) :
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Anonymous said ... (11:52 PM, July 01, 2007) :
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Marc Foster said ... (5:45 AM, July 02, 2007) :
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Anonymous said ... (9:17 AM, July 02, 2007) :
post a commentMarc, do you see this as a place the Brahmas would move to? Alleviating any rink issues and giving them the backing they really need to succeed.
No... all indications are a new franchise will be brought in. This area is outside the Brahmas' existing territory.
BTW, according to Mapquest the new arena will be 11.4 miles from Deja Blue.
sweet....pro hockey, 10 minutes from the house. Can't beat that.
I like how the press release refers to the chl as "double-a."
I'm not a fan of the "AA" level, but I'm going to cut the CHL some slack here. ECHL fans have this superiority complex and think they are the only AA league out there. The fact is their NHL/AHL affiliations aren't worth the paper they are written on, and for 95% of players the level, be it in the ECHL, CHL, IHL, or SPHL, is a dead-end for their professional careers. People who engage in this "my AA is better than yours" debate tend to do so for geocentric reasons with no concept of what's going on at the general level from 30,000 feet in the sky...
However, it (the echl) is also a starting ground for mid-level prospects, especially goalies. Take Dave Mckee (Tornado, Cornell) for example. Started the season in the echl, worked his way to the ahl, and in a couple years, has a legitimate shot to see some nhl time. Ottawa has done the same thing with their goalies coming out of Major Junior.
While the likelihood of an echl player reaching the nhl is slim, it is certainly greater than the chl, sphl, etc.
I hate the double-a comparison too, especially when it comes to comparing it to minor baseball, where nearly every prospect comes through AA at some point in time.
This isn't that new with goalies... Look at Patrick Lalime.
The two positions that have consistently made it out of AA to the NHL are goalies and enforcers. Both tend to develop at a slower rate, and because there's a smaller need for them (two per position per team), their depth does tend to back up into the AA ranks.
thats what i was saying, that goalies especially will start in the echl. i just used dave mckee as a recent example.
we are in agreement.