My home team..the Idaho Steelheads..play in the West Coast Hockey Leauge. Next season the WCHL merges with the East Coast Hockey League. I know of one other domestic hockey league in the US...the AHL I think. Are there others? If they were to be ranked based on competitiveness..what would the rankings be?
Internaional Hockey League (IHL), Central Hockey League (CHL), and the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL). I think the ECHL, WCHL, and AHL are the biggest ones, but I really don't have any facts to back that up. I just know that the Hartford Wolfpack are the Rangers AHL affiliates. Here's a link that might help though: http://www.sportsfansofamerica.com/Links/Hockey/Minors/Main.htm
And the WCHL and ECHL are merging, more or less. Most of the teams in the WCHL applied to and were accepted by the ECHL (I assume they'll change their name) for next season. AHL is the top minor league (they had talked about calling it NHL2 at one point, but I wouldn't expect that). Then the ECHL. Then the CHL, which I believe is considered slightly ahead of the UHL. The ACHL just started. Recently departed leagues include the IHL and the WPHL (which I think merged with the CHL, more or less?).
Are there kind of top teams in minor leagues - i.e. teams that are permanently on top of their league - or does it depend a lot on who's sent down by the NHL teams?
THe WPHL merged with the CHL I want to say before last season. Ironically when I got out of college, I applied for jobs with a couple of WPHL teams. Guess no one believed a kid from the Boston suburbs would actually move to Corpus Christi, TX. As far as your team and others go Fear, I'm very concerned about what that merger will do to travel budgets of all teams in the new ECWCHL. Minor League success is essential to the growth of the sport nationwide. It's great for newer and/or smaller markets, as well as for bigger/NHL markets with lots of fans who can't/choose not to afford NHL ducats. The Colorado Gold Kings (Springs) folded before this year because of ownership issues. They were in the WCHL. I'm looking forward to seeing the (Larimer County, near Ft. Collins) Colorado Eagles of the CHL, they start next season. Anyone else want this to become the Minor League Hockey thread?
Jeff.. From my limited knowledge of the Steelheads and WCHL/ECHL merger...the teams over here in my side of the US will primarily play each other...so it's not gonna be like the Boises and Fresnos and San Diegos of the league are gonna be crisscrossing the country from week to week. I *think* what the plan is for when teams from here go back east is that they will only play a limited number of games. I guess the franchises in the ECHL are easy to get to via bus. So I think the plan is is to land in one city and play a game or two or whatever and then bus to the next city and repeat and then come home. I *think* the playoffs and championship are suppose to be a west v east setup. Someone familiar with the merger please correct me if I am wrong.
Here in Binghamton we have the Senators, an AHL affiilate of Ottawa. They're a really strong side this year and have surprised a lot of people considering that it's an expansion team. For the past 5 years we had the BC Icemen, a UHL team and they, as well as the league as a whole, was plain awful. I could have gone to a local college game and watched a better game on the ice. The AHL is considered to be the best minor league hockey. When the IHL went under a number of teams disappeared, but some went to the UHL and AHL.
I highly doubt that they'll merge, the UHL is looking to expand in NY. Not to mention that the geographical differences are too much for the two leagues.
Pretty good, I went to a game last night and he played very well. Made a couple of mistakes, but that's why he's in the minors. He's definitely got the potential and he's shaping up into a good player.
They are now, though that wasn't always the case. As recently as 1994-95, the Worcester Icecats started as an independent. Took their lumps, only winning about 15-18 games, but the organization impressed St. Louis enough that they've been the Blues affiliate since 95-96. This year, there are 28 teams in the AHL. Only Edmonton and Tampa Bay do not have their own primary affiliates, though Edmondton shares the one with Hamilton (with Montreal); Tampa Bay shares the Springfield affiliation with Phoenix.
Does Seattle have a minor league hockey team? I think the closest they've had in recent years in the now defunct Tacoma Sabercats of the WCHL.
Seattle has the Thunderbirds in the Western Junior League,which (along with the Ontario and Quebec Juniors) I would consider a cut above all minor pro leagues today save the AHL.
Where do the Thunderbirds play? By "junior" do you mean that this team/league is made up of primarily young players? How many teams are in this league?
Your a bit mistaken on Edmonton. The Hamilton Bulldogs started out as the Cape Breton Oilers. Edmonton maintains an agreement with the Bulldogs, although they don't own them.
The league in question, The Canadian Hockey League, is made up of players under the age of 20. This is the highest level of hockey for this age group. Here's the leagues official website: http://www.chl.ca/CHL/home.html
You wrong on that part. The Bulldogs are going to become the Toronto Roadrunners. The Habs are going to have to find someone else.
First, a history lesson for Fear: When the Steelheads were being born, they sent out literature to all prospective ST buyers stating that they would play in the WHL. First mistake Boise made was to try to buy and move the Brandon Wheat Kings, not too long after the shock of the NHL moving out of Quebec City and Winnipeg. Between that, a supposed Canadian Hockey League (combination of the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL) rule that recruiting rights to the "abandoned" province of Manitoba would have been ceded to Quebec, and (what seems to me) a suddenly made-up rule about markets having to be no more than a four-hour bus ride from the next nearest team (in this economy, I guess it's a smarter idea), Boise was denied. Fortunately, the WCHL made great strides on the ice between the first and third years, but there's always been a smattering of weak (now dead) franchises along with a strong core (San Diego, Bakersfield, Fresno, and Idaho). Everyone else: From what I've seen, most hockey people regard UHL talent as being above CHL talent. Income-wise, the CHL seems to have it better, the UHL is down to a small core of 10 teams (a couple of which may be in trouble), though the El Paso County Council just locked the CHL Buzzards out of the arena due to non-payment of rent. Should shamelessly plug someone's site (not mine) for more info regarding the perils of hockey at this level: http://www.chl-underground.com/deathpool.asp