Hamilton OHL team too?

[url=http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/675774--ohl-s-erie-otters-looking-at-hamilton-move-reports]http://www.thespec.com/news/local/artic ... ve-reports[/url]

What the heck? I didn't expect this one. Looks like we might be facing off against the Knights sooner then I thought. Makes sense though, Erie is a long bus trip from the rest of the OHL and their division is entirely across the lake.

It would be super, have the chance to win a great Canadian sports trophy again in the Memorial Cup and maybe do a World Juniors collaborating with London and/or Kitchener. :thup:

If Hamilton gets another OHL team again I hope they can hang onto them, Its heart breaking for their fans when they pickup and leave. I love Jr hockey. :thup:

The problem here is Copps is too big for an OHL team and Mountain Arena is too small. I think it only seats 2,500. I also don’t want to see us lose the Bulldogs as a result of this. They’ve faithfully served Hamilton (save for some comments made during the Balsille bid, which were taken the wrong way) and made it to the post season 13/15 times.

Yes Hammer, I would feel for the diehard Bulldog fans. But the team will be welll served in the $120 mill Laval arena that will be a step up class wise from Copps I'm sure with more corporate suites and at.10000 a better fit for the team.

[url=http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/business/article/1096550--new-laval-arena-to-share-name-management-of-habs-home]http://www.metronews.ca/edmonton/busine ... -habs-home[/url]

A move by the Bulldogs franchise itself is not necessarily automatic under the aforementioned scenario:

....[i]if....the Canadiens wanted their farm team closer to home, they could refuse to extend their affiliation with Hamilton, shop for an existing AHL franchise, move it to Quebec and populate its roster with their prospects. This would either force Andlauer to find another NHL team to supply the Bulldogs with players or sell his outfit to the Habs, of which he’s a minority owner[/i].
this from: [url=http://www.thespec.com/sports/bulldogs/article/661077--andlauer-insists-bulldogs-not-moving]http://www.thespec.com/sports/bulldogs/ ... not-moving[/url]

This is truly exciting news, as much as I love the Dogs, Hamilton just shows no support for the AHL. Its sad really. But I think with an OHL club, support would be a lot stronger as players like Nail Yakupov and Max Domi would be coming to town (not Nail of course but you get the picture) and fans will get a chance to watch the NHL's future stars.

If this actually happens, I'll be so happy :stuck_out_tongue:

When my brother in London speaks of the Knights, he's a huge fan, he's always talking about this kid or that kid the Hunter's are talking about drafting, speaking with their parents etc. sort of like the CFL with the Canadian draft which is important. It's exciting when a league is able to draft players unlike the AHL where it's just a farm team thing and it happens from the parent team.

eg.

[url=http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?t=803592]http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showt ... p?t=803592[/url]

Here we again…

We have a wonderful owner, who is putting his own money into a city facility, desperately wants to stay in Hamilton and some morons at city hall want to crap all over him.

Who are these people bringing this team, who are the politicians championing this, the Bulldog ownership has promised to keep hockey, no matter what level (including OHL) in Hamilton, they forgot this?

Money going to facilities that don’t need it (Firestone). By the way, why is everything in Ancaster all of sudden?

Way too many questions before this goes forward.

Why not investigate this since there is no way anyone knows if the Bulldogs will move to Laval and if they do, well, it would be nice to have an OHL team here.

Also from the article:

[i]Andlauer has long vowed to keep high-level hockey in Hamilton and says he would still prefer for that to be the AHL. However, he says if the Canadiens withdraw their farm team — his affiliation agreement ends after the 2012-13 season and there have been loud rumblings the Habs want to make their minor-league team the anchor tenant in the new Laval arena — and if no other AHL opportunity was available, he’d be interested in becoming part of a local OHL franchise. Possibly using the established Bulldogs name and logo for the new squad.

“My commitment to keeping the Bulldogs in Hamilton is sincere,? he said. “In what form that would take, I don’t know.?[/i]

The Bulldogs are a lost cause in Hamilton, and dont get wrong I love the Dogs but the problem is...we are in the heart of Leafs nation, and I have talk to many a stubborn Leaf fans who say "Oh I cant cheer for the Bulldogs they are Montreals farm team".

Have you ever been to a Marlies Dogs game? the place is PACKED...with leafs fans cheering for the MARLIES. If the Maple Leafs had half a brain they would move the Marlies to Hamilton where people will actually support them, unlike in Toronto where they are a lost cause cause of all the attention the pro teams get.

If Hamilton were to get an OHL team, it could be a team EVERYONE could cheer for because their would not be loyality issues and also OHL hockey is a FAR FAR FAR better product then AHL hockey, but thats just my opinion.

The article states that if we do get the team, Bulldogs and said team will co-exist until 2015 (i may have the date wrong but its something like that)

getting an OHL team would be a HUGE positive for this city, not negative.

I know when I mentioned to my brother when the JLC opened in London maybe they would get an AHL team he almost puked and said he hope that never happens because for him, it's the OHL, he wants nothing to do with the AHL there and he says most people in London that he's talked to feel the same way.

I hope this happens. It would be nice to get one of those foreign teams back to where they belong and Hamilton should have a team in the OHL. You have had spotty interest in the past but with enough effort it should work. I like Junior hockey and would drive across the Province to take in a game, but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch AHL. The only thing that bothers me is the arena situation. Mountain Arena does not sound ideal and I can't understand why they could not share Copps with the Bulldogs. But even Copps is not the best building. Junior hockey should not be played in NHL arenas, unless you can fill them at least close to capacity. If Hamilton can do that, that would be great, but a 5k seat rink is the best fit for a Junior team.

Build an arena at West Harbour. :wink:

but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch AHL

That's me to a tee deer and nothing agains't the talent, it's better than the OHL but after that it's about as hollow as it gets. Hamilton deserves it's own team and that is not the AHL.

Grover, an arena at WH? Ok, won't go there, when Fred gets voted back in next time around he'll get a moving company that does complete house moves, from the foundation on up, and move IWS2 to WH. :wink:

Exactly what I wanted to say. I’m relatively new to the hockey world and I am a leafs fan. I go to bulldogs games because my girlfriend likes to go and it’s entertainment nonetheless. When the marlies are in town, the place is indeed packed and I will cheer for them. But when it’s just the the bulldogs… The atmosphere is dead like the Rogers center and as much as I feel obligated to cheer for the dogs because they are the home team… I can’t put any emotion into it. I can’t honestly cheer for a team with the disgusting habs logo on their shoulders. I feel bad because there are some dedicated Bulldogs fans who believe the bulldogs are as big a part of the city as the Ticats but I am just not interested in them. Maybe if they changed their affiliation to say Edmonton I would have a different view, as i could grow to like the bulldogs and possibly oilers if that were to happen (weren’t they edmontons farm team to begin with?). And I agree, the marlies would draw a much better crowd as most people care more about the NHL and in this area the NHL team is the leafs, meaning the AHL team to cheer for is the marlies. To me the bulldogs are the “Habs lite” and that’s enough of a turnoff for me.

And yes, I would go to Bulldogs games if my wife wanted to but the one time we went the game was full of fights and she thinks fighting has no place in sports like what we saw that night. That can happen in the OHL too though, and NHL.
My brother in London is hoping the Otters move to Hamilton, he wasn't aware that this could happen.

My biggest worry is that we are being used (yet again) as an easy out. It seems like everyone and their mother says "I'll move my Hockey Franchise to Hamilton if I don't get a better deal!" and Erie might not be an exception to this rule. I'll say this, I wouldn't mind seeing Mountain Area get an upgrade/renovation.

[b]What’s the chance an OHL team would work here with the arena situation the way it is? [/b]

“I believe an OHL team can absolutely be successful in Hamilton,? says Dundas Real McCoys owner and hockey consultant Don Robertson.

There are more than a few questions left unanswered by the city staff report outlining the proposed move of an Ontario Hockey League franchise to Hamilton. The identity of the mystery buyer is a biggie, of course. Another, however, stands even above that.

Can a junior team succeed playing its game either at the undersized Dave Andreychuk Mountain Arena or at the oversized Copps Coliseum? These two arenas, after all, have been cited over the years as at least part of the reason two previous junior teams left, the NHL hasn’t come here and the Bulldogs have struggled to draw fans.

Is there a realistic chance this could work?


The rest: http://www.thespec.com/sports/local/art … -way-it-is

From what the article says, it refers to brand new owners. So it’s possible that Sherry Bassen is selling the team and it’s new owners that are interested in bringing the team here, perhaps to get a leg up on the possiblility to use Copps if the Bulldogs can’t find a new affliation.