Canes Should Aim Close For AHL and ECHL Teams
By Chris Baker
With the Norfolk Admirals out as Carolina’s ECHL team and the Chicago Wolves long gone as the AHL connection, the Canes should aim to bring their operation all under one tent. Make either the Carolina Thunderbirds or Fayetteville Marksmen their ECHL team, and make plans to build a new team in Greensboro. From top to bottom, the Canes being in North Carolina would seal the deal for the “North Carolina is a hockey state” claim.
Whatever happens with the AHL between
and the Charlotte Checkers, bumping either
or
up to the ECHL creates a perfect first step in an in-state pipeline for the Canes.
Creating a team in Greensboro would be excellent. Already, GSO has proven it can sustain minor league baseball, and more than its share of NCAA basketball tournaments. Plus it hosts high profile golf and tennis. Tacking on an AHL team would be a piece of cake. With some great branding rights, it could really be a powerhouse opportunity for the Canes.
Naturally many Canes fans say Charlotte is the best fit. The Cane have had their affiliation there before and could potentially get it back. That would be great, but resigning with the Checkers does not give the Canes the excitement that a new team in Greensboro creates.
Greensboro or Charlotte really does not matter so long as it is in North Carolina.
And, having both an AHL and an ECHL team in their home state has to mean a boost for the burgeoning college hockey scene. Young hockey players in the Carolinas can aim for playing their college hockey at one of the many college teams in North and South Carolina, then potentially get picked up by the Canes meaning they can play in the minors at home as well. Seems like an ideal development situation if you ask me.
Young kid playing junior hockey in Wilmington or Charlotte, decides to pack a bag and play for Appalachian State up in Boone. Gets drafted by the Canes, and starts out in Greensboro in the AHL. Make the big team after a development season.
Aim the spotlights on North Carolina for the ESPY!
The combinations for the above scenario are endless. Kid from Cary, grows up a Canes fan, plays college hockey at Chapel Hill, signs an ECHL deal to play in Fayetteville, moves up to Charlotte in the AHL. Wham-bam! A few goals later its back in Raleigh coming out to the Hurricane horn.
Easy access to developing players means the Canes could avoid deals the likes of which we have seen this summer with TDA and Brenden Lemieux. Instead of paying other teams to take out their garbage, the Cane merely aim their sights on the player that best fits their needs and put them in a car from Greensboro, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, or Fayetteville. Better known to Canes fans because of their proximity, these “up through the ranks” players would likely be well embraced rather than scorned by Canes fans.
On top of the hockey benefits, having both the AHL and ECHL teams in North Carolina is going to energize the fan base around two new teams in North Carolina. The Carolina Thunderbirds and Fayetteville Marksmen have great fanbases, and they have a reach that is wide enough to get our attention. A bump up would bring them to the attention of the Canes Nation. Not just the diehard hockey fans jonesing for hockey. Throw a potential new team in Greensboro! With some cool branding. Blahdow! The roof would be the only ceiling.
That glow up would be great for the economies of these cities as well. Bars and breweries would be the first to jump on board. Winston-Salem based Fiddlin’ Fish Brewery already has a “5:00 For Fightin” Ale. A shooting themed beer would not take too much imagination in Fayetteville. Natty Greene’s in Greensboro would have no trouble brewing something wonderful to drink at a game either. All three towns could have college rush tickets similar to what the Canes used to have. Running a hockey team takes skill, and plenty of elbow grease, so jobs would be created.
And is that a whiff of “outdoor game” I catch in the air? All three have the stadiums to do so!
I am naturally geographically and culturally biased to Greensboro/Winston-Salem or Fayetteville, and against Charlotte. Having lived in the Triad, and suffered getting into Charlotte, I have a right to my inclinations. Greensboro is a great town (UNCG and Greensboro College, arts, music, bar scene) and would be made even better with an AHL team. With the biggest of the areas, it is the natural home of the AHL team. Winston-Salem (also a college town, great art scene, and history) has embraced the Thunderbirds, and that fanbase is rabid. They have a great atmosphere at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex which can been seen even through their live feeds. It would be a great upgrade for that team to get into the ECHL mix. Marksmen hockey is well received and Fayetteville (solid bar scene and a two time college town) has never really earned the terrible reputation it has.
Yes, I know the history of the Checkers/ Canes connection and understand the ease in getting back in their good graces, but frankly I am not as interested in going to Charlotte to see an AHL game. Once torched by sitting in traffic for 2 hours just to go a few miles in 100 degree heat, always scared. Plus, if the Canes left Charlotte alone and put an AHL team in Greensboro, they naturally have a built in in-state rivalry.
Blank slates with no AHL or ECHL teams, the Canes have a great opportunity to bring things close. Moving both their teams in-state with an ECHL move up with the Winston-Salem based Carolina Thunderbirds or the Fayetteville Marksmen is a great move. Aim for an AHL team in Greensboro, or rebuilding bridges with the Charlotte Checkers and the stage would be set! Bringing Canes fans down to the AHL and ECHL ranks would energize the hockey nuts, help local economies, be a boon for college hockey recruiting, and leave all those “Hockey will never work in North Carolina” naysayers eating their words.