Something I’ve also disliked recently is the trend of AHL teams moving into NHL cities. From Stockton, California to Calgary with the Flames. From St. John’s, Newfoundland to Laval, near the Canadiens. From St. John’s, Newfoundland to Toronto with the Maple Leafs. When Grant Fuhr played in the NHL he played for the Cape Breton Oilers in that great time the Maritimes was home to AHL teams, not Major Junior. PEI Senators, Saint John Flames, Halifax Citadels. What a time. It built fanbases for those teams outside their home provinces, and gave some cities pro hockey when they knew they would never get NHL teams. Fuhr is currently doing radio and broadcast work for the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the brand new Seattle Kraken AHL affiliate. The Kraken are building a fanbase from the ground up in the California desert. They aren’t hoping to piggyback off their NHL teams, and that is how you grow the game.
I think [the AHL] is better off in smaller towns. You take a market like Calgary when you have the NHL team, the AHL team, the WHL team, but it’s all running off one fanbase, so now you have a really hard sell. Where as, here in Coachella, we’re literally the only game in town. It’s why our attendance is really good. [The firebirds are 5th in AHL attendance with an average of 8,722 fans per game. The Marlies average 5,950] It’s also a new market, so now you’re creating a fanbase that may not have been fans of the game to start with. If you can get into smaller towns, create that fanbase, it’s creating a fanbase of the game, of the NHL as well
