Following a period of relative solidity in the American Hockey League, it appears as if affiliates are going to be on the move once again in the very near future.
The New Jersey Devils haven’t had the greatest track regards as regards their AHL affiliate and this will be the second move in just four years after switching the Devils from Albany to Binghamton in 2017.
A thread of tweets sent by Nicole Menner including the one below alerted social media as to what was in the works.
The following direct quotes from Nicole’s article are a pretty damning inditement on how poorly New Jersey has handled this situation.
Binghamton Devils Executive Vice President of Operations Tom Mitchell said the New Jersey Devils informed him earlier this week the AHL team will be relocated.
Mitchell said he received formal notice Wednesday.
“This is devastating news to us, to the community,” said Mitchell. “The demands [the New Jersey Devils] were putting on us were absolutely impossible and we just couldn’t comply with them. So it looks like we’re going to part ways, and just try to move on.”
Mitchell would not get into the details of the demands made by the Devils.
He said he had no indication of the B-Devils leaving prior to this week, and added the Devils did not tell him where they planned on moving the team.
Mitchell said they are looking at all options ahead of next season.
“Binghamton has been a great home for an American Hockey League team for the better part of 50 years and there’s a lot of good reasons for an American League team to be here. Geographically we make a lot of sense to all the teams around us, to the league, and Binghamton has a lot to offer. A terrific building, terrific fans and we certainly don’t deserve this treatment.”
The full article can be found at https://wbng.com/2021/04/17/nj-devils-inform-binghamton-ownership-ahl-team-will-be-relocated/ and I fully recommend following Nicole on Twitter.
New Jersey’s agreement with Binghamton is supposed to run through the 2021-22 season so quite how this plays out is open to all kinds of interpretation.
New Jersey’s AHL affiliation track record:
1993-2006 Albany River Rats
2006-2010 Lowell Devils
2010-2017 Albany Devils
2017-2020 Binghamton Devils
So if yet another relocation is in the works, just where is New Jersey going to place their new affiliate?
Well, this tweet from Iain MacIntyre who works for Sportsnet sheds a degree of light on what may happen.
It’s been a long-held belief amongst those around the AHL that the Vancouver Canucks wish to move their affiliate from Utica, New York, closer to home and the pandemic has certainly caused the Canadian organisation some issues regarding player movement.
As regards Utica business operations president Robert Esche trademarking “Utica Devils.,” this isn’t the first report I have seen online about this and there generally isn’t smoke without fire.
So piecing together this puzzle it appears as if the Binghamton Devils will be relocated to Utica to become the Utica Devils, with the Utica Devils being shifted to Canada and Binghamton are left without a professional hockey team.
There have already been calls on social media for Vancouver to bring their affiliate to Abbotsford, BC.
The Abbotsford Heat folded in 2014 after just five seasons in existence. Then the affiliate of the Calgary Flames, financial problems and poor attendance numbers were cited as the reasons for the teams relocation.
The Abbotsford Centre remains in operation and is owned by the city of Abbotsford.
On paper, it would provide a perfect fit.
A capacity of 7,000, just an hour’s commute from Vancouver and in a city that only currently plays host to a Junior B team, the Abbotsford Pilots.
Another consideration to be aware of if these moves play out, the AHL would find itself a little top-heavy on the west coast with the addition of ‘Abbotsford’ and the newest franchise in Palm Springs.
The potential series of upcoming realignments could be a real juggling act for the league and its new head honcho, Scott Howson.
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