Johnstown

[hockey]

Hey Jtown hockey fans. Do you think JTown could be a stepping stone to launch a USHL division in the area?

Huntington, Wheeling, Johnstown and Richmond/Roanoke.

[IncaCHIEFS]

Really don't see any pro or junior teams coming to Johnstown in the near future (if the reports are true this is the last year for the Chiefs).
Need to have a local owner and no one in Johnstown wants to do that. The Johnstown elite will pay for their season tickets to the Penguins and drive to Pittsburgh to see hockey.
So it looks like high school hockey is all what you will see at the War Memorial in the coming years.

[hockey]

Really don't see any pro or junior teams coming to Johnstown in the near future (if the reports are true this is the last year for the Chiefs).
Need to have a local owner and no one in Johnstown wants to do that. The Johnstown elite will pay for their season tickets to the Penguins and drive to Pittsburgh to see hockey.
So it looks like high school hockey is all what you will see at the War Memorial in the coming years.

If there was a serious group, would the community give it a chance?

[IncaCHIEFS]

Hard to say. If the right people in the city were behind it, it might make a go of it. But, if there was a league already in place - that would make a difference as well.
Do you know of anyone who actually wants to start a USHL/NAHL type of league in the Eastern part of the US?
There are a lot of "ifs" so until something happens, we probably won't have hockey for some time.

[hockey]

Could you being doing research for the Federal Hockey League? :byebw:


I think owners are wasting their time with Single A hockey startup leagues, the north east needs Tier I or at the very least, Tier II Junior Hockey. EJHL has hand grip on the talent for too long. It makes much more financial success to have Tier II or I league instead of Single A pro hockey.

I personally think and believe the West Coast and Northeast United States should have Tier I hockey league. Pay to play should exist at the midget level and Jr B level.

I agree, low minor single A is pointless. The NAHL could make a go of it, but there would need to be 4 teams.

[badgerbadger]

Hey Jtown hockey fans. Do you think JTown could be a stepping stone to launch a USHL division in the area?

Huntington, Wheeling, Johnstown and Richmond/Roanoke.

enter the mind of a wetbrained gerbil.................

[hockey]

Wow, a few phone calls, some emails and a little luck leads me to the name of an investor who is well known and respected in the area pushing for NAHL JTown.

Looks like this might have some traction. Especially now that the ECHL team departing is almost official.

[Hans]

I don't think the USHL is interested in too-rapid expansion -- I think Musky and Dubuque are pretty much it for next season, and I would be REALLY surprised to see more than two more added (if even that) for 2011-12.

[hockey]

I don't think the USHL is interested in too-rapid expansion -- I think Musky and Dubuque are pretty much it for next season, and I would be REALLY surprised to see more than two more added (if even that) for 2011-12.

I agree, it looks like NAHL is the plan. Based on Fresno and Dawson Creek, they will take anybody.

[FWKRTJ]

It would be pretty erratic for the USHL to continue expanding anymore than they are currently. The more they expand, the more the product becomes watered down and the less of a chance that they can compete with the CHL (junior).

[Hans]

I'm honestly surprised the Frankes haven't announced through their Fort Wayne newspaper columnists that there's a group "seriously looking" at Johnstown for the IHL next season.

[IncaCHIEFS]

Can't see tham getting a team in the NAHL - sorry. The closest team(s) would be in Michigan, unless there is going to be more teams joining close by Johnstown - I doubt the "so called" owner that you are talking about is going to swoop in and put a team in Johnstown.
That would be like me saying "if I were to win the lottery, I'd buy the team" - well I don't play the lottery.

[mfosterftw]

Can't see tham getting a team in the NAHL - sorry. The closest team(s) would be in Michigan, unless there is going to be more teams joining close by Johnstown - I doubt the "so called" owner that you are talking about is going to swoop in and put a team in Johnstown.
That would be like me saying "if I were to win the lottery, I'd buy the team" - well I don't play the lottery.

They are putting a team in Dawson Creek BC next season... punch it up in Google Maps... it's a million miles from everything else in the league. Johnstown is not beyond the NAHL's geographical scope.

That said, I was able to uncover NAHL commissioner Mark Frankenfeld's secret expansion plans a few weeks ago:

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh34/marcfosterftw/NAHLexpansion.jpg

[Bob Rotruck]

The obvious advantage of the NAHL and other juniors leagues is that you don't have to pay the players. So you get some additional spending money for travel if everything else is equal (which it usually isn't but just go with it for now).

Still, putting a team way out in BC in this league makes very little sense to me especially since there are various juniors leagues out there already that they could try to join instead. But it's not the first time there has been some crazy geography in the NAHL or other juniors leagues.

I'm hoping some kind of league decides to come to Johnstown in the future. As was mentioned, it's kind of lost on the fringes geographically for some of these leagues but I think that hassle can be overcome. If one of the leagues (like the Federal League or someplace else) tries out Jamestown, NY then suddenly that's a somewhat close-ish team to Johnstown (4 hours) plus you get to have the fun of "Jamestown vs. Johnstown!"

Danbury, CT is only about 6 hours from Johnstown and Rome, NY is also about 6 hours. So that Federal Hockey League is actually not quite as unrealistic as one might initially think. The key is whether this version of single-A hockey up there has the legs to survive or not.

The IHL is another possibility but I think that is a bit worse of a fit geographically. But Dayton and Ft. Wayne aren't bad for them. Pt Huron would be about 7 hours. It's those 10 and 11 hour trips to Bloomington and Davenport that would obviously suck.

Johnstown has had various teams in different leagues in the past (wings, jets, etc) so losing the ECHL Chiefs doesn't have to be the end of the world and I'm hoping for the best for the future of pro hockey in Johnstown.

I'm also hoping the ownership of Johnstown/Greenville is thoughtful enough to allow any future pro team in Johnstown to continue to use the name of the Chiefs. They seem to genuinely care about the town and the history of the team so I don't think they would hang onto it just because they could....but you never know. That's also on the assumption that they'll be using a different name for the team in Greenville.

[VDOJAQ]

I'm honestly surprised the Frankes haven't announced through their Fort Wayne newspaper columnists that there's a group "seriously looking" at Johnstown for the IHL next season.

Actually, I thought one of the current IHL owners(Q.C.?) was quoted after the meetings as saying there were a couple of groups from "ECHL cities" had attended the IHL meetings in Detroit. Without direct saying so , I think they have already inferred to this happening.

[pioneer98]

Actually, I thought one of the current IHL owners(Q.C.?) was quoted after the meetings as saying there were a couple of groups from "ECHL cities" had attended the IHL meetings in Detroit. Without direct saying so , I think they have already inferred to this happening.

I don't think they attended, but this article said there was "possible interest" from some ECHL teams having problems (paragraph 5).
http://www.qctimes.com/sports/hockey/professional/minor/article_7772da72-15f0-11df-8def-001cc4c03286.html