LOL!
What's really surprising is the success of the ECHL.
I'm not familiar with them, but Green Bay has a USHL franchise (the Gamblers). And Appleton has the Fox Cities Ice Dogs, a GLHL (Great Lakes Hockey League) 'amateur elite' team. Do you have a 'local' AHL team? The Milwaukee Admirals are usually pretty competitive.
I'm all for a financially sound NHL. The players certainly won't be bargaining from any position of strength come this summer or fall or whenever. I say hire new players and let the old ones straggle back in when they need the money, or get tired of playing in Europe.
Absolutely.
The ECHL started out as you might expect in the east, as a "family-friendly" entertainment diversion. Tickets are cheap and there is a salary cap. It's done so well that it's expanded to 4 divisions all over the country and dropped the "east coast" and now just goes by the letters.
There are ECHL teams in Wheeling and in Johnstown. Either is about an hour from here. The Johnstown Chiefs are the team featured in the movie classic "Slap Shot," though they masquerade as the "Charlestown Chiefs." The Wheeling Nailers provided players for the non-classic movie "Sudden Death," where terrorists threatened to blow up the Civic Arena during a playoff game.
The AHL Baby Penguins play in Wilkes Barre/Scranton, across the state.
SD