Quote:
Originally Posted by c.t.ner
Thunder Bay would be a pretty suitable location for an AHL team. There would be an instant rivalry between the Moose and Thunder bay, due to some small proximity. I'd venture to also say that the price difference wouldn't be a problem and would easily covered by the general population.
The biggest problem I see would be transportation for other AHL teams and for an affiliate team. Abbotsford makes sense for Calgary/Vancouver/Edmonton. Transportation is reasonable once you cross to one of those major centres. But Thunder Bay is a fairly isolated location for a team.
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Thunder Bay just isn't a good sports town. I lived there for several years and it has a long list of failed minor/semi-pro/senior league teams. Do the university teams do well... yeah. Thunder Bay is a pretty big college/university town... almost in the mould of U.S. college towns. It's also somewhat of an artsie/hippy town, more than a sports town. Not to mention, the economy of the city has been pretty much stagnant since the 1980s and they lack a large corporate presense.