Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Confirmed: Flames to relocate AHL affilate for 2022-23 season

getbak · 05-23-2022, 02:44 PM

The team has been in Stockton for 7 seasons (although, they played in Calgary last season because of COVID restrictions). That's longer than anywhere else the Flames have had their affiliate except the 10 years in Saint John.

They're not growing a fan base in Stockton. Their highest-attendance season was their first and attendance has declined every year since. They averaged less than 2000 people per game this season. The attendance for their first 2 playoff games this year was 1822 and 1864.

In the end, this move isn't about finding an arena to play in that will fill up with 10,000 passionate fans every night. I suspect per-game attendance isn't a consideration at all. This is about having the players close to home to make recalls easier and to have easy access to all the Flames resources in Calgary.

Every year, we're seeing more teams moving their AHL affiliates closer to home. Calgary will be the 4th Canadian team to have their affiliate in the same city and Edmonton will be the only remaining Canadian team to not have its affiliate at least in the same province.

05-23-2022, 02:44 PM	#154
getbak Franchise Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Calgary, AB Exp:	The team has been in Stockton for 7 seasons (although, they played in Calgary last season because of COVID restrictions). That's longer than anywhere else the Flames have had their affiliate except the 10 years in Saint John. They're not growing a fan base in Stockton. Their highest-attendance season was their first and attendance has declined every year since. They averaged less than 2000 people per game this season. The attendance for their first 2 playoff games this year was 1822 and 1864. In the end, this move isn't about finding an arena to play in that will fill up with 10,000 passionate fans every night. I suspect per-game attendance isn't a consideration at all. This is about having the players close to home to make recalls easier and to have easy access to all the Flames resources in Calgary. Every year, we're seeing more teams moving their AHL affiliates closer to home. Calgary will be the 4th Canadian team to have their affiliate in the same city and Edmonton will be the only remaining Canadian team to not have its affiliate at least in the same province. __________________ Turn up the good, turn down the suck!