Quote:
Originally Posted by Matty81
Sad to see the Ice leaving but no shocker.... 25k population in Cranbrook and not a real prosperous area economically... makes more sense to have had them in Nanaimo or Fort McMurray IMO. They lasted longer than I would have expected TBH.
Winnipeg will make money but to me, seeing WHL teams leave small towns to become 2nd or even 3rd fiddle in big cities saps the league of some of its character, seeing teams like the Oil Kings win kind of felt like watching Anaheim or Carolina win the cup... most people don't care whereas it's a big deal in a small or medium city.
|
It is sad and makes me wonder about the long term viability of teams like Swift Current which is much smaller than Cranbrook.
Places like Nanaimo and Ft Mac are interesting studies (Grande Prairie would also fit into this category). Large population centres that on paper should be a good fit for a major junior team however in all three cases I think it's their relative isolation that keeps the league away. That is a tough road trip to get to any of those places. Even Ft Mac or GP would 5 hours from the next nearest team. Prince George is a perfect example of this, they must have the hardest travel schedule in the WHL and I'm sure it affects their record. Nanaimo or anywhere else on the Island is hostage to ferry schedules meaning teams cannot bus out after a game and have to remain overnight when they come to play (or bus in late at night after a game elsewhere). Victoria deals with it I suppose and if you added another team on the island then you could combine a road trip to hit both cities making it simpler.
But yeah, I hate seeing small (er) places lose teams to the large cities. I agree the league loses some of it's character when thsi happens.