[News] Flames buying ECHL Stockton Thunder to move AHL affiliate

[FlameZilla]

Originally Posted by Phil Russell

Me thinks a few posters here need to get out and travel a little bit. Every city on the planet has good areas and bad areas. And the bad areas, which dominate the crime stats, don't define an entire urban area. I have never visited Stockton but I am sure an AHL hockey player would have no problem living away from the gangs and meth addicts. And I am sure that an AHL hockey player, with a salary above the US median, will be able to find a nice safe and affordable condo to rent in one of likely a zillian such complexes around the city. Stockton may well be a dump--like I said I have never been there and the Central Valley of CA does have some crappy cities--but the characterization here of the scary American city is pretty comical.

I think that's the whole point...

Besides, there are some unspoken perks to living with meth addicts: Cheap (no) rent, all the copper wiring you'll ever need and toothless BJs from women in the prime of their lives (though they may look a bit older – good for any MILF fans out there).

In all seriousness though, I imagine this is a very, very cheap option for the a Flames — an ECHL franchise in a bankrupt American city would cost them peanuts. Good investment from the team. Any investment in the community from a rich sports franchise is going to help the city. Plus in that part of California you're only ever an hour on the freeway away from pretty nice San Fran suburbs like Berkeley so if the boys are getting harassed by SAMCRO they can commute.

[Lumby Lager]

Originally Posted by Phil Russell

Me thinks a few posters here need to get out and travel a little bit. Every city on the planet has good areas and bad areas. And the bad areas, which dominate the crime stats, don't define an entire urban area. I have never visited Stockton but I am sure an AHL hockey player would have no problem living away from the gangs and meth addicts. And I am sure that an AHL hockey player, with a salary above the US median, will be able to find a nice safe and affordable condo to rent in one of likely a zillian such complexes around the city. Stockton may well be a dump--like I said I have never been there and the Central Valley of CA does have some crappy cities--but the characterization here of the scary American city is pretty comical.

I would agree with FlameZilla as a good portion of this is just a lot of people trying to joke a little and I need to put emphasis on little. Questioning the thought process of the Flames management and ownership on this choice makes me shake my head and wonder if they traveled to the city of Stockton or if any research was done period!

Spending just 5 minutes doing a google search tells you all you need to know about the city. For a small city of 300 000, Stockton has some SERIOUS issues! A city that small with such a high rate of crime does not leave a lot of space that is not effected by it. If hiding in your little gated subdivision is all you can do and going out almost anywhere else makes you feel uncomfortable it makes it a horrible place to live.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Lumby Lager

Spending just 5 minutes doing a google search tells you all you need to know about the city.

No, well, actually that is never the case.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by gargamel

Detroit also has some very nice suburbs where all the NHL players live. Does Stockton have nice suburbs and can guys on AHL salaries afford to live there?

All of the suburbs on the south side of Sacramento or the east side of the Bay.

[GioforPM]

Sounds like Stockton could use a quality organization like the Flames setting up a business there. A hockey club is a pretty labour intensive operation so jobs, relatively cheap entertainment, further exposure of the sport in California, etc. aer good things.

I'm sure there are plenty of suburbs to live in.

[Lumby Lager]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

No, well, actually that is never the case.

True....I also think you know what I was getting at

[Lumby Lager]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Sounds like Stockton could use a quality organization like the Flames setting up a business there. A hockey club is a pretty labour intensive operation so jobs, relatively cheap entertainment, further exposure of the sport in California, etc. aer good things.

I'm sure there are plenty of suburbs to live in.

Yes the creation of jobs would be a great thing for this city. It appears that a high percentage of resident's have struggled since 2008. I think they were one of if not the hardest hit by the sub-prime mortgage fiasco.

[Travis Munroe]

Originally Posted by Phil Russell

Me thinks a few posters here need to get out and travel a little bit. Every city on the planet has good areas and bad areas. And the bad areas, which dominate the crime stats, don't define an entire urban area. I have never visited Stockton but I am sure an AHL hockey player would have no problem living away from the gangs and meth addicts. And I am sure that an AHL hockey player, with a salary above the US median, will be able to find a nice safe and affordable condo to rent in one of likely a zillian such complexes around the city. Stockton may well be a dump--like I said I have never been there and the Central Valley of CA does have some crappy cities--but the characterization here of the scary American city is pretty comical.

I fully understand what you are saying but.... as someone who has been and is very close with someone who spent an entire year there, it is as rough as most are making it out to sound.
The crime index has them listed as safer than 3% of cities in the US. I know through my travels, a small population (300k) mixed with that high of a crime percentage translates to no nice areas.

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ca/stockton/crime/

Somewhere like Chicago is a good example of what you are saying is Chicago. A ton of nice places but a good chunk of the city that you do not want to wander in. I was told I wouldnt last 5 minutes without being beat up and robbed if we strolled past the United Center for a few minutes (opposite direction from the billy goat tavern)

[GioforPM]

I was told the same thing about going one stop past the White Sox stadium. And of course, the Kings played in Inglewood all those years.

[Red Menace]

Regardless of the poor reputation of the city, I think moving the team out west is just a plain bad idea...even with 5-6 western AHL teams, the bulk of teams are in the East.
The AHL team will end up with huge travelling issues like they had in Abbotsford.
Having the team closer to Calgary is somewhat insignificant....more important is the proximity to other teams in the league and to a major airport.
Surprised with this move.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Red Menace

Regardless of the poor reputation of the city, I think moving the team out west is just a plain bad idea...even with 5-6 western AHL teams, the bulk of teams are in the East.
The AHL team will end up with huge travelling issues like they had in Abbotsford.
Having the team closer to Calgary is somewhat insignificant....more important is the proximity to other teams in the league and to a major airport.
Surprised with this move.

It has already been discussed but it sounds like the California AHL teams would be almost exclusively playing against each other to cut down on travel time and costs.

[troutman]

Does Ken King deserve some criticism for our frequently relocating AHL team? Has it been a problem?

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/d...t.php?tmi=5090

This could be the 7th city since 2003.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by Realtor 1

I was told I wouldnt last 5 minutes without being beat up and robbed if we strolled past the United Center for a few minutes (opposite direction from the billy goat tavern)

My uncle told me a story once about how he went on a business trip to Chicago one year with a couple of co-workers and decided to catch a Hawks game. They stayed a bit behind after the game to let the crowd clear out and decided they wanted to go somewhere to eat.

They saw a police car and were going to ask for suggestions and before they could even say anything the officer rolled down his window and asked them what the hell they were doing in that area alone that late.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by troutman

Does Ken King deserve some criticism for our frequently relocating AHL team? Has it been a problem?

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/d...t.php?tmi=5090

This could be the 7th city since 2003.

Does anyone deserve criticism for the frequent relocation?

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by troutman

Does Ken King deserve some criticism for our frequently relocating AHL team? Has it been a problem?

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/d...t.php?tmi=5090

This could be the 7th city since 2003.

How does that compare to other teams?

[FlamesAddiction]

The Flames took some risks with a few of the cities that they tried to locate the farm to. I think right now the AHL in the east is just too saturated and the good markets have long time tenants already.

Hopefully now that they are expanding out west, it will open up more options.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by troutman

Does Ken King deserve some criticism for our frequently relocating AHL team? Has it been a problem?

Why does it matter to us?

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

How does that compare to other teams?

it's pretty ugly. Since the lockout, the Flames have had 4 different affiliates ... only the Ducks have had 4 as well (Portland, Iowa, Syracuse, Norfolk). A third of the league has kept the same affiliate for 10 years or longer now.

Number of AHL affiliates since 2005:

1 (10 NHL teams): BOS, DET, OTT, LAK, MTL, NSH, NYI, PIT, TOR, WSH
2 (11 NHL teams): ARI, BUF, CBJ, CHI, DAL, FLA, MIN, NYR, SJS, STL, WPG/ATL
3 (7 NHL teams): CAR, COL, EDM*, NJD, PHI, TBL, VAN
4 (2 NHL teams): ANA, CGY

* the Oilers had no own farm team in 2005-06 and split affiliations during that season (Iowa and Hamilton), I counted that as one affiliation. If you count both, they have had 4 since 2005 too.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by devo22

it's pretty ugly. Since the lockout, the Flames have had 4 different affiliates ... only the Ducks have had 4 as well (Portland, Iowa, Syracuse, Norfolk). A third of the league has kept the same affiliate for 10 years or longer now.

Number of AHL affiliates since 2005:

1 (10 NHL teams): BOS, DET, OTT, LAK, MTL, NSH, NYI, PIT, TOR, WSH
2 (11 NHL teams): ARI, BUF, CBJ, CHI, DAL, FLA, MIN, NYR, SJS, STL, WPG/ATL
3 (7 NHL teams): CAR, COL, EDM*, NJD, PHI, TBL, VAN
4 (2 NHL teams): ANA, CGY

* the Oilers had no own farm team in 2005-06 and split affiliations during that season (Iowa and Hamilton), I counted that as one affiliation. If you count both, they have had 4 since 2005 too.

I think it's a lot more of a challenge for the western teams

All of the teams with 1 are eastern teams (geographically), other than the Kings

[sureLoss]

Is King to blame? Probably. Ever since he came on the Flames have been trying to move their AHL affiliate as West as possible and into some non-traditional markets.