The NHL Jets' AHL team will "share the MTS Centre" with them, a move that is
"open-ended but likely temporary," according to Tim Campbell of the WINNIPEG FREE PRESS. The AHL’s BOG on Thursday "approved a request by True North Sports & Entertainment," owners of the Jets, "to move its AHL franchise back to Winnipeg" for the start of the '15-16 season. True North’s AHL team "had been playing in St. John’s, Newfoundland, as the IceCaps" since '11. There "was no word ... on the name of the returning team, which was formerly the Manitoba Moose." Jets Exec VP & GM Kevin Cheveldayoff on Thursday said that the business and branding information "would be rolled out soon." True North "is interested in the
ongoing drive to construct a new arena in downtown Thunder Bay, Ont.,
where it has pledged its AHL team as a main tenant if the city can get
the 5,700-seat project built." Meanwhile, the AHL "also approved a transfer" of the Canadiens' development team -- currently the Bulldogs -- from Hamilton, Ont., to St. John's, "filling the hole at Mile One Centre" left by the IceCaps' departure. The Canadiens "have also been approved to purchase their AHL affiliate from sole owner Michael Andlauer at the end of this season." The NHL team "is expected to move its AHL club within two or three years to suburban Laval, Que., where a new 10,000-seat arena is underway" (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, 3/13).
COMING HOME: In Winnipeg, Paul Friesen writes whether it is the Jets' "annual skills competition or an open practice, Manitobans can't get enough" hockey. But the "problem is, the cost of an NHL game is through the roof." Winnipeg "wasn’t True North Sports’ first choice for relocation" of the IceCaps. Friesen: "Not even close." But Cheveldayoff said that each time Jets management "discussed the options, 'the conversation always came back: what about Winnipeg?'" While the Flyers used to have their AHL club "across the street" from their NHL arena, and the Maple Leafs currently have the Marlies "in the same city, nobody shares a building with their farm team." Next year, the Jets "will, along with" the Sharks (WINNIPEG SUN, 3/13).
METHOD TO THE MADNESS: The GLOBE & MAIL's David Shoalts writes a "real-life game of dominoes broke out across Canada" with three teams changing cities. In addition to the IceCaps and Bulldogs relocating, the OHL Belleville Bulls were sold and will head "to Hamilton beginning next season." All of the AHL moves "are tied to a recent financial strategy of many NHL teams to move their farm teams as close as possible to them." The faster an NHL team "can shuffle a player to the AHL, the faster it can save money under the league’s salary cap as his lower minor-league salary kicks in" (GLOBE & MAIL, 3/13). CBSSPORTS.com's Chris Peters wrote the volatility of minor-league hockey "can make for an unsteady future, but these moves also present new opportunities" for the AHL "to spread its wings a little bit and perhaps grow into a bigger attraction for hockey fans in the markets that will now have AHL teams" (CBSSPORTS.com, 3/12).
