Memorial Cup Change And Las Vegas Wranglers Suspended
By Tim Redinger
The CHL hands an automatic bid to the host city of the Memorial Cup. As with everything else, it is all about the money. After the London Knights poor showing this year, is the case for changing the format of the Memorial Cup worth it? [Yahoo Sports].
There are always going to be two sides of every argument, the hockey purest, and the guy that wants to see something get changed. There is nothing wrong with the current tournament; but could it be better if the CHL guaranteed good teams playing in the tournament? I would be all for seeing the tournament played in NHL cities. Let the NHL cities who have investments playing in the tournament, or draft prospects in the tournament get seen by the fans of the teams that they will end up on.
If it is about the money, the CHL will be better off revenue wise if they bring the Memorial Cup to active markets in the USA and Canada. Stop making it about the bus leagues, and go big time, and money will follow. Your telling me that Buffalo can’t host the tournament? Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Minnesota, New York, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia. All thriving hockey markets that would bring big time showcasing to the Memorial Cup tournament – and are close enough to Canada as to not cause too much of a burden on participating teams.
The ECHL Las Vegas Wranglers will be suspending operations in the 2014-2015 season. [The Bakersfield Californian]
If you have no place to play, you can’t have a team right? Would the NHL in Las Vegas change the fortunes of the ECHL? An arena deal could have been worked out with the NHL club that could have kept the ECHL club in action.
Citing costs, the ECHL will be down one team next year, as the Wranglers will have no place to play. The Wranglers are perennial contenders in the ECHL – making the playoffs every year except one since the team merged into the ECHL in 200-2004.