Theme Week – Time to Move

[Smarch 3,157]

Theme Week – Time to Move

It’s that time of year again in the VHL, as theme and trade deadline week is upon us. This year the theme week talking point is all about moving current franchises if we had the ability. While franchises moving in the VHL are far and few between, this week I would like to take a shot at where I would move the current North Americans VHL franchises to. We will try not to move the franchises out of the current country they are currently in but will try to have some fun with the moves.

North American Conference:

 

Calgary Wranglers:

First up on our list is one of the franchises that have been in the VHL since day one. Alberta is a hot spot for hockey in Calgary with two NHL teams and five Western Hockey League franchises, so we will try to stay away from those cities. If I were to move the Calgary Wranglers, I would look to Okotoks Alberta. Just thirty-right kilometers south of Calgary, Okotoks has a estimated population of 30,214, but would be able to draw those from the surrounding area to VHL games, including Calgary, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge to name a few. Currently Okotoks has a junior A hockey club (Okotos Oilers), junior B hockey club (Okotos Bisons) and a previous AAA senior hockey club (Okotos Drillers). The Okotoks based hockey club could also keep the Wranglers name and not step on any current Okotos hockey clubs., but an updated logo would likely help the club with their new identity.

 

Chicago Phoenix:

Chicago was part of the VHL expansion that took place before the VHLs seventy-second season, so moving them already seems like a crime. However, with the theme week in mind I will have to do what the league wants. With the mindset of keeping the Phoenix in the state of Illinois, I would suggest moving the team to Rockford Illinois, home of the current AHLs Rockford IceHogs. With the Chicago Blackhawks purchasing the IceHogs in 2021 and investing millions of dollars into the BMO Harris Bank Center the Phoenix would be able to move into a state-of-the-art renovated arena. I would also suggest the Phoenix to be a complete make-out and pay homage to the previous Rockford AHL teams and rename to the Rockford Bandits, who left Rockford in 1997 for Cincinnati.

 

D.C. Dragons:

The Dragons were part of the earlier VHL expansion prior to the VHLs Sixty-seventh season. As we won’t be able to keep the team in the District of Columbia, we will look to move the teams somewhere close in Virgina, and in this instance we would pick Richmond Virgina. Richmond does not currently have a professional sports team and a VHL franchise would be able to exist without much competition. To tie the new VHL franchise in Richmond into the community I would suggest renaming the team the Richmond Rapids, as Richmond is the only city in the entire United States to have class IV rapids. Creating a new logo for the team might be a challenge with such a name, but anything is possible in the VHL with our amazing graphics members.

 

Los Angeles Stars:

The last of the North American later expansion clubs, Log Angeles currently has a lot of sports and non-sports competition in the city. My opinion would be to move the Stars to the state capital, Sacramento California. With the Sacramento Kings already playing in a 17,608-seat arena in the Golden 1 Center, the team would possibly be able to retrofit the area with an ice system to share the arena. With being labeled as America's Farm-to-Fork Capital, I would suggest re-naming the team to the Sacramento Bison or if the league wanted to stay away from more animals, the Sacramento Gold Miners, in honor of the first Americans team to grace the Canadian Football League.

 

New York Americans:

New York, New York. Speaking of a heavy dose of competition, the New York based VHL franchise would be a hard sell each night in the city. I think moving the Americans outside of New York might help the team on and off the ice, possibly to somewhere such as Queens. While most obviously there is still a lot of competition in Queens being a borough of New York City, with the Mets and New York Islanders playing in Queens, however the Mets and Islanders stink and no one cares about them. The VHL based hockey club could easily share the UBS Arena in which the Islanders play, as the arena currently holds 17,250 patrons for Islanders games. The only part I am stuck on is changing the name Americans, as it’s a great honor to have that name for your sports teams.

 

Seattle Bears:

The pacific northwest based VHL team would likely have had a bigger following prior to the NHL taking over in the area, so it would be a perfect time of move the team to gain some new fans. I think the team could benefit from moving 32 miles southwest to Seattle to Tacoma Washington. With no major hockey clubs in the area and only three other sports franchises in baseball and soccer in the region, I think the club could benefit from the hunger of sports fans in Tacoma and surrounding areas. I believe the Bears name could carry over to Tacoma, but if the league was looking for a full rebrand I would suggest the Tacoma Rockets, to pay tribute to the previous WHL franchise in the city that has since moved to Kelowna.

Toronto Legion:

It seems that everyone in Toronto would be willing to pay to see a professional hockey team, but with major competition from the Leafs and Marlies, the Legion would likely benefit the most from a relocation. With so many hockey teams around Toronto, I think moving the team to Mississauga Ontario to replace the previous AHL franchise Mississauga Ice Dogs would help the Legion draw more fans. With the Ice Dogs gone, the city of Mississauga needs a new full-time tenant for the Paramount Fine Foods Centre, as currently the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League and Toronto 905 clubs are the current sports teams leading the charge in the arena. Unlike some of the other franchises, I think the team could keep the Legion moniker and become the Mississauga Legion.

 

Vancouver Wolves:

The last team in the North American Conference on my list, the Vancouver Wolves also would have a lot of competition in the area for ticket sales. I believe if a move was necessary for the Wolves to draw more fans, a move to Chilliwack B.C. might be in their best interest. Chilliwack has had a crack at hockey previously with a team in the WHL that has since left, but a professional team might fare better, but would likely need to build a new area as the Chilliwack Coliseum currently holds on 5,000 people for hockey games. I believe the team could keep the wolves name as there would be a connection to the vast forestry area the town is surrounded by, but the team would also pay homage to a previous Junior A team and become the second coming of the Chilliwack Rivermen.  

 

European Conference:

 

HC Davos Dynamo:

With a team already playing in Davos under the same name based in Davos, Graubünden, Switzerland, this would be the team that would make the more sense in the league to move. A possible move to Zurich Switzerland as it is currently the largest city in Switzerland and would have a big population to tap into for fans. While Zurich currently has a hockey club playing in the International Ice Hockey Federation, being the biggest city, I believe they have more room to grow the hockey fan base with another team. A total rebrand of the Dynamo name might be needed with my suggestion being the Zurich leopards.

 

Helsinki Titans:

Another original VHL team, the Helsinki based VHL team might be best off if they are left in Helsinki as they have gathered quite the following since season one. However, no team is going to be left alone in this article. My suggestion would be moving the team wot the regional capital of Southwest Finland and oldest city in Finland, the city of Turku. With a hockey club currently playing in Turku in the SM-liiga level, the new team would have to succeed right away to gather a fan base, but I believe they could pull it off. With Turku being quite a music hub, I would make a recommendation to name the new team the Turku Jazz, as it is also the name of a annual festival in July in the city.

London United:

Another newer franchise in the VHL, London would be another franchise that would be difficult to move as they haven’t had the opportunity to establish themselves in the city. I would suggest a move for the franchise to the city of Cambridge, a city that does not currently have a hockey club. In honor of one of the more famous bands to have ties to the region, Pink Floyd, I would suggest naming the new VHL based Cambridge hockey club as the Cambridge Pigs.

Malmo Nighthawks:

Malmo has been in the VHL since Season Sixty-Six, winning their only Continental Cup back in Season Seventy-Eight. A rebrand for a very successful expansion franchise might be seen in poor taste but hockey in Sweden would likely succeed no matter where you put a hockey team. I would suggest putting a team in the country’s fourth biggest city, Uppsala. I wouldn’t push for a full re-brand as the Nighthawks logo is one of the better logos in the VHL at this time, so I would just push for a move to a different city with the team becoming the Uppsala Nighthawks.

 

Moscow Menace:

The next team on the list is another expansion franchise team currently located in Russia. Many around the league might look to take the team out of Russia with the currently political situation but keeping with our trend we will look to move the team inside of Russia, just out of Moscow. A move to the hometown of Sergei Makarov, Chelyabink would be my suggestion, as it is currently the seventh biggest city in Russia. The city is also home to Traktor Arena with a capacity of 7,500 spectators.  A rename might not be the best move as the Menance is another great name and logo but if a rename was in the cards I would suggest the Chelyabink Meteor, as the Traktor arena was damaged in 2013 from the explosion of the Chelyabinsk meteor.

Prague Phantoms:

Likely the best logo in the VHL past and present, there would be no way I would push for a rename of the Prague based VHL franchise. However as we need to move the somewhere I would suggest moving the team to Hradec Králové as it is currently the second biggest city in the Czech Republic behind Prague. Once again I would keep the Phantoms name and logo to have the team become the  Hradec Králové Phantoms.

 

Riga Reign:

Another older franchise in the VHL after spending a few seasons in Amstel at the beginning of the VHLs existence, Rigas has seen its share of ups and downs recently with the teams currently in a thirty-season Continental Cup drought. Riga might benefit from a move for establishing a new fan base, so a possible move out of Riga to Jelgava, which is twenty-five miles southwest of Riga might bring the spark on and off the ice they need. Without a professional sports team in the city, all eyes would focus on the new VHL franchise. In honor of the International Cat Show that takes place annually in the town, renaming the team to the Jelgava Cats, might hit the right spot for the locals.

 

Warsaw Predators :

The last franchise in the European Conference to get a face-lift, Warsaw could be another candidate to move but not go through a renaming. I think a move to the third biggest city in Poland would be the best bet, that being Wrocław. If a full rebrand was to take place, I think a slight renaming to the Wroclaw Panthers might be the best bet.

 

 

2, 059 words. 

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[Gaikoku-hito 2,089]

1 hour ago, Smarch said:

Vancouver Wolves:

The last team in the North American Conference on my list, the Vancouver Wolves also would have a lot of competition in the area for ticket sales. I believe if a move was necessary for the Wolves to draw more fans, a move to Chilliwack B.C. might be in their best interest. Chilliwack has had a crack at hockey previously with a team in the WHL that has since left, but a professional team might fare better, but would likely need to build a new area as the Chilliwack Coliseum currently holds on 5,000 people for hockey games. I believe the team could keep the wolves name as there would be a connection to the vast forestry area the town is surrounded by, but the team would also pay homage to a previous Junior A team and become the second coming of the Chilliwack Rivermen.  

First off Hell no!! Growing up just outside of Chilliwack and being a product of their minor league system is a huge, No!! For moving the Wolves here. Should I also mention the Rivermen never played in Chilliwack as they were Langley one of our biggest rivals when I played at least. Chilliwack was always the Chiefs as it played homage to the Native bands in the local area. Sadly, Chilliwack in the new Surrey of Fraser Valley so unlikely to keep the team.... The arena was called the Prospera Center until they didn`t pay their bills and re-named the rink Coliseum as torn down the original Coliseum in which the Junior A Chiefs played out of which had a very unique feature with boards of on the bench side of the ice being like 12ft tall so the fans sat right on top of the ice. It was great but also scary, hurt if hit into the boards since they didn`t move!!

 

If moved to Chilliwack the team name would have to be Chiefs or Sturgeon

[Smarch 3,157]

44 minutes ago, Gaikoku-hito said:

First off Hell no!! Growing up just outside of Chilliwack and being a product of their minor league system is a huge, No!! For moving the Wolves here. Should I also mention the Rivermen never played in Chilliwack as they were Langley one of our biggest rivals when I played at least. Chilliwack was always the Chiefs as it played homage to the Native bands in the local area. Sadly, Chilliwack in the new Surrey of Fraser Valley so unlikely to keep the team.... The arena was called the Prospera Center until they didn`t pay their bills and re-named the rink Coliseum as torn down the original Coliseum in which the Junior A Chiefs played out of which had a very unique feature with boards of on the bench side of the ice being like 12ft tall so the fans sat right on top of the ice. It was great but also scary, hurt if hit into the boards since they didn`t move!!

 

If moved to Chilliwack the team name would have to be Chiefs or Sturgeon

No, you! 

[Daniel Janser 2,184]

12 hours ago, Smarch said:

With a team already playing in Davos under the same name based in Davos, Graubünden, Switzerland, this would be the team that would make the more sense in the league to move. A possible move to Zurich Switzerland as it is currently the largest city in Switzerland and would have a big population to tap into for fans. While Zurich currently has a hockey club playing in the International Ice Hockey Federation, being the biggest city, I believe they have more room to grow the hockey fan base with another team. A total rebrand of the Dynamo name might be needed with my suggestion being the Zurich leopards

Zurich has actually two teams in the top league. One are the ZSC Lions and the other one is EHC Kloten (Flyers) (located in the town where the airport is). There are also the GCK Lions, the Farmteam of ZSC, which plays in the second highest league. That reminds me when I was young and looked at the Premier League and thought: 'Why does London not have a club in the top flight?' I only learnt years later that Wimbledon, Tottenham, Chelsea, QPR, Arsenal, Millwall, Fulham and Crystal Palace (and I am sure I forgot some) are all located in London (or its suburbs)...

[Gaikoku-hito 2,089]

14 hours ago, Smarch said:

Calgary Wranglers:

Okotoks Rockers would make a good name!!

 

14 hours ago, Smarch said:

Chicago Phoenix:

Phoenix Phoenix anyone?

 

14 hours ago, Smarch said:

New York Americans:

Queens Royals?? or Queens Kings

 

15 hours ago, Smarch said:

Seattle Bears:

Tacoma Thunder!!

 

 

[Smarch 3,157]

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