Claimed:VHL Re-locations & How The Cities Moved On

[Guest Svoboda_3]

VHL Re-locations & How The Cities Moved On

 

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When Brett Noiles undertook the task of operating a VHL franchise in the city of Hamilton, you knew right away that in competing with a Toronto-based franchise a mere 69 kms away wouldn't end in a way that everyone associated with the Hamilton organization had sought out. Amidst a floundering product, mediocrity and then followed by small doses of success, the demise of the Hamilton Canucks ended after Season 6. Despite their best efforts to try and keep the team afloat, the dollar bills of a Global Media Billionaire from New York was just too much for a small business group in the Steel City to take on and from there, the team was relocated to New York, becoming the New York Americans.

So just how has the city of Hamilton and the sporting scene moved on after such a loss? Well, to be quite honest, the Canucks were always going to play fourth fiddle to the Toronto Legion, Toronto Maple Leafs and of course the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL. Being both based out of the 19,000-seat Copps Coliseum, the Hamilton Bulldogs, established in 1996, had already created a strong fan-base before the Canucks entered the scene. Sure the loss of the Canucks had been felt amongst the true diehard fans, but having a semi-pro team to fall back on eased the blow. When the VHL expanded to 10 teams, the Expansion Committee explored all location options, but never was Hamilton in the picture. The VHL just doesn't justifiably work in that location, especially with larger market teams less than an hour away. For now and for the future, Hamilton, a city of over 550,000 residents is content with one hockey team, and the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

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Despite it's rich and storied history, Vasteras, a city of just over 110,000 people, has never really belonged in the VHL despite Lucas Tannahill's influenced push to include a complete unknown market into the league. Let's not ignore the fact that a Swedish market in the VHL is a must, but I just don't know if Vasteras would have been my 12th selection. Nevertheless, the Vasteras IK Black Eagles prevailed during the VHL's inaugural season, but had struggled to find those glory days ever since. After the 15th season of operation, the Vasteras franchise packed up and was relocated to Madrid, Spain of all places. Once again, a poor decision involving this team was made, which spun the start of something horrific in the capital of Spain. The Madrid Thunder were born.

While in Madrid, a city of upwards of over 3.25 million people, the team didn't fare much better playing out of the 12,000-seat Madrid Arena. While the crowds were sparse throughout the Thunder's brief tenancy, there were several fans who embraced the team, but everyone knew that Madrid was a mere stop-gap for what would eventually be a 4-season appearance for the Thunder in Spain. The one stand-out for fans in Madrid were that the bulk of them didn't know a thing about hockey, but the idea of it was cool initially. By the fourth season, the crowds had dwindled down to the hundreds, forcing the league's hand in making the decision to return the franchise back to Vasteras, Sweden for the 21st season of VHL hockey action.

While Vasteras might not be the ideal situation, it was surely a step up from the Madrid experiment. Back in Sweden and with the fans flocking to the turnstile gates, Vasteras was able to put behind their 25-season cup-less drought, securing the franchises' first title since the inaugural season during the Season 26 VHL campaign. There are still reports circulating that the VHL has intentions on finding a more suitable hockey market; one that would provide a larger fan base, better economic dollars and a more profitable marketing solution.

Today, you won't see kids playing street hockey in the streets or people venturing around with old Thunder sweaters, but instead, it would appear as if the VHL never existed in Madrid. With so many football clubs taking center stage, as well as the basketball scene becoming increasingly popular, Madrid is doing just fine without the VHL and in many circles, the VHL is doing just fine without Madrid.

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From the infamous words of the Angry Video Game Nerd, a VHL team in the Netherlands screams, "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?" Well, thankfully that experiment only lasted one season before the VHL pulled the plug on the J.J Krever plan to try and force hockey on the poor folks of Amsterdam, Netherlands. In actuality, Amstel isn't a city, but rather a river that runs through Amsterdam, a city of just under 1,000,000 people. Nicknamed the Tijgers, Amstel spent only one season of operation before moving to another place that never really existed [Avangard].

In Omsk, Russia (Avangard is a company located in Russia), the team became the Avangard Havoc and was a fixture in the Omsk community for 9 seasons before a change of ownership took place resulting in the demise of the Havoc in Russia. While the project to incorporate the Tijgers into the VHL didn't work, the Amstel Tijgers today are still a relative fixture in Amsterdam, playing out of the Jaap Eden Rink in the Dutch Ice Hockey Premier League. That, combined with the football club Ajax Amsterdam among other various football clubs, would leave the VHL as a very long distant memory for the folks in Amsterdam.

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Following the 9-season stint in Omsk, Russia as the Havoc and one Continental Cup later, it spelled the end of VHL hockey in Russia for a brief time period. The idea of the VHL in Russia is a brilliant one, but the Havoc were always competing with the KHL clubs for fans and revenue and ultimately, it was deemed more sensible to find alternate solutions. When the VHL needed a suitable location, Davos, Switzerland stepped up to the plate, and boy has it been a real nice situation for the league to be in. Not only has Davos provided the Dynamo with a great facility in the Vaillant Arena, but the organization has claimed 7 Continental Cups during their very successful tenure in the Swiss Alps. Davos is a smaller populated area, but there's enough interest from surrounding areas to accommodate that and while the Dynamo are in direct competition with the HC Davos of the Swiss National League A, the area contains enough hockey fans that you won't see one set of fans flocking to one team's games and not the others. It's a pretty balanced act.

As for Omsk, the 1.15 million inhabitant area of the Omsk Oblast in Southwestern Siberia, the loss of the Havoc was felt immediately, but with a plethora of other hockey teams in the area such as Avangard Omsk of the KHL and a variety of minor league teams, the citizens of Omsk have probably moved on and have forgotten about the team entirely. The Omsk Arena, which was the primary home of the Havoc, still has the lone Continental Cup banner hanging from the rafters as a subtle reminder that the VHL once existed in the city.

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The idea of Stockholm, Sweden in the VHL was a great one to start out with, but the problem lied within the person running the franchise. Chris Julien had all sorts of good intentions, but a lack of a clear vision clouded his judgement and decision making, resulting in many seasons of utter despair. A city of just under a million people, Stockholm is a place where I would love to see the VHL return to one day. Unfortunately, their tenure as the Thunder/Rams only lasted until Season 7 before the team changed General Managers and the decision was proposed and accepted to move the team to Riga, Latvia, becoming the Reign in the process. In Stockholm, the team played out of the immaculate Ericsson Globe Arena, infamous for it's unique design and in-game experience. However, despite all of the curb appeal, fans grew restless in waiting for a winner and ultimately, the fans stopped coming out to the games, resulting in the team losing profits during each season.

Now, in Riga, the team has had a lot of success during it's time, having always been led by some very smart and capable General Managers, who had put the teams' best interests front and center, resulting in 3 championship banners. The Reign play out of the Riga Arena, sharing the facility with the KHL's Dinamo Riga hockey club. Since their arrival, the city of Riga have really embraced the team and any player that has gone through the organization, creating a strong foundation that the VHL desperately seeks in a franchise. As for Stockholm, they haven't skipped a beat in the hockey world with AIK and Djurgardens IF to follow in amongst the other sporting clubs within the city. The fans are a passionate bunch and with how well they are set up, Stockholm could be in the discussion when it comes to future VHL expansion.

[Victor 10,940]

Awesome article.

"Amstel isn't a city, but rather a river that runs through Amsterdam... Amstel spent only one season of operation before moving to another place that never really existed"

I didn't even know about Amstel not being a city so that's actually even more hilarious than expected.

Yes, a return to Stockholm would be nice....

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Bring back the Tijgers

[boubabi 4,725]

first logo looks really dope

[Victor 10,940]

first logo looks really dope

was probably stolen like all logos back then

[Flames1848 11]

Awesome

[STZ 5,360]

Killer write-up.

[Molholt 2,185]

Nice!

[Guest Svoboda_3]

Thanks guys.

[Fire Tortorella 2,653]

Content: 3/3 - A very nice and interesting read about the origins of the non-original franchises in the VHL, excluding Cologne and Quebec City of course. Stockholm may be the obvious choice for the much sought out relocation of the Iron Eagles. .

 

Grammar: 2/2 - Nope.

 

Appearance: 1/1 - Very nicely done.

 

Overall: 6/6

[Smarch 3,153]

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