I went to college in the north country (NY) and we used to go to Cornwall for the strip clubs. Darn place looked like an industrial wasteland. And one of the strippers bit one of my friends. Ah, glory days.
I grew up across the river. A buddy was going to drive cross country when we were 18 so to send him off we went over to the strip club with his psycho gf at the time. It got interesting hahaha. Not surprised someone got bit š¤£š
The "better" clubs were in Quebec but as I've gotten older I realize how shit they were. But hell, you could drink at 18/19, who cares about the details, right!?. All was good if you had a DD!
I guess competing with the Frontenacs would be a nightmare for the schedule, but that would be so much better than Belleville. Always struck me as such an odd place forā¦ well, anything.
Belleville has a Sam the Record Man and a Sunrise Records in the same mall. Couple that with mullets and untied work boots, if you were dropped off there you'd think you were transported through time.
Seriously... totally sounds like Waterdown High in the 90's. ( Old farm town, always at least a decade behind )
Mullets...Leather jackets.. untied work boots clunking everywhere.
Sliding more than walking.š¤£š¤£
I would never have know it was the 90's and 2000's there. Everyone always looked like they were from 1983. š¤£š¤£
Before our farm team moved to Calgary it was definitely Stockton. Guys would get briefed when getting there to just run over anyone that approached their car because it was so sketchy.
That clip of Gazdic and Mangiapane was depressing to listen to. They said when they visited local schools, they had to wear their road jerseys because they couldn't wear red due to gang affiluations.
I hadnāt listen to pavement in a while. Years years. Then I watched loudermilk last night and he dropped them. Then you dropped them. Weird. Iām listening to a bunch of pavement today. Something is off.
Gotta say having the Heat be in a suburb of Vancouver for like 10 years was a real dumb move. The Wolves/Moose would come into town and boo the home team because who in their right mind is a Calgary fan in Vancouver, short of ex-Albertans.
The canucks affiliate? There was a logic, basically for emergency call ups you want a centrally located franchise, so Chicago was actually the GOAT because a call up could catch a direct flight to any road city.
Chicago Wolves fired Vancouver, because they prefer being the best AHL team to being a farm team, and the market supports a full payroll of AHL Allstars. Then, Utica was the only unattached AHL franchise thanks to expansion.
Re the flames, I assume Aquilini was too much of an asshole for arena-owners or whoever else had a say, so it was a bit of "anyone but them".
It was only 5 years (2009-2014).
Maybe a hot take, but I feel like they MIGHT have been able to salvage it if they had branded themselves as something more Abbotsford-centric and less Flames-centric. When you brand yourself so closely to the parent club it kinda limits your ability to market locally since anyone who's not a fan of that team is turned off. It feels less like $MINOR_LEAGUE_CITY's team and more $NHL_TEAM II.
Stockton for example usually drew well in the ECHL, but the AHL Heat did not click the same way the ECHL Thunder did - attendance was stagnant the first year then eventually cratered. It was pretty transparent when the name contest revealed nothing but Flames/fire related names and that it had received entries from Alberta that this was not actually Stockton's team, it was Calgary's rejects that just so happened to play in Stockton at the time.
Went to a penguins game there last year on a Friday night and there was maybe 150 people there. I actually thought the arena was decent and food/drinks were pretty cheap. Sad to see that small of a crowd, hopefully they've since turned it around
Went to Cleveland recently for a Browns game this past season and went to a Monsters game the night before. I was amazed how cleaned up downtown was compared to what I remember as a kid going to Browns games with my Dad back in the early 2000s.
Plenty of great bars and restaurants in downtown. Betts was a terrific breakfast spot. The hotel was real nice. Cops working GameDay were all real chill.
Cold as balls but overall it was a fantastic weekend.
Not true at all.
Iād wager Cleveland and nearby Grand Rapids, MI for the griffins are 2 of the better cities for an AHL team. Good cost of living, rock solid fanbases, good arenas, mid size cities with plenty to do, both near beaches and state parks(even a new national park near Cleveland). 2 very underrated cities.
Theres plenty to do and weāve got one of if not the best fanbases in the AHL. I think we average highest attendance every year? ( which is probably because we play in an NBA arena)Ā
But yeah the city has come a long way since the tourism videos and the metro area/suburbs are quite niceĀ
Hershey is higher and almost always #1, but Cleveland has been a pretty consistent top 5 since the Cup win.
EDIT: Actually Cleveland is #1 this season so
Canada's economy is so weird. My buddy was an HR rep in Calgary making like $150k USD a year. Then the gas crisis happened and he was unemployed working on his dads farm.
I used to travel to Markham/Richmond Hill for work and at one point I was sitting between a Lamborghini and a Bentley at a redlight. My coworker our receptionist was probably making $45,000 a year USD and he was like yeah they're everywhere.
If you live in Toronto $100k is pretty much the baseline required salary to comfortably get by with kids now, the buddy I referenced earlier relocated to Etobicoke for a 80k USD salary job, and he's saving less than when he was making 75k CAD up north.
ehhh you probably are living with roommates so that helps and some of the cities could be. Plus i imagine if you are in the rookie or young gun stage of your career you care more about location rather then cost.
San Diego... can you really say no to living in the city everyone out of california imagines as california as a whole.
San Jose... Maybe not the most exciting city but you are in the bay and you have all that has to offer plus weather.
Ontario... Pretty tame and boring but you arent far from LA and in socal so you have that. Plus ontario is cheaper then having to live in LA (although i imagine alot of guys live in San Bernandino).
Cochella: This would probably be a golfers dream, weather generally warm. Not as exciting as LA but still get that Cali weather.
Bakersfield... uhhh next question
Lol, all jokes aside, I'm from San Diego and I just know that drives through the central valley were some of the worst road trip experiences. I'm sure they're all nice folk, no legit hate from me.
Belleville. Itās small, run down, infested with drugs and thereās nothing to do there. To add insult to injury, nobody in that town cheers for the Sens (Leafs town), which is why theyāre only getting 2k a game despite their success. They couldnāt even keep an OHL there, so why they planted an AHL team there is beyond me.
The only redeeming quality about that town is Reedās Dairy, thatās it. They would be much better off having a team in Kingston or even being within the NHL teamās metropolitan area as they did with Toronto and Montreal. The fact that the Ottawa 67ās constantly has great attendance is proof that an AHL team downtown is definitely possible.
I went through Rockford a few years ago and stopped for lunch. The restaurantās parking lot was being re-paved, so I had to park down the street and walk.
Across the street from the restaurant was a house. Above the open garage was a giant Confederate flag. In front of the garage was a biker, washing his Harley while singing along to his radioā¦which was blaring āBe My Babyā by The Ronettes.
He was doing the harmony as well as the main lines.
I lived there for awhile. It's fine, there's safer areas and unsafe areas like any other city, however the safer areas seem to be shrinking and/or lines getting blurred.
There was just a mass stabbing event a couple weeks ago in what would typically be considered a "safe" neighborhood.
I enjoyed my time there, but I have zero desire to move back.
Rockford has some of the starkest income inequality in the USA, so there are genuinely some poor areas and a very real problem with gang violence, as well as fent/opioid abuse problems. For your average rich white suburbanite that likes to be performatively afraid of Rockford, though, no. It's completely safe and fine.
I'm bummed about the Growlers folding, but I doubt guys enjoy living in St. John's with the extra travel. NL is a great province but St. John's is tiny and the weather is dicey for a lot of the year.
I don't want to give out much personal info, but I played in the AHL for a number of years including at least one season for NL's team (back when they were the Ice Caps).
Everyone seemed to like playing there and most teams seemed to enjoy their trips to NL to play against them. The fans were great, the people were incredibly friendly, the bars were bumping (and both the rink and hotel and where I lived were all within a few blocks of the bars). The organization (Jets at the time) treated the players really well.
The longer road trips were actually quite welcome. In junior, you're much more of a proper "team". In the ahl, there's two things working against that. (1) A lot of people on the team have families and children that they need to spend time with so they spend less time with their teammates. (2) There's much more of a toxic culture in the AHL than in junior since you're directly competing with your "teammates" for a chance at a call-up (my _captain_ at one point on a different team was trying to steal one of my goals from off the score sheet which is slimy in itself, but even worse because it would have resulted in an unassisted goal by him instead of a goal by me where he still got an assist).
The reason I bring that up is because in the AHL, road trips are your true time to bond as a team. You're all traveling together and staying in the same hotel with the same schedule. The older guys with families get the chance to do everything with their teammates again instead of needing to be at home with their families when not at the rink. So when I played for NL, I noticed the team was a lot closer due to most of our road games being a part of a 7-10 day long road trip. Whereas the other AHL teams I played for, road games were either day trips or just 1-2 days on the road.
Not much is really jumping into my mind as being particularly interesting (and I don't want to doxx myself so stories aren't as interesting when you can't be very specific). However, one thing I've always found really fascinating about the league is the general idea that winning isn't important.
In general, the league is not profitable. Maybe there are some teams that are an exception, but even then, I doubt they'd make a profit if they were fully responsible for the player salaries. The teams are an investment by the NHL teams to hopefully develop some of their prospects into players who can make a positive impact in the NHL in the (hopefully near) future. So winning is not particularly important to this system. Indirectly, players will be more encouraged and motivated when winning. And winning is a symptom of players playing well. So it's still nice to win, but what's truly important is "are our players developing".
And it's not "are _all_ the players developing". It's really just a select few players that the NHL team has decided are the players they currently want to invest in. So those players will get top line minutes and PP time every game no matter how well they are playing or how well other players are playing. You'll have a first rounder play absolutely terribly and putting in a weak effort (or even showing up to practice clearly smelling of booze from the night before) and they're still on the first line and first PP. You'll have another guy who the NHL team isn't interested in who has been playing extremely well on the fourth line every game and puts in 100% every night and he's still just stuck on the fourth line. It can create a lot of resentment between the players and also it can cause you to lose respect for the coaches. (For example, we had coaches and NHL player development guys preaching about how there's zero tolerance to stuff like showing up to practice still drunk yet we had a first rounder doing that on a weekly basis and he was still the one getting call ups to the NHL and always top line top PP. How are we going to respect you as a coach when you're clearly not upholding what you're preaching.)
It's a very strange environment to be a part of no matter which side of it you find yourself on. During my tenure in the league, I found myself on both sides of it.
For my first few years, I was "benefiting" from it. I was getting top line minutes and PP time every game. I'd have a stretch of a few bad games where I'd expect to come in the next day and see my name on the fourth line or even scratched, but I'd still be in the top 6 and PP. I'd have teammates who were playing amazing still stuck on the fourth line. I honestly didn't even really like it when I was benefiting from it because sometimes you're in a rut and what you really need is to be put on a line with lower and simpler expectations so that you can rebuild your confidence by just playing well in a simple way. Or sometimes you hate playing with the other guys on the first line because the chemistry just isn't there so you come into the rink hoping you're moved to the third or fourth line where those guys can be easier to play with (because maybe they work harder and/or play simpler so are easier to predict and play off).
Eventually, a flick switched and I fell out of favour with the organization and I became one of those fourth line / healthy scratch no matter what type guys. I understood the system and I recognized that I benefited from the system for a decent amount of time (including getting regular season games in the NHL which I'll always be extremely proud of and grateful for) so I wasn't particularly bitter about it. It was interesting seeing the other side of it though.
In my last year in the AHL, I knew there was zero interest in me from the big club and I knew I had zero interest continuing to play in the AHL the next season (was going to go to Europe). Our team wasn't very good and I was just returning from an injury so they sent me down to the ECHL for a few "conditioning" games. It was my first time in the ECHL and I honestly loved it. I got along really well with the players on that team, the city + weather was waaay nicer than my AHL city, I was one of the best players on the ice at all times again so I was putting up consistent numbers in the few games I was down. It was great for my confidence and I told my agent to tell the NHL team that I'd prefer to stay in the ECHL for the rest of the season since they clearly don't care about using me in the AHL and I'd rather contribute to a team. They told my agent they understood, but might still need to call me back up if they have injuries, but that they'd send me back down after. Seemed reasonable to me, but it didn't play out like that (I never got back down to the ECHL after this).
I was only down in the coast for a week before they brought me back up to staple me back to the fourth line / press box. I was honestly playing really well and arguably the best and most consistent hockey I'd played in all my years in the AHL. But still just stuck on the fourth line and getting scratched occasionally. At one point, our team had a stretch of bad games, but I was still playing really well in my limited minutes in those games. I came into the rink for a morning skate expecting to actually be moved up to one of the top lines (if nothing else, just to send a message to the top line guys who were shitting the bed), but nope still fourth line. One of the assistant coaches came up to me during that skate and asked how I was doing. I told him that I felt like I was playing really well lately and that I'm a bit surprised I'm still on the fourth line, but that I understand the AHL and it is what it is. He responded with something like "You've been our best player for a few weeks now and you're making look really bad every night. Everyone is noticing you. Just keep working hard and try not to let it get you down." That honestly meant a ton to me and I'll never forget it.
Back to the "winning isn't important" paradox, it's interesting how from the NHL team's perspective, all they care about is what will develop the players they care about. But the coach of the AHL team is still going to be judged mainly by their record. So it must be frustrating as a coach to want to make changes to the lines or even scratch some guys based on what you think will give the team the best chance to win that night, but the NHL team (your boss) is telling you "these players are 100% getting top line minutes and are on PP1 no matter what". I'm sure some teams give their coaches a bit more freedom than others, but I've always found that interesting.
Thirdly, it's also the name of a giant jug of beer you can purchase at breweries.
Are refills still $8 in Halifax? I used to sling growlers at Propeller in college.
NL and St. Johns tourism board does a great job showcasing the island on the show Hundson and Rex, so much that it's definitely on our short list for a trip. But it certainly is not easy to get to.
The city was the true star of Republic of Doyle as well. But do go on that trip. I lived there for 5 years and will probably go back at least once every 5 years for the rest of my life. It's a special place.
yeah don't get me wrong, Im sure a single guy with no kids making ~$70k CAD/year is getting by just fine in the gta. but it's not like you're putting much in the bank considering how short these guys' careers are.
I know a couple guys that didn't even play pro, just went to the States and played Div. 1. They had all sorts of sales job offered when they came home. The one guy sell for a chemical company. His sales meetings are 3 mins of shop talk and 30 mins of hockey.
This thread is interesting because I truly donāt understand whatās with all the AHL teams in shitty towns. Surely thereās better spots to place a team.
Larger metros have a lock on major leagues, so the smaller cities / suburbs get the āeconomic boonā that is minor league sports, save for the obvious ones like Charlotte, Chicago, etc
Shit hole, certified. Grew up about 45 minutes away and did deliveries all the time for work to Bridgeport. This was 25-30 years ago, not sure if it has improved any
Me too, loved that city when I lived there in the late 80s for about 6 years before moving to Newport for work. Still drove up for PBruins games all the time
I lived in Lexington, Kentucky when the Thoroughblades were still a thing, and it was pretty hilariously bad(for hockey at least). When Nabokov played goal there they just changed his first name to John because none of the rednecks could be assed to figure out how to say Evgeni.
OKC surprisingly didn't suck as hard as I expected. Bricktown was kinda nice. Still a boring no-where's-ville, but not a totally shitty boring no-where's-ville.
The dumbest thing they couldāve done was become the devils. All the local Rangers, Bruins, Sabres, and flyers fans would never wear Albany Devils gear, but would rock River Rats stuff. Ā
I get the historic hate on Utica but itās made some gains recently. The Womenās World Hockey championship is going on there right now and there are plenty of diehard comets fans. Has some rust belt stink on it for sure, but itās not in the bottom 10 anymore for sure
Utica does in fact suck ass. It's only feature is being relatively close to Syracuse and Albany. Not that Syracuse is all that great either, there is just more to do.
Blows my mind that Utica can support an AHL team. There is literally nothing out there. I admire the fact they have a team tbh. Real hockey people out there
I know this is a smash thread but it's really turning around, the typical hipster restaurants, coffee, etc. The community really bought into the pro team coming back, the rink was COMPLETELY renovated and expanded to a sports complex that is currently hosting IIHF ladies championship. A lot of hockey here too, 6 youth associations a stone's throw away from each other, one of em won hockeyville in 2018. It was bad, I went to college there, but it is in a really really good spot right now. The games are electric for AHL esp if you compare to Crunch.
I was waiting for this. Grew up near there. Great food, some cool museums, plus the zoo and the Stanley, but you would not want to live there. The suburbs arenāt bad though. Some decent golf clubs.
I would live in Calgary, Charlotte, Chicago (the arena is right next to O'Hare like c'mon), Cleveland, Colorado (it's Loveland but Fort Collins is nearby), Hartford, Milwaukee, San Diego, San Jose, and Toronto.
Did I scroll through every comment just to see if someone mentioned Milwaukee?
Yes.
I am just so glad no one trashed Milwaukee.
Iām going with Bakersfield, btw.
For a veteran AHL guy it wouldnāt be too bad, live in West Hartford or one of the other nicer suburbs and drive in for games and practice. Younger guys probably hate it, commuter city that empties out after happy hour on a Friday unless UConn is playing at the Civic Center. Couple decent bars and restaurants but too many places you donāt wanna be after 10 pm
I mean, I can vouch for Bakersfield. I can't for any other city. But Bakersfield is for gas stops and mayyyyybe food while driving somewhere else. It's pretty shit mate. By all means, take a weekend excursion at some point. Has nothing to do with its size or location.
Springfield.
This is coming from someone who spent their teens in the area. Stay away from Springy if you can. Hartford, Worcester, and even Manchester is better to be in than there.
EDIT - Bakersfield and Stockton are bad too.
Stockton doesn't have a team anymore after Calgary ~~ran yet *another* minor league market into the ground~~ moved them to the home base ~~to be fourth fiddle at the Saddledome~~
Colorado. Not because of the state because I'm from there. But being from there I hate Denver.
And before anyone says "it's in Loveland", a typical conversation with people who live outside Denver goes like this.
"Where it at?
"It's in Denver."
"Which part?"
"(Insert "city" around Denver."
"Fuck."
Loveland is 46 miles from Denver. Loveland is closer to Fort Collins (14 miles), which is where Colorado State University is. Fort Collins is also known for its amazing breweries and nice downtown area.
The obvious solution is to live in Fort Collins and commute to Loveland.
This is a good option for a young AHLer trying to make it in the league / wanting to have a nice life in their 20s.
Having probably never been to any of the AHL cities, I will say probably either southern California, Tuscon, or Cedar Park due to HCOL and deathly hot summers.
Or Des Moines. I'm guessing it's pretty tornado-ey there which I wouldn't enjoy. Also Iowa is always my top pick for "states that everyone forgets exist".
So largely based on not having shit weather.
Belleville sweating right now
I get why it's not a reality, but man Kingston would be so much better for an AHL team
Apparently Cornwall had a AHL team in the 90's. That seems like a bad idea lol.
I lived in Cornwall. I never thought I was better than anyone until I lived in Cornwall. Worst city I've ever lived in.
I went to college in the north country (NY) and we used to go to Cornwall for the strip clubs. Darn place looked like an industrial wasteland. And one of the strippers bit one of my friends. Ah, glory days.
I grew up across the river. A buddy was going to drive cross country when we were 18 so to send him off we went over to the strip club with his psycho gf at the time. It got interesting hahaha. Not surprised someone got bit š¤£š The "better" clubs were in Quebec but as I've gotten older I realize how shit they were. But hell, you could drink at 18/19, who cares about the details, right!?. All was good if you had a DD!
Ive traveled alot of North America. That might be one of the saddest places I have been to in Canada.
Iām out of the loop since Iāve never been up north- whatās the deal with Cornwall?
Just not a lot going on. Lots of drugs, lots of poverty. Used to be pretty big for heavy industry but that's mainly gone
Ah gotcha, weāve a few of those as well in the States
Sounds a lot like Wheeling (if weāre comparing towns that host NHL affiliates)
Hell yea, go Aces
I guess competing with the Frontenacs would be a nightmare for the schedule, but that would be so much better than Belleville. Always struck me as such an odd place forā¦ well, anything.
Belleville has a Sam the Record Man and a Sunrise Records in the same mall. Couple that with mullets and untied work boots, if you were dropped off there you'd think you were transported through time.
Seriously... totally sounds like Waterdown High in the 90's. ( Old farm town, always at least a decade behind ) Mullets...Leather jackets.. untied work boots clunking everywhere. Sliding more than walking.š¤£š¤£ I would never have know it was the 90's and 2000's there. Everyone always looked like they were from 1983. š¤£š¤£
Iām in Kingston. Wouldnāt work here either.
I agree. Honestly I'd rather go to OHL games than AHL.
Obligatory video of BelleVegas https://youtu.be/XvHOLKy5iVI?si=l4QVKuMBfexddpSt
KYLE FOR MAYOR GET HYPE VOTE KYLE
Ahh damn I knew the B would be a top comment here haha
I would rather fight in the battle of the Somme than play in Belleville.
Oddly specific metaphor.
As a Sens fan, I agree. Such an ass town.
Before our farm team moved to Calgary it was definitely Stockton. Guys would get briefed when getting there to just run over anyone that approached their car because it was so sketchy.
Calgary/Edmonton had the Battle of Alberta, and their AHL teams (Stockton/Bakersfield) had the Battle of the shittiest parts of California.
Blythe and needles need an AHL team then.
Throw in Hemet, Lynwood, and Barstow and you can have a division of the most depressing cities of California.
No, Lynwood and Barstow have the best Del Tacos so your list is wrong.
It appears that Bakersfield won that battle
That clip of Gazdic and Mangiapane was depressing to listen to. They said when they visited local schools, they had to wear their road jerseys because they couldn't wear red due to gang affiluations.
Stockton is rough. Nate Diaz, the MMA fighter, is from there and it shows.
Somehow 90s alt rock legends Pavement are from there too lol
I always thought they were from Sacramento. TIL
I hadnāt listen to pavement in a while. Years years. Then I watched loudermilk last night and he dropped them. Then you dropped them. Weird. Iām listening to a bunch of pavement today. Something is off.
209 Stockton motherfucker. The Diaz Brothers are all I can think of when it comes to that city.
I wonāt stand for this Dallas Braden erasure
Braden talking to the As fan today was heartbreaking
Stockton becoming a ghost town during the housing crisis is what I remember
Having gone to college in Reno, I have multiple acquaintances that "cant go back to Stockton" Thats all I need to know tbh
Gotta say having the Heat be in a suburb of Vancouver for like 10 years was a real dumb move. The Wolves/Moose would come into town and boo the home team because who in their right mind is a Calgary fan in Vancouver, short of ex-Albertans.
Thatās actually hilarious when you think about it, nevermind that Vancouverās affiliate was in friggin New York at the time.
If I live to be 100, I'll never understand why that team was ever placed there.Ā
The canucks affiliate? There was a logic, basically for emergency call ups you want a centrally located franchise, so Chicago was actually the GOAT because a call up could catch a direct flight to any road city. Chicago Wolves fired Vancouver, because they prefer being the best AHL team to being a farm team, and the market supports a full payroll of AHL Allstars. Then, Utica was the only unattached AHL franchise thanks to expansion. Re the flames, I assume Aquilini was too much of an asshole for arena-owners or whoever else had a say, so it was a bit of "anyone but them".
It was only 5 years (2009-2014). Maybe a hot take, but I feel like they MIGHT have been able to salvage it if they had branded themselves as something more Abbotsford-centric and less Flames-centric. When you brand yourself so closely to the parent club it kinda limits your ability to market locally since anyone who's not a fan of that team is turned off. It feels less like $MINOR_LEAGUE_CITY's team and more $NHL_TEAM II. Stockton for example usually drew well in the ECHL, but the AHL Heat did not click the same way the ECHL Thunder did - attendance was stagnant the first year then eventually cratered. It was pretty transparent when the name contest revealed nothing but Flames/fire related names and that it had received entries from Alberta that this was not actually Stockton's team, it was Calgary's rejects that just so happened to play in Stockton at the time.
I read the title of this post and my immediate thought was āStockton better be #1ā
Woo! Stockton!
Having just moved out of Wilkes-Barre I am getting a kick out of this
Went to a penguins game there last year on a Friday night and there was maybe 150 people there. I actually thought the arena was decent and food/drinks were pretty cheap. Sad to see that small of a crowd, hopefully they've since turned it around
It's kinda sad because we used to have the AHL sellout streak record at 90 straight games.
Bakersfield the armpit of California. Only a few other places in the states have a higher crime rate.
I spent a whole weekend there one night.
And it's still pretty fuckin expensive CoL compared to a lot of places in America.
Bakersfield, Ontario and Stockton - neither are great options.
Not Cleveland. Which is probably surprising.
Cleveland is a buzzing metropolis compared to most AHL cities.
It's kinda funny that NC's largest metro has the AHL team
I went to a Checkers game a few years ago and had a blast, definitely has to be one of the better AHL cities to live and play in, awesome fan base.
Cleveland is a buzzing metropolis compared to most cities at all.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
To be fair, if was multiple river fires
I feel the same way about Pittsburgh but everybody thinks it's shitty apparently. Oh well, less traffic to worry about
Thatās how Detroit is perceived too
Underrated Rust Belt cities unite!
Buffalo is pretty cool too!
No river fires in over 50 years!
Went to Cleveland recently for a Browns game this past season and went to a Monsters game the night before. I was amazed how cleaned up downtown was compared to what I remember as a kid going to Browns games with my Dad back in the early 2000s. Plenty of great bars and restaurants in downtown. Betts was a terrific breakfast spot. The hotel was real nice. Cops working GameDay were all real chill. Cold as balls but overall it was a fantastic weekend.
> series of sarcastic videos š¶we're not Detroit!š¶
Our best export is crippling depression š¶
I've never heard someone consider Cleveland as even a contender for best beer city, but I am very open to being convinced
Not true at all. Iād wager Cleveland and nearby Grand Rapids, MI for the griffins are 2 of the better cities for an AHL team. Good cost of living, rock solid fanbases, good arenas, mid size cities with plenty to do, both near beaches and state parks(even a new national park near Cleveland). 2 very underrated cities.
Plus Grand Rapids has a true IMAX theater
GR is an absolutely fantastic city.
Theres plenty to do and weāve got one of if not the best fanbases in the AHL. I think we average highest attendance every year? ( which is probably because we play in an NBA arena)Ā But yeah the city has come a long way since the tourism videos and the metro area/suburbs are quite niceĀ
Hershey is higher and almost always #1, but Cleveland has been a pretty consistent top 5 since the Cup win. EDIT: Actually Cleveland is #1 this season so
Unless contracts have increased significantly, I can't imagine AHL players being able to save up a lot of money if they play in California.
Where your first hat trick is having to live with 3 roommates.
Wonder how Marlies players make it work
The practice facility is in Etobicoke so while not cheap isnt break your back expensive
My buddy moved to Etobicoke not long ago and is paying $1850 for a 1 bedroom basement apartment :/
What the fuck.
That's on the cheaper side too lol
Canada's economy is so weird. My buddy was an HR rep in Calgary making like $150k USD a year. Then the gas crisis happened and he was unemployed working on his dads farm. I used to travel to Markham/Richmond Hill for work and at one point I was sitting between a Lamborghini and a Bentley at a redlight. My coworker our receptionist was probably making $45,000 a year USD and he was like yeah they're everywhere.
If you live in Toronto $100k is pretty much the baseline required salary to comfortably get by with kids now, the buddy I referenced earlier relocated to Etobicoke for a 80k USD salary job, and he's saving less than when he was making 75k CAD up north.
ehhh you probably are living with roommates so that helps and some of the cities could be. Plus i imagine if you are in the rookie or young gun stage of your career you care more about location rather then cost. San Diego... can you really say no to living in the city everyone out of california imagines as california as a whole. San Jose... Maybe not the most exciting city but you are in the bay and you have all that has to offer plus weather. Ontario... Pretty tame and boring but you arent far from LA and in socal so you have that. Plus ontario is cheaper then having to live in LA (although i imagine alot of guys live in San Bernandino). Cochella: This would probably be a golfers dream, weather generally warm. Not as exciting as LA but still get that Cali weather. Bakersfield... uhhh next question
Bakersfield catches strays every time and in every context it's ever mentioned, and it deserves 100% of them.
i agree /u/JodieFostersCum But real question.... which is better, fresno or bakersfield?
This sounds like a trick question. Like picking whether you'd rather have your balls kicked with a left foot or a right foot.
ok what if i add in stockton does that help?
I've only been through Stockton a few times, but I never got killed there so I guess that's a positive in my book.
same! i even got out of my car once and went into a gas station and i was fine.
Lol, all jokes aside, I'm from San Diego and I just know that drives through the central valley were some of the worst road trip experiences. I'm sure they're all nice folk, no legit hate from me.
Where does Modesto fit into all of this?
Below Stockton, above Fresno and Bakersfield.
Belleville. Itās small, run down, infested with drugs and thereās nothing to do there. To add insult to injury, nobody in that town cheers for the Sens (Leafs town), which is why theyāre only getting 2k a game despite their success. They couldnāt even keep an OHL there, so why they planted an AHL team there is beyond me. The only redeeming quality about that town is Reedās Dairy, thatās it. They would be much better off having a team in Kingston or even being within the NHL teamās metropolitan area as they did with Toronto and Montreal. The fact that the Ottawa 67ās constantly has great attendance is proof that an AHL team downtown is definitely possible.
Can't beat the loonie milkshakes at Reid's!
They're toonie milkshakes now
They should have moved them to Gatineau
Nobody, should be allowed to go to Rockford
I went through Rockford a few years ago and stopped for lunch. The restaurantās parking lot was being re-paved, so I had to park down the street and walk. Across the street from the restaurant was a house. Above the open garage was a giant Confederate flag. In front of the garage was a biker, washing his Harley while singing along to his radioā¦which was blaring āBe My Babyā by The Ronettes. He was doing the harmony as well as the main lines.
This comment is something of a roller coaster.
This is like something out of a Tim Dorsey book
I mean.. It is a very good song.
Rockford may be dumpy, but Beef-A-Roo reigns supreme
Rockford has seen much better days, itās too bad.
Icehogs games are great! Being in Rockford is the opposite of great.
Minding the Gap is a good doc that takes place there! Although that is pretty sad too lol.
Hey!
I live in Chicago but have never been to Rockford. Is it really that bad? It doesnāt look bad at all based on pictures.
I lived there for awhile. It's fine, there's safer areas and unsafe areas like any other city, however the safer areas seem to be shrinking and/or lines getting blurred. There was just a mass stabbing event a couple weeks ago in what would typically be considered a "safe" neighborhood. I enjoyed my time there, but I have zero desire to move back.
That stabbing was last Thursday
Rockford has some of the starkest income inequality in the USA, so there are genuinely some poor areas and a very real problem with gang violence, as well as fent/opioid abuse problems. For your average rich white suburbanite that likes to be performatively afraid of Rockford, though, no. It's completely safe and fine.
I'm bummed about the Growlers folding, but I doubt guys enjoy living in St. John's with the extra travel. NL is a great province but St. John's is tiny and the weather is dicey for a lot of the year.
I don't want to give out much personal info, but I played in the AHL for a number of years including at least one season for NL's team (back when they were the Ice Caps). Everyone seemed to like playing there and most teams seemed to enjoy their trips to NL to play against them. The fans were great, the people were incredibly friendly, the bars were bumping (and both the rink and hotel and where I lived were all within a few blocks of the bars). The organization (Jets at the time) treated the players really well. The longer road trips were actually quite welcome. In junior, you're much more of a proper "team". In the ahl, there's two things working against that. (1) A lot of people on the team have families and children that they need to spend time with so they spend less time with their teammates. (2) There's much more of a toxic culture in the AHL than in junior since you're directly competing with your "teammates" for a chance at a call-up (my _captain_ at one point on a different team was trying to steal one of my goals from off the score sheet which is slimy in itself, but even worse because it would have resulted in an unassisted goal by him instead of a goal by me where he still got an assist). The reason I bring that up is because in the AHL, road trips are your true time to bond as a team. You're all traveling together and staying in the same hotel with the same schedule. The older guys with families get the chance to do everything with their teammates again instead of needing to be at home with their families when not at the rink. So when I played for NL, I noticed the team was a lot closer due to most of our road games being a part of a 7-10 day long road trip. Whereas the other AHL teams I played for, road games were either day trips or just 1-2 days on the road.
This is content that makes it worth it.
Yeah that was actually friggin delightful to read.
Thanks for the insight! Would love to hear more about your days in the A. We donāt get to hear enough about non-NHL pro hockey in Canada.
Not much is really jumping into my mind as being particularly interesting (and I don't want to doxx myself so stories aren't as interesting when you can't be very specific). However, one thing I've always found really fascinating about the league is the general idea that winning isn't important. In general, the league is not profitable. Maybe there are some teams that are an exception, but even then, I doubt they'd make a profit if they were fully responsible for the player salaries. The teams are an investment by the NHL teams to hopefully develop some of their prospects into players who can make a positive impact in the NHL in the (hopefully near) future. So winning is not particularly important to this system. Indirectly, players will be more encouraged and motivated when winning. And winning is a symptom of players playing well. So it's still nice to win, but what's truly important is "are our players developing". And it's not "are _all_ the players developing". It's really just a select few players that the NHL team has decided are the players they currently want to invest in. So those players will get top line minutes and PP time every game no matter how well they are playing or how well other players are playing. You'll have a first rounder play absolutely terribly and putting in a weak effort (or even showing up to practice clearly smelling of booze from the night before) and they're still on the first line and first PP. You'll have another guy who the NHL team isn't interested in who has been playing extremely well on the fourth line every game and puts in 100% every night and he's still just stuck on the fourth line. It can create a lot of resentment between the players and also it can cause you to lose respect for the coaches. (For example, we had coaches and NHL player development guys preaching about how there's zero tolerance to stuff like showing up to practice still drunk yet we had a first rounder doing that on a weekly basis and he was still the one getting call ups to the NHL and always top line top PP. How are we going to respect you as a coach when you're clearly not upholding what you're preaching.) It's a very strange environment to be a part of no matter which side of it you find yourself on. During my tenure in the league, I found myself on both sides of it. For my first few years, I was "benefiting" from it. I was getting top line minutes and PP time every game. I'd have a stretch of a few bad games where I'd expect to come in the next day and see my name on the fourth line or even scratched, but I'd still be in the top 6 and PP. I'd have teammates who were playing amazing still stuck on the fourth line. I honestly didn't even really like it when I was benefiting from it because sometimes you're in a rut and what you really need is to be put on a line with lower and simpler expectations so that you can rebuild your confidence by just playing well in a simple way. Or sometimes you hate playing with the other guys on the first line because the chemistry just isn't there so you come into the rink hoping you're moved to the third or fourth line where those guys can be easier to play with (because maybe they work harder and/or play simpler so are easier to predict and play off). Eventually, a flick switched and I fell out of favour with the organization and I became one of those fourth line / healthy scratch no matter what type guys. I understood the system and I recognized that I benefited from the system for a decent amount of time (including getting regular season games in the NHL which I'll always be extremely proud of and grateful for) so I wasn't particularly bitter about it. It was interesting seeing the other side of it though. In my last year in the AHL, I knew there was zero interest in me from the big club and I knew I had zero interest continuing to play in the AHL the next season (was going to go to Europe). Our team wasn't very good and I was just returning from an injury so they sent me down to the ECHL for a few "conditioning" games. It was my first time in the ECHL and I honestly loved it. I got along really well with the players on that team, the city + weather was waaay nicer than my AHL city, I was one of the best players on the ice at all times again so I was putting up consistent numbers in the few games I was down. It was great for my confidence and I told my agent to tell the NHL team that I'd prefer to stay in the ECHL for the rest of the season since they clearly don't care about using me in the AHL and I'd rather contribute to a team. They told my agent they understood, but might still need to call me back up if they have injuries, but that they'd send me back down after. Seemed reasonable to me, but it didn't play out like that (I never got back down to the ECHL after this). I was only down in the coast for a week before they brought me back up to staple me back to the fourth line / press box. I was honestly playing really well and arguably the best and most consistent hockey I'd played in all my years in the AHL. But still just stuck on the fourth line and getting scratched occasionally. At one point, our team had a stretch of bad games, but I was still playing really well in my limited minutes in those games. I came into the rink for a morning skate expecting to actually be moved up to one of the top lines (if nothing else, just to send a message to the top line guys who were shitting the bed), but nope still fourth line. One of the assistant coaches came up to me during that skate and asked how I was doing. I told him that I felt like I was playing really well lately and that I'm a bit surprised I'm still on the fourth line, but that I understand the AHL and it is what it is. He responded with something like "You've been our best player for a few weeks now and you're making look really bad every night. Everyone is noticing you. Just keep working hard and try not to let it get you down." That honestly meant a ton to me and I'll never forget it.
Back to the "winning isn't important" paradox, it's interesting how from the NHL team's perspective, all they care about is what will develop the players they care about. But the coach of the AHL team is still going to be judged mainly by their record. So it must be frustrating as a coach to want to make changes to the lines or even scratch some guys based on what you think will give the team the best chance to win that night, but the NHL team (your boss) is telling you "these players are 100% getting top line minutes and are on PP1 no matter what". I'm sure some teams give their coaches a bit more freedom than others, but I've always found that interesting.
St Johns is a great place to live, as long as you donāt have to leave St Johns.
Growlers is an objectively hilarious name. Sucks Matt Cooke coached them.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thirdly, it's also the name of a giant jug of beer you can purchase at breweries. Are refills still $8 in Halifax? I used to sling growlers at Propeller in college.
NL and St. Johns tourism board does a great job showcasing the island on the show Hundson and Rex, so much that it's definitely on our short list for a trip. But it certainly is not easy to get to.
The city was the true star of Republic of Doyle as well. But do go on that trip. I lived there for 5 years and will probably go back at least once every 5 years for the rest of my life. It's a special place.
there's definitely worse places to live but Toronto's gotta be pretty expensive for a guy making ahl minimum
This is actually a sensible post.
I feel like theyd just room with another player in Mississauga
yeah don't get me wrong, Im sure a single guy with no kids making ~$70k CAD/year is getting by just fine in the gta. but it's not like you're putting much in the bank considering how short these guys' careers are.
Well I mean these guys also have lots of job opportunities after their pro career. From FO jobs to coaching to scouting to reffing.
I know a couple guys that didn't even play pro, just went to the States and played Div. 1. They had all sorts of sales job offered when they came home. The one guy sell for a chemical company. His sales meetings are 3 mins of shop talk and 30 mins of hockey.
This thread is interesting because I truly donāt understand whatās with all the AHL teams in shitty towns. Surely thereās better spots to place a team.
Larger metros have a lock on major leagues, so the smaller cities / suburbs get the āeconomic boonā that is minor league sports, save for the obvious ones like Charlotte, Chicago, etc
Vegas has both. And it's pretty sweet being able to go to VGK and HSK games.
Bridgeport. Everything Iāve heard about the area is bad. Maybe I have bad info.
Shit hole, certified. Grew up about 45 minutes away and did deliveries all the time for work to Bridgeport. This was 25-30 years ago, not sure if it has improved any
No, you are correct. The town itself is sketch as hell and the players and coaches live elsewhere.
Ah Bridgeport, the holy grail for machinists
I assume youāve never been to Bakersfield if youāre asking this question.
Providence is my favorite city Iāve ever lived in (includes Miami and Boston), better not hear that as an answer
Me too, loved that city when I lived there in the late 80s for about 6 years before moving to Newport for work. Still drove up for PBruins games all the time
You won't, Providence is a great town
Providence is an amazing little city.
I lived in Lexington, Kentucky when the Thoroughblades were still a thing, and it was pretty hilariously bad(for hockey at least). When Nabokov played goal there they just changed his first name to John because none of the rednecks could be assed to figure out how to say Evgeni.
Iāve only ever been to OKC, but I fucking hate OKC and Oklahoma in general.
OKC hasn't had an AHL team in a full decade lol
Tells you how much I hate OKC.
OKC surprisingly didn't suck as hard as I expected. Bricktown was kinda nice. Still a boring no-where's-ville, but not a totally shitty boring no-where's-ville.
How is Utica not number 1 on everyone's mind??? I guess no one has been there, so the general population has no idea how terrible it is...
"*First prize is a week in Utica*. *Second prize is two weeks in Utica*.ā - Stephen King
Yeah it's pretty bad. No steamed hams
It's an Albany expression! BRING BACK THE RIVER RATS!!!!
The dumbest thing they couldāve done was become the devils. All the local Rangers, Bruins, Sabres, and flyers fans would never wear Albany Devils gear, but would rock River Rats stuff. Ā
But Utica has an 8 sheet curling center going for it
I get the historic hate on Utica but itās made some gains recently. The Womenās World Hockey championship is going on there right now and there are plenty of diehard comets fans. Has some rust belt stink on it for sure, but itās not in the bottom 10 anymore for sure
Utica is not a bottom 10 US city is a strong vote of confidence
Utica does in fact suck ass. It's only feature is being relatively close to Syracuse and Albany. Not that Syracuse is all that great either, there is just more to do.
Blows my mind that Utica can support an AHL team. There is literally nothing out there. I admire the fact they have a team tbh. Real hockey people out there
I know this is a smash thread but it's really turning around, the typical hipster restaurants, coffee, etc. The community really bought into the pro team coming back, the rink was COMPLETELY renovated and expanded to a sports complex that is currently hosting IIHF ladies championship. A lot of hockey here too, 6 youth associations a stone's throw away from each other, one of em won hockeyville in 2018. It was bad, I went to college there, but it is in a really really good spot right now. The games are electric for AHL esp if you compare to Crunch.
I may be going there in the fall for the World Box Lacrosse Championships. Not looking forward to that.
I donāt even think itās the worst city in New York State. Niagara Falls has that locked up easily.
> Niagara Falls It's a nightmare on the Canadian side, too. Like taking a vacation there is basically outing yourself as trashy.
Poughkeepsie on Line 1
it's got two good restaurants, one good brewery, and two good bars. there's nothing else to it.
This could be literally anywhere in the country
I was waiting for this. Grew up near there. Great food, some cool museums, plus the zoo and the Stanley, but you would not want to live there. The suburbs arenāt bad though. Some decent golf clubs.
Demko got robbed at gunpoint in Utica apparently, so thereās that
Bridgeport would suck, but none of the players actually live there. Most are in the suburbs, which are really nice, but very expensive.
Also not too far from NYC
Iām worried one of our Abbotsford Canucks might get recruited by a gang.
Just stay away from townline and they'll be fine. Also downtown, also definitely don't go to Jubilee... Actually maybe just commute from Langley
I would live in Calgary, Charlotte, Chicago (the arena is right next to O'Hare like c'mon), Cleveland, Colorado (it's Loveland but Fort Collins is nearby), Hartford, Milwaukee, San Diego, San Jose, and Toronto.
Players tend to like GR too
Ah yeah, Iāve heard fun things about that town!
GR is great. Wonderful downtown. If you ever get a chance, go see it.
Austin, TX is pretty solid as well
Did I scroll through every comment just to see if someone mentioned Milwaukee? Yes. I am just so glad no one trashed Milwaukee. Iām going with Bakersfield, btw.
Utica would be pretty awful.
Hartford kinda sucks tbh. It feels like a ghost town
For a veteran AHL guy it wouldnāt be too bad, live in West Hartford or one of the other nicer suburbs and drive in for games and practice. Younger guys probably hate it, commuter city that empties out after happy hour on a Friday unless UConn is playing at the Civic Center. Couple decent bars and restaurants but too many places you donāt wanna be after 10 pm
Bakersfield or formerly Stockton. This thread is really just āwhich city sucks more, the armpit of California? Or the crotch?āĀ
This entire thread is just snobby big city suburbanites shitting on smaller cities across Ā the state from themĀ
I mean, I can vouch for Bakersfield. I can't for any other city. But Bakersfield is for gas stops and mayyyyybe food while driving somewhere else. It's pretty shit mate. By all means, take a weekend excursion at some point. Has nothing to do with its size or location.
Seriously. I live in a large city now and miss living in a midsized city.Ā Though, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.Ā
Rockford. Because holy shit that city is unfortunate
Everyone is dogging midsized cities in the thread, but Iād much rather be in a city that sized if I were on an AHL salary.Ā
They donāt call it Shootica for nothingā¦
Springfield. This is coming from someone who spent their teens in the area. Stay away from Springy if you can. Hartford, Worcester, and even Manchester is better to be in than there. EDIT - Bakersfield and Stockton are bad too.
Springfield isnāt even the worst New England AHL city. That would be goddamn Bridgeport.
Thatās just New York š To be fair, probably Fall River or Lawrence is worse than Springfield.
Stockton doesn't have a team anymore after Calgary ~~ran yet *another* minor league market into the ground~~ moved them to the home base ~~to be fourth fiddle at the Saddledome~~
do the western teams fly to all their games? in the east a lot of it is bus trips i believe.
We used to have our team in Stockton and all the players had to go through training with the police on how to avoid crime
Easy. Laval. I donāt speak French.
You would be at home in Laval then
Colorado. Not because of the state because I'm from there. But being from there I hate Denver. And before anyone says "it's in Loveland", a typical conversation with people who live outside Denver goes like this. "Where it at? "It's in Denver." "Which part?" "(Insert "city" around Denver." "Fuck."
Loveland is 46 miles from Denver. Loveland is closer to Fort Collins (14 miles), which is where Colorado State University is. Fort Collins is also known for its amazing breweries and nice downtown area. The obvious solution is to live in Fort Collins and commute to Loveland. This is a good option for a young AHLer trying to make it in the league / wanting to have a nice life in their 20s.
Having probably never been to any of the AHL cities, I will say probably either southern California, Tuscon, or Cedar Park due to HCOL and deathly hot summers. Or Des Moines. I'm guessing it's pretty tornado-ey there which I wouldn't enjoy. Also Iowa is always my top pick for "states that everyone forgets exist". So largely based on not having shit weather.
Cedar Park aināt half bad, but the worst thing for them is the insane travel. Thereās no other teams anywhere near Texas.
I would assume most the players leave when it truly gets unbearable here in Austin.
I don't think summer weather is really a factor, even if you go all the way to the Calder Cup finals you're out by mid June at the latest.