SPIN THE DIAL…

Nobody is saying officially what team is going to be the new ECHL affiliate for the AHL’s soon-to-be Connecticut Whalers and the parent New York Rangers.

That doesn’t mean though that talks aren’t going on.

Howlings has been checking around and has concluded that the most likely place the team will wind up having their new affiliation is with ex-Ranger’s GM, Neil Smith’s team, the Greenville Road Warriors.

Here’s the logic.

There’s obviously the connection and familiarity between Neil Smith and the New York Rangers.

Both teams are in a position of need. The Rangers need an ECHL affiliate and Smith needs to find a team to supply him with players.

When the Blueshirts had their East Coast affiliation with the Charlotte Checkers, the team had excellent attendance. Now to be fair to Charlotte, they also did an unbelievably great job in marketing their team to the community. The Checkers also put on an outstanding program night-in and night-out. Did we mention the Check-mates? They were worth watching even if the team at times wasn’t. But put that aside, Neil Smith is by a country mile, perhaps the most underrated and savvy hockey minds in the sport. Smith will not be afraid to take marketing chances and doing what he needs to do to get the job done for his team in Greenville.

For the Rangers the team would essentially be in the same area as last season. For the team to recall a player to Hartford won’t be a major concern. While it’s not exactly a ten minute ride between Charlotte and Greenville, it’s near enough that the good will from Charlotte should find it’s way to South Carolina. It’s a great area to build off the good name they established with the Checkers.

From the Road Warriors perspective, the Rangers make the most sense of just about any team available. Last season Smith’s team were the Johnstown Chiefs. They had virtually no help from their affiliate relationships. They were in a decrepit building and not drawing flies to their games. Having an affiliation with the Rangers is a boon for the team’s Stanley Cup architect. The affiliation with the team that rose him to prominence will allow him to build his brand around an “Original Six” affiliation..and one that he knows so well. For the Road Warriors, they’ll be stocked with better quality and caliber of players to establish their name in the community. With a better quality team they can be more competitive which will  in turn draw him better crowds.

It just makes sense.

If an announcement is forthcoming, it’s likely to be at the end of this month and no later than the first week in September. Then it will be up to Smith and his staff to really go to work to make this thing fly. Given his understanding of the business and his ability to get things done, I’d expect Smith to turn this one around pretty quickly.

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Not that anyone asked, but this is our 1,000th posting to Howlings…yeah me….