No cause for ‘concern’ as NCAA, minor pro hockey share more arenas

The rate of NCAA and minor pro hockey teams playing out of the same venue has doubled as of this season. The existing examples have yielded plenty of positives.

So what would be one more in Worcester, Mass.?

Notre Dame, a relative outcast in a sea of New England schools, will be leaving Hockey East in 2017. In turn, there has been rampant speculation as to who will become the league’s new 12th team, and Worcester’s Holy Cross is one supposed candidate.

While locals and students may rejoice at the possibility of attracting players to confront the Hockey East powerhouses, their bid at securing that coveted spot may have hit a snag. While Holy Cross is currently restructuring its athletic facilities, it does not have plans to upgrade its rink, which only offers seating on one side of the arena. Therefore, the Crusaders would need to play Hockey East contests in the much larger DCU Center.

Should the Crusaders make the conference switch, and should it happen in 2017, their arrival downtown would coincide with the inauguration of the ECHL’s expansion Worcester Railers HC.

In response to Holy Cross’ reported interest in joining Hockey East, ECHL commissioner Brian McKenna told the Worcester Telegram Sept. 14, “We became aware of it (Monday), and we’re very concerned about it. Beyond that, we don’t care to comment further.”

Clearly, McKenna seemed frustrated at the notion that the Crusaders and the Railers could be forced to share the same arena. After all, it seems logical that, with two teams sharing the same ice, fans would have to choose between spending their entertainment dollar on one team or the other. The question becomes whether McKenna’s concerns are valid or not. If one takes a look back at recent history, there is ample evidence of college and minor pro hockey teams peacefully cohabitating.

The most prominent and longest-running example is in Anchorage, and involves McKenna’s own league. Sullivan Arena, home to the ECHL’s Alaska Aces and the WCHA’s Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves, has operated since February of 1983. It has hosted both teams since the Aces began as a semi-professional team in 1989

Today, its website proudly boasts that the venue hosts over 500,000 people a year for hockey and other events. That strong attendance has prompted some major changes, especially recently. Last summer, the arena underwent a dramatic makeover with a new ice-making plant, a new floor, all new seats, new Plexiglass to improve sightlines across the rink and new dasher boards. This makeover, funded through a $9 million-state grant, clearly shows that McKenna’s misgivings clash with the commitment Alaska is making to improve Sullivan Arena. Clearly, its operators believe that the entertainment the rink provides with two teams is worth the hefty investment.

If you are still unconvinced that an ECHL team can survive with a college team in its quarters, take a look at Connecticut, where the XL Center hosts the UConn men’s hockey team and the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. While the Wolf Pack ranked 22nd out of 30 AHL teams in attendance through February of 2015, there have been sparks in attendance, including 10,789 fans for a game against Springfield on Jan. 31, 2015.

The Wolf Pack, who replaced the Whalers in 1997, still stand as one of the oldest operating minor league franchises in North America. They have persevered, despite the Huskies’ addition to the XL Center two seasons ago. The 2014-15 season serves as a strong example. In that year, Hartford fought its way to the Eastern Conference Finals and lost to the eventual champion Manchester Monarchs. However, there was a noticed change in the atmosphere around the XL Center.

In a May 2015 interview with the Hartford Courant, Michael Freimuth, the executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority responsible for stimulating investment around the Hartford area, spoke about the rise in attendance for the Wolf Pack.

“It’s funny. It was about the time UConn hockey started humping, when it was really happening in the building, the energy level went up. I’m not sure how much that plays back and forth in psyche.”

“(Minor league sports) kind of gets lost in the great Boston-New York axis,” he added. “Kind of watched it for a while, was sort of concerned. But they’ve really, really turned it around. I’m surprised actually.”

This phenomenon is not just happening in Hartford, either. This year, two of Holy Cross’ fellow Atlantic Hockey tenants and fellow New England programs will move in with their local AHL counterparts. American International is moving into the MassMutual Center, home of the Springfield Thunderbirds. Sacred Heart will begin play at Webster Bank Arena, home of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

“Being able to call a venue such as Webster Bank Arena our home is an important step for our hockey program and to provide the best opportunity for our student-athletes,” SHU executive director of athletics Bobby Valentine said in a statement, cited in a USCHO staff report. “The game day experience for our student-athletes, alumni and fans will be tremendous and we are excited about what the season and future will bring.”

The Sound Tigers, whose game-day attendance has ranged from as high as 5,300 in 2012-13 and rounded out last year at around 4,000 per contest, should share that excitement. The franchise could benefit from college hockey fans flocking more frequently to Webster Bank Arena through increased marketing exposure.

“Having the MassMutual center as AIC Hockey’s home ice will be a fantastic change and turning point for the program,” said team captain Austin Orszulak in a press release. “We’re looking forward to starting off the season on October 14 and playing in front of our home fans.”

Skeptics who question the long-term viability of a minor league team coexisting with a college team may point to Lowell as an example. For 12 years, the Tsongas Center maintained the AHL’s Lowell Lock Monsters/Devils and Hockey East’s UMass-Lowell River Hawks, but the AHL team has since relocated to Albany.

Why did this particular team fail? The most obvious reason is that it was hard to see where the hometown heroes ended up.

The Sound Tigers and Wolf Pack have always partnered with the nearby New York Islanders and Rangers, respectively. Conversely, during its tenure in Lowell, the AHL franchise switched its affiliations from the Islanders and Kings to the Hurricanes and Flames to the Avalanche and, finally, the Devils. That disconnect, coupled with high ticket prices, led to this team’s demise. The same complication is not as likely in Worcester, where the Railers are presently independent and where two failed AHL franchises had affiliates in St. Louis and San Jose.

McKenna should have no cause for concern in this instance. Teams can coexist if they realize they have the same goal of maintaining the current fan base while simultaneously expanding to encompass larger numbers of central Massachusetts residents.

You can be sure that Railers owner Cliff Rucker will remain committed to the goal of minor pro hockey never again departing from the area.

“Whatever happens,” Rucker told the Telegram, “the Worcester Railers are committed to the city of Worcester and will find a way to make it work. And we are confident that we will find a way to make it work.”