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Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere
I would argue both are large just by the nature of them not being junior hockey. But yea, AHL is obviously the next best thing if you can’t get NHL.
I get the Marlies being hesitant to move, but at the end of the day Hamilton would still allow for day-of call ups of players, which is why they want teams close, and the team would have a lot more local meaning here than in Toronto. The only reason attendance is OK in Toronto is because people can afford to go to a Marlies game compared to the insane costs of the Leafs. The actual fan base is very small and the team gets basically 0 media attention.
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Strictly speaking, the quality of AHL play is obviously superior to OHL play, but junior hockey has a lot of appeal because almost all top prospects come through junior programs, but not all top prospects play in the AHL. There is a lot of buzz around draft-eligible players.
Whatever the reason for attendance being decent in Toronto for the AHL, it still tops the attendance that the AHL saw in Hamilton. And it is not as if there was a ton of buzz in Hamilton for the AHL Bulldogs. The Leafs' farm team might do better in Hamilton than past AHL entries, but the Marlies are more than fine where they are.