Stadiums and Arenas of Canada part 2

[king10]

Originally Posted by Horus

I'm skeptical. Belleville is one of the smallest cities (if not THE smallest) in the AHL and will have the league's smallest arena capacity. While hockey interest is undoubtedly high in Southern and Eastern Ontario, Belleville and PE County seems just too small to support an AHL team. The Leafs tried a similar thing years ago when they put their AHL affiliate in nearby Newmarket, which, at the time, was bigger than present-day Belleville, and it failed miserably. Only now have the Marlies even gained a small foothold in Toronto and are drawing reasonably well.

I understand (some of) the rationale behind the Senators putting their AHL affiliate in Ontario as it is (somewhat) closer to Ottawa than Binghamton NY was, and no border crossings required, but this still seems like a odd move to me. I will be surprised if this arrangement lasts more than 5 years. Kingston would have made more sense, if it was felt that Kingston could support both the Fronts and the Baby Sens. It at least could draw existing Sens fans from Ottawa and areas south of the NCR.

Didn't Winnipeg have plans to move their AHL team to Thunder Bay pending arena construction?