TD Coliseum | ? | 4 fl | Under Construction

[Allroadsleadtoham]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

Are they even doing anything to the place yet? An OHL season has come and almost gone, I'm sure the city would have appreciated the revenue from the team that seems to have been kicked out a year earlier than needed.

Didn’t they just have a major press conference on renovations starting as early as April/2024?
https://canada.constructconnect.com/...oject-launches

[JakeLRS]

Originally Posted by Allroadsleadtoham

Didn’t they just have a major press conference on renovations starting as early as April/2024?
https://canada.constructconnect.com/...oject-launches

"Hamilton’s on-again, off-again FirstOntario Centre renovation project is slated to start within three months, with shovels hitting the ground in April or May."

We get out pitchforks out June 1st if there is nothing happening

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by Allroadsleadtoham

Didn’t they just have a major press conference on renovations starting as early as April/2024?
https://canada.constructconnect.com/...oject-launches

I have no idea, I'm in Woodstock so I rely on this site for news lol. Figured nothing posted since last fall meant nothing going on. I keep hearing Brantford wants a new arena for the Bulldogs, I wonder which gets done first lol.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I have no idea, I'm in Woodstock so I rely on this site for news lol. Figured nothing posted since last fall meant nothing going on. I keep hearing Brantford wants a new arena for the Bulldogs, I wonder which gets done first lol.

If Andlauer rekindles his Lime Ridge Mall arena proposal for a site in Brantford, bet on him.

The ever-impending FirstOntario renos have been a big FOC-you to the Bulldogs, and the Around the Bay road race began and ended at Tim Horton's Field because of them. I wonder where the Rock will play next year (presuming the arena project is under way)

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I have no idea, I'm in Woodstock so I rely on this site for news lol. Figured nothing posted since last fall meant nothing going on. I keep hearing Brantford wants a new arena for the Bulldogs, I wonder which gets done first lol.

Some of us have been using UrbanToronto more than posting here, so there's been a few updates there: https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/thread...b.32788/page-6

[TheRitsman]

There's been a ton of people at FOC the last couple of days. Not sure if they're just prepping for a concert on the weekend. There's no events past end of April though which seems to me that there might be a late April early May start. I'll report as I see things as I pass by almost daily.

[matt602]

Maybe they're trying to co-ordinate the First Ontario renovation with LRT completion

[rdaner]

I have also started to use UT because it is so easy to post images and links unlike this site. But what I wanted to say is that Brantford Council last week put out a RFP for a downtown arena/entertainment/community complex.

[matt602]

I don't think we even deserve to have them back. That said, he could very well change his tune once the renovations are done and the honeymoon phase in Brantford is over. I do hope they will stay and do well there but if they don't, obviously coming back to Hamilton would be his first choice.

[BCTed]

Copps is probably too large to host an OHL team, even with curtained-off seats. And I am not sure that many people in Hamilton really care about the OHL or AHL.

[Innsertnamehere]

I think OVG is likely targeting bigger fish than an OHL franchise for their hockey tenant - that's why. My bet is still that we get an AHL or ECHL team at a minimum. Given OVG's connections to MLSE, by bet is still that the Marlies will move down the QEW. The Marlies average closer to 7,000 fans a game, much higher than the ~3,800 the Bulldogs were averaging.

[Djeffery]

ECHL maybe, if the league wants to replace the defunct Growlers. I can't see the Leafs moving their AHL team out of Toronto though. They love having them right there at practice, they run the arena, they draw well, etc. Maybe they can convince some other team to move there

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

ECHL maybe, if the league wants to replace the defunct Growlers. I can't see the Leafs moving their AHL team out of Toronto though. They love having them right there at practice, they run the arena, they draw well, etc. Maybe they can convince some other team to move there

I mean, we used to have the Montreal farm team.. so I don't think it's a stretch to get Toronto's which is kind of competing with itself. Mind you I don't know hockey or hockey demand whatsoever, but I do think Hamilton would be a good market for a Toronto farm team. It could attract people into Hamilton and attract Hamilton locals. With Burlington apparently building a small 5000 person arena, they could have smaller events, and sportsball, and Hamilton could have the medium sized stuff.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

I mean, we used to have the Montreal farm team.. so I don't think it's a stretch to get Toronto's which is kind of competing with itself. Mind you I don't know hockey or hockey demand whatsoever, but I do think Hamilton would be a good market for a Toronto farm team. It could attract people into Hamilton and attract Hamilton locals. With Burlington apparently building a small 5000 person arena, they could have smaller events, and sportsball, and Hamilton could have the medium sized stuff.

Used to being the key term. The Bulldogs were the Oilers AHL team prior to being Montreal's team (and that team was in Halifax and Cape Breton before moving to Hamilton). The trend has been for NHL teams to move their AHL teams as close to their own market as is practical (and interestingly, the Oilers remain the outlier in that regard as the original Bulldogs franchise is now in Bakersfield California). I mean, Hamilton would be a fine location for the Leafs if they weren't already in Toronto with a suitable arena, but they aren't moving out of there now.

[craftbeerdad]

Before the bad blood between Andlauer & the city, perhaps he would thought about moving Belleville Senators to Hamilton for a larger revenue gate, but that doesn't seem likely now.

Bakersfield doesn't make sense for Edmonton to move to Hamilton since directionally it's further away.

Marlies aren't moving to Hamilton, so it really comes down to hoping another OHL team moves to Hamilton which is quite plausible.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

I think OVG is likely targeting bigger fish than an OHL franchise for their hockey tenant - that's why. My bet is still that we get an AHL or ECHL team at a minimum. Given OVG's connections to MLSE, by bet is still that the Marlies will move down the QEW. The Marlies average closer to 7,000 fans a game, much higher than the ~3,800 the Bulldogs were averaging.

I don't know that the ECHL is really a bigger fish than the OHL --- it is third-tier pro hockey. You could even argue that the AHL is not a bigger deal than the OHL.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by BCTed

I don't know that the ECHL is really a bigger fish than the OHL --- it is third-tier pro hockey. You could even argue that the AHL is not a bigger deal than the OHL.

I think they were two separate thoughts... that they're going to target something bigger than the OHL, and in the meantime they get an AHL or ECHL team.

Personally, I think they'll be getting another OHL team again - which shouldn't be hard. The AHL is out of the question unless it's the Leafs AHL farm team.

NHL is out of the question. It'll never happen so everyone should just save the aggravation and wipe that thought from their mind.

[king10]

Originally Posted by BCTed

I don't know that the ECHL is really a bigger fish than the OHL --- it is third-tier pro hockey. You could even argue that the AHL is not a bigger deal than the OHL.

The AHL is hands down bigger than the OHL.

[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.

[Djeffery]

The last 5 years of the AHL Bulldogs, they consistently drew a lot less than the Marlies in those same years. Also, up to Covid, the OHL Bulldogs were in the same ballpark for attendance as the AHL Bulldogs were. There isn't any evidence that moving the Marlies to Hamilton would be any improvement at all, nor does the attendance really indicate that the AHL is any more important to Hamilton hockey fans than the OHL is. (Which could be read in both cases as not that important at all to the region's hockey fans). In fact, I could see the imagery of being "Toronto's farm team city" not playing well in Hamilton.