Re: No Pride at WSMN

[Sptseditor@aol.com]

In a message dated Thu, 19 Apr 2001  2:15:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Dave Faneuf <tklaundry@juno.com> writes:

<< I don't think the Monarch's
will have too much trouble finding a Manchester/Condord outlet they might
even be able to get a TV deal with 9 or 50.  What will be interesting to
me is the impact they have on the Lowell Lock Monsters.  The Monsters are
struggling to get attendance as it is, and with another franchise this
close it could spell trouble for the Monsters IMO.  Who are the Monarch's
affiliated with? 
df >>

I would agree that the Monarchs seem in pretty good shape to get a media deal, possibly something even with ATT3? They seem to be in a relatively good market for hockey and since this is really New Hampshire's first major pro sports franchise in a while, I expect them to get some good crowds. (Where is the new Manchester arena?)

I agree with David about the Lock Monsters being in trouble. It looks like the AHL has over-expanded in New England; draw a 70-mile arc from Worcester, and with Manchester you'll now have six AHL franchises in the area (Worcester, Lowell, Manchester, Providence, Hartford, Springfield) and another team in Portland. I don't really think of Lowell as a hockey town to begin with -- yes, high school hockey is big in the 'burbs (Chelmsford, Billerica, Burlington if you want to go that far south), but not in Lowell proper or even southern New Hampshire really -- UMass Lowell has never really drawn great crowds (granted, they played at Tully Forum for years), and with all the competition added in... it's going to be a tough sell for them. Meanwhile, the Spinners have little competition for the sports dollar during the summer, save for the PawSox, on the other end of the Boston metro.

I am not even sure whether Lowell has an affiliation for next season, since the LA Kings (Manchester) and New York Islanders (Bridgeport) are switching to full-time affiliations with different teams in 2001-02.

-Sean