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Lots of talk - nothing finalized for certain
A couple days ago in the St. Louis Post Dispatch this story appeared...
"SAY GOOD-BYE TO THE RIVERMEN?
With Tom Stillman looking to run a leaner Blues operation, it was inevitable he
would put the Peoria Rivermen of the AHL into play. Now folks in central
Illinois fear they could lose their professional hockey franchise.
The “silly season” for minor league franchises is almost upon us. NHL teams
reconsider their affiliations and AHL teams prepare for ownership change
and/or relocation.
Here is the prevailing rumor: The Canucks would buy the Rivermen and move
the team to Abbotsford, B.C., next season. The Heat, a Flames affiliate,
would relocate to Utica, N.Y. The Blues could shift their affiliation to the
Chicago Wolves, currently Vancouver’s affiliate.
Myriad other combinations are also on the table, including the Blues moving
the team to a bigger market like Kansas City or Indianapolis."
There have since been several stories...
but if the Rivermen are sold & moved the BIG winners might be Bradley and Bradley fans because dates for Bradley to schedule - especially Saturday nights - will be far more available and with much less revenue flowing through the Civic Center - JUST MAYBE the folks at the City of Peoria will be a bit nicer to their #1 attraction downtown.
BUT - you never know - if the Civic Center decides to hike the rent because of cash shortfalls due to the loss of the Rivermen - then BU may just say nope -we have our own arena and we're going there full time.
Wow - that would be a big money saver and revenue winner for BU in the short term but the complete disappearance of any possibility to draw a 10,000 or 11,400 crowd would be diminished and in the long term it would send BU back to the D-II-level - and I sure hope our people take that into consideration.
The big losers of course will be the Rivermen fans - some 3000 to over 5000 attend the games, then also the revenue lost will hurt other downtown establishments - parking, dining, sports items, etc...
No word on the possibility of any other minor league franchise interested in taking some dates...but without the Rivermen then the ice can be turned off, the basketball floor left down, and no more 1 PM Saturday games where we have to vacate the arena instantly so they can get the floor ripped off.
A couple days ago in the St. Louis Post Dispatch this story appeared...
"SAY GOOD-BYE TO THE RIVERMEN?
With Tom Stillman looking to run a leaner Blues operation, it was inevitable he
would put the Peoria Rivermen of the AHL into play. Now folks in central
Illinois fear they could lose their professional hockey franchise.
The “silly season” for minor league franchises is almost upon us. NHL teams
reconsider their affiliations and AHL teams prepare for ownership change
and/or relocation.
Here is the prevailing rumor: The Canucks would buy the Rivermen and move
the team to Abbotsford, B.C., next season. The Heat, a Flames affiliate,
would relocate to Utica, N.Y. The Blues could shift their affiliation to the
Chicago Wolves, currently Vancouver’s affiliate.
Myriad other combinations are also on the table, including the Blues moving
the team to a bigger market like Kansas City or Indianapolis."
There have since been several stories...
but if the Rivermen are sold & moved the BIG winners might be Bradley and Bradley fans because dates for Bradley to schedule - especially Saturday nights - will be far more available and with much less revenue flowing through the Civic Center - JUST MAYBE the folks at the City of Peoria will be a bit nicer to their #1 attraction downtown.
BUT - you never know - if the Civic Center decides to hike the rent because of cash shortfalls due to the loss of the Rivermen - then BU may just say nope -we have our own arena and we're going there full time.
Wow - that would be a big money saver and revenue winner for BU in the short term but the complete disappearance of any possibility to draw a 10,000 or 11,400 crowd would be diminished and in the long term it would send BU back to the D-II-level - and I sure hope our people take that into consideration.
The big losers of course will be the Rivermen fans - some 3000 to over 5000 attend the games, then also the revenue lost will hurt other downtown establishments - parking, dining, sports items, etc...
No word on the possibility of any other minor league franchise interested in taking some dates...but without the Rivermen then the ice can be turned off, the basketball floor left down, and no more 1 PM Saturday games where we have to vacate the arena instantly so they can get the floor ripped off.
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