The New Jersey Devils held a press conference yesterday where the organization announced that their AHL farm team, the Albany Devils (formerly the Lowell Devils), will play four games at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City next season while their ECHL team, the Trenton Devils, will play one game. Boardwalk Hall was the former home of the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies, who were the Flyers’ ECHL affiliates from 2001 to 2005.
The first game at the Hall will feature the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms. By all indications, these first five games appear to be litmus tests for whether or not another minor league hockey team could be viable in the Jersey Shore market.
The Bullies were never successful in the Atlantic City market, averaging just over 3,000 fans per game. By comparison, the Lowell Devils of the AHL had the lowest attendance record last season, with fewer than 2,300 fans in attendance on average. The Phantoms weighed in somewhere below the middle of the pack themselves. It makes sense for the Devils to consider moving the franchise back to New Jersey, as they have a better opportunity to market their brand and would have their prospects from both major farm systems available within the state.
The Flyers, meanwhile, have yet to organize their plans for returning the Phantoms back to Pennsylvania, let alone their ECHL affiliates. The Allentown Morning Call published two articles last June about the possibility of an $80 million arena being constructed for the Phantoms along the Lehigh Riverfront, which could open, at the earliest, in 2013. The project has funding issues due to an existing bridge construction project planned by the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study, the reliance of a special tax district necessary to reduce the cost, and the fact that the economy isn’t exactly “stable” for investors. The success of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, though, has raised expectations for that market.
The Flyers also announced last week that the Greenville Road Warriors would replace the Kalamazoo Wings as their ECHL affiliate, and they will share the team with the New York Rangers. The Warriors will be playing the Reading Royals in January, which may be your best chance to see goaltending prospect Nicola Riopel in the area next season. If the Flyers organization and the Brooks brothers (owners of the Phantoms) were to make headway on moving the team to Allentown or Bethlehem, establishing the Reading Royals as their ECHL affiliate would allow the organization to reap the same benefits that New Jersey is evaluating – a solidified hockey brand in Eastern Pennsylvania.
