On Thursday, San Diego’s Union-Tribune added more fuel to the fire with a story about the Ducks potentially setting up shop in San Diego in the near future.
One doesn’t have to think too hard about what was going on, as it seems quite apparent that Brian Burke and the Anaheim Ducks were looking to purchase the Rivermen with the intent on moving them to the San Diego.
For some reason, Brian Burke can’t comprehend the fact that the AHL is largely a regional league with a semi-national footprint. Starting with 29 teams ranging from Maine to Manitoba down to Texas, the AHL covers a large area, but for the most part teams are concentrated to the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern region of the United States and Southern Ontario in Canada. The exception is Manitoba and the two teams in Texas (San Antonio and Houston).
As AHL President Dave Andrews can attest, there are only so many teams to go around. Burke is looking to scoop one up on the open market, and he’s finding it to be difficult at best.
“We just don’t have an inventory of team that I could say move to the Midwest or on the West Coast,” said Andrews.
The biggest factor is the cost of travel for teams in the AHL and trying to keep those costs down is a large reason why the AHL is concentrated in certain areas of the country.
I tend to believe Burke doesn’t grasp that fact or doesn’t at least acknowledge it.
It’s been no secret from day one that he has wanted to move the primary affiliation out of Portland to be closer to Anaheim, from the first time a story popped up about Burke touring the Ford Center in Oklahoma City to recent news in the Journal-Star and Union-Tribune. To be fair, it’s understandable that he wants to be closer to Anaheim, but not at the expense of health of the AHL.
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Originally Posted by Thumper
