Does anyone have concrete info on the affiliations, in terms of length?
How long are the Monsters/Avs & Jackets/Crunch affiliations good for?

I had been following that stuff a little a year or two ago when the CBJ's affiliation with the Syracuse Crunch had run out. I know they renewed either last year or this year, and of course I know the Monsters are affiliated with the Avs.

I think the CBJs & Monsters missed a HUGE opportunity to unite, grow, and further popularize hockey in north & central Ohio.

I could've even envisioned (and would have loved) a Cavaliers NBDL team playing at Nationwide with a Jackets-affiliated Monsters team playing at the Q. Don't get me wrong, the Avs are a good team and organization, but watching the BlueJackets AND their prospects on a Cleveland team on FSN Ohio (or other local TV) would've been devine. Now I watch Avs' (who I don't mind, but don't follow now with the CBJs) prospects, instead of unfortunately CBJ prospects.

Either way though, I'm still rooting for the Monsters.

Thoughts?

We have a five year deal with the Avalanche.

Columbus' "Double A" affiliation (their term not mine) are the Dayton Bombers so it may be a good idea to look into Cleveland later. But based on Colorado and Columbus' histories with developing prospects, would you rather have potential 1st and 2nd line NHL players or 3rd and 4th line NHL players making up a chunk of your team?

then again if you are a Jackets fan...you are kind of biased. As nice as it is to have a team in Columbus, when you hear "Colorado Avalanche" you jump at the opportunity to work with them. I am sure Gilbert didn't hesitate at all to have the opportunity to be the affiliate of one of the premiere NHL teams (and one of the best at drafting and developing talent).

quote:

Originally posted by Stewart24:
Columbus' "Double A" affiliation (their term not mine) are the Dayton Bombers so it may be a good idea to look into Cleveland later. But based on Colorado and Columbus' histories with developing prospects, would you rather have potential 1st and 2nd line NHL players or 3rd and 4th line NHL players making up a chunk of your team?

then again if you are a Jackets fan...you are kind of biased. As nice as it is to have a team in Columbus, when you hear "Colorado Avalanche" you jump at the opportunity to work with them. I am sure Gilbert didn't hesitate at all to have the opportunity to be the affiliate of one of the premiere NHL teams (and one of the best at drafting and developing talent).

The Dayton Bombers are actually independent this year. I don't know why however. The CBJs AA team is the Elmira Jackals this year (maybe the Crunch and Jackals have a close working relationship). Maybe there are external issues? I thought it was a good marriage, but I haven't been in a position to follow it.
http://www.echl.com/cgi-bin/ppublic.cgi?action=show_team&team_id=9
http://www.daytonbombers.com
They're still affiliated with the Younstown SteelHounds of the CHL though (either A or maybe also considered AA).
http://www.steelhounds.com

Regardless, I think your line about "developing prospects" is quite a bit off, mainly on the fact that Columbus has only been around less than a decade, and their prospects are just now (and recently) hitting the NHL. For example, first round picks, in order from 2000, are: Klesla, Leclaire, Nash, Zherdev, Picard, Brule, Brassard, & Voracek. It's too early to classify any of them as a bust, and they sure did fine with Nash, while Klesla, Leclaire, & Zherdev have shown some glimpses (and Brule is now in his first season with the big club). Just thinking of some measure off the top of my head, Hockey's Future has Columbus at 9, and Colorado at 18 in their organizational rankings...
http://www.hockeysfuture.com/nhl_organisation_rankings/?start=8

Now, this is in no way a knock against the Avs. I like them, I have a couple of their jerseys (only team more: CBJ), and I followed them when I got into hockey before the CBJ. I know they are a good organization and have had a good run of prospects developing since moving from Quebec.

Here's lists of both teams draft picks though:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Colorado_Avalanche_draft_picks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Columbus_Blue_Jackets_draft_picks

Either way, Columbus is a pretty good organization in and of itself, and McConnell has proven to be a good owner. They have plenty of good prospects in the system and pipeline (even despite trading a few picks for veterans in attempts to "win now" under DM), so I'm not so sure the "but you're with the Avs" argument has as much punch as you think.


But from the standpoint of building hockey in Ohio, being able to follow players and teams with closer connections, I think they've missed the boat. I just think about all of the hockey fans who don't have Center Ice to watch the Avs (in a different time zone as well), but do have the local cable sports channels like FSN Ohio. The Cavs, Indians, & Browns represent and expose (not negative connotation) Cleveland, and the BlueJackets represent and expose Columbus (and by extension Ohio), while the Monsters represent and expose Cleveland and the Colorado Avalanche. I'm a local fan who'll always represent the home team, but you see the difference, right? I think about all of the uniting of local fans, cross marketing possibilities (Monsters, Cavs, BlueJackets, possible Columbus NBDL team), free promotion of each team on the other's telecasts, and growth of the sport that could happen if these two excellent organizations were together.


BTW, here is the Crunch/CBJ link that I found...
their agreement is through the 2009-2010 season:
http://theahl.com/news/league/index.html?article_id=6756
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Ccwaters/ahl_affil
...which also has this in it, which speaks to Columbus' organization:

quote:

The Syracuse/Columbus relationship has produced such highlights as the franchise’s first-ever division and regular-season conference championships in 2001-02 and the numerous franchise marks set in 2005-06 with a 47-25-5-3 record including most wins (47) and points (102) in a season.

quote:

It's too early to classify any of them as a bust, and they sure did fine with Nash, while Klesla, Leclaire, & Zherdev have shown some glimpses

Nikki is really starting to come around. I'm very excited about that. He's growing up.

Did you see him pass the puck the other night when he could have gone for the hat-trick on the empty net?(although he had a defender in front of him) That was awesome. I think it shows how far he has come.

quote:

(and Brule is now in his first season with the big club).

And he was just sent down to 'Cuse on his 21st b-day a few days ago.