ECHL

Subscribe to The Hockey News

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Just looking over the latest copy of The Hockey News (Volume 76, No. 06, Prospects Unlimited) and discovered some fascinating content. This copy is chalked full of content on prospects, with a cover story on the Buffalo Sabres young players.

There are also two articles that should be of interest to Kansas City hockey fans. One of those talks about the ECHL and building a winner in that league. The other article is about a four-game exhibition series that the Kansas City Scouts played in against the Washington Capitals right before the final decision to move to Denver was made.

The ECHL article, entitled Can’t Coast By written by Ken Campbell, gives good insight into how an ECHL franchise is put together. It also gives you an idea of how much your favorite KC Maverick might be getting paid to play, as they give a bit of information about the league’s salary cap. (With the cap at less than $15,000 a week, no wonder Lamar Hunt Jr. thinks the NHL expansion fee is “ridiculous”.) The article also states that ECHL affiliated teams receive between 3-8 players from an affiliation. It’s a good read, and details how difficult it could be to put together a championship ECHL team.

The Scouts article, entitled When the NHL Invaded Japan by Steve Currier, talks about The Coca-Cola Bottlers Cup 4-game exhibition tournament between the Scouts and the Washington Capitals that was played in Japan. It’s an interesting read, which I assume might just be an excerpt from Currier’s book on the subject, also called When the NHL Invaded Japan. It’s an interesting read and makes me one to grab a copy of the book to read more in-depth description, as well as maybe see more pictures from the event.

The Hockey News is always worthy of a purchase, if you don’t already subscribe, but I found this edition to be something I wanted to share. Oh, and this edition also had part 3 of the series talking about the WHA. It’s been an extremely interesting series to read with Howard Baldwin’s stories about the rise and fall of the league, and specifically his experiences with the Whalers franchise’s place in the league. Part 3 gets in to signing the Howes to play for the Whalers. I never knew Colleen Howe was involved in contract negotiations.

Anyhow, if you don’t have a subscription, why not? And if you don’t, you should think about trying to pick up a copy somewhere.

Not Feeling Orange

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A week or so ago I got a message from someone on Twitter asking me to write about the KC Mavericks. I’ll be honest and say I don’t know much about the team. So, I’m not sure my thoughts are going to mean much. I’ve done a little bit of research on them for my KC Hockey History website, but a lot of that is long ago and out of date.

In the 13 seasons the Mavericks have played in Independence, Mo., I’ve only attended one game. (Well, at least I know where they play, right? They don’t play in KC, folks!) I was the guest of a season ticket holder (who had tickets for one season only). It was a good presentation as far as the activities, but the game on ice didn’t impress me. The Mavericks were annihilated by the Fort Wayne Komets. The FORT WAYNE KOMETS! Of all the teams to get crushed by, why a former IHL franchise? And why the Komets!? As a Blades fan, losing to the Komets in that fashion left a bad taste.

I’ve seen a few games that were televised on channel 29 (?) in the past. The team played ok, but one game they wore these horrible comic book inspired jerseys (I think it was the Joker) that didn’t strike me as all that nice, and with the Mavericks being the home team, I couldn’t understand why they wore the “bad guy” jerseys instead of “good guy” jerseys…like Batman.

I’ve attempted to find and/or listen to radio and/or internet broadcasts of Mavericks games over the years, but I’ve never had any luck finding a Mavericks game broadcast by the Mavericks. I did listen to a portion of a game against Indy, but it was the Ice broadcast. Do the Mavericks have a regular radio home, or an internet broadcast home that I can listen to on my Amazon Fire tablet?

Recently I have seen negative comments on Twitter after the new look of Mac was introduced, and it wasn’t just about Mac. People haven’t been happy with the direction of the team the last few years. That’s something that can also be seen in the decline in average attendance figures, too. Another thing to note is the Mavericks have never won a championship title in the CHL or the ECHL. In the ECHL, they haven’t even played for the league championship at the end of the season. While they have their fair share of playoff appearances in both leagues, they’ve failed to qualify 5 times, 2 of those being in the last 2 seasons. It seems like there needs to be major changes made if this franchise doesn’t see an improvement on the ice and in the numbers in the stands this coming season.

Mavericks Ready To Get Kraken

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Kansas City Mavericks Picture Taken From Twitter

July 28, 2022, starts a new chapter in Mavericks’ history. Today the KC Mavericks announced a new NHL affiliation with the 2nd year Seattle Kraken. This means KC hockey fans will get the opportunity to see potential future Kraken or at least some Coachella Valley Firebirds (Firebirds are the AHL affiliate that KC will be sending and receiving players from).

After looking at Seattle’s roster, they really don’t look like they have the depth to provide KC many players, probably a right winger or two (they have a ton) and they look to have maybe a center to spare. But that’s good news for players the Mavericks have signed. It means Mavericks’ signees will get a look from Kraken and Firebirds staff, and they could get signed to deals with those clubs. Also, there’s the possibility Seattle starts stocking the cupboards this summer, picking up more players for the AHL and ECHL affiliates. If they do, I suggest a few more D and another goalie would be the priorities.

The affiliation probably won’t be a huge difference maker for the product on the ice, as the Mavericks have already signed 10 players on their own this off-season. But this announcement could and should generate excitement and put more butts in the seats at Cable Dahmer Arena this season. It’s time to start the recovery from the attendance drop off caused by the pandemic. It’s time to get cracking (or…Kraken…lol) and get the Mavericks back into the playoffs.

July 28, 2022, starts a new chapter in Mavericks’ history. Today the KC Mavericks announced a new NHL affiliation with the 2nd year Seattle Kraken. This means KC hockey fans will get the opportunity to see  potential future Kraken or at least some Coachella Valley Firebirds (Firebirds are the AHL affiliate that KC will be sending and receiving players from).

After looking at Seattle’s roster, they really don’t look like they have the depth to provide KC many players, probably a right winger or two (they have a ton) and they look to have maybe a center to spare. But that’s good news for players the Mavericks have signed. It means Mavericks’ signees will get a look from Kraken and Firebirds staff, and they could get signed to deals with those clubs. Also, there’s the possibility Seattle starts stocking the cupboards this summer, picking up more players for the AHL and ECHL affiliates. If they do, I suggest a few more D and another goalie would be the priorities.

The affiliation probably won’t be a huge difference maker for the product on the ice, as the Mavericks have already signed 10 players on their own this off-season. But this announcement could and should generate excitement and put more butts in the seats at Cable Dahmer Arena this season. It’s time to start the recovery from the attendance drop off caused by the pandemic. It’s time to get cracking (or…Kraken…lol) and get the Mavericks back into the playoffs.