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Can Indy Be A Hockey Town?

By Paul Evans, 06/16/18, 12:00PM EDT

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A State Of Hockey Installment

August 9, 1988.  That was the date where everything seemed to change.  What started with that blockbuster trade of Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings has given birth to a new age of growth and prosperity.  Recent history has shown us that ice hockey is no longer bound by geography and climate.  From outdoor games in Southern California to a #1 draft pick/generational player from Arizona to successful franchises in the Southwest and the Sunshine State.  Interest at all levels continues to expand, highlighted by the historic and meteoric rise of the Vegas Golden Knights.  We all watched in awe as a band of 'misfits' nearly turned the hockey world on its... ear.  But in a town where fortunes are won and lost in an instant, the Knights' luck came to end while the Washington Capitals went home as kings.  And as evidenced by the hilarious antics of Ovechkin and company, what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay there.


Indy has a strong hockey tradition - just not all with the same team

There is no doubt that hockey is in the midst of a Golden Age of growth and prosperity.  Even in spite of the recent lockout, interest continues to steadily climb.  More and more players and fans are introduced to the game each year.  According to their recently released statistics, USA Hockey has experienced an increase in membership for the fifth straight year and 24th in the past 27 years.  But for some reason, the Hoosier State has yet to benefit from this bounty.  This past season, participation in Indiana at the amateur level (both youth and adult) increased by ten.
 
Not ten-fold.  Not ten percent.  Ten players.
 
Yet while this statistic is more than just a little alarming, we're still convinced that Indiana can be a hockey state.  Laugh if you will, but let's just recap all that's happened over the past year.  There are three professional hockey clubs in Indiana.  All three made the post-season.  The only NCAA Division I program in the state came thisclose to a national championship.  College hockey added five new teams this season, including the first at the NCAA DIII level.  Three schools reached the ACHA playoffs, one earning an automatic berth to the national tournament.  And two teams made it to the 2018 Youth Nationals.
 
If anything, it proves that Indiana is fertile ground for hockey.  We just need to plant the right crop.
 
Indianapolis needs an AHL team.

The addition of the Colorado Eagles brings the number of AHL teams equal to the NHL

Call me crazy.  You wouldn't be the first.  But hear me out.
 
Sure, the Circle City doesn't have the greatest track record when it comes to hockey - although we did have its greatest player at one point - but we have had our share of success.  Besides, the AHL has been here before.  For those of you old enough to remember, our proud city was home to the Indianapolis Capitals for 13 seasons from 1939-40 to 1951-52.  The Caps finished either first or second in its division nine times, capturing the Calder Cup on two separate occasions (1942 and 1950).  The Chiefs filled the void left by the Capitals, playing seven seasons in the International Hockey League.  The Chiefs reached the finals twice, taking the title in 1958.
 
And who could forget the WHA.  Despite its short and tumultuous history, the Racers themselves weren't necessarily a flop.  Responsibility for the downfall of the franchise falls squarely on the shoulders of former owner Nelson Skalbania.  Even the league itself was an experiment destined for failure, but it served its purpose.  Keep in mind, too, that the Racers made the playoffs in two of their four full seasons and even led the WHA in attendance once (1976-77).
 
Next came the Checkers, who split their time between the Central and International Hockey Leagues.  While success eluded them during their stint in the IHL, the club managed to win the Adams Cup in two of their five seasons in the CHL.
 
The following two and a half decades saw various iterations of the Indianapolis/Indiana Ice.  The first professional Ice picked up where the Checkers left off, playing in the IHL for 11 seasons.  They reached the postseason seven times, taking home the Turner Cup only once (1990).  In 1999, the Ice joined the CHL, marking Indy's second go-round in the league.  The team won the Ray Miron Cup in that first season, and earned a playoff berth in four of their five seasons in the league.  During that time, the Indianapolis Junior Ice (NAHL) ran off 24+ wins in four of six campaigns, but never managed to win the Robertson Cup.  Yet the Indiana (USHL) Ice faired far better, winning the Clark Cup twice (2009, 2014) and missing the playoffs only once in ten seasons.
 
And now we have the Indy Fuel (ECHL).  While the Fuel may have gotten off to a slow start, they reached the playoffs this past season for the first time in their brief four-year history.  Given the substantial investment the Fuel have made in the hockey community - the renovations of the Coliseum and the Forum (now Fuel Tank), the Junior Fuel youth program, and the planned Greenwood Iceplex - it's apparent they are in it for the long haul.
So why an American Hockey League team?
 
Don't get me wrong; this isn't a knock of the Fuel in any way.  The ownership group has shown themselves to be committed to a sustained presence in central Indiana, which was a concern of many after the Ice went dormant.  Tickets are reasonable, and the team plays an exciting brand of hockey.  While the concession prices are a bit excessive, there's plenty of promo deals available to make attending a game easier to stomach.
 
No, the reason behind a move to the AHL is more a combination of necessity and opportunity.
 
When it comes to sports, Indy's modus operandi is go big or go home.  Things tend to work out well when we jump in with both feet.  When we don't, they fall flat rather quickly.
 
Fuel owner Jim Hallett has been involved in Indianapolis hockey since the days of the original Ice, and he's as convinced of the city's hockey potential as we are.  Hallett has said that his intentions from day one have been "to create and sustain a future for hockey in Indiana."  His hockey investments have been both significant and savvy.  For the AHL to be successful in Indy, it will require an owner that's not afraid of the challenge.  Hallett seems very much to be that kind of guy.  There's no way in Hades that Indy will be awarded an NHL franchise, at least not in the next 15-20 years.  But an AHL team is a very real possibility.
 
In fact, the notion was explored as recently as last year.  The St. Louis Blues looked at both Indianapolis and Kansas City as potential sites for an AHL expansion team.  With the recent push for NHL clubs to have their prospects close by where they can be observed, supported, mentored, and summoned at a moment's notice, Indy would be an ideal location for a Blues affliate.  According to an article published last August in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the move was explored extensively.  “There were discussions that went well down the road with two Midwestern cities, but those in the end just didn’t work out,” Blues owner Tom Stillman said. “But believe me, it was not for lack of trying.” 
 
Because Indy already has an ECHL franchise, the combined costs of the ECHL exit fee, the AHL franchise fee, and other financial factors would have totaled an estimated $7 million-plus.  That price tag proved to be too high for the Blues.  Instead, the club opted to sign an agreement with the San Antonio Rampage, a move made possible when the Colorado Eagles depart the ECHL this summer to become the AHL's 31st team.
 
While more and more teams are looking to have increased access to their top prospects, Stillman is quite happy with the new affiliation.  "What we’re after is the development of our prospects and we get that through control of the hockey. We don’t have any great desire to own the team and run the business."
Then why did the Avalanche and Eagles make just such a move?
 
"Obviously, with the proximity and logistics, there’s a lot of sense for an affiliation with the American Hockey League,” Eagles GM Chris Stewart said.  Even knowing that the Eagles' home arena -
the Budweiser Events Center - would require significant upgrades was not enough to dissuade the Avs.  “The AHL wouldn't accept the building as it sits today,” said Stewart last June. “I’m not just talking about seats. The facility in general, the locker rooms, I do think there would have to be some mitigation done to the building to help facilitate an American Hockey League franchise.”  So next season, the Avalanche will have their reinforcements an mere hour up the road while the Blues' AAA club sits 900 miles away.  Not exactly an ideal situation by any means.
 
Still, it's better than what the Blues had to deal with this past season, when the future of the franchise was seemingly scattered to the four winds.  Several players were on loan to the Chicago Wolves (their previous affiliate), while others were placed with San Antonio or elsewhere.  AHL President David Andrews agrees.  "Where (the Blues) are going to land is probably the best situation they could hope for as an affiliated team with an AHL owned-and-operated franchise.  They won’t be suffering at all with the situation that they’re in for developing players going forward. They’re going to have a full-time home and it’ll be a good one.”
 
And while the leadership in St. Louis is quick to tout the positives of their new partnership, it's apparent that some still wished things would be different.  "“The best situation is when you own your franchise and you control every aspect of it," confessed Blues GM Doug Armstrong. "We haven’t done that for five years, ever since we left Peoria."
 
For now, the Blues are married to the Rampage and will look to make the best of the situation.  But when (not if) Seattle joins the NHL, don't be surprised if things change.  I'm sure Stillman, Armstrong, and Head Coach Mike Yeo would love nothing more
than to cash out those frequent flier miles and cut the travel distance to their AHL club by more than two-thirds.

Bankers Life Fieldhouse would make a suitable home for an AHL team until a true hockey complex can be built

But what would it do for Indy, and is it even possible?  To answer those questions, we have to look at it from a couple of different angles.  And use more than just a little imagination.
 
Let's start with the obvious.  Indy is the most populous town in the state, is centrally located both geographically and hockey-wise, and has an extensive history with high-level sports.  We are the HQ of the NCAA, the home of successful franchises in two of the four major professional sports (sorry, soccer... you're just not there yet), and we host the greatest spectacle in all of Auto Racing.  We've shown we can handle it.
 
Last year, the average attendance in the American Hockey League was just shy of 5,900.  The Fuel have averaged 3,770 over the past four years - pretty good for an ECHL franchise still looking to establish an identity and build a following.  That number by itself would be better than two current AHL clubs, and one would expect to interest would be even greater to watch players who are on the cusp of the NHL.
 
The team would need a new home, though.  The Indiana Farmers Coliseum is a nice facility, especially since its $53 million facelift.  And it's a nice place to watch a game, as even the view from the cheap seats isn't bad.  But nice won't cut it in the AHL.  The league would higher expectations, and so would the fans.
 
Seating capacity at the IFC is roughly 6,800 - more than the league average, but not by much.  Anyone who's been to a Fuel game recently knows how crowded the lobby and concourses get even when the place is only half-full.  Access to the Coliseum is a nightmare - there's no great way to get there, and parking is awful once you do.  The neighborhood is lacking the infrastructure you'd expect to accompany the professional sports experience - the bars, restaurants, shops, hotels, and public spaces.
 
All these ammenities enhance professional sports as much as they benefit from them.  So much so that they've become essential to the sustained success of a franchise.  Bankers Life Fieldhouse would be a better location, although we're not entirely convinced that it would be a long-term solution.  While it will hold over 12,000 for hockey, the layout is such that fans are essentially restricted to one end of the rink.  Going to a game would be enjoyable, but watching the game might be a bit less so.  Plus, it may prove difficult to add a full slate of home games (and hopefully playoffs) to everything else that currently takes place at Bankers Life.
 
Construction of a new arena could spur economic growth in the region as well as energize the fan base.  As they've yet to break ground on the Greenwood Iceplex - and no word as to when they might - why not go all-out?  Build a full-size hockey arena, complete with an additional practice rink or two for public use and a training center.  There's plenty of infrastructure already in place, with a substantial amount of available land on both the Greenwood and Indianapolis sides of County Line Road for additional development.  I-65 and I-465 offer easy transit from all corners of Indy, and the County Line exit could be easily expanded to accommodate the additional traffic.  (Sorry, northsiders - traffic already sucks up there.  We certainly don't need to make it worse.)  And an AHL team could draw fans from as far away as even Louisville and Cincinnati.

The pieces are falling into place, but are the Fuel willing to take the leap?

Here comes the tricky part... pulling it all together.  It takes a bit of mental gymnastics, but stay with me.
 
It's only a matter of time before Seattle is awarded their NHL franchise.  Once that happens, there will be 32 NHL teams and only 31 AHL clubs.  Eventually the AHL will expand to accommodate Seattle's growing farm system, which will be the ideal time for
Indianapolis to make its play.  The Fuel leave the ECHL, join the AHL, and become the new affiliate of the St. Louis Blues.  This puts the Blues' top prospects only about four hours away by car, or a mere 58 minutes by plane.  Seattle enters into an affiliation with San Antonio until such time as they are ready to have their AHL team closer to home (Portland? Boise?).  The Komets then become St. Louis's ECHL affiliate, making call-ups to Indy a snap!  (Yes, Komets fans, it's like nails on a chalkboard to think of Indy as the 'big brother', but you know as well as I that your team would benefit, too.)
 
Somehow, some way, we need to make this happen.
 
For our kids.  For our future.  For hockey. 
 
Having an AHL team in Central Indiana would ignite a firestorm of growth in the youth hockey ranks.  Just look at Arizona, Nashville, Columbus, and Southern California.  Expansion stimulates interest and participation in the sport, and there's no better place right now than the Crossroads Of America.  As much as the Fuel have invested in growing the sport thus far, a move to the AHL would allow them to expand that several times over.  And because hockey is a full-time job for an AHL player, they tend to have more time and opportunity to get involved in the community.  (ECHL players - God love 'em - don't earn enough to live on, and many have other jobs to make ends meet.)  Fans of all ages would get to see the next wave of superstars up close and personal.  Youngsters would show up for games in the jerseys of their new idols and show off their new youth hockey jersey to their friends at school.
 
And Indy would get that much closer to having the hockey identity it so desperately needs.
 
This is fertile ground.  It's time to sow the seeds.