Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire ” brought to you by your local Auto Logic….the Logical Choice.
There’s been a lot of talk pertaining to the Flint Firebirds of late and with good reason.
The scenario that has emerged on several occasions this year has been kooky at best.
But are the fumbles and tumbles in Flint any different than those experienced by other franchises who shifted ?
Take the Toronto Marlboros who transferred to Hamilton and became the Dukes. They were so successful on the ice, the Canadian Hockey League yanked the Memorial Cup host spot away from them.
A year later, the Dukes moved to Guelph where they promptly won 4 games under 3 coaches and had to withstand accusations of a year-end teen party gone wrong.
How about the Cornwall Royals who moved a fairly solid team on the ice to Newmarket ? In their second year at Newmarket, the Royals lost every road game and managed to win 9 at home.
Then it was off to Sarnia and the start there was rocky too.
The story was similar for the Guelph Platers move to Owen Sound when in year 2 there was a 13 win season and rampant stories of another pending shift out of Owen Sound persisted for most of the 90’s.
North Bay to Saginaw ?
You can make a positive argument for the Brampton to North Bay shuffle, but in almost every case, an OHL location transfer has to deal with many unforeseen obstacles, many of which torpedo the operation in an embarrassing fashion…like Flint.
I’m Fred Wallace