Tim McManus on the Phantoms and the impact of Albany's move

I still don’t get how Springfield is a better option.

Springfield has worse attendance than Albany’s. If attendance doesn’t improve next season the team is leaving, and there’s no where closer to Philly to move them to; because if there was somewhere here that was ready, the Phantoms would be moving and we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Details on Springfield’s problems:

That response will almost certainly change next year if attendance continues at its present level.
"Our ownership wants a team in Springfield. But at some point, hard business decisions have to be made," Landon said.
The first decision was to commit to the 2010-11 season. The decision ends any question of whether Springfield will field an AHL team next year.
But Landon, the spokesman for an ownership consortium that includes MassMutual Financial Group and several individuals, said if attendance does not improve by next season, the outside offers being rejected so far would have to be entertained.
That could mean a franchise shift out of Springfield by the 2011-12 season.
Landon said the franchise needs to average at least 4,000 fans per game, and ideally closer to 4,500, to remain viable.
The Falcons are averaging 3,051 fans after 16 dates.

Regarding travel time, I haven’t figured out how you call Springfield “much closer”. The driving difference between Springfield, MA and Glen’s Falls NY is about 40 minutes, and the drive from Glens Falls is the much, much easier of the two drives because the drive from Springfield involves taking I-95 through Manhattan If you avoid NYC and take I-84 to avoid the traffic (which a lot of people do), the drive time difference goes down to only 10 minutes. Springfield is an hour and a half from the closest major airport. Glens Falls is 45 minutes from Albany’s airport, which isn’t quite as tiny as you might think. If someone is called up for an away game, based on today’s arrivals and departures they can fly without changing planes to play the Hurricanes, Capitals, Panthers, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, Thrashers, Blackhawks, Wild, Bruins, Red WIngs, Coyotes, Lightning, Predators, Sabres, and Maple Leafs. And they can drive to Montreal in about 3 hours. So they can get to every Eastern conference opponent other than the Penguins with no difficulty whatsoever, and if they do have to go to Pittsburgh they can still get there in about 3 hours of flight time if they have to take a connection through Newark, Philadelphia, or LaGuardia.

You should probably tell him that, then, since he sent out this press release stating that he retained the River Rats name, infrastructure, and staff. Very curious for someone who isn’t going to own a team…

That’s common. The City of Hartford still has rights to all Whalers stuff, and the banners still hang in the building there, but the chances of a team coming back are slim to none. Owners almost always do this when they sell a team.

Not the point. Glens Falls being too far away is fact. Right from Peter Luukko’s mouth.

They tried local options — Atlantic City, non-existant buildings in Jersey, etc. — and they opted to sell them. They want the answer to be Allentown, but that’s not in the cards right now. They also realize they’ll never have a situation like they did with the Phantoms and he admitted it. All he’s said is that they need to have another ‘good setup.’

Yes, he did say they’d like the team within 200 miles. There are no options within 200 miles, and that’s why we’ve settled on discussing Glens Falls, Springfield and Albany.

And I completely disagree with you that Springfield is a better option than Glens Falls. It’s a 95 minute drive to Boston/Logan and then it’s a 90 minute flight after that if you’re able to get right on a plane. Realistically, you’d have wait a bit, and by the time you get to Philly/Voorhees to meet the team, you’re up near 4+ hours.

You mentioned Amtrak. There’s a route that goes right through Albany on it’s way to NYC from Montreal, connects with the NE Corridor at NY Penn, and takes 3 hours and 40 minutes round trip to 30th Street Station. Add the hour car ride from Glens Falls and it’s 4 hours, 40 minutes — that’s a rough average. Trains leave Albany every hour, sometimes even more frequently.

There’s a also a station in Springfield, MA. Round trip to 30th Street Station takes 4 hours, 57 minutes — that’s the shortest trip listed. Three trains leave Springfield before 11 AM and there’s not another one until 4 PM.

It’s a 3 hour, 37 minute drive down I-95 in Connecticut and New York City, and as someone who used to make that drive all the time I can tell you that it’s only 3 hours and 37 minutes if the world is about to end. On the flip side, it’s a 4 hour, 35 minute drive from Glens Falls to Philadelphia, largely on uninhabited highway.

I’m not sure how being in Springfield makes things easier.