22 replies to this topic

[Have Another Donut]

http://espn.go.com/n...-trenton-tigers

I like going to ECHL games, but now I can't support these guys at all. I know very few of these guys ever make it to NHL but it

is disturbing to see the Flyers building more of a fan base in NJ. Whatever.........

[Chuck the Duck]

The Devils owned the franchise but ceased operations prior to last season I believe. I've never been to a game, but the Trenton Devils were not very good (that's being kind) and I believe a lot of the existing fanbase got upset when JVB bought the franchise and changed the name from Titans to Devils since most of the people in that area root for the Flyers. When combined together, it led to their attendance being a complete joke and, eventually, the Devils pulled the plug on that experiment.

I personally could care less who they are affiliated with or if Trenton has a team or not. I'm sure its fun to watch and affordable, but its too far of a drive for me to go for minor league hockey.

['7']

the flyers owning a glorified beer league team in central jersey isn't going to make much of a dent one way or another

[DevsMan84]

Princeton is already pretty solidly Flyers country, so I doubt it will matter much anyways.

[Devil Dan 56]

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/8216047/philadelphia-flyers-continue-echl-partnership-trenton-tigers

I like going to ECHL games, but now I can't support these guys at all. I know very few of these guys ever make it to NHL but it

is disturbing to see the Flyers building more of a fan base in NJ. Whatever.........

Trenton was affiliated with the Flyers until the Devils bought them in 06 or 07, and then last year when the Devils dropped them, they were affiliated with Philly again.

[Devilsfan118]

Yeah it's definitely Flyers territory, no sense worrying about it.

[mxm262]

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/8216047/philadelphia-flyers-continue-echl-partnership-trenton-tigers

I like going to ECHL games, but now I can't support these guys at all. I know very few of these guys ever make it to NHL but it

is disturbing to see the Flyers building more of a fan base in NJ. Whatever.........

You do realize they were affiliated with them last year and their entire existence prior to the brief T-Devils era?

[devilsfan26]

the flyers owning a glorified beer league team in central jersey isn't going to make much of a dent one way or another

If you think the ECHL is a glorified beer league then you really have no idea how talented these guys are. Even to just crack an FHL roster you need an unreal amount of skill.


EDIT: And yeah the affiliation really doesn't bother me. To me it is just a local minor league hockey team.

Edited by devilsfan26, 31 July 2012 - 07:51 PM.

[titans04]

Albany sent players to Trenton as well last season, Banwell. Berube and Stoesz and will more than likely do the same this year regardless of who they might officially be affiliated with. Look for one of the young goalies to end up there.

[Colin226]

Princeton is already pretty solidly Flyers country, so I doubt it will matter much anyways.

I'll disagree on this one.. Went to TCNJ and during my time I met a lot of local hockey fans.. Devils had a very good presence in the Mercer area.. In fact if I had to estimate I'd say it was 40% Devils, 30% Flyers, and 30% Rangers.. It was always very even in my experiences..

What I found most surprising at TCNJ was that 95% of the Devils fans from south jersey that I met were from the Cherry Hill area.. It wasn't even like they had moved there, an nearly all of them were Phillies fans to boot

If you get a chance, stop by the Lids Locker Room at the Cherry Hill Mall.. They keep a decent supply of Devils stuff (owner said they get quite a lot of Devils fans) and they have some really unique items you can't find at Devils Den

[DevsMan84]

I'll disagree on this one.. Went to TCNJ and during my time I met a lot of local hockey fans.. Devils had a very good presence in the Mercer area.. In fact if I had to estimate I'd say it was 40% Devils, 30% Flyers, and 30% Rangers.. It was always very even in my experiences..

What I found most surprising at TCNJ was that 95% of the Devils fans from south jersey that I met were from the Cherry Hill area.. It wasn't even like they had moved there, an nearly all of them were Phillies fans to boot

If you get a chance, stop by the Lids Locker Room at the Cherry Hill Mall.. They keep a decent supply of Devils stuff (owner said they get quite a lot of Devils fans) and they have some really unique items you can't find at Devils Den

That lids I believe has a direct contract with Mitchell and ness from Philly rather than a lot of other ones so that is why you see more unique ones.

I live about fifteen to twenty minutes from Princeton so I spend a lot of time there and I would say its 70% flyers, 20% devils and 10% rags. I live in Hillsborough and I live in the part of town where comcasts shows flyers games instead of devils games while a few streets away Comcast carries MSG channels as part of their package. Go figure.

I do notice that in south jersey towns that are near the turnpike tend to have higher concentration of flyers fans than the rest. I think that is why a lot of people you know are devils fans.

But by and large Trenton and even Princeton are solidly flyers country.

[Have Another Donut]

Trenton was affiliated with the Flyers until the Devils bought them in 06 or 07, and then last year when the Devils dropped them, they were affiliated with Philly again.

I knew that, just disappointed in the way the Devils took over there and totally screwed up a good PR opportunity and made themselves the laughing stock of the ECHL-It would have been better if they just never got involved in the first place.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Was pretty much a perfect storm for failure...changing the team nickname (in an area that is more Flyer than Devil country), the team not being very good, and Lou's MO that the only team that matters in the grand scheme of things is the New Jersey Devils. He sees his minor-league teams as little more than a place to develop his future NHLers...he doesn't care about the fans of those teams or PR.

Now, if the Trenton Devils had been better on the ice, and the Devils franchise had been fan-friendlier towards long-time Titan supporters, I think the Flyer faithful might have been able to get past the "Trenton Devils" thing...at the very least, the Devils probably should've let the Titans moniker remain. Not like the Devils brand has a universal appeal, especially in Trenton.

[Lateralous]

I knew that, just disappointed in the way the Devils took over there and totally screwed up a good PR opportunity and made themselves the laughing stock of the ECHL-It would have been better if they just never got involved in the first place.

Was pretty much a perfect storm for failure...changing the team nickname (in an area that is more Flyer than Devil country), the team not being very good, and Lou's MO that the only team that matters in the grand scheme of things is the New Jersey Devils. He sees his minor-league teams as little more than a place to develop his future NHLers...he doesn't care about the fans of those teams or PR.

Now, if the Trenton Devils had been better on the ice, and the Devils franchise had been fan-friendlier towards long-time Titan supporters, I think the Flyer faithful might have been able to get past the "Trenton Devils" thing...at the very least, the Devils probably should've let the Titans moniker remain. Not like the Devils brand has a universal appeal, especially in Trenton.

These two posts pretty much sum it up. Living in the Philly suburbs, I hate everything about the Flyers but I was happy to see them take over control of the Trenton franchise. They'll do a good job with it. The way the Devils run their minor league affiliates into the ground is embarrassing.

Thinking back, I was so excited when JVB bought the Trenton franchise because I thought it was the first step to bringing the Devils AHL team there. I figured that was the reason they were letting the situation in Lowell fall apart. So much for that. It turns out they just suck at running minor league teams.

[insanity_gallops]

For what it is worth, I know someone whose boss is co-owner of the Titans and I was able to speak to her about the team's affiliation over the years. When the Devils took over, they pretty much disenfranchised the longtime fanbase without effectively building new interest. This past season was about re-establishing the Titans' role in the community and bringing back the old loyalists... they went back to the old logos, similar uniforms, etc. The owners are Flyers fans, so I am sure that connection is beneficial to that effect for them, as well.

Mid-week attendance was spotty, but they drew decent crowds for weekend games. They also started a really cool tradition of having military personnel home on leave or recently returned from duty as the ceremonial puck droppers, then allowing them and their family members to hang out in the boxes/suites to watch the game, eat free food, etc. Really nice.

[Triumph]

These two posts pretty much sum it up. Living in the Philly suburbs, I hate everything about the Flyers but I was happy to see them take over control of the Trenton franchise. They'll do a good job with it. The way the Devils run their minor league affiliates into the ground is embarrassing.

Thinking back, I was so excited when JVB bought the Trenton franchise because I thought it was the first step to bringing the Devils AHL team there. I figured that was the reason they were letting the situation in Lowell fall apart. So much for that. It turns out they just suck at running minor league teams.

I mean, the Devils AHL affiliate in Trenton would've been a disaster, IMO. I just don't see this area being hockey hungry enough to support an AHL team.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I mean, the Devils AHL affiliate in Trenton would've been a disaster, IMO. I just don't see this area being hockey hungry enough to support an AHL team.

We'll never know, but I'd be curious to see how the Phantoms might have done. How did they draw in Philly when they were playing in the Spectrum?

[Triumph]

We'll never know, but I'd be curious to see how the Phantoms might have done. How did they draw in Philly when they were playing in the Spectrum?

They did well, but that's an area with one NHL team, plus the Flyers are regularly sold out, plus I think in general there's more passion for hockey there, and the arena was in a central location. This is an area with 3, and the Devils don't sell out, and I don't think they would have a central place to put an AHL arena.

I don't think the Phantoms would've done that great in Trenton either.

[Devils Pride 26]

I yearn for the days of the talk of moving the AHL team to Lakewood

[titans04]

Been a sth since 2002 in Trenton don't care for the Flyers or the Devils but there is no doubt the Phantoms would have drawn 5k on weekends if they were to have come to Trenton when the Spectrum was first torn down. As long as the team is wearing a Titans logo it really doesn't matter all that much who the affiliate is to most people. They may gain a couple hundred Flyers fans if that, as others pointed out rolling out the Devils logo is what hurt the most. Phantoms season ticket holders recieved a significant discount on Flyers season tickets (~30%) since they left town, that deal is no longer in play for this season. There have been a fair amount of those people that have already purchased sth in Trenton for this upcoming season. The first year the Devils owned the team they still wore the Titans logo and not much of anything changed, attendance which was declining continued at the same pace, once the logo change was made that decline picked up momentum. Last year Trenton had the highest increase attendance in the league even though the team and even more importantly the schedule was junk with 8 or 9 weds night games alone. There were teams in the league that had as few as 4 mid weeks games in total. The Devils never cared much about the schedule. This upcoming season there are very few mid week games and most of those fall around the holidays when kids are off. Teams at this level have a huge say in how their schedule shapes up.