When the season ended on April 10th, Rampage fans were left with a bitter taste in their
mouths and a general feeling of “what if?”
-“What if” Phoenix had managed to stay healthy and all time franchise leading scorer
Brett MacLean hadn’t been ripped away from us to ride the pine in the desert.
-“What if” Phoenix had seen the potential in Jed Ortmeyer and Tim Stapleton to offer
them guaranteed contracts.
-“What if” Petr Prucha hadn’t decided to take his high energy game to the KHL 4 days
into the New Year?
-“What if” half the team didn’t mentally check out when the going got tough and had
been able to play just .500 hockey the last 4 weeks to battle for a playoff spot.
-“What if” the dreaded West Division hadn’t been so ridiculously good from top to
bottom.
Those questions will never be answered. And even if they were, we would never hear
those answers. Instead, we are left wondering what happened to the team we saw from
October through January. The team as dangerous an offensive club as we’ve seen in San
Antonio. A team with a blue line corps made up of both savvy veterans and promising
young prospects. We are left wondering why a goalie like Al Montoya couldn’t stop
anything while in a Rampage uniform, then proceeded to light the NHL on fire after
being traded to a terrible Islanders team. We are left wondering why, those of us that are
still following the AHL Calder Cup Finals, have to hear Jed Ortmeyer’s name announced
over the PA repeatedly as he helps lead the rival Houston Aeros to the promised land.
Now, nearly two full months after the final horn sounded on yet another disappointment
known as Rampage hockey, we can’t just move on and look forward to next season. The
questions now, are just as plentiful, if not more so, than they were then. The Rampage
enter the offseason not even knowing which NHL team will be sending their young
prospects to play on the ATT Center ice this fall. Their 2 year deal with the Coyotes
expired last month and we haven’t heard a peep from either SS&E or the Coyotes. The
Coyotes have stated they are “hopeful” for a return to San Antonio. Yet, SS&E remains
mum on the subject. An email reply from the team simply stated, “At this time we have
no information”. In this hack blogger’s opinion, the silence...is deafening.
This offseason has seen an abundance of moving pieces on the AHL landscape:
-Buffalo purchased the Rochester Americans, despite having a long term deal in
place with the Portland Pirates.
-Florida, who recently split from the aforementioned Americans is still searching
for an AHL club.
-With the Atlanta Thrashers moving to Winnipeg, and the corresponding rumored
move of the Manitoba Moose to St. John’s, this leaves both Vancouver and the
AHL Wolves (formerly affiliated with ATL) searching for dance partners.
-Meanwhile, perpetually unhappy Syracuse is rumored to be exploring other
options after a season of discontent with Anaheim as a parent club.
-Finally, Tampa and Norfolk’s affiliation deal has expired, and Tampa is said to be
exploring as well.
Add all these questions in with the Phoenix/San Antonio relationship, and you can
see that the entire makeup of the AHL is in flux. AHL savant Patrick Williams
(@AHLReport on twitter) has speculated the following:
Buffalo goes with Rochester
Florida picks up Portland
Vancouver goes with Chicago
Tampa stays with Norfolk
Phoenix re-ups with San Antonio
Anaheim and Syracuse suck it up and continue on.
None of this would surprise me in the least. That said, there still a ton of questions with
these scenarios. If Tampa and Phoenix are going to extend the current deals, why hasn’t
it happened? When the Atlanta rumors were all over the internet, I could see why teams
were holding off on making announcements. The sticking point now, appears to be that
the 2 big fish, Vancouver in the NHL and Chicago in the AHL, are going to get their
pick of the litter. Chicago has already spoken to “6 NHL teams” and is expected to make
an announcement within 2 weeks. Any AHL team would be ecstatic to match up with
Vancouver. So now, I expect nothing to happen until the Stanley Cup Final is completed.
My skepticism of a Phoenix/San Antonio reunion is mine and mine alone. I honestly
think that if both sides were still happy, a deal would have been done long ago. I sense
some serious apprehension on the part of the Rampage though. I get the distinct feeling
that SS&E were just as frustrated with the way Phoenix handled callups and transactions
as we fans were and they are exploring any other possible options. In the end, Phoenix
makes the most sense out of the available teams. I’m not sure Vancouver’s philosophy of
giving their AHL team a lot of leeway and autonomy meshes with the Rampage’s thrifty
philosophy. I think Tampa wants to stay east, Anaheim is in a deal, and the Rampage and
Florida will likely never work together again considering how the relationship ended the
last time they were together.
But I have to wonder, if my theory is correct, if the Rampage are indeed shopping for a
new partner, how will this affect any relationship with Phoenix? Only time will tell, but
I know I’m ready to wash my hands of last season’s dirt and move on to next season’s
promise. And no one can do that until we know which team’s prospects to hype up and tear apart. I’m hoping a deal is done before mid-month. I’m anxious to start writing
again. So until an announcement is made, LETS GO RAMPAGE!
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