So, some stuff happened on Tuesday that changed the face of the ECHL. It was the welcoming of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador to the fold, while also saying goodbye to one of the most notable minor league franchises in the past couple decades in Quad City.

I’ll address the latter first in saying that while it’s not great for the fans, but it’s better to do it this way than to actually keep struggling monetarily and missing out on players that could make the team better. Losing almost a million dollars a season, owner Jordan Melville reached a breaking point– which was partly personally, as well according to Bobby Metcalf of the Quad City Times. Now, the TaxSlayer Center is saying they’d like the area to have hockey and have looked into some options. Obviously, the proximity of Peoria would make the SPHL an interesting choice for Quad City, but only time will tell if the fans would take a lower level of hockey to their area. It’ll be a helluva thing to lose the Mallards– who had success on the UHL, CHL, and onto the ECHL levels, but hockey is a business when all is said and done. This was strictly business.

As far as the St. John’s thing goes…I don’t understand it. Sure, it’s a hockey mad area that was left with nothing with the St. John’s IceCaps left for Laval after last season. But for a team to be almost 1,300 miles from their closest rival is a strain on the pocketbooks for sure. Plus, despite the quality of hockey being better than it has ever been– maybe some people won’t be as hyped up about AA hockey coming to town in a city that has success in the AHL. The QMJHL didn’t do well after the St. John’s Maple Leafs left and only last three seasons. I’m uneasy for the lower level of hockey playing in St. John’s.

That said, a second Canadian team can only help the ECHL and maybe the fans in St. John’s rallying behind it could make it a bigger success than many people could believe– myself included. The big issues will be if owner Dean MacDonald and executive Glenn Stanford will be able to deal with all the things to do in order to bring up a team in time for this October. It may seem like a long time away, but it’ll happen sooner than expected. Unlike Portland, who had over a year to make their team a reality, St. John’s is very much under the gun.

It’ll be an interesting look for the ECHL, which is really moving towards a very Northeastern field with the addition of St. John’s and the removal of Quad City and Colorado (moving to the AHL) after this season.