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Ottawa Senators AHL Affiliate Could be Relocating

By Ian Smith |
May 9, 2016; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion and new head coach Guy Boucher speak to the media at a press conference at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
May 9, 2016; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion and new head coach Guy Boucher speak to the media at a press conference at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

The Ottawa Senators might be dealing with the relocation of an affiliate. Rumors are beginning to circulate that the AHL Senators may leave Binghamton, New York for Belleville, Ontario.

This makes sense for logistical reasons. The AHL team would be closer to Ottawa, making transfers and player movement easier.

The team is still expected to play in Binghamton for the 2016-2017 season, but their future in New York remains cloudy beyond that time frame.

What complicates relocation issues is that the Senators have 3 more years on their lease at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena after next season.

Every Binghamton Senators’ home game has been played there since they entered the AHL in 2002.

These rumors coincide with planned renovations for Yardmen Arena in Belleville, Ontario. The arena’s capacity will have to be increased to be approved as a location to host games under AHL regulations, but how long those renovations would take remain to be seen.

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While a targeted date of relocation for the 2017-2018 season sounds dubious when confronted with the lease still remaining on the arena in Binghamton, it seems like the writing is on the wall with this eventual relocation.

If the team can’t maneuver out of that binding lease somehow, then what’s likely going to happen is that Belleville will patiently wait for the lease to end and at that point be ready to take on the AHL team.

Belleville lost their OHL team, the Bulls, to Hamilton last season. They then began playing as the Hamilton Bulldogs.

They want to fill this void that has been created as quickly as possible, but these matters typically take a while to resolve.

The Binghamton Senators have an agreement to remain as the Ottawa Senators’ top affiliate through the 2018-2019 season, so that presents another set of uncertainties regarding the future of not only their location, but team affiliation.

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It seems like big changes are on the horizon for the Binghamton Senators. How soon those changes occur still remains to be seen, though.

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