Worcester would be ideal spot for Bruins' minor-league team

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(Editor's Note: This online edition of our editorial from the Feb. 2, 2015 print edition has been updated to reflect events that took place after the print edition went to press.) It's now official: The Worcester Sharks, our American Hockey League affiliate of the San Jose NHL franchise, will be shipping out of the DCU Center after the current season for a cross-country relocation to the Bay Area.

It will mark the second time in 10 years that an AHL team based in Central Massachusetts will pack up and move. When the Ice Cats left in 2005, the region was without an AHL team for a year until the Sharks arrived in 2006.

The imminent move of the Sharks could mean the end of the AHL in Worcester, but not necessarily the end of minor league hockey here. The solution could lie 40 miles to the east, inside the offices of the TD Garden.

The Boston Bruins, whose top-level AHL affiliate plays in Providence, have a second-level minor league team, the South Carolina Stingrays, who play in the 28-team ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League). The Bruins share the team with the Washington Capitals. (The Stingrays are one of seven ECHL teams with shared affiliations.)

This holds a potential “win win” for both the Bruins and Worcester. Here's how:

• The Bruins have a strong enough fan base to generate increased interest in their developing players, which could translate into more ticket sales at the DCU Center. Through their first 23 games, the Sharks rank 27th in the 30-team AHL in average home attendance. The Providence Bruins, helped in part by their proximity to the parent club, rank fourth.

• Worcester suffers from the fact the Sharks don't have an affiliation with a nearby NHL team, while the city doesn't have as long a history with professional hockey as some nearby New England cities, notably Providence, Springfield and Hartford. If Worcester were to land an ECHL team, it would become the league's second New England-based franchise. The Manchester (N.H.) Monarchs, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, will join the ECHL next season after the AHL Monarchs join the Sharks in moving west.

In baseball, The Boston Red Sox enjoy similar fan loyalty by having their top minor-league affiliates in Pawtucket, R.I., and Portland, Maine, along with Single-A Lowell, located nearby. In Pawtucket, the PawSox ranked ninth in International League attendance in 2014, but none of the top eight teams have Major League clubs located as close to their home cities as the PawSox have. In Portland, the Sea Dogs, a step down at Double-A, ranked third in the 12-team Eastern League last year in average attendance.

So clearly, there is a benefit to having a minor league affiliate close to home.

As for Worcester, a city looking to push forward into a new era with a more vibrant, more upscale downtown, maintaining minor league hockey will generate more ticket sales at the DCU Center and economic spillover for surrounding businesses. The Sharks are owned by their parent club, San Jose Sports & Entertainment Enterprises, which means a new owner for a Worcester ECHL franchise would have to come forward. The market size and hockey interest should bode well for the right arrangement, and reaching for an affiliation with the Bruins could pay dividends.

If the hockey option goes nowhere, an alternative could be to pursue a minor league basketball team by approaching the Boston Celtics about moving their development league affiliate, the Maine Red Claws, who draw about 2,500 per home game in Portland.

Either way, Worcester has proven that minor-league sports can work here. Here's hoping there's more of it to come.