Mixed feelings

I am so happy, and at the same time, so sad, at the recent turn of events in Trenton.

On the one hand, I am ECSTATIC that the Trenton Titans (ECHL) hockey team is returning to Trenton, and that they will have the Flyers as an affiliate. When the Flyers' hated rival, the Devils, owned and operates the team, I couldn't bring myself to attend or root for them. (The exception was the far-too-brief span when Max Ouellet was their emergency goalie. I'd cheer for him no matter what logo was on his jersey.)

Anyway, the Devils cleared out of Trenton 3 weeks ago, having given up on fielding a team in Flyers country. And in that time, fans and local investors pulled together to resurrect their team's much-loved previous incarnation: the Titans. I couldn't be happier about that.

But it has resurrected my sadness over losing the Phantoms. No, I am not over it. It's a chronic pain, flaring in the background every time I watch a Phantoms home game in ADK online and see sparse attendance, or any time I see a Phantoms road game, also online, that has even sparser attendance. It's frustrating to think that we fans who loved our team, lost it, and the people who HAVE an AHL team in town don't take advantage of it.

I miss my team. All the time. It hurts like my knee hurts, on a daily basis that has become part of the backdrop of my life. Glens Falls is too bleeping far away, and IMO even Allentown will be too far away, if we ever live to see the day when the already-behind-schedule, ground-isn't-broken-yet arena is built. On land that was plagued by sinkholes in recent years. Foe which the city wants to use Eminent Domain to forcibly relocate businesses. For which every local resident swears the traffic patterns as they exist now can't possibly withstand the spikes of a hockey game or a concert.

Why did stupid Comcast not push for the Bellmawr, NJ location? STUPID STUPID STUPID. Its a stone's throw from Philadelphia. The existing fan base could easily have made the jump. NooooOOOOOoooo. That made too much sense.

There is a part of me that hopes something happens to MAKE the team move closer to Philly than Allentown. What that is, or where that'd be now that the Bellmawr site has other construction plans not including an arena, I don't know.

But hey. Trenton just got their beloved Titans back, and a Flyers affiliation to boot. Who ever thought THAT could happen? Not even a month ago, that was an unrealistic pipe dream. So anything can happen.