FHL moving into Canada?

The announcement of the new yet to be name Danville franchise has yet to be announced on the league website. A local TV station in Illinois covered the press conference and the video can be see HERE. Otherwise no mention of any of the new teams on the league website. The Federal Hockey League currently has a "F" in marketing and social media. This is a major fail on their part for wanting to keep fans informed.

What we can take from the news conference for the Danville team is that it looks like Troy, Ohio, and Battle Creek, Michigan will also be getting franchises in the FHL.

Another rumour is that Canada will get it's second franchise; Smiths Falls, Ontario is rumoured to be getting a FHL franchise next season. The team will play out of the brand new Smith Falls Memorial Community Centre that has seating for 1500 and standing room for 500. Smiths Falls is a relatively small community that has a population around 9,000 and currently has a Jr.A team, Smiths Falls Bears, that play in the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL). This league has produced some notable NHL players that include Steve Yzerman, Martin St.Louis, Patrick Sharp, and hundreds more.

Will a small community in Ontario embrace a professional team that will compete with their beloved Bears for sponsorship and ticket revenue? The location of Smiths Falls will help ease the travel for the Awkesasne Warriors (currently Canada's only FHL franchise), but will remain to be seen as a financially viable franchise.

With the addition of franchises in Vermont, Ohio, Michigan, Danville, and Smiths Falls, that will bring the league total to 11 next season. That is of course if Rome can find money to come back and New York decides to stay.