I highly doubt the AHL would look at Evansville just yet. They'd want to see a AA team succeed before coming to such an unproven market.

I haven't heard anything specific about the CHL or ECHL looking at Evansville - both have been thrown around amid rumors, but that's all I know of. Both are more stable than the IHL, but both would require a much larger travel budget and I'm fairly certain they pay more as well. So all in all, I don't know if either of them would be any more built for success in Evansville than the IHL.

I don't want anyone to think this is an anti-IceMen argument, simply because it's not pro-IHL. It's actually quite the contrary. I firmly believe that Ron Geary is committed to owning a hockey team in Evansville, and that he wants to field a winner. I'd love to see this organization remain Evansville's only hockey franchise. It's just that the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that going to the IHL may not be the way to go. I'd hate to see an outside group blow into town touting the USHL's (very legitimate) positives, and pull the rug out from under the IceMen. If we can say "we've got an IHL agreement in hand but we're open to the USHL too if it proves to be a more viable option long-term," I think it would be a great bargaining chip. Don't focus so much on the IHL that you can't see someone else with a better alternative, standing right beside you shaking hands with the city.