Slow to respond to this thread becuase we're busy working here in 'Toontown
Although others have already replied to a couple of the comments, I'll weigh in too. World Junior attendance has been excellent for each of the tournaments that have been hosted here. The attendance for the Memorial Cup and for the NHL exhibition games have been mediocre strictly due to ticket prices.
The ticket prices varied depending on the team playing during the Memorial Cup - the games involving the Blades were very expensive, with many seats in the $100 range, which is way too steep for Junior hockey.
There is still alot of hangover from the first set of NHL exhibition games played here about 3 or 4 years ago. Ticket prices were very high and none of the stars played. That pissed off a lot of people and, while the more recent exhibition games have featured more stars, there is still a number of fans cynical about the experience.
The Blades attendance is in the 5,000 range (6,000 last year because of Memorial Cup tickets demand impacting season tickets) according to this graph:
http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendan...h.php?tmi=7897
Getting to the crux of the matter, I think that Saskatoon fans would support an AHL team at Blades attendance levels, probably not much higher. I don't think attendance would be harmed due to the Winnipeg relationship. However, there are no AHL rivalries, unlike the WHL rivalries that currently exist, so that would harm things.
Enough rambling - back to work.