This may sound like a bad idea, but I think the ECHL should go back to Louisiana. The early success of the Louisiana IceGators despite being 2 hours away from New Orleans, with attendance numbers in the 10000s early on, I think with good marketing and a closer location, a team there could work. If the team was marketed well, a market like New Orleans could possibly latch on, as to my knowledge, there is only the Pelicans and Saints there after the BabyCakes left. As long as they could find a good arena to house them, I think a team there could work. What do other people here think?

Could Louisiana support a team in the American Hockey League?

Possibly. They'd have to keep in the 10,000s in attendance I would think, but its doable.

Where could I find attendance numbers for the Bossier City-Shreveport Mudbugs, the Louisiana Ice Gators, and the New Orleans Brass?

https://www.hockeydb.com/stte/louisiana-icegators-6673.html
https://www.hockeydb.com/stte/bossier-shreveport-mudbugs-4917.html
https://www.hockeydb.com/stte/new-orleans-brass-7072.html

The AHL in Louisiana doesn't make sense for anyone. The closest NHL teams to NO:
- 9 hour drive from TB.
-12 hour drive to Panthers.
- Dallas already has their AHL team in Texas.
- Only the TX team is somewhat close to other AHL teams for travel.

The ECHL works much better with teams already in Dallas, Tulsa, FLA, KC, Wichita, Atlanta, and a few in FLA and SC. Either the Shreveport, New Orleans, or Baton Rouge areas could work okay.

With this in mind, i'd also say that the ECHL (or even AHL) could put a team in Louisville. I'm leaning more towards the AHL since the ECHL already has a team in Cincinnati and those two cities are too close for comfort.