Arena NHL Expansion (and Deflation)

Rumours that the deal is done, and it is indeed Atlanta. Stiff price though; a fifty million relocation fee, and the team has to stay in the southeast division, apparently because they are planning three conferences with wild-cards in the near future.

 

News conference tomorrow, to announce the move of Atlanta to Winnipeg.

Neil Young at the Sharks/Canucks game last night, wearing a Manitoba Moose hat (he was born in the 'Peg)

They held a tail-gate party in Atlanta, to try to rally the fans. Two hundred people showed up. (There were a thousand people at Portage and Main in Winnipeg at midnight on the day they *thought* it might happen.)

 

Atlanta's mayor ready for loss of Thrashers to Winnipeg. I wonder if it'll get done tomorrow.

 

Now Bettman's playing games, damn him.

 

Announcement today: Atlanta's going to Winnipeg. A lot of stupid stories about whether the players will deign to go to the 'Peg. I imagine Evander Kane and the mighty Dustin will be very popular there.

 

Great for Winnipeg!

 

I wonder if Nashville will keep their team. As a city, they are a lot like Atlanta, though I personally know quite a few Preds fans, even from here in Memphis. I don't Atlanta paid much attention at all to their hockey team. They don't even always pay attention to their NFL, MLB and NBA teams.

 

Atlanta is a collegiate sports town.

Nashville seems to be doing pretty well, and hockey has caught on at the grass-roots level.

 

Anyway, congratulations to Winnipeg. Sounds like you have solid ownership there.

 

The Islanders DO NOT have to pay any territorial fees to the Rangers if they move to Brooklyn. They already did that in 1972, although they shouldn't have for what the Rangers did to the Americans, the first New York Hockey team. The Islanders are going no where and have some great years ahead, although I think they should move to Brooklyn, or Queens if they build something by Citi Field. And the Rangers do not sell out. Who ever said that is on crack.

Here's the solution. Atlanta/ Winnipeg is fixed. move Panthers and Lightning to Portland and Seattle to continue a geographical rivalry while adding the Canucks to the Rivalry mix. A rivalry will make money for all teams invovled. No matter how bad the Isles and Rangers were, they always sold out when they played each other.

Move the Coyotes to Quebec and switch team histories with the Thrashers/Jets.

Move the Predators to Hamilton, rename them the Tigers.

Move the Blue Jackets either to Cleveland, or Montreal

Move the Hurricanes back to Hartford


The NHL does not have a shortage of good players, it has a shortage of great cerebral coaches like Al Arbour that could get the best out his players.

Oh and the San Jose Sharks are the California Seals. The merger with the North Stars was undone and the owners of the Seals who became the owners of the North Stars gave up the North Star ownership to become owners of the Sharks.

 

These moves don't make any sense at all, you are just moving teams for the sake of moving them.

The Panthers and Lightning do just fine were they are, Portland and Seattle aren't good choices at all. Heck, the attendace Florida still has after sucking for 10 years is astonishing.

Hamilton has no business getting a team, they don't even have a good arena. Same is true for Cleveland or Montreal getting a second one. Nashville has a good fanbase, local owners who care about the team and fans who are loud. Even though I miss Hartford, Carolina is doing well, no need for changes. Columbus did just fine, they had excellent attendance for years, it's not their fault the management couldn't create a team that could have at least moderate success. Just look at how these oh so great canadian cities fared when they had no success, apart from the two big teams they were at the bottom of the barrel as well.

The league is fine as it is. Local hockey is going through the roof everywhere they put a new team. The only somewhat questionable market is Phoenix, and they neither had success nor is their ownership settled, which makes it twice as hard.

 

The only one of these that I could see happening in the next few years is the Islanders to one of the boroughs of NYC, possibly Brooklyn.

The rest of them are pipe dreams. The Hurricanes aren't going anywhere, same with the Preds. The Coyotes could move at some point, but Bettman will do everything in his power to keep them in the desert.

 

Hartford's population is 125,000--too small.

 

blah blah blah. That's what I get for trying to talk sense with a bunch of virgins.

 

Don't judge us by yourself, kid.

 

The Panthers lost 10 million last year. Season tickets for $363.00
It's a sinking ship.

 

Hartford is too small to sustain a NHL team. Cleveland technically isn't too small I guess but they aren't big enough to carry another sports franchise. With the Cavs, Indians and Browns all in town already they wouldn't be able to compete for attendance. They can barely get a half house for Browns games.

 

Ummm ... Cleveland has lots of problems, but filling up Browns Stadium for a Browns game is not one of them.

I personally think the NHL should relocate half the teams to Canada, to a Canada/US split for teams, and make the finals USA vs. Canada every year.

 

I've never had problems walking up to the ticket window and getting game day tickets for a Steelers/Brown game in Cleveland. I could never in my wildest dreams do that for a Steelers game in Pittsburgh. I'm not saying people don't go but they don't have a waiting list like we do in Pittsburgh. I've been on that damn waiting list for 12 years.

Edit: The Penguins made a one year offer to Jagr today and will respond to it tomorrow.

 

I'm conflicted about the Jagr. Shero didn't disclose the terms, so that could sway me either way. I'm sad to see Kennedy go, though, but very excited for Dupius to be back next year.

And Inty, I'm not a fan of your proposal. I really don't want to have to bring myself to root for the Red Wings, Flyers, or Caps in any possible circumstance.

 

So, how did the Caps land Vokoun? Who let this happen?

 

They're serious. Good for them.

NYI did not get the new stadium they wanted the taxpayers (who had not mismanaged the team right into the ground) to pay for. Good for the taxpayers, say I; why the hell *should* they pay?

But that's about curtains for the franchise in Long Island.

 

Yep, it's a major problem for them. Like I said in the regular NHL thread, where the Nets will play in Brooklyn is even smaller (for hockey seating, at least) than Winnipeg's place, which has often times been called too small.

 

Genius! Damn that would be awesome. The league would flourish in a system like this.

 

That would indeed be awesome, but I doubt Canada could support 15 teams. It has 7 now, and if you put one more in S. Ontario and one in Quebec City and one in Saskatchewan, you have 10 and you're done.