Magnus

A loss-leader, as it were. Lose money on one item to gain more on big-ticket ones, like the Wings...

I'm not even sure the NHL is that lacking in fores--ah, it, they probably are...the CFL sure tried it and failed miserably, so why not the NHL?

My reason for it is attendance figures. I don't have a problem with either of the venues - I just wanted a more centralized location, and record setting attendance. Pretty sure you could get a full Penn State for two consecutive matches there - one Flyers hosting Pens and the other Pens hosting Caps - since those are the teams (Pens/Caps) that Gary Bettman seems to want to milk the most. Then Philly travels to DC. I see what you did there...

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(Quebec City) would be the smallest market in North American pro sports Ahem... Quebec (Lévis) : 765,706 Green Bay Metro Area: 311,098 Source: www.citypopulation.de *I realize that the Packers have all of Wisconsin (6 million) behind them, but the Quebec City NHL team would have half of Quebec Province (and probably a sizeable portion of the Maritimes) on its side. That's at least 4 million potential viewers, which is enough of a market for an NHL team. Yes, there is the issue of exchange rates and corporate sponsorship, blah, blah - but most of the profitable teams in the NHL are north of the Canada-US border.

I agree that using a stadium in your own city is preferable. The reason I picked a bunch of college stadiums (and I suspect, the reason that Detroit also did for their Winter Classic) was historic significance and spectacle (not to mention the fact that the Wolverines already proved what a success it could be with the Big Chill). I also don't think once a year is too often if they make it into a spectacle, like bowl season is for NCAA football. Anyway, the point of using Penn State would be that it happens to be somewhat equidistant from both Philly and Pitt - roughly in the center of the state. Google Maps tells me it is a 2.5 hour drive from Pittsburgh, and 3.5 hours' drive from Philadelphia. (I realize that NHL teams take planes to cities further than 100 km away, but I'm just illustrating). 2.5 hours or 3.5 hours is a lot better on both teams than having to travel 6 hours to one city, and 6 hours to the other for the back-to-back. It also could put Penn State back on the national stage in a positive light...so there's that...

Why would the Wings travel to Ann Arbor when they could play at Comerica Park? I dunno. Spectacle? Nothing wrong with either venue mentioned. Those are just the ones I picked. Also - you'll notice I named St. Louis' game the Busch Bowl. I didn't completely forget...

I understand why Chicago would want to join St. Louis and C-bus, but I don't think there is much going on between Minny-Peg and Smashville. -- Anyway, the 60-game season proposal in there would render divisions pretty moot, aside from the 2 games at the end of the season. Every team has to travel to every city precisely once under that scenario. I like the idea of 60 games because then the playoffs might actually finish before snow melts. If the NHL doesn't like the idea of losing 11 home dates, they can always host exhibition series before or after the season to make up the difference in revenue. Plus, you know, one outdoor game for everyone.

I'm sure I have posted something similar before in this exact thread, but with the talk of Phoenix likely being moved to Seattle, here's another look at the pod system.

Could go with Seattle Brewers...Starbucks would love it.

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Spending $6 million a year to bring in $1.5 million in revenue? You just got Glendaled, son! And here I thought Arizona was a fiscally conservative state... Well, corporate socialism is not bad, apparently...

I really think folding the team would be a good idea at this point. What's a roster of 23 players among 29 teams? A bonus for 23 of the highest bidders for not having to fund this crap any more...grant an expansion franchise to the next city when it is ready, and the BoG even gets their pretty expansion fee.

Aaaaand, from the NHL forums...

Move the Suns to Glendale to have a 41-game tenant there that sports fans would actually pay full price to see. Move the NHL team out of Glendale. Problem solved. If America West Arena and Downtown Phoenix don't like it, tough noogies.

It has always disturbed me that FBS schools play uneven home-away schedules. I understand that some games are neutral-site (that seems okay), and that many small schools travel to large schools because they get paid to get beaten to a pulp. But here's a fix I am proposing between the Rice Owls and Houston Cougars - both of which play home games in the city of Houston. Houston is scheduled to host 7 games this (2013) season, but their home field is being upgraded, so they are using the Houston Texans' stadium. Rice has 5 home games scheduled. Why not flip their conference game against each other to Rice Stadium, and give each team 6 home games? It would be one less date for the Texans to have to worry about, and give the Owls an extra home game.

How about the Stags? The rocky mountain elk is the state animal - the bee is the state insect, and I believe it was jaha32 who came up with a Stags identity in his basketball concepts that would work well for Utah as well.

Indiegogo is different from Kickstarter in that a campaign keeps its funding even if it doesn't reach its goal. So, yeah, you just lost $20. These guys are kind of jerks. There's no way they'll reach $180 million, but they might collect a bundle in gag pledges from people who don't know better. Actually, there are fixed and flexible funding packages on Indiegogo. From the project page: "This campaign will only receive funds if at least $180,000,000 is raised by Fri 26 Jul 11:59PM PT." I would love to bring back the Mudbugs, though, if they had better attendance than in Glendale.

Well, what the hell. I just threw in $20. Hopefully I'll not have to pay it out, but it's just $20.

Is it possible for the leader of an NHL division to be ranked 9th or lower in the conference in the new realignment format? Well, let's see... If 38/82 games are divisional, and 46 are outside... and a division leader somehow manages to lose ALL games outside their division... 38-46 would equal 76 points - Not usually enough to qualify for playoffs in an 82-game season. (In fact, 8 games below .500!) Therefore, I propose that even under the realignment plan that the NHL is adopting, a division leader should get the conference ranking that their point total merits, not an automatic #2 seed. NO MORE SUBSTANDARD TEAMS GETTING HIGH SEEDINGS.

An addition to my earlier-posted realignment where there are 10 divisions of 3: Reduce the regular season to 60 games. Each team plays every other team once at home and once away. That makes 58 games. In theory, this makes the travel burden a lot more for Eastern clubs, and so puts their travel amount closer to what Western teams have to endure. And then, to wrap up the regular season in dramatic fashion - a way that I believe will be attractive to American audiences... "NHL Bowl Week ©" Yes, you heard it here first, folks. ALL 30 TEAMS get to play in an outdoor stadium - once as a guest, and once as a host, against two of their greatest rivals. Here's the breakdown: Group 1: Great Lakes Buffalo Wings Bowl, sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings - Buffalo hosts Toronto at Ralph Wilson Stadium Trillium Bowl - Toronto hosts Detroit at BMO Field or Skydome Motor Bowl - Detroit hosts Buffalo at Michigan Stadium or Comerica Park or Ford Field or my personal favourite, the Pontiac Silverdome Group 2: Northwest Whale Bowl - Vancouver hosts Calgary at BC Place Encana Bowl - Calgary hosts Edmonton at McMahon Stadium Rexall Bowl - Edmonton hosts Vancouver at Commonwealth Stadium Group 3: California California Bowl - Anaheim hosts Los Angeles at Mount Baldy Ski Resort, California Fish Bowl - San Jose hosts Anaheim at the Badger Pass Ski Resort, California Golden Bowl - Los Angeles hosts San Jose at Mount Baldy Group 4: Southern Busch Bowl sponsored by Budweiser - St Louis vs Nashville at Busch Stadium Tomato Bowl - Nashville vs Columbus at Volunteer Stadium *(tomatoes are the state fruit of Tennessee) Buckeye Bowl - Columbus vs St Louis at Buckeye Stadium Group 5: Central Bomber Bowl - Jets vs Wild - Bombers Stadium Gopher Bowl - Wild vs Blackhawks - TCF Bank Stadium, U of Minnesota Wrigley Bowl - Blackhawks vs Jets - Wrigley Field Group 6: Mountain/Desert Oasis Bowl - Phoenix vs Dallas - Sunrise Park Ski Resort, Arizona Cowboy Bowl - Dallas vs Colorado - Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX Buffalo Bowl- Colorado vs Phoenix - Folsom Field (home of the Colorado Buffaloes), Boulder, Colorado Group 7: Northeast Green Monster Bowl - Boston vs Montreal, Fenway Park Boule Olympique - Montreal vs Ottawa, Stade Olympique National/Canada Bowl - Ottawa vs Boston, Frank Clair Stadium Group 8: Metro Yankee Bowl - Rangers vs Islanders, Yankee Stadium Big Apple Bowl - Islanders vs Devils, Citi Field Swamp Bowl - Devils vs Rangers, Meadowlands Stadium Group 9: Atlantic Keystone Bowl - Philadelphia vs Pittsburgh from Penn State Liberty Bell Bowl - Pittsburgh vs Washington from Penn State Federal Bowl - Philadelphia vs Washington from RFK Stadium Group 10: Tropical Carolina Blue Bowl - Carolina vs Tampa from Appalachian State University - Boone, North Carolina Bama Bowl - Tampa vs Florida from Cheaha Mountain, Alabama Jamaica Bowl - Florida vs Carolina from Blue Mountain Peak, Jamaica **Away opponents could of course be rotated from season to season to keep things interesting.** --- Now I realize that you are probably thinking - a 60 game season? There is no way that any NHL owner would want to cut out 11 home dates from their schedule. I have a solution to that as well. You know how HC Davos hosts the Spengler Cup each year? Every NHL club could do the same, whether they prefer to do so before or after the regular season. Here's an example I came up with. -- PENNSYLVANIA KEYSTONE CUP - hosted by Penn State University Participants: Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Penn State Nittany Lions, Pitt Panthers, Robert Morris Colonials, Mercyhurst Lakers Tournament Structure: Each team plays all five opponents. Top two teams play for championship - third and fourth-ranked teams play for bronze. Tournament payout: Winners of the Keystone Cup receive 25% of net revenues raised, and their name engraved on the Keystone Cup. Second place gets 22% of revenues (47%) Third place gets 18% of revenues (65%) Fourth place gets 14% of revenues (79%) Fifth place gets 11% of revenues (90%) Sixth place gets 10% of revenues (100%) -- Now, I can almost guarantee that we would see the two NHL clubs play for the championship most years, but the incentive payout for the university clubs is there as well - sort of like how NCAA teams get big payouts to travel and get demolished by playing in the big football programs' stadiums. YAY CAPITALISM.

i kinda like it, but division races might not be as close? Ehh, it is what it is. No realignment is ever going to put all the crappy teams together and all the good teams together - unless we're talking about promotion and relegation...