tigerslionspistonshabs

I wonder if/ hope they'll bring back the original set just to maybe use the nostalgia factor to try to breathe some life into the team and bring back some fans.

Why would it be in Seattle randomly in the offseason? Not like it's got a stop over from Vancouver or Edmonton, unless they were golfing in BC somewhere.

http://www.tsn.ca/coyotes-survival-hinges-on-arena-deal-battle-1.283772 What a carnival that whole situation is. I also laugh at this last paragraph that talks about potential relocation sites: As for Quebec City or Southern Ontario: "Nope. Both of those cities make the balanced conference problem worse," said the NHL team owner, who declined to speak publicly for fear of being fined by the league. "I think it leaves us with Las Vegas as our best alternative. I could see them moving the Coyotes there when the new arena is done." So slightly unbalanced conferences (an issue, sure) is a bigger problem than putting a team in a market that WILL NOT WORK and have the franchise become an epic fail. I know it's an owner that said it but all know the head honchos feel that way as well. I don't understand the NHL.

I still can't believe that LAS VEGAS is being discussed as a viable option for a franchise. Rare view of the NHL boardroom:

It has been said that the CHL leagues (OHL, QMJHL and WHL) are second only to the NHL in quality of play...I trust Flint will embrace their Firebirds wholeheartedly. As for Plymouth, wonder what the news is on the USNTDP team in the USHL moving there from Ann Arbor? As far as I know, it's happening.

Gary Bettman put in a good word for these guys...

Panthers are in the hunt for the playoffs, have made some moves to show that they would at least to try to contend and actually have a decent team on the ice, but are only averaging 10,000 fans a game. The Coyotes have traded away every asset they have and have been all but eliminated from the playoffs since November, but can still get 13,000 fans to come out.

Yeah Jersey's always been weird. They have fans, but they don't really go to games. They almost relocated in '95 (the year they won a Cup) because of dismal support.

Wasn't the big story that they got 5,000 deposits in 36 hours? That means they got the other 2,000 in about 12 and a half days. Seems like there are about 5,000 passionate hockey fans in Las Vegas. That sounds like the right number for an ECHL team.A team in Vegas would be a monumental disaster. With no exaggeration needed, it would make the Coyotes look like the Blackhawks. There would be no more than 7,000 people there on any given game-day.

I know they're passionate, but the NHL team would be by far the fourth man in town, if not further down the totem pole, because I'm sure there's quite a few Chicago sports fans as well. But they do support the Admirals very well. I would do it. It's a better market than at least a quarter of the league now, and obviously better than Vegas and at the moment, Seattle.

Milwaukee is definitely interesting. A traditional hockey market, but not sure how much support they'd get in the long run.

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^ God. I just ate breakfast man...

We live in the times when teams that have newer, perfectly fine arenas get new ones because reasons, while teams that desperately need them don't get them until they threaten relocation, or actually relocate.

Stratford Biebers.

Not sure really. They've got a good product. Haven't missed the playoffs since 1990-91 when they were the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors. Have gone deep in the playoffs the majority of the time.

Funny that we were just talking about this. Karmanos is looking at relocating the Whalers to Chatham, ON. Not a bad move. I'm very surprised Chatham doesn't have an OHL team by now. Same with Brantford. https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/jrhockey-buzzing-the-net/-hopefully--chatham---peter-karmanos-stirs-up-plymouth-whalers-relocation-rumours-034200053.html

I was saying usually, and obviously, the minor team plays second fiddle and/or nobody cares as much or at all. But Calgarians love their NHL team and their WHL team.

I said in the past 25 years, since their 1989 Stanley Cup win. On the ice, they've been the model of mediocrity, at best. No playoffs in 5 seasons, and before that it was 4 straight first round exits and a SCF run. No playoffs for the 7 years before that. Yet the fans still come.

Still, it's a team that's really accomplished nothing other than a SCF appearance in 25 years, yet they're still top 10, sometimes top 5, year in and year out. Point being that the Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes or your new Las Vegas franchise could be perennial Cup contenders, and they'd still draw 9,000 a game. I realize it's all about DOLLA DOLLA BILLZ YA'LL, but personally, I think there's Canadian markets that are teeming with opportunity. Quebec City obviously is the first priority. Then, as much as I don't like the idea, a second team in the GTA. And then, even Montreal. I realize 99% of the population are Habs fans, but if you put a team in the suburbs, for example Laval, maybe the re-incarnated Montreal Maroons, they'd still sell out every game. You can't go see a game at the Bell Centre or ACC. Sold out. Every game. Boston Bruins or Arizona Coyotes. I know there's politics involved and the Habs would never allow it, but just for argument's sake. Hell, I'd put a team in Halifax or Saskatoon before Vegas. 16,000 people every night in a city of 400,000 is better than 8,000 a night in a city of 2 million.

But small Canadian markets are useless, you know, other than selling out every NHL game and every minor game as well.

Are they actually considering Las Vegas??? I thought it was just some cute idea. But LAS VEGAS???? Phoenix and Miami have been massive failures. Even Dallas, the 4th largest metro area in the country has had it's troubles after winning a Stanley Cup. They think Vegas is actually going to have some slim hope of success? Do owners get to vote on this?

Lol wut?

Coyotes. That train was never fully on the track.

I've said before that the Springfield-Hartford-New Haven corridor gives you a population roughly equivalent to that of Raleigh-Durham. Yes, you'll share that with Boston and New York, but Raleigh is sharing their population with Buffalo transplants, Pittsburgh transplants, and Doesn't Give A Jack About Hockey In The First Place. I think a new Whalers team could siphon off some of those fans, especially on the Rangers side. I'm also presuming that they'd get CSN New England (the Whalers' old SportsChannel New England) on board and share the entirety of New England-minus-Fairfield (which I know doesn't get CSNNE and NESN) with the Bruins: Whalers can show games in Boston, Bruins can show games in Hartford -- same reciprocity as the two Alberta teams, and I'd expect the same for the Canadiens and Nordiques if that ever comes together. Hockey has seen a lot of grassroots development in Connecticut since the Whalers left and the brand seems to become more beloved every year, especially with Winnipeg getting the Jets back. You make me out to be out alone on some lunatic fringe, but I know there are people in New England who are far more passionate and informed about this than I am. I'm just some guy throwing some possibilities out in the face of the miserable business failure the Whalers organization has become in the New South suburban hell they're in now. Agreed 100%. It's a more traditional hockey market. People genuinely care about the game. In Raleigh, it seemed they were just excited at first, then i died off, then got excited when they reached the '02 finals, then it died off again, then got excited when they won the cup in '06, and it's been dull ever since. That's not to say Hartford would support a crappy team year in and year out, but I think it would be far more successful in more ways than one than it is in Carolina. In a way, I applaud Bettman for going all out in attempting to get the NHL to catch on in the south, but not all markets will work and the bleeding has to stop at some point. It's worked in L.A., Anaheim, San Jose, Dallas and Tampa Bay; but has failed in Phoenix, Miami and Atlanta; and looks to be on the fringe in Carolina. If you don't get sellout after sellout after getting to a final and winning a cup within 10 years, it's a fail IMO.