IceCap Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 As someone who very casually follows hockey, if the NHL is so gung ho on Quebec, why did they let the Nordiques leave?They needed a new arena. The government of Quebec was so broke it couldn't afford to build new hospitals, so public funding for a new arena was, at the time, not happening. Quote PotD 26/2/12 1/7/15 2020 BASS Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Regular Season Champion 2021 BASS NFL Pick'em Regular Season Champion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy! Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Did the Nordiques have a strong following before they moved? Quote "I secretly hope people like that hydroplane into a wall." - Dennis "Big Sexy" Ittner POTD - 7/3/14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 As someone who very casually follows hockey, if the NHL is so gung ho on Quebec, why did they let the Nordiques leave?But that's just it: the NHL isn't gung-ho on Quebec City at all. They never wanted them there in the first place and only let them in because Canadians were threatening to boycott Molson (the owner of the Montreal Canadiens) if they didn't. When circumstances got tough for small Canadian cities, the NHL took a stance of benign neglect and let them move without a fight like the ones we've seen in Nashville and Phoenix. When Quebecor tried to buy the Coyotes, the NHL basically didn't pick up the phone. Even with a brand-new arena that looks perfect for hockey, Quebec City will probably never be back in the league. Did the Nordiques have a strong following before they moved?Yes, very, especially among separatists who felt the Canadiens were too inclusive. Attendance was always strong, even when they were so bad for a few years that they made the modern run of terrible Oilers seasons look like a dynasty. Is the Canadian dollar better yet? I thought it was until I saw someone on reddit say it's below .90 of the US Dollar. Is that bad?No, it's getting worse and worse. Peg your dollar, guys; this is stupid. Quote ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerslionspistonshabs Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 And for one last giant kick in the kahonies, after being so terrible for 16 years, they moved to Denver and won the Cup instantly. And continued to be one of the league's best teams for 10 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmic Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 .90 on the dollar IS good for the loonie versus the USD. Back when Winnipeg and Quebec left, it was more like .60 on the dollar. Multiply the conversion rate by the "Canadians care about hockey more" rate, and a team will be incredibly successful there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coast2CoastAM2006 Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 .90 on the dollar IS good for the loonie versus the USD. Back when Winnipeg and Quebec left, it was more like .60 on the dollar. Multiply the conversion rate by the "Canadians care about hockey more" rate, and a team will be incredibly successful there.which makes too much sense and why Bettman will fight to keep the Coyotes in Clowndale or Las Vegas or Palermo, North Dakota. Quote Spoilers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee. Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Okay, here we go.The Canadian dollar is around $.80US right now, meaning Canadian teams spend 25% more than US ones do (at least in terms of Canadian $ Income vs US $ Expenditures). Not great, but teams should at the very least have been budgeting for these eventualities.The odd team out when the NHL absorbed the WHA was Winnipeg. Edmonton, Hartford, and Quebec all had NHL calibre arenas at that point, Winnipeg did not. Although it wasn't the smallest of the four markets at that time (actually 2nd largest of the 4 in 1979), it had the smallest building and the least funding, so the NHL would have been very happy at that point being a 20-team league. However, as was mentioned, a potential Molson boycott was being bandied about, and with Molson breweries in most major Canadian cities at that time, as well as Molson being the major beer sponsor of the league at that time, beer money spoke. As a result, Winnipeg was admitted, with a jerry rigged upper deck that had obstructed views and shook like crazy during the playoffs and made me spill my beer twice per period but t was only four bucks a cup back then so hey no big deal.There was also a line of thinking that Winnipeg didn't really have a strong potential rival other than Edmonton ready to go. Nobody particularly cared about the North Stars then, including the Greater Minneapolis Metropolitan Area, and the next nearest teams were Edmonton and Chicago, both roughly 800 miles away. Edmonton had a potential rival in similarly neglected until the first lockout Vancouver (also ~800 miles away, but hey, oil money in Alberta), Quebec with Montreal, and Hartford with Boston. Winnipeg was off in the hinterlands with a :censored:ty arena, pitiful airport, and a naked gold dude on top of their legislative building. Considering all the times they threatened to fold or move prior to 1979, and even in 1981 when then-owner Michael Gobuty was prepping the team to move to Hamilton to become the Steelheads (yes, it's true), the fact they lasted till 1996 was a goddamned miracle. Quote Welcome to DrunjFlix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 Wasn't the Colisee jury-rigged into reaching NHL capacity too? I thought that was the reason the seats stopped on the sides but went up really far in the ends (or stopped in the ends and went really far up the sides, one of the two). Northlands had to be expanded for the NHL, but it was always designed with that in mind, whereas the Winnipeg Arena and Colisee were just old and small. Almost everything is a goddamned miracle when it comes to this league, if you think about it. EDIT: speaking of the Oilers' arena, that the new one is called "Rogers Place" makes me laugh pretty hard. Hey, let's go to Roger's place! Quote ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HedleyLamarr Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Lee, didn't you once say that the expanded portion of the Winnipeg Arena was literally plywood floors and seats? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 No, that was the luxury suite. Quote ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee. Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 There were no luxury seats in the old arena. Just roped off sections of 12 yellow seats that were sold as "club seating." The added sections were weird,in that there were no vertical beams anywhere holding up the upper decks. As a result, everytime the crowd up there got going, it would bounce up and down an inch or two either way. We also had TV's everywhere so we could actually watch the game, since we could only really see 2/3 of the ice at any given time. The Pacific Colosseum in Vancouver is wood construction though. The lower bowl is concrete, I believe, and there are steel girders holding her in place, but the roof and whatnot are all wooden planks. It's acoustically great as a result, and even though it's old, it's still my favourite arena that I've ever attended. Quote Welcome to DrunjFlix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkychewbarky Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 According to Ken Campbell (Senior writer for "The Hockey News") there are 5 NHL Expansion bids so far...Las Vegas, Quebec, Toronto and 2 bids from Seattle. Quote *The Battle of Seattle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil G Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 I see.. Yotes move to Vegas (I'm actually slightly neutral to this idea, I'll need to see it fail to believe) Seattle and Quebec expansion Florida to Toronto in the near future. Quote Bruh check out my last.fm And my Rate Your Music Fantasy Teams: Seattle Spacemen (CFA) Signature credit to Silent Wind of Doom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerslionspistonshabs Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Seattle needs an arena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil G Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 True, but that won't stop Mr. Bettman! The expansion groups probably have arena plans anyways if they're applying. Quote Bruh check out my last.fm And my Rate Your Music Fantasy Teams: Seattle Spacemen (CFA) Signature credit to Silent Wind of Doom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy! Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 Yeah. They'll plop them in Key for a few seasons if Seattle gets anything. Quote "I secretly hope people like that hydroplane into a wall." - Dennis "Big Sexy" Ittner POTD - 7/3/14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charger77 Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 This is all news to me... this is a direct copy and paste from the Dallas Stars website.North Stars leave MinnesotaDuring the decision process, the North Stars were left with nontraditional hockey markets to choose from. The first place they looked was Phoenix, but Green was unable to reach a deal to bring the team to the desert. Before long, the North Stars had found a suitable suitor that would provide a new fan base and a good opportunity to flourish.No, Dallas was not that location. The North Stars had a deal in place to go to… Anaheim? Anaheim had just built a new arena that was hockey ready. The deal was all but done for the Minnesota North Stars to become the Los Angeles Stars until a new obstacle entered into the discussion and derailed the talks. Michael Eisner and Disney began to express interest in putting a team in Anaheim. Once Disney called, the NHL listened.“(Former Commissioner) Gil Stein calls me because I’m on the expansion committee and he tells me I have to come down to Florida. ‘We’ve got issues with expansion, but they’re going to work out,’” said current Dallas Stars president and CEO Jim Lites. “There are about six guys on the committee. Gil Stein’s got Wayne Huizenga and Michael Eisner sitting in the room, and they’ve brought the league a proposal that they will both buy franchises in the NHL, but they are a joint effort. They have to come in as a pair, and Eisner, and bear in mind this was when Mighty Ducks came out, will only come in with a team called the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.”With this new predicament presented, Lites was given the unfortunate task of informing Green that his deal was going fall through. Quote PotD May 11th, 2011looooooogodud: June 7th 2010 - July 5th 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sodboy13 Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I looooove targeted marketing. 1 Quote On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said: For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA. PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sodboy13 Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Well, scratch all your "Milwaukee for NHL expansion/relocation" talk. The Bucks got their blood money. Quote On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said: For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA. PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2001mark Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 According to Ken Campbell (Senior writer for "The Hockey News") there are 5 NHL Expansion bids so far...Las Vegas, Quebec, Toronto and 2 bids from Seattle.Seems about right. I hope Markham bid fails, I don't want more gridlock on top of our current traffic gridlock. Las Vegas has to be a near lock, Quebec City would soothe a lot of hockey fans, & Seattle is a no-brainer, might as well pull the trigger now. As for realignment, I like the 3 conference splits ppl are playing with. LV & SEA would fit the current west no prob, & adding QUE wouldn't be the end of the world into the East... yet once Phoenix & possibly others start folding up tents, they'll have to do it all over again. R.I.P. Metropolitan Division please. Quote @2001mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.