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2019-2020 NHL Thread


Gary

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1 hour ago, IceCap said:

Back on topic- The NHL totally considers Atlanta with a "renovated for just basketball" arena more viable than Quebec City. Which is part of the problem. 

I mean, economically, it still technically is. Atlanta would probably still net more revenue than Québec City would, just due to the scale of population between them; Québec, as of the last census, had 800,296 people living in the metropolitan area while Atlanta, as of the last annual estimates, has 6,775,511 people living in the metropolitan area. Combine that with the current conversion rate of 1 CAD = .74 USD and I can get why they'd be hesitant to expand into such a small market.

 

It doesn't mean it won't work in QC as well as it would in Atlanta (it would almost certainly work just as well), but the NHL likely sees market size and CAD conversion as two major hurdles to Québec City getting an expansion team, just like with Winnipeg. Atlanta wouldn't necessarily have those issues since it's a large U.S market.

 

That's why I'm thinking QC is a backup plan for the Panthers, if they don't get their :censored: together before the losses opt-out clause kicks in two years from now; the NHL knows it's not ideal, but especially with what's happened this year, they'd totally take an entirely new ownership group paying into the league to cushion themselves in the economic crash that's likely going to be happening in the US. And I have to imagine sports team valuations plummet after everything that's happened with corona, as well. And the Panthers are the perfect choice; no divisional changes needed.

 

As for State Farm...looking at pictures, I don't necessarily think it's a Barclay's situation. This still looks like it could fit an NHL-size rink in it without terrible views if you remove all of the courtside seating;

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Not perfect, but not as egregiously awful as Barclay's. The main concern is about the facilities of the arena, I'd think; are the locker rooms acceptable for hockey?

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5 hours ago, Ridleylash said:

I mean, economically, it still technically is. Atlanta would probably still net more revenue than Québec City would, just due to the scale of population between them; Québec, as of the last census, had 800,296 people living in the metropolitan area while Atlanta, as of the last annual estimates, has 6,775,511 people living in the metropolitan area. Combine that with the current conversion rate of 1 CAD = .74 USD and I can get why they'd be hesitant to expand into such a small market.

And yet Winnipeg makes more money then Atlanta. So 🤷‍♂️

The myth that larger sunbelt markets are more viable for the NHL than smaller but more dedicated markets up north has been exposed. 

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4 hours ago, IceCap said:

And yet Winnipeg makes more money then Atlanta. So 🤷‍♂️

The myth that larger sunbelt markets are more viable for the NHL than smaller but more dedicated markets up north has been exposed. 

And given that Québec is nearly in the same boat as Winnipeg, having lost their team, it would be safe to say that the team would be “welcomed back” with a ton of fan support and then financial support. Tickets would go through the roof, as well as merchandise probably wouldn’t be to stay in stock...

"And those who know Your Name put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." Psalms 9:10

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On 6/6/2020 at 6:53 AM, Ridleylash said:

I mean, economically, it still technically is. Atlanta would probably still net more revenue than Québec City would, just due to the scale of population between them; Québec, as of the last census, had 800,296 people living in the metropolitan area while Atlanta, as of the last annual estimates, has 6,775,511 people living in the metropolitan area. Combine that with the current conversion rate of 1 CAD = .74 USD and I can get why they'd be hesitant to expand into such a small market.

 

It doesn't mean it won't work in QC as well as it would in Atlanta (it would almost certainly work just as well), but the NHL likely sees market size and CAD conversion as two major hurdles to Québec City getting an expansion team, just like with Winnipeg. Atlanta wouldn't necessarily have those issues since it's a large U.S market.

 

That's why I'm thinking QC is a backup plan for the Panthers, if they don't get their :censored: together before the losses opt-out clause kicks in two years from now; the NHL knows it's not ideal, but especially with what's happened this year, they'd totally take an entirely new ownership group paying into the league to cushion themselves in the economic crash that's likely going to be happening in the US. And I have to imagine sports team valuations plummet after everything that's happened with corona, as well. And the Panthers are the perfect choice; no divisional changes needed.

 

As for State Farm...looking at pictures, I don't necessarily think it's a Barclay's situation. This still looks like it could fit an NHL-size rink in it without terrible views if you remove all of the courtside seating;

spacer.png

 

Not perfect, but not as egregiously awful as Barclay's. The main concern is about the facilities of the arena, I'd think; are the locker rooms acceptable for hockey?

Didn't the Thrashers play there before moving to Winnipeg? 

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1. Weird, wild stuff going on here. "They remodeled Philips to be basketball-only." "No they didn't." "Yes they did, they said so and here's a picture." "They could still do it."

 

 

2. I think they scaled back the Wall O' Suites a little bit and put in more loge seating, but it's still a very uneven seating bowl.

 

3. This handy population tool says there are 1,650,851 people in a 100-mile radius of the Colisee. Quebec City is ahead of Winnipeg on both 50-mile and 100-mile radii (just 963,144), which is no surprises, because it's not Western Canada where cities are surrounded by oceans of wheat. So that's good for live attendance. Plus any regional TV coverage they have would necessarily run from Belleville to St. John's because that's what the Canadiens have and it's very difficult to imagine any situation but reciprocity there. TVA, whose parent company would own the team, has a sports channel sitting there ready to be used since the Habs are on RDS. So that's about 10 million people they have access to, well ahead of Winnipeg's Saskatchewan-to-Thunder-Bay territory that still barely gets them to 2MM if it does at all. 

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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On 6/6/2020 at 7:53 AM, Ridleylash said:

I mean, economically, it still technically is. Atlanta would probably still net more revenue than Québec City would, just due to the scale of population between them; Québec, as of the last census, had 800,296 people living in the metropolitan area while Atlanta, as of the last annual estimates, has 6,775,511 people living in the metropolitan area. Combine that with the current conversion rate of 1 CAD = .74 USD and I can get why they'd be hesitant to expand into such a small market.

Yup and don't forget within a 150 mile radius Atlanta claims the cities Augusta, Columbus, Macon GA, Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery AL, Greenville SC, Chattanooga TN, and parts of the Knoxville TN market

 

Quebec City has... Montreal (Habs territory), and the extremely rural parts of Northern New England (Bruins territory) and a tiny part of western New Brunswick.

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39 minutes ago, TrueYankee26 said:

Yup and don't forget within a 150 mile radius Atlanta claims the cities Augusta, Columbus, Macon GA, Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery AL, Greenville SC, Chattanooga TN, and parts of the Knoxville TN market

 

Cool, once the NHL starts playing SEC football, they'll be set

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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On 2/6/2020 at 9:20 AM, Sport said:

 

comparing eras is tough, but it's unquestionably harder to score a goal now than it was in 1985, which makes Ovechkin's chase of the goal record more impressive in my opinion. The athletes are better and the goaltenders are way better which I think cancels out the better equipment argument. Gretzky had a solid 8 years when the goalies looked like this

 

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Look at that goof. It's no wonder it was the highest scoring era in hockey history. 

 

 

He probably doesn't have many more 50 goal seasons in him, but there's no reason he couldn't play until he's 43 or 44 as long as he stays healthy. If he breaks the record I'm guessing it'll be in his early 40's as he puts together 3 or 4 years of 25-30ish goals. 

 

Another lockout would be the biggest risk to this chase. He lost 30 something games in 2012-2013 too. 

To the Bolded part, AGREED 100%.  I grew up with the 80s brand of Hockey and while it was fun having 10-15 guys OVER 100 points every year and Gretzky, Bossy and Lemieux chasing 50 goals in 50 games every year, looking back, it's almost embarrassing how easy it was to score. 6'4 (an oddity in that period to be Tall and Skilled as he was)  Lemieux (wingspan of a 747 plane to boot) shooting on a 5'5 Darren Pang, just wasn't Fair and looks silly compared to how it is today. 

I LOVE debating Eras but mainly because it's just good fun

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Gotta disagree with Ovechkin comfortably playing to 44. I'm sure he trains like hell and is juiced to the gills, but I think Ovechkin racks up harder miles than people want to admit -- certainly harder than Gretzky did, who was a beanpole for most of his career and, unlike Ovechkin, avoided physicality accordingly. There's a good possibility that his hands are the last to go, but if that ends up being a severe case, he'll probably split for Russia to screw around there.

 

If anyone from the mid-2000s draft classes is gonna rack up points well into his mid-forties, it's Patrick Kane, who won't be breaking any records in doing so, but is so preternaturally gifted at slipping contact and has become so protected from himself that I can't picture him doing anything else with his life. 

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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6 minutes ago, the admiral said:

I don't think he's allowed near Buffalo townies anymore. Maybe no one should be.


I love the picture of the dad with his Raiders hat and knife.

 

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It was such a nasty affair. It seems to have had no effect on Kane’s legacy, as far as I can deduce.

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In all this hot Thrashers talk, the 25th anniversary of COMSAT (not Comcast) buying the Nordiques and moving them to Denver came and went a couple weeks ago. Hm. They went for $75 million in '95, which is still only eight digits but a hell of a lot closer to the the Thrashers' $110MM in 2011 than I would have expected. 

 

To compound the issues with the Habs never trading Roy inside the province, I learned that even the Avs were only able to match Joe Sakic's offer sheet from New York because COMSAT successfully financed, of all things, Air Force One

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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30 minutes ago, Ridleylash said:

 

Former until they actually start winning again. Also, its called "Entry of the Gladiators". A very serious name for a very funny piece.

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On 6/7/2020 at 2:49 PM, TrueYankee26 said:

Yup and don't forget within a 150 mile radius Atlanta claims the cities Augusta, Columbus, Macon GA, Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery AL, Greenville SC, Chattanooga TN, and parts of the Knoxville TN market

 

Quebec City has... Montreal (Habs territory), and the extremely rural parts of Northern New England (Bruins territory) and a tiny part of western New Brunswick.

 

On 6/6/2020 at 1:18 PM, IceCap said:

And yet Winnipeg makes more money then Atlanta. So 🤷‍♂️

The myth that larger sunbelt markets are more viable for the NHL than smaller but more dedicated markets up north has been exposed. 

 

Try again. 

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I think the bigger thing for Winnipeg is that it's run competently. You don't constantly hear stories of Thomson, Chipman et al. being at each other's throats, so there's clearly a lot more stability in management than the Thrashers ever had.

 

The Lightning and Predators have some of the loudest buildings in the league and have successfully made their markets into viable hockey cities because they finally found themselves under competent management with a solid plan to build a competitive franchise. Atlanta, given better circumstances, may have been the same; we'll probably never know.

Most markets of Atlanta's size should be at the very least viable for a Big Four league to have a team in; but when you get a lame duck franchise with an ownership group that's so utterly and completely disdainful of the team that they purposefully poisoned the well just to get it out of town, you'd have a hard go of any market where hockey isn't deeply-ingrained.

 

You're also not going to draw new fans in to the league in a non-traditional southern market with a lousy team that's constantly on the outside of the playoffs. In the same expansion era as the Thrashers;

  • The Lightning and Ducks took four seasons to get above .500. Both made the playoffs in that fourth season, and both later made deep runs and won the Cup during the time the Thrashers were around.
  • The Senators tie the Thrashers at six seasons to get above .500, but they made the playoffs five years into their existence, two years ahead of the Thrashers. They also made deep runs multiple times during the time the Thrashers were around, including a Finals run against Anaheim the sole year the Thrashers even made the postseason.
  • The Hurricanes took two seasons to get above .500 and made the playoffs that second year. They won a Stanley Cup in 2006 and made the finals in 2002.
  • The Panthers took three seasons to get above .500. They promptly ran all the way to the Finals before the monster of Colorado took them out back. They also remained at least competitive for a good chunk of the time both teams overlapped. 
  • The Coyotes went six straight seasons at or above .500, and made the playoffs five times in that span. That's four more times than the Thrashers at half the timespan.
  • The Predators tied the Thrashers and Senators at six seasons before a .500 record. They also made the playoffs six times during the Thrashers' existence.
  • The Wild took three seasons to get above .500 and promptly took a run to the Conference Finals their first year over .500.
  • The Blue Jackets are the only team from that round of expansion to have a longer wait to an over .500 record than the Thrashers at nine seasons. They still made the playoffs the same amount of times during the time both overlapped.

 

The Thrashers are a great tale of just how badly completely inept or malicious management can destroy a team.

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My bright idea would have been to punt on the Southeast and give Fox Sports South a package of NHL games from around the rest of the FSN family, emphasizing Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Detroit. Kind of a pseudo-national TV deal. Sorta plant a flag for people who want to seek out hockey but don't sink money into events in these New South hellholes.

♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫

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