Nashville Predators Being Sold?

[IceCap]

You all really expect Leaf fans to go to Hamilton games because they can't get Leafs tickets? Seriously?

Toronto hockey fans barely go to AHL or OHL games, why would they support a rival of the Leafs?

Because the AHL and the OHL are the AHL and OHL. Stick a second NHL team in southern Ontario will draw just as well as the Leaf.

Now what about an other Canadian NHL team do you find offencive?

[-kj]

So, you're saying that Leafs fans would switch their support to the Sens if the two teams were close enough together, based on ticket availability?

I don't find it offensive at all. I do, however, find the idea of jamming it in a place like Hamilton to be a losing proposition.

[CC97]

You all really expect Leaf fans to go to Hamilton games because they can't get Leafs tickets? Seriously?

Toronto hockey fans barely go to AHL or OHL games, why would they support a rival of the Leafs?

The same argument was made of Ottawa fans about 15 years ago about the Canadiens (and Leafs to a lesser extent) -- fans will convert.

Also there are a LARGE amount of NHL fans in Toronto and the Toronto area who love to hate the Leafs, a team to cheer for and support in Hamilton would be perfect for them... there are a good chunk of Senators fans in the area simply because they are the Leafs primary rival.

We're talking about putting a NHL team 40 miles away from a team which has sold out every game for 60 years, in a market of approx. 5 million, the most populous region in the biggest hockey nation in the world.

If NYC can handle three teams, and LA can handle two, why can't Toronto? I do believe this team would do much better playing out of downtown Toronto -- but there's just no chance of that happening.

[IceCap]

So, you're saying that Leafs fans would switch their support to the Sens if the two teams were close enough together, based on ticket availability?

I don't find it offensive at all. I do, however, find the idea of jamming it in a place like Hamilton to be a losing proposition.

Not switch their support, just go to watch NHL-level hockey. Plenty of Leafs fans go on the road to see games in Buffalo and Detroit because they can't get tickets to Leafs games. Do they become Wings and Sabres fans? Maybe they support them as secondary teams, but they're still Leafs fans.

Now stick a team in Hamilton and you give these fans, as well as southern Ontario fans who aren't Leafs fans, a team that's closer then Detroit and Buffalo, with the bonus of being on the right side of the border. Fans will go, and probably root for the Hamilton team any time they don't play the Leafs.

Over time as new generation of fan, who have grown up watching the Hamilton team most of the time, a distinctively Tigers (or whatever they call themselves) fan base will emerge.

I just don't see how giving a market that lives for hockey a pro team is a losing proposition. Especially when the team is currently coming off their best season in franchise history, yet only managed to come up 23 out of 30 in terms of attendance. Nashville was a gamble, one that didn't work out. KC would be an other gamble. Sure the chances of success are much better in KC then in Nashville, but it's still a gamble compared to the safe bet of Hamilton.

[NJTank]

My prediction if a team is moving to Hamilton there is a deal fro a new arena somewhere down the line.

[leedsunited]

You all really expect Leaf fans to go to Hamilton games because they can't get Leafs tickets? Seriously?

Toronto hockey fans barely go to AHL or OHL games, why would they support a rival of the Leafs?

People in Toronto aren't gonna go to AHL or OHL games because they're AHL or OHL games.

The NHL is an altogether different story.

[CC97]

You all really expect Leaf fans to go to Hamilton games because they can't get Leafs tickets? Seriously?

Toronto hockey fans barely go to AHL or OHL games, why would they support a rival of the Leafs?

People in Toronto aren't gonna go to AHL or OHL games because they're AHL or OHL games.

The NHL is an altogether different story.

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, Torontonians tend to ignore minor league sports -- Kev, as a soccer fan I'm surprised you made this point as I'm sure you know the lack of support the Toronto Lynx got compared to the incredible amount of support Toronto FC has gotten.

[Lee.]

Am argument could also be made that Toronto doesn't really house as many hockey fans as it does Leafs fans.

Just sayin', is all.

[HedleyLamarr]

You all really expect Leaf fans to go to Hamilton games because they can't get Leafs tickets? Seriously?

Toronto hockey fans barely go to AHL or OHL games, why would they support a rival of the Leafs?

If Hamilton stays in the Western Conference, you sure will get a lot of folks going to Hamilton to watch the Western teams that Toronto and Ottawa and Montreal don't get to see as often. Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton would be making two visits to Hamilton each year. The Toronto media market certainly wouldn't disapprove of getting to see two teams within an hour's drive of each other, one having a East-heavy schedule and the other having a West-heavy schedule.

It's a shame, though. The NHL had the opportunity to give two new markets (Nashville, Atlanta) with no history or rivalry with any of the other teams in locality a chance to develop a natural rivalry with each other, and now Nashville's likely going to be without NHL hockey soon. A lot of the Thrasher fans wanted some sort of in-season rivalry with Nashville (and maybe a lot of Predator fans feel the same way), and were just never given the opportunity. Other than Detroit (and that took a long time to develop), Nashville didn't really have much of a rivalry with any team. Nashville could have benefitted more playing in a division with Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, and Tampa Bay, simply because of the setup of other leagues/conferences involving Nashville/Tennessee teams. Nashville seems out of place in a division with a team from Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois.

Atlanta is the most likely team that would shift to the Western Conference, just because of their youth. The NHL would do anything to keep Crosby in the East, for TV purposes (Of course, Pittsburgh does have a natural rival with Philadelphia and long histories with other teams in their division.). Sure, the Thrashers would have to endure a really heavy travel schedule (which might contribute to Nashville's poor showings in the playoffs, because of the wear and tear of traveling) and adapt to a different style of play, but the team would benefit from getting the likes of Detroit and Chicago in town four times each, getting to see different teams more often, and on a personal level, my girlfriend's Canucks would visit here twice a year.

[ColeJ]

i think the preds were starting to get a rivalry with dallas.

if the preds relocate, i think that means we won the rivalry

[STL FANATIC]

The Preds and Blues definitely had a rivalry. It was more of a "hey, this is a semi-easy/fun road trip for us to make" type of rivalry on both sides for the first few years, but the last couple years, even with the Blues being awful, it's developed into a rivalry with a little heat. I've been looking forward to next year where the Blues and Preds will be competitive at the same time for the only time since they season before the lockout (and I didn't realize the Preds were competitive then until I realized this was their third playoff season).

[DDR]

And on that note, we cue the slew of Hamilton Tigers concepts.

[cleckie]

There is no way that the team is staying in Nashville. That pretty much looks like a forgone conclusion. But Hamilton? NO WAY. I understand all the valid points made about the solid fan base already intact in the southern Ontario region but in my opinion it makes far more sense to have a team in Winnipeg vs. Hamilton

With all the talk of teams needing said number of corporate boxes to compete, generating revenue, Copps Coliseum is far from the current standard for NHL arenas. Is the issue of a viable building not just what the NHL went through with the Penguins? It was do or die for them if they did not get a new state of the art building to generate more revenue. And now there are some saying that it's a good idea to move a team to Hamilton with an archaic building by NHL standards??

Perhaps I may be bias being from the west, but I think Winnipeg is in a far better position to support an NHL team, and there are the fans there to back that up. I also think that is better location for the overall health of the league.

[Sir Donald]

And on that note, we cue the slew of Hamilton Tigers concepts.

I look forward to them!

But what could they be called if the Tigers nickname is not available?

[DEAD!]

And on that note, we cue the slew of Hamilton Tigers concepts.

I look forward to them!

But what could they be called if the Tigers nickname is not available?

... the Cats? If not, just combing the two names

[EatSleepJeep]

Ontario Black Bears

The mascot will be named 'E'

[DDR]

I think the mascot is going to be Judge Reinhold holding an empty pot of coffee while the crowd chants "alright, Hamilton!"

[STL FANATIC]

There is no way that the team is staying in Nashville. That pretty much looks like a forgone conclusion.

Why?

If they average 14,000 fans (and they averaged about 13,700 last year and have been growing the last few years), they're locked into Nashville for 7 years.

This is far from over.

[CC97]

There is no way that the team is staying in Nashville. That pretty much looks like a forgone conclusion.

Why?

If they average 14,000 fans (and they averaged about 13,700 last year and have been growing the last few years), they're locked into Nashville for 7 years.

This is far from over.

14,000 tickets SOLD per game, they averaged 13,700 tickets DISTRIBUTED (I think )

[IceCap]

There is no way that the team is staying in Nashville. That pretty much looks like a forgone conclusion.

Why?

If they average 14,000 fans (and they averaged about 13,700 last year and have been growing the last few years), they're locked into Nashville for 7 years.

This is far from over.

Or Basille could just pay the city of Nashville however much it would cost to break the lease. I don't know what that amount would be, but I'm sure he makes more then enough just by waking up.