Back In The Game?

[DEAD!]

Let us not forget that Edmonton was very close to moving south at at least one point in the late 90s. Borrowing from Wikipedia:

Trouble followed the team off the ice as well. For most of the 1990s, the Oilers were desperately trying to stay alive. In 1998, the team was nearly sold to Houston interests who sought to move the team, but before the sale was finalized, and with just hours left on the deadline, the Edmonton Investors Group, a consortium of 37 Edmonton-based owners, raised the funds to purchase the team from Pocklington, vowing to keep the Oilers in Edmonton. The Oilers received support in this endeavour from the NHL, which had already seen two Canadian teams (the Nordiques and Jets) move to the United States earlier in the decade.

Edmonton is a solid, solid hockey market. The Oilers have had financial troubles. Draw what conclusions you may from this.

Houston Oilers?

Now, that I think about, maybe the Coyotes should look into Houston as well.... it would make a great rivalry with Dallas.

[BBTV]

Let us not forget that Edmonton was very close to moving south at at least one point in the late 90s. Borrowing from Wikipedia:

Trouble followed the team off the ice as well. For most of the 1990s, the Oilers were desperately trying to stay alive. In 1998, the team was nearly sold to Houston interests who sought to move the team, but before the sale was finalized, and with just hours left on the deadline, the Edmonton Investors Group, a consortium of 37 Edmonton-based owners, raised the funds to purchase the team from Pocklington, vowing to keep the Oilers in Edmonton. The Oilers received support in this endeavour from the NHL, which had already seen two Canadian teams (the Nordiques and Jets) move to the United States earlier in the decade.

Edmonton is a solid, solid hockey market. The Oilers have had financial troubles. Draw what conclusions you may from this.

Houston Oilers?

Now, that I think about, maybe the Coyotes should look into Houston as well.... it would make a great rivalry with Dallas.

Houston would be fine, except that the Coyotes aren't looking to move. They're looking to sell, so there would have to be a buyer who would move them to Houston... which (as of today at least) there is not.

[DEAD!]

Now, that I think about, maybe the Coyotes should look into Houston as well.... it would make a great rivalry with Dallas.

Houston would be fine, except that the Coyotes aren't looking to move. They're looking to sell, so there would have to be a buyer who would move them to Houston... which (as of today at least) there is not.

Well, if moving to Hamilton is wishful thinking, I might as well do the same with Houston

[BBTV]

Now, that I think about, maybe the Coyotes should look into Houston as well.... it would make a great rivalry with Dallas.

Houston would be fine, except that the Coyotes aren't looking to move. They're looking to sell, so there would have to be a buyer who would move them to Houston... which (as of today at least) there is not.

Well, if moving to Hamilton is wishful thinking, I might as well do the same with Houston

I've been trying to figure this out for a while now - are you American or Canadian? I've inferred from your posts that you are Canadian, but this last post has me thinking otherwise...

[DEAD!]

Well there are Coyotes in southern Ontario. So if they wanted to keep the name, it would have some merit.

As for the name Jets? It's always possible, especially seeing as it is part of the team's history. I'm sure "Hamilton Jets" would irritate a lot of Winnipeg fans, however.

I really like the name rams80 came up with. The "Hamilton Arrows" after the Avro Arrow. It's location appropriate, it plays homage to the team's past life as the Jets, especially if using a similar colour scheme, it's a nice nod to something that's become a bit of Canadian legend, and I always felt the RCAF roundel would make a great alternate logo

The safe bet would be Hamilton Tigers, which while very clichéd, is something I wouldn't be opposed to.

No, the Hamilton Arrows IS NOT location appropriate. The team would have to be in Mississauga (Malton) to be location appropriate

[josh_cat_eyes]

I wonder if the team does go there is the arena will be renamed like Blackberry Centre or something? And what is going to happen to the Bulldogs if the Coyotes move?

[DEAD!]

Now, that I think about, maybe the Coyotes should look into Houston as well.... it would make a great rivalry with Dallas.

Houston would be fine, except that the Coyotes aren't looking to move. They're looking to sell, so there would have to be a buyer who would move them to Houston... which (as of today at least) there is not.

Well, if moving to Hamilton is wishful thinking, I might as well do the same with Houston

I've been trying to figure this out for a while now - are you American or Canadian? I've inferred from your posts that you are Canadian, but this last post has me thinking otherwise...

I'm Canadian, but I know that sports leagues are businesses and they should try to maximise their revenues as much as possible. I didn't have a problem with the Jets move to Phoenix because of the circumstances at the time and the idea of "expanding" the NHL brand is not a bad thing if done well. But, 13 years, later, for various reasons it hasn't worked out there as planned. To me, the most important outcome is that the team has stable ownership and can generate enough revenue. If that means getting someone to keep them in Phoenix, then fine with me. I also think moving the team to Hamilton or anywhere in the GTA is also a good solution, and would be my preference.

[BallWonk]

My own personal view is that Coyotes is a bad name for a hockey team for a start. But secondly its particularly bad for a cold climate hockey team.

Why? Canis latrans is just at home in the snowbound north of the continent as it is in the desert south. First time I ever encountered a coyote was by a frozen lake just north of Bemidji, Minnesota, in the woods after midnight one January many years ago. It's a common cold-climate animal.

Furthermore, the coyote evolved in North America, whereas the grey wolf is a Eurasian import, and even then the grey wolf (canis lupus) has desert and hot-climate subspecies just like the coyote.

I would think that a predator that commonly hunts in the snow and ice would be a particularly good name for a cold-climate hockey team.

[Brian in Boston]

The Leafs, while understandably worried, have little to nothing to lose from a team in Hamilton. Most of the fans they would draw would be either people who don't support the Leafs anyway or people who have a hard time getting Leafs tickets, and thus their loss wouldn't mean a thing to the Leafs' cash flow. The Sabres have more to lose then the Leafs do.

So long as Maple Leafs ownership/management is worried that they have anything to lose to a Hamilton-based NHL franchise, no matter how "little" it might be, the Leafs organization is going to fight such a development tooth-and-nail. They want the marketplace to themselves... period. Further, the "losses" the Leafs feel that they'll suffer needn't be concrete. So long as Maple Leafs management believes that it will be harmed by the existence of a rival franchise in Hamilton, the team will oppose such a move.

Combine that with the fact that Balsillie's brash manner rubs many of the "older-guard" NHL owners the wrong way and I'd say that despite the Coyotes' dire predicament, the chances of the team ending up in Southern Ontario under Balsillie's control are slim. They may not be in Phoenix much longer, but barring a sea-change in the mindset of the league's owners I wouldn't bet on them ending-up in Hamilton or Kitchener-Waterloo.

[Korbyn]

God I would love for the Jets to return.

This idea isn't too bad either:

But if they go to Hamilton, they should go with Tigers.

Such a beautiful jersey!

[Saintsfan]

My own personal view is that Coyotes is a bad name for a hockey team for a start. But secondly its particularly bad for a cold climate hockey team.

Why? Canis latrans is just at home in the snowbound north of the continent as it is in the desert south. First time I ever encountered a coyote was by a frozen lake just north of Bemidji, Minnesota, in the woods after midnight one January many years ago. It's a common cold-climate animal.

Furthermore, the coyote evolved in North America, whereas the grey wolf is a Eurasian import, and even then the grey wolf (canis lupus) has desert and hot-climate subspecies just like the coyote.

I would think that a predator that commonly hunts in the snow and ice would be a particularly good name for a cold-climate hockey team.

My bad. I have always associated Coyotes with warm weather.

[STL FANATIC]

Ok. Now you're just getting ridiculous. The Coyotes haven't had a chance? It was a valid argument when Nashville was thinking of picking up and heading north, they hadn't even existed for a decade.

With Phoenix they've had what, thirteen years? How many more years do you want this team to bleed money?

It's not about years in existence, it's about years with a desirable product. They had no more than four of those at the beginning of the tenure, and those were nothing special.

Beyond that, other than being a team, they've given fans no reason to come out.

The Coyotes have had a chance and not done anything with it. The Phoenix market, however, really has not. Like I said before, that same type of ownership for 10 years would draw every bit as few fans here in St. Louis, but that's not an indictment of the market.

I'll simplify it.

You won't convince me that Phoenix can't be a good NHL market until they've had about 5 years of playoff caliber teams including one or two deep playoff runs.

Until that happens, it's a no brainer that any new market won't draw fans.

Now if you just don't want to put the effort into new markets, that's a whole 'nother view point. But what the NHL has done in places like Phoenix, Atlanta, and Miami is make half the effort by awarding teams, but not the other half by striving to make those teams desirable products (though I'm not blaming the league entirely for that, most of that blame falls on each of the individual owners).

[ksupilot]

Now there is talk that the Thrashers might be interested in moving to Hamilton in 2010. If this happens, you would think Steelhawks has a good chance of being used, since Thrashers to Steel Hawks is still in the same "bird theme".

[Linus]

I wonder if the team does go there is the arena will be renamed like Blackberry Centre or something? And what is going to happen to the Bulldogs if the Coyotes move?

Balsillie said he would name the arena after Walter Gretzky. So maybe "Walter Gretzky Arena" or "The Walter Gretzky Blackberry Center" or something like that.

If the Coyotes move to Hamilton, I think the Bulldogs will be finished. Maybe move them to Brantford? I love the Bulldogs but Id much rather have an NHL team and Im sure 99% of the people in Hamilton would agree with me.

[TAFKAK]

Now there is talk that the Thrashers might be interested in moving to Hamilton in 2010. If this happens, you would think Steelhawks has a good chance of being used, since Thrashers to Steel Hawks is still in the same "bird theme".

Link?

[BJ Sands]

Now there is talk that the Thrashers might be interested in moving to Hamilton in 2010. If this happens, you would think Steelhawks has a good chance of being used, since Thrashers to Steel Hawks is still in the same "bird theme".

Link?

(Maybe three people here will get that.)

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=4154780

[BallWonk]

My bad. I have always associated Coyotes with warm weather.

No one's bad -- I was honestly curious, in case maybe there was some tradition or something that I wasn't aware of that augured against "Coyotes" in hockey or whatever.

Personally, I hope that the Coyotes either don't move, or if they do move, keep the name, because I love their logos. Helps that one of my two dogs looks exactly like the Coyotes' howling-dog-head logo. And if the Coyotes do move and change their name, my dream would be for the D-Backs to pick up the Coyotes name. It's a major land predator that's found in, what, 49 states, so it would just be wrong to have four major pro sports leagues and no team named the Coyotes.

[rams80]

And to play devil's advocate here, what happens if those circumstances arise again?

I thought you're a Blues' fan?

I am, but at the same time, it's a reasonable assumption to conclude that the economic circumstances prompting the 90s exodus to the South could arise again.

[STL FANATIC]

And to play devil's advocate here, what happens if those circumstances arise again?

I thought you're a Blues' fan?

I am, but at the same time, it's a reasonable assumption to conclude that the economic circumstances prompting the 90s exodus to the South could arise again.

*hint* He was joking about you referring to yourself as a Devils Advocate. *hint*

[The_Admiral]

But what the NHL has done in places like Phoenix, Atlanta, and Miami is make half the effort by awarding teams, but not the other half by striving to make those teams desirable products (though I'm not blaming the league entirely for that, most of that blame falls on each of the individual owners).

You can't blame the league at all. It's not the league office's job to make sure the Florida Panthers don't suck ass for ten years in a row.