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Cannuck

Cannuck

Time Out
Feb 2, 2006
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Seriously, it really is time to give up on the sunbelt

2010 Nhl Attendance Report Nhl's Return To Winnipeg On Near Horizon

I believe all this talk of a new buyer for the Yotes is just that....talk. I believe Matthew Hulsizer is a strong ownership possibility and I'm sure he knows how to play the game. If the league announced tomorrow that the Yotes were going back to The Peg, you wouldn't sell 1000 tickets in Phoenix for the rest of the year. I don't believe Matthew has any intention of buying the Yotes and keeping them in Phoenix. His job is to string along the fans as long as possible so the league can still sell some tickets in that market. One Phoenix is relocated (and because he was such a good team player) Hulsizer will be next in line for one of the floundering teams. Atlanta is probably next.

Call me jaded but why would any successful businessman sink any more money into the current situation in Arizona

YouTube - OTR Discussion on more NHL teams in Canada
 
talloola

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
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Vancouver Island
I can't figure that out either, they didn't make their money by being stupid, but they sure can lose
it that way.

There are more teams suffering in the u.s. than we ever get told about. I feel sure that winnipeg and
quebec will eventually have teams back in their cities, and I can never figure out why seattle doesn't
have an NHL team, pacific northwest, right on the coast in the middle of the travel route for all of the coastal teams, and calgary and edmonton.
Large population, and would bring fans from portland as well, (and vancouver),hockey knowledge is allready there.
 
Cannuck

Cannuck

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Feb 2, 2006
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I know a guy that winters in Phoenix and he says he walks up to the rink, buys $15 nosebleed seats and then once the game starts, walks down to the lower bowl. So, even at 6-8000 the ticket revenue has to be 20-40% of what you could do in many Canadian cities. I have Medicine Hat Tigers season tickets and I'm sure they generate more money at the gate than the Yotes....and The Hat has a 4000 seat arena
 
damngrumpy

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
9,949
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kelowna bc
All the fighting for the extra Ontario team already cost Winnipeg a year in the NHL.
The time would have come to move Phoenix then the debate over location started
and the league had to stay where they were. You can't politically deny one city and
then begin discussing a move to another. Optics would be terrible. The league is
looking to move it despite all the rhetoric they can't afford to leave it there.
 
shadowshiv

shadowshiv

Dark Overlord
May 29, 2007
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If the Coyotes couldn't get a decent attendance when they had an excellent record(and make it into the playoffs) last year, I certainly don't expect them to have any attendance worth mentioning this season due to their downturn in on-ice play.

One of the biggest hurdles for the team to get relocated is Gary Buttman. His Royal Buttness doesn't want his grand vision of hockey in all American venues to be seen as a failure(which it is). I have heard rumours that he wants teams in Las Vegas and Kansas. If it was up to him, we would see a team there before we would see one in Winnipeg(which is ironic since the Coyotes were originally FROM Winnepeg for crying out loud!).

Even though I root for the Leafs, I would love for there to be another Canadian NHL team. Heck, I would love to see 3 new teams. Ones in Hamilton, Quebec, and Winnipeg.
 
talloola

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
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TenPenny said:
So, no arenas used for NHL hockey have been subsidized by tax dollars?
Click to expand...

not sure about arenas, I don't think so, but would have to hear from more knowledgeable people on that,
maybe it depends if they are multiple use buildings or if they are 'just' for NHL hockey, which is
odd these days, buildings are usually for all sorts of things, not just hockey.
 
W

wulfie68

Council Member
Mar 29, 2009
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Sorry to rain on the parade(s) guys but QC and Winnipeg are dreams when it comes to the NHL, not reality. There just isn't the population base (and more importantly the business base) in either of those two cities to sustain it. It was why they lost their teams in the first place. The recovery in the Canadian dollar hasn't changed the numbers that much. While the populations of both QC and Winnipeg have grown modestly, the costs of operating an NHL franchise have soared...even with the salary cap that saved teams like Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa. This isn't meant as a slight on those two cities, just an honest admission that they are much smaller than any of the current crop of NHL cities, in Canada or the US.

That being said I do think the NHL should allow the next owner of the Coyotes to admit Phoenix is a dud as far as the NHL is concerned and allow them to move to some place that can and will support a healthy NHL franchise. Southern Ontario could be home to a team but I'm not sure too many other unserviced Canadian markets could. Unfortunately, the last time this was bandied about, Jim Balsillie wanted to try and circumvent the will of the other NHL owners to make it happen and pissed them off to a point where they don't want him in the picture at all. With a different owner, who shows some deference and respect to the league and other owners, this could happen.
 
Cannuck

Cannuck

Time Out
Feb 2, 2006
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wulfie68 said:
Sorry to rain on the parade(s) guys but QC and Winnipeg are dreams when it comes to the NHL, not reality. There just isn't the population base (and more importantly the business base) in either of those two cities to sustain it.......
Click to expand...

Sorry but I'll take the word of David Thomson over you. If the richest man in Canada (top 25 in the world) says he can make money on the venture then I'm guessing he probably can...naysayers like yourself notwithstanding.
 
#juan

#juan

Hall of Fame Member
Aug 30, 2005
18,326
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Funny.
When Vancouver was trying to get an NHL team, the biggest drawbacks were Toronto and Montreal. They didn't want to share the TV revenue. I don't imagine that they want another team in Ontario, Quebec. or Winnipeg. Bettman would rather there were no more teams in Canada.
 
talloola

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
19,576
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Vancouver Island
wulfie68 said:
Sorry to rain on the parade(s) guys but QC and Winnipeg are dreams when it comes to the NHL, not reality. There just isn't the population base (and more importantly the business base) in either of those two cities to sustain it. It was why they lost their teams in the first place. The recovery in the Canadian dollar hasn't changed the numbers that much. While the populations of both QC and Winnipeg have grown modestly, the costs of operating an NHL franchise have soared...even with the salary cap that saved teams like Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa. This isn't meant as a slight on those two cities, just an honest admission that they are much smaller than any of the current crop of NHL cities, in Canada or the US.

That being said I do think the NHL should allow the next owner of the Coyotes to admit Phoenix is a dud as far as the NHL is concerned and allow them to move to some place that can and will support a healthy NHL franchise. Southern Ontario could be home to a team but I'm not sure too many other unserviced Canadian markets could. Unfortunately, the last time this was bandied about, Jim Balsillie wanted to try and circumvent the will of the other NHL owners to make it happen and pissed them off to a point where they don't want him in the picture at all. With a different owner, who shows some deference and respect to the league and other owners, this could happen.
Click to expand...

winnipeg allready has the building, just needs some small upgrades, and I would think, as we speak, many
meetings have taken place to prove, or not, that that city will support a team coming back, and I'm sure
we will know by the end of this season.

Don't know anything about quebec city.
 
Kreskin

Kreskin

Doctor of Thinkology
Feb 23, 2006
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They should also put a team in Saskatoon. Give them green uniforms (heck, call them the Whalers for a good laugh). The rink would be a gong show every game.
 
talloola

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
19,576
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Vancouver Island
I would think bettman would not want to leak anything till phoenix is 'done' for the season. Then
make big announcement about the move to Winnipeg, (at least I'm hoping thats it.)

It's been a circus in phoenix/glendale and a real embarrassment to the NHL, and bettman, who may
lose his job in the near future, if he doesn't settle this mess.
 
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