Comments on: The Final Countdown?

By: Shane Hoopfer

Shane Hoopfer — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 07:25:10 +0000

Thanks Rob. Been up all night researching a follow up to this and the possibility of Quebec City not so quietly preparing for an emergency move of a team as well!

By: Robert McGlinchey

Robert McGlinchey — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 02:11:31 +0000

Love this article….

Awesome Job!!!

If the Jets revive and return to Winnipeg—-I for one would be a fan!!!!

By: Shane Hoopfer

Shane Hoopfer — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:50:31 +0000

Glendale appears to have started the process to file a lawsuit against the Goldwater Institute. Suit could be valued at up to $500M!

The writing could be on the wall.

By: World Spinner

World Spinner — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 04:43:00 +0000

The Final Countdown?…

Here at World Spinner we are debating the same thing……

By: Shane Hoopfer

Shane Hoopfer — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 17:40:55 +0000

Well the major thing for moving a team is can the economics work where it’s moving to in the new system. Fortunately for the cities of Quebec and Winnipeg it can now with a salary cap, revenue sharing, and new buildings. A Canadian dollar that’s on par with the US dollar also really helps.

It was the same thing when Minnesota and Hartford moved. They both desperately needed a new building.

TV would be a factor more so had this not been going on for 2 years in Phoenix. I’d also think with the NHL’s popularity surge in the past couple of years they are in a far better position than they were last time around.

While I do agree that the NHL does need to be on ESPN, I don’t think they should do anything that blocks out Versus as they have been a great partner for the NHL.

At the end of the day if a team is losing mega millions every year, and the attendance is poor, then the team has to move if it can.

Regrading new cities. I’ll take Seattle as an example. they have never seemed interested in having a team. Houston and Milwaukee are interesting options imo for expansion and talking to a few folks from KC they don’t think a team would do well there unless it’s winning. That’s the problem with some of these non hockey markets. Your team can’t be in the playoffs every year, and fans have to show up even in leaner years.

Columbus isn’t going anywhere from what I can tell. That is a city that is doing ok with its team despite it being bad for a long time. NY Islanders is a scary situation. They need to get the new building built desperately. I’m hoping they can get something worked out and soon, or they are going to have to make a tough decision soon.

Thanks Chris!

By: Christopher Rowe

Christopher Rowe — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 08:34:41 +0000

Nice work! Good stuff Shane. This seems a quagmire issue that fans think can be solved simply as though a nNHL team pulls up their tent pegs and loads their trucks like Ringling Bros. Ironically, these municipalities have made this into a circus! I would think, knowing what we know that the NHL wants attendance, franchise merchandising and stability to be the primary issues. This is Atlanta’s second chance at NHL franchise, same can be said for other areas (Minnesota comes to mind). Certainly they don’t want NHL teams to become barnstormers having them auctioned off every 10 years (Winnipeg loses to Phoenix until they front the money to get their team back Or Minnesota losrs their team to Dallas then is rewarded with an expansion team, etc. Wouldn’t the NHL’s TV deals (TSN, NHLN, VS, NBC) also be HUGE factors?
I’d like to see Canada get teams back to counterbalance 1990s expansion into the US Sun Belt (Florida, Texas, Arizona) only balanced with Ottowa. It would also be nice to see new cities get a shot (say Seattle or Portland or Halifax or SF or Milwaukee) rather than re-tread cities like Atlanta or Hartford or Cleveland). What about the Ny Islanders? One of the least successful franchises over the past 20 years? What about Columbus?

By: World Spinner

World Spinner — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:17:36 +0000

The Final Countdown? | Pro Sports Blogging…

Here at World Spinner we are debating the same thing……

By: Shane Hoopfer

Shane Hoopfer — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:32:28 +0000

Shockingly it has been covered The three reasons I think Atlanta may get pulled quickly are..

1) They are losing a reported $40M a year.

2) There appears to be no movement penalties regarding the lease agreement.

3) This is Atlanta’s second crack at the NHL.

Big Buf was signing that deal no matter where the team would be playing!

At the end of the day the best case scenario for the NHL is for Atlanta and Phoenix to stay where they are, and to expand to Winnipeg and Quebec. It’s just a tough sell to lose that much money every year.

Thanks for the comment!

By: cameron

cameron — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:25:32 +0000

Atlanta probably won’t be the team that gets moved. Two interested parties have contacted the current owners about buying the team. At least one of them has signed a non-disclosure agreement for due diligence and negotiations. At least one of the potential buyers has met with NHL officials. Both parties are said to be interested in buying the Thrashers and keeping them in Atlanta. I’m sure TSN and Sportsnet haven’t told you anything about that.

Don’t think Dustin Byfuglien would have signed 5 years there if he was significantly concerned that he’d have to spend all of them in a frozen hell.