CXLVIII - NHL BOG approves sale and relocation of Coyotes to Ryan Smith, league announces establishment of franchise in Utah

[Yukon Joe]

Watching Atlanta piss away a third NHL Franchise is a game some BIllionaire wants to play? fine.... I guess....Watching AZ flail around after 30 years of proof there is no market in the valley? absurd and pathetic....throwing teams hither and yon for the lucrative payments from new owners? ok but it's not going to help the game long term. because blatant cash grabs look tacky and diminish brands....

The League is doing the sport, itself, and the fans a huge disservice if it chases all that cash and but still won't put teams in markets where they actually exist.... QC.

So I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but what the hell...

So let me "state my priors". I am firmly in the camp that the NHL would be a better place with a team in Quebec City. It's a small but dedicated market, it would be a team that would be bottom third of the league in revenue but not one the NHL would ever have to worry about either.

Both Atlanta and Phoenix - look if the NHL can thrive in Nashville, or Tampa - no reason it couldn't in Atlanta or Phoenix under the right circumstances. Circumstances weren't right in the past due to ownership/arena issues, but if those could be fixed - sure why not?

Ultimately though remember this is a billionaire's league, and we fans just get to watch if we're lucky. Atlanta is being talked about because there's an ownership group in place. Phoenix theoretically has an ownership group in place, but one with many doubts. Quebec City - I think the only reason it's not being talked about much is because the only ownership group doesn't have the money.

The league doesn't pick markets out of the blue because it thinks they'll be good markets. I doubt the NHL by itself would have picked SLC. I mean I'm sure SLC would be a fine market, but hardly the one top of the NHL's list. No, the reason SLC got a team is because they had an owner willing to paythe price and meet the NHL's conditions.

 

[KevFu]

Ok. Now apply that same logic to those who say that there is no money to be made from fans in Quebec City because they already all support the Habs.

Go.....

Yeah, that wasn't really directed at you per sey but rather anyone who uses that argument.

But the difference between Columbus and Ottawa vs Quebec City in this discussion is that when OTT and CBJ arrived as expansion teams, NO ONE in the market was someone who grew up watching the Blue Jackets or watching the original Senators on TV.

Whereas people aged 37+ DID grow up as Nordiques fans. Quebec would be far better off.

 

[TheLegend]

So I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but what the hell...

So let me "state my priors". I am firmly in the camp that the NHL would be a better place with a team in Quebec City. It's a small but dedicated market, it would be a team that would be bottom third of the league in revenue but not one the NHL would ever have to worry about either.

Both Atlanta and Phoenix - look if the NHL can thrive in Nashville, or Tampa - no reason it couldn't in Atlanta or Phoenix under the right circumstances. Circumstances weren't right in the past due to ownership/arena issues, but if those could be fixed - sure why not?

Ultimately though remember this is a billionaire's league, and we fans just get to watch if we're lucky. Atlanta is being talked about because there's an ownership group in place. Phoenix theoretically has an ownership group in place, but one with many doubts. Quebec City - I think the only reason it's not being talked about much is because the only ownership group doesn't have the money.

The league doesn't pick markets out of the blue because it thinks they'll be good markets. I doubt the NHL by itself would have picked SLC. I mean I'm sure SLC would be a fine market, but hardly the one top of the NHL's list. No, the reason SLC got a team is because they had an owner willing to paythe price and meet the NHL's conditions.

All Quebec City needs is another Ryan Smith.

Everything else is in place. Facility-wise they’re way ahead of SLC.

Right now SLC (2024) is like Phoenix (1995). No practice facility. Arena not totally suited to hockey. Team dropped there because of arena/politics issue in previous home….. And so on.

The only difference is an owner with some cash and lots of connections in the local political realm.