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| Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) https://mail.chicagofanatics.com/viewtopic.php?f=93&t=94636 |
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| Author: | Don Tiny [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 4:42 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-to-announce-opening-of-expansion-process/ The time has come. The NHL is ready to expand beyond 30 teams. Barring something unforeseen, commissioner Gary Bettman will emerge from today’s board of governors meeting at the Bellagio Hotel and announce that the league is opening a formal expansion process, according to several sources. It will be the first time the league has grown since the Atlanta Thrashers joined in 1999.The NHL expanded aggressively during that era, going from 21 to 30 teams over a span of nine years. Most of that growth happened under former president John Ziegler. Bettman is expected to leave the process open-ended: The NHL is ready to entertain bids, but won't commit to a specific number of teams. It will likely end up being two, but no guarantees will be made. The significance of the announcement being made in Las Vegas shouldn't be lost on anyone. An arena is well on its way to completion here just off the strip behind the New York-New York casino and prospective owner Bill Foley has taken deposits for more than 11,500 season tickets. Foley's group has consulted with Winnipeg Jets owner Mark Chipman over the last several months on how to conduct a ticket drive and follow proper league protocol. Las Vegas is going to get a NHL team. There will be competition for the other spot, with Seattle and Quebec City among the favourites to land it. Launching a formal expansion process will encourage interested parties to come forward and put their cards on the table. It should also be a major windfall for the league, with several governors believing a fee of at least $500 million per team is in order. Bettman first hinted at the formal expansion process when he met reporters two weeks ago during the Stanley Cup final. "If after our discussion in June where I'm going to report where all of the expressions of interest stand, including what Las Vegas has been able to accomplish with the ticket drive, if the board has any interest in pursuing it, my recommendation would then be to open a formal expansion process," he said then. "The board may say, 'That's interesting, but we still don't want to do anything.' That's an option. And even if they green light a formal expansion process, it doesn't mean we're going to expand. It means we'll go through the steps of looking through things, and the conclusion at the end of that process could be very well, no expansion. "So it would just be a question of possibly looking at the expressions of interest and looking at them a little more seriously than we have." According to numerous sources, that is about to happen. The NHL is now ready to open its doors and expand beyond 30 teams but it will take baby steps in the beginning. No guarantees, no specific number of seats being offered at the table. However, Bettman is about to make it clear that if you want to own a new franchise the time to step forward and make your plans known is now. Let the games begin. |
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| Author: | Peoria Matt [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 4:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Haven't people been talking about NHL contraction? |
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| Author: | Darkside [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 4:59 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Peoria Matt wrote: Haven't people been talking about NHL contraction? Bettman will pretty much always do the wrong thing. |
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| Author: | Scorehead [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 5:23 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
NHL expansion in fhe USA is a terrible idea, except for Milwaukee who absolutly should have a team. Putting a couple of teams in Canada would be fine, Quebec for sure. Putting an NHL team in Las Vegas is a terrible idea. |
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| Author: | Curious Hair [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 5:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Quebec City is the only place fit to take on an NHL team, and they can get theirs by relocating the Coyotes, where Glendale does not want an NHL team anymore. Of course, the NHL will stay in Phoenix, add Las Vegas and Seattle, and leave Quebec City out, because that's what the NHL does. |
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| Author: | Minooka Meatball [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 6:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Scorehead wrote: NHL expansion in fhe USA is a terrible idea, except for Milwaukee who absolutly should have a team. Putting a couple of teams in Canada would be fine, Quebec for sure. Putting an NHL team in Las Vegas is a terrible idea. Seattle would kill for an NHL team, or at least an NBA team. They were pushing hard for the Sacramento Kings a couple of years ago, but they would be just as happy about an NHL team. Not sure if the Nucks would be too thrilled. |
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| Author: | Curious Hair [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 6:21 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Seattle wants the Supersonics back. If the NHL is a means to that end, cool, but the NHL wants Seattle more than Seattle wants the NHL. As for the Canucks, Seattle isn't important to them the way, say, the Niagara Region is to Buffalo. If anything, they'd appreciate the regional rivalry. There's still no arena in Seattle that can host NHL hockey. KeyArena can't, the Tacoma Dome can't, and there still aren't shovels in the ground by the other two stadiums nor out in Tukwila/Renton, which I guess has become an option. Quebec City's arena is 95% finished and looks beautiful. |
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| Author: | pittmike [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:02 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Curious Hair wrote: Seattle wants the Supersonics back. If the NHL is a means to that end, cool, but the NHL wants Seattle more than Seattle wants the NHL. As for the Canucks, Seattle isn't important to them the way, say, the Niagara Region is to Buffalo. If anything, they'd appreciate the regional rivalry. There's still no arena in Seattle that can host NHL hockey. KeyArena can't, the Tacoma Dome can't, and there still aren't shovels in the ground by the other two stadiums nor out in Tukwila/Renton, which I guess has become an option. Quebec City's arena is 95% finished and looks beautiful. If they weren't somehow clued into something how did they get it built? |
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| Author: | Curious Hair [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
The Colisee is almost 70 years old and doesn't have air conditioning, for one thing. It doesn't have the necessary technology or architecture for a lot of touring acts, so they've been left off tours altogether. For the sake of comparison, Winnipeg is a hair smaller than Quebec City and their arena is among the busiest on the continent. A new arena was due one way or the other. For all the Nordiques cheerleading that's gone on before and during its construction, I really don't think the NHL wants to put a team in Quebec City. It would make too much money. Boston and Toronto don't want teams to make too much money. |
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| Author: | pittmike [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:15 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Curious Hair wrote: The Colisee is almost 70 years old and doesn't have air conditioning, for one thing. It doesn't have the necessary technology or architecture for a lot of touring acts, so they've been left off tours altogether. For the sake of comparison, Winnipeg is a hair smaller than Quebec City and their arena is among the busiest on the continent. A new arena was due one way or the other. For all the Nordiques cheerleading that's gone on before and during its construction, I really don't think the NHL wants to put a team in Quebec City. It would make too much money. Boston and Toronto don't want teams to make too much money. Thanks. Was not sure there wer e other reasons to build it. I am used to US talk that blames the teams and claims a community gets no value from building these. |
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| Author: | Curious Hair [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:28 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Well, to be fair, there's a difference between replacing a decrepit barn like the Igloo or the Colisee and what's going on in Milwaukee, where there's a perfectly viable arena but some hedge-fund douches are demanding a nicer one because they can. Another interesting difference is that Centre Vidéotron came in $30MM under budget, whereas most of these go over budget. It certainly doesn't look like they cut corners, and I'm not just saying that because of how round it is! 
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| Author: | W_Z [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
would it be return of the Nordiques? |
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| Author: | Curious Hair [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
It would if the owners wanted a team in a parodoxically high-revenue, francophone-only market. |
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| Author: | pittmike [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 7:36 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
It was long ago but there had to be a reason the Avalanche left. |
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| Author: | Psycory [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 8:16 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
pittmike wrote: It was long ago but there had to be a reason the Avalanche left. Eric Lindros. |
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| Author: | Curious Hair [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
pittmike wrote: It was long ago but there had to be a reason the Avalanche left. There were several reasons and I will give them to you. 1) no salary cap. The big cities were going nuts with spending (well, not ours), and Quebec couldn't keep up anymore, though in the '80s they generally fielded competitive clubs with Michel Goulet and the Stastnys. They were rebounding in their final years after cratering in the early '90s, though a lot of that had to do with Sakic's emergence as a superstar and the goody-bag they got for Lindros. 2) Weak Canadian dollar. By 1995, it was around 65 cents American. Revenues were in CAD, expenses were in USD, even if you're doing pretty well for a small market, you're ultimately fucked. 3) No subsidies for a new arena. The Colisee was just as shitty and old 20 years ago, having been jury-rigged several times over into meeting capacity minimums for the NHL after serving as a junior/WHA venue. (The same thing happened in Winnipeg, though while the Colisee has always been revered as a delightful old barn, the Winnipeg Arena was always a shithole.) The city and provincial governments put their foot down on not paying for a new arena while they were struggling and failing to keep hospitals open, and you know what? I commend them fully for this, even if it did kill one of the more interesting sporting institutions in North America. 4) No real television deal. It's hard to imagine now in the Rogers Sportsnet era, but even well into the mid-1990s, NHL coverage in Canada was a shitty patchwork quilt of Hockey Night In Canada, its francophone counterpart La Soirée du hockey, and occasional telecasts on TSN and elsewhere. The Nordiques were owned by Carling O'Keefe, a brewery which is remarkable only because it's not Molson, which owned the Canadiens and had a stranglehold on Canadian hockey television about as long as there had been Canadian hockey television. In fact, it was Molson and their ad agency that produced HNIC/SDH for the CBC until about 1997, when the CBC finally started producing the show in-house. Because of this, Molson would not show the Nords' home games, so they got very little play from the CBC and Radio-Canada (that's the name of the French CBC television service, it's really best not to ask). The Nordiques eventually cobbled together a syndication package, but this was eventually bought up by, go figure, Molson, and so they never really could compete on the television front. So with the Diques losing money to the exchange rate and to the skyrocketing payroll with little TV revenue and no help on the way from the province (who, to be fair again, weren't helping the Habs either; they not only had to build their arena out of pocket, they even pay property taxes on it), it was no surprise that the owner sold when investors from Denver came calling. Fan interest was never, never an issue. The Nordiques always had high attendance figures, even in those years leading up to Lindros where they were just astoundingly terrible in ways that no team will reach again (the 1990 Nords went 12-61-7, giving up one hundred and sixty-seven more goals than they scored). Detractors have pointed out that while the Save The Jets rallies were huge events, there was hardly a public gathering to protest the move to Denver, but that's because the Jets' move was dragged out over two years while the Nords' was a relative blindsiding. Fan support has always been there, and even to this day, many fans in Quebec City and the Eastern Townships follow the Avs, the Bruins, or the Senators -- anyone but Montreal. |
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| Author: | pittmike [ Wed Jun 24, 2015 9:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
I knew I could count on you. |
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| Author: | BigW72 [ Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:22 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
The right answer is to move the Panthers and Avalanche to Milwaukee and Quebec City. Reality is tney'll water down the league and expand to Las Vegas and Seattle. Stupid |
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| Author: | Scorehead [ Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:23 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
wdelaney72 wrote: The right answer is to move the Panthers and Avalanche to Milwaukee and Quebec City. Reality is tney'll water down the league and expand to Las Vegas and Seattle. Stupid Yes. |
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| Author: | Gloopan Kuratz [ Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:38 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Quebec and Vegas are in. Coyotes move to Seattle in a couple years. There is a lot of noise about a second team in Toronto. We'll see if anyone brings a checkbook. |
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| Author: | pittmike [ Thu Jun 25, 2015 9:41 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Basede on the numbers here http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2428 ... -15-season I am not sure why people are saying Avalanche should move. They are about 90% sold out. |
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| Author: | Curious Hair [ Thu Jun 25, 2015 11:02 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Well, the Avs had a stretch from about from I want to say about 2008-2013 where interest completely dropped off a cliff in Denver, and some people started to think that maybe it was the kind of town that had been spoiled by a ready-made team and couldn't withstand non-contention, probably because the exact same thing was happening in Dallas at the same time. But nah, Denver is fine, you gotta be there. Patrick Roy is an ass, though. |
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| Author: | a retard [ Thu Jun 25, 2015 11:26 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Gloopan Kuratz wrote: Quebec and Vegas are in. Coyotes move to Seattle in a couple years. There is a lot of noise about a second team in Toronto. We'll see if anyone brings a checkbook. That's what I recall hearing... a second team in Toronto. |
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| Author: | Gloopan Kuratz [ Thu Jun 25, 2015 11:56 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
The Blackberry founder was trying to get a team in Hamilton. But he's probably broke now. Wonder if anyone in KC, Houston, or Cleveland has $500 mil lying around. |
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| Author: | Curious Hair [ Thu Jun 25, 2015 11:58 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
Yeah, Jim Balsillie tried to move the Penguins, Predators, and Coyotes to Hamilton and was stopped every time. The NHL does not want a team in Hamilton under any circumstance, even after admitting in court that it would be among the league's top earners. |
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| Author: | Gloopan Kuratz [ Thu Jun 25, 2015 12:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Are You Ready For Expansion? (/HankWilliamsJr) |
The new Sabres owners might not care as much. |
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