Random NHL comments/thoughts

[Shinzaki]

Buffalo fires Don Granato....

[Mr.TaterSalad]

Disappointed to see Salt Lake get awarded a team. Quebec City should have been next in line for a team, assuming there is an ownership group to support it. I know there is an NHL ready arena, but I don't don't know if there was an ownership group in place.

[Motor City Sonics]

2 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Disappointed to see Salt Lake get awarded a team. Quebec City should have been next in line for a team, assuming there is an ownership group to support it. I know there is an NHL ready arena, but I don't don't know if there was an ownership group in place.

part of that has to do with staying out west and covering more of that region.   Of QC gets a team it will be an expansion team or a team who relocates that is already in the East.   

 

[Motor City Sonics]

I'm just gonna put this here to let you know my feelings and I don't care if y'all attack me

GO 

LEAFS

GO 

[microline133]

The concerns I've heard with Quebec City revolve around having a sufficient fan base to support the team day-in and day-out. Highly educated hockey people have expressed this concern repeatedly.

Expansion will probably venture back into the Atlanta market, and I'd wager Arizona still gets a team back eventually. Give them lead time to acquire land and build a proper stadium (both of which are already in the works) and that market can support a team.

[gehringer_2]

35 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

I'm just gonna put this here to let you know my feelings and I don't care if y'all attack me

GO 

HOME

LEAFS

GO 

FIFY

[buddha]

4 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Disappointed to see Salt Lake get awarded a team. Quebec City should have been next in line for a team, assuming there is an ownership group to support it. I know there is an NHL ready arena, but I don't don't know if there was an ownership group in place.

why?  canadian cities are too small.  salt lake is 1.25m metro and growing rapidly.  they have a building.  they have a great fan base in place.  cities like salt lake are where the nhl prospers, where there is no baseball or football to take away money.

quebec city isnt even 1 million metro, has the canadian dollar weighing it down, and has to compete with montreal for fans and money.

quebec city makes no sense.  

[Hongbit]

New Salt Lake uniforms have leaked.

 

[lordstanley]

6 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

I'm just gonna put this here to let you know my feelings and I don't care if y'all attack me

GO 

LEAFS

GO 

Game 1 final: Boston 5  Toronto 1

[Mr.TaterSalad]

9 hours ago, buddha said:

why?  canadian cities are too small.  salt lake is 1.25m metro and growing rapidly.  they have a building.  they have a great fan base in place.  cities like salt lake are where the nhl prospers, where there is no baseball or football to take away money.

quebec city isnt even 1 million metro, has the canadian dollar weighing it down, and has to compete with montreal for fans and money.

quebec city makes no sense.  

Many people said the same thing about Winnipeg before they got the Jets back and they are doing fine. Winnipeg metro has 834,678 people and Quebec City metro has 839,311 people. People said Winnipeg would never get a team back and they eventually did. People then said Winnipeg would not make money or turn a profit as the metro area is too small and the Canadian dollar too weak. It seems Winnipeg, while certainly on the lower end of the revenue scale, is indeed a profitable team. So if Winnipeg made sense I think Quebec City does as well. It is a heritage hockey market with a diehard fan base.

[gehringer_2]

24 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Many people said the same thing about Winnipeg before they got the Jets back and they are doing fine. Winnipeg metro has 834,678 people and Quebec City metro has 839,311 people. People said Winnipeg would never get a team back and they eventually did. People then said Winnipeg would not make money or turn a profit as the metro area is too small and the Canadian dollar too weak. It seems Winnipeg, while certainly on the lower end of the revenue scale, is indeed a profitable team. So if Winnipeg made sense I think Quebec City does as well. It is a heritage hockey market with a diehard fan base.

The question for Quebec City is always how much of their potential fan base the Habs already own.

[buddha]

1 hour ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Many people said the same thing about Winnipeg before they got the Jets back and they are doing fine. Winnipeg metro has 834,678 people and Quebec City metro has 839,311 people. People said Winnipeg would never get a team back and they eventually did. People then said Winnipeg would not make money or turn a profit as the metro area is too small and the Canadian dollar too weak. It seems Winnipeg, while certainly on the lower end of the revenue scale, is indeed a profitable team. So if Winnipeg made sense I think Quebec City does as well. It is a heritage hockey market with a diehard fan base.

winnipeg is not doing fine.  in fact, there are rumblings that they will need to sell the team and/or relocate soon.  there was a big piece in the athletic about it recently.

[buddha]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

The question for Quebec City is always how much of their potential fan base the Habs already own.

90% of it.  ask the nordiques.

[buddha]

1 hour ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Many people said the same thing about Winnipeg before they got the Jets back and they are doing fine. Winnipeg metro has 834,678 people and Quebec City metro has 839,311 people. People said Winnipeg would never get a team back and they eventually did. People then said Winnipeg would not make money or turn a profit as the metro area is too small and the Canadian dollar too weak. It seems Winnipeg, while certainly on the lower end of the revenue scale, is indeed a profitable team. So if Winnipeg made sense I think Quebec City does as well. It is a heritage hockey market with a diehard fan base.

https://thehockeynews.com/news/reaction-are-the-winnipeg-jets-in-danger-of-relocating

Winnipeg has an attendance problem. And it can’t be ignored.

Nearly 13 years after the Winnipeg Jets sold out 13,500 season ticket packages in 17 minutes, the Jets are filling just 87.4 percent of their 15,325-seat arena on a nightly basis. In an interview with The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, Chipman revealed that their season ticket base has dwindled to just under 9,500 — a 27 percent decline over the last three years.

For a while, the Winnipeg Jets have been the feel-good story of the NHL. Their whiteouts are iconic, and the club is similar to the Green Bay Packers of the NFL — a small-market team engulfed and supported by passion.

But as we’re seeing with Chipman’s address, sometimes passion and love for a team isn’t enough. If they continue to struggle with putting people in seats — the Jets could very well leave again

[Shinzaki]

Salt Lake City has a long history of supporting minor league hockey....but so did Phoenix.  Although the arena issue may have been a bigger problem than fan support in Phoenix. 

If Phoenix gets a building and another team..they shoukd definitely be xalled the Roadrunners

 

[lordstanley]

Winnipeg, Edmonton, Quebec City and Hartford only got NHL teams because of the fluke of the WHA merger. None would have been considered otherwise. Calgary is probably the most viable of the Canadian cities outside of Montreal-Toronto-Vancouver. Quebec City, even with its new modern arena, could not support an NHL team, IMO, and is well down the list of likely expansion targets.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, lordstanley said:

Winnipeg, Edmonton, Quebec City and Hartford only got NHL teams because of the fluke of the WHA merger. None would have been considered otherwise. Calgary is probably the most viable of the Canadian cities outside of Montreal-Toronto-Vancouver. Quebec City, even with its new modern arena, could not support an NHL team, IMO, and is well down the list of likely expansion targets.

There has been a lot of oil money sloshing around Edmonton since the tar sands development began, which has helped them punch above their weight. That is probably going to change in the near future.

[MichiganCardinal]

7-6 final in Winnipeg. Lyon and Reimer can be heard saying "I could have done that". 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

8 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Winnipeg, Edmonton, Quebec City and Hartford only got NHL teams because of the fluke of the WHA merger. None would have been considered otherwise. Calgary is probably the most viable of the Canadian cities outside of Montreal-Toronto-Vancouver. Quebec City, even with its new modern arena, could not support an NHL team, IMO, and is well down the list of likely expansion targets.

Do you consider the Winnipeg market a success since they've returned to the NHL?

[Mr.TaterSalad]

I think the other city that should be considered before Salt Lake is Milwaukee. Wisconsin has proven support, albeit on a much smaller scale, with the Admirals in the AHL and Wisconsin in college hockey. I'm not opposed to Salt Lake persay and it's better than giving Atlanta another chance. I feel that markets like Quebec and Milwaukee should be considered. 

[lordstanley]

22 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Do you consider the Winnipeg market a success since they've returned to the NHL?

Very surprised they got the team back. Think they’ve done fine since their return. No margin for error though. Not a lot of corporate money in Winnipeg. Not a big population base. However, average Winnipegger has more disposable income than average Vancouverite or average Canadian. Still, they’re maybe a 5 cent Canadian currency drop away from being in deep doo doo. 

[buddha]

8 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Do you consider the Winnipeg market a success since they've returned to the NHL?

do you consider a 30% decline in season tickets a success?

[lordstanley]

Home teams 6-0 in the playoffs so far. Caps lost rather meekly to the Rangers yesterday.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

4 hours ago, buddha said:

do you consider a 30% decline in season tickets a success?

No I don't consider that a success. I do consider a near 9 year sellout streak at home to be a success, which they had from 2011 through early 2019. According to a report I read on CBC the Jets ownership group, True North Sports & Entertainment, has turned a profit every year they've owned the team and operated the arena. So they're not operating in the red and are a profitable franchise. 

[buddha]

7 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

No I don't consider that a success. I do consider a near 9 year sellout streak at home to be a success, which they had from 2011 through early 2019. According to a report I read on CBC the Jets ownership group, True North Sports & Entertainment, has turned a profit every year they've owned the team and operated the arena. So they're not operating in the red and are a profitable franchise. 

their season ticket base fell to ~9k.  that's not enough to sustain the team in winnipeg and with the perennial canadian currency issue.

tater, youre a romantic.  money wise, the jets are a prime candidate to move and winnipeg is too small to sustain them much longer.