Post by Ducky on Nov 21, 2005 17:54:35 GMT -5
Another Canadian team won't appear anytime soon
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It started this way:
Last Saturday, on Hockey Night In Canada's Satellite Hot Stove, John Davidson reported that the Pittsburgh Penguins could be looking for a new home by next summer, if the funding for their new proposed arena doesn't come through. From there, the conversation shifted to the various alternatives to Pittsburgh, if the Penguins were obliged to move: Kansas City, Houston, Winnipeg or maybe even somewhere in southern Ontario. Kansas City starts out as the clear favorite to land the Penguins because they already have a new, state-of-the-art arena in the pipeline that will be ready to open around the time the Penguins' lease deal with the Mellon Arena expires. Even L.A. Kings president Tim Leiweke was musing aloud about that possibility last week.
Davidson thought the area south and west of Toronto might be a good choice; I proposed (for about the sixth time in the past 20 years) that Toronto itself (or one of its suburbs) would be a logical place for the NHL to consider, on the grounds that if New York could support three teams and Los Angeles two, surely Toronto and environs could host a second team as well.
My overriding point was simply that the game was so strong in Canada these days - thanks to the rising dollar; the new collective bargaining agreement and an improved product that most people have genuinely embraced - that it made sense for Pittsburgh (or any other team facing a cash crunch or indifference in its marketplace) to reconsider Canada.
After all, there was a time, in the 24-team league, that Canada boasted eight franchises. Surely in a 30-team universe, a seventh (or even an eighth) Canadian club would be welcome.
Of course, it's also necessary to distinguish between pie-in-the-sky optimism and what is genuinely possible — and to do so, you need to focus on the two essential elements necessary to attract an NHL team to any city.
One, you need an owner; and two, you need a building.
Sadly, that immediately disqualifies a return to Quebec City, which was one of the truly great stops on the NHL tour during the Nordiques' 16 NHL seasons. At the moment, it possesses neither the building nor the deep-pockets ownership required to bid for an NHL team.
Winnipeg does have a new arena, the MTS Centre, with a seating capacity for the American Hockey League of 8,812; which could be bumped up to a shade over 15,000 for NHL games, but probably not to the levels the league would want. Whenever Mark Chipman, the Manitoba Moose governor, speaks about the possibility of the NHL returning to Winnipeg, he seems to have a clear grasp on what it would take to get in the running for a new or existing franchise. Above all, he hears the commissioner, Gary Bettman, repeating endlessly that the league wants to keep every one of its franchises in their current markets — every one.
Now if the Asper family ever decided to pursue an NHL franchise — and threw its monetary support behind a bid — then Winnipeg would become an intriguing destination a few years down the road, when things may start to get interesting.
Remember, the real test for the "new" NHL will come in 2008 or 2009 when some of the teams in non-traditional markets — think Florida, Tampa Carolina, Atlanta, Phoenix or Nashville — find they still cannot make it work financially, even with a new, owner-friendly CBA; that the only thing that fills a building in the southern States is winning; and that no team can bank on winning all the time.
After three years of the new CBA, if the Panthers are still awash in red ink; or the Hurricanes; or the Predators; then that is when the issue of shifting one or more troubled franchises could move to the front burner. In the meantime, it'll be up to the financial movers-and-shakers in Winnipeg, in Kansas City — and yes, even in Toronto — to get their balance sheets and their bid books in order, so they're ready if the Alan Cohens and Peter Karmanoses and maybe even the Mario Lemieuxs of the ownership world decide that enough is enough and they want out.
Only then would an issue that's an interesting talking point today heat up into something that could legitimately unfold a few years down the road.
Send your comments on this item to eduhatschek@globeandmail.ca
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It started this way:
Last Saturday, on Hockey Night In Canada's Satellite Hot Stove, John Davidson reported that the Pittsburgh Penguins could be looking for a new home by next summer, if the funding for their new proposed arena doesn't come through. From there, the conversation shifted to the various alternatives to Pittsburgh, if the Penguins were obliged to move: Kansas City, Houston, Winnipeg or maybe even somewhere in southern Ontario. Kansas City starts out as the clear favorite to land the Penguins because they already have a new, state-of-the-art arena in the pipeline that will be ready to open around the time the Penguins' lease deal with the Mellon Arena expires. Even L.A. Kings president Tim Leiweke was musing aloud about that possibility last week.
Davidson thought the area south and west of Toronto might be a good choice; I proposed (for about the sixth time in the past 20 years) that Toronto itself (or one of its suburbs) would be a logical place for the NHL to consider, on the grounds that if New York could support three teams and Los Angeles two, surely Toronto and environs could host a second team as well.
My overriding point was simply that the game was so strong in Canada these days - thanks to the rising dollar; the new collective bargaining agreement and an improved product that most people have genuinely embraced - that it made sense for Pittsburgh (or any other team facing a cash crunch or indifference in its marketplace) to reconsider Canada.
After all, there was a time, in the 24-team league, that Canada boasted eight franchises. Surely in a 30-team universe, a seventh (or even an eighth) Canadian club would be welcome.
Of course, it's also necessary to distinguish between pie-in-the-sky optimism and what is genuinely possible — and to do so, you need to focus on the two essential elements necessary to attract an NHL team to any city.
One, you need an owner; and two, you need a building.
Sadly, that immediately disqualifies a return to Quebec City, which was one of the truly great stops on the NHL tour during the Nordiques' 16 NHL seasons. At the moment, it possesses neither the building nor the deep-pockets ownership required to bid for an NHL team.
Winnipeg does have a new arena, the MTS Centre, with a seating capacity for the American Hockey League of 8,812; which could be bumped up to a shade over 15,000 for NHL games, but probably not to the levels the league would want. Whenever Mark Chipman, the Manitoba Moose governor, speaks about the possibility of the NHL returning to Winnipeg, he seems to have a clear grasp on what it would take to get in the running for a new or existing franchise. Above all, he hears the commissioner, Gary Bettman, repeating endlessly that the league wants to keep every one of its franchises in their current markets — every one.
Now if the Asper family ever decided to pursue an NHL franchise — and threw its monetary support behind a bid — then Winnipeg would become an intriguing destination a few years down the road, when things may start to get interesting.
Remember, the real test for the "new" NHL will come in 2008 or 2009 when some of the teams in non-traditional markets — think Florida, Tampa Carolina, Atlanta, Phoenix or Nashville — find they still cannot make it work financially, even with a new, owner-friendly CBA; that the only thing that fills a building in the southern States is winning; and that no team can bank on winning all the time.
After three years of the new CBA, if the Panthers are still awash in red ink; or the Hurricanes; or the Predators; then that is when the issue of shifting one or more troubled franchises could move to the front burner. In the meantime, it'll be up to the financial movers-and-shakers in Winnipeg, in Kansas City — and yes, even in Toronto — to get their balance sheets and their bid books in order, so they're ready if the Alan Cohens and Peter Karmanoses and maybe even the Mario Lemieuxs of the ownership world decide that enough is enough and they want out.
Only then would an issue that's an interesting talking point today heat up into something that could legitimately unfold a few years down the road.
Send your comments on this item to eduhatschek@globeandmail.ca