Report: Toronto one of four cities to get NHL expansion team - Page 3

Buckeye Native 001 · #41 Posted **Aug 28, 2014, 10:43 PM**

Yeah, whoever designed the Rose Garden (or whatever the hell its called now if the name changed) was smart enough to account for both hockey and basketball.

One of the very first problems the Coyotes had (and no, its not that they're not successful solely because some people believe that hockey doesn't belong in the desert...) was that the only NHL-ready arena available when they moved to Phoenix from Winnepeg in 1996 was, for whatever stupid reason, not designed to handle an ice hockey rink without horrifically obstructed view seats.

arkitekte · #42 Posted **Aug 28, 2014, 10:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdxtex

people in michigan are hockey nuts, the grand rapids metro is now over 1 million. a cross state rivalry would be pretty cool. probably a long shot but still pretty cool. portland, oregon (which is socially an upper midwest state in my book), honestly would be a cool place for the NHL. lots of people agree. demographics are right and the income numbers seem decent. and conceptually, waaaaay better than #$%$^ las vegas. did i mention thats the last place that should get a hockey team?

Technically there are a handful of markets that this could be said about, if you're just basing that on location and population demographics. I'm not particularly big on Las Vegas as a hockey market, but I doubt many people are big on Nashville, Dallas, Miami, Tampa Bay, Phoenix, and Raleigh having teams either.

This whole NHL to Vegas deal is pretty much the league trying to beat the NBA to be the first in Las Vegas.

pdxtex · #43 Posted **Aug 28, 2014, 11:27 PM**

and undoubtedly it will probably have some goofy gambling or wild west name. las vegas horsehoes, las vegas golden blades...i dunno. milwaukie, indianapolis, halifax, saskatoon, regina, portland, seattle. take your pick. just not nevada. end rant.

memph · #44 Posted **Aug 28, 2014, 11:43 PM**

Is hockey really that big in Indiana, Oregon and Washington? Or even Ohio for that matter? I think there's more NHL players from some small towns in Canada than some of those states.

Derek · #45 Posted **Aug 28, 2014, 11:44 PM**

We have a junior hockey league team, the Winterhawks, and they are wildly popular here.

If I had to pick 4 new cities for expansion, they'd be:
1. Halifax
2. Quebec City
3. Seattle
4. Milwaukee

If I had to pick four cities for a relocating team, they'd be:
1. Portland
2. Hamilton
3. Kansas City
4. Anchorage (why not?

)

pdxtex · #46 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 12:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by memph

Is hockey really that big in Indiana, Oregon and Washington? Or even Ohio for that matter? I think there's more NHL players from some small towns in Canada than some of those states.

Hockey is really big in the NW. Washington State has 4 teams in the CHL (highest tier developement league in the world) and Oregon has one, the Portland Winterhawks. Most of the players are Canadian or European, with some yanks too.

memph · #47 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 12:38 AM**

I'd pick Hamilton, Quebec City, Seattle and Saskatoon.

Hamilton could draw from about 700,000 people the metro area, plus 450,000 in Niagara, 550,000 in Waterloo Region, and another 700,000 in SW Ontario from London to St Thomas to Stratford to Brantford to Simcoe for a total of 2.4 million people, so about like Vancouver. Plus some disgruntled Leafs fans from the GTA.

Quebec City could draw from central and northern Quebec, which is maybe 1.5-2 million people.

Saskatoon could work since Saskatchewan only has 1 "major league" team (CFL Rough Riders) and they're based in Regina. Plus about 300,000 in the region, 1.2 million people total in Saskatchewan. Probably the city I'm least certain of out of the 4 though, and maybe Halifax has a better shot since the Maritimes don't have a team and have about 2 million people while AB and MB have 3 teams so Saskatoon would probably be getting fans just from SK. However I think SK is more hockey crazy than the Maritimes.

Seattle - A pretty big and wealthy city.

If I had to pick another 10 teams:

London
Milwaukee
Richmond Hill
Syracuse
Grand Rapids
Laval
Halifax
Cleveland
Portland
Indianapolis

Tongue in cheek proposal:
Welland
Bowmanville
Lloydminster
Thunder Bay
Brantford

BTW I wonder how many of the fans in Phoenix, Tampa and S Florida are Canadian retirees.

Shawn · #48 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 12:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by memph

BTW I wonder how many of the fans in Phoenix, Tampa and S Florida are Canadian retirees.

Don't most retirees stay fans of their home town team? Plenty of New Englanders move down to Florida's east coast or half-back down to North Carolina for retirement, but they stay Bruins fans.

ColDayMan · #49 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 2:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by memph

Is hockey really that big in Indiana, Oregon and Washington? Or even Ohio for that matter? I think there's more NHL players from some small towns in Canada than some of those states.

Hockey is huge in Northern Ohio (and now partly Central due to the Blue Jackets).

mhays · #50 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 3:06 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdxtex

Hockey is really big in the NW. Washington State has 4 teams in the CHL (highest tier developement league in the world) and Oregon has one, the Portland Winterhawks. Most of the players are Canadian or European, with some yanks too.

Filling small arenas at cheap prices isn't the same as having broad support. When I see a hockey jersey in Downtown Seattle, or see a kid playing hockey in the street, maybe it'll be a new dawn.

arkitekte · #51 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 3:19 AM**

^The Key will be to beat the NBA back to Seattle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn

Don't most retirees stay fans of their home town team? Plenty of New Englanders move down to Florida's east coast or half-back down to North Carolina for retirement, but they stay Bruins fans.

Sure, but that doesn't mean they don't like or support the Hurricanes.

As far as the Portland/NHL crowd, I was in Portland earlier this month wearing a Whalers t-shirt and had at least 5 people make a comment about it. That doesn't mean they can support a team at all, but I found it somewhat amusing.

LosAngelesSportsFan · #52 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 4:08 AM**

Hasn't this rumor been strongly shot down by the NHL?

Derek · #53 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 4:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Hasn't this rumor been strongly shot down by the NHL?

Yes. I posted about it on the first page. Nobody seemed to notice though.

JManc · #54 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 6:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn

Don't most retirees stay fans of their home town team? Plenty of New Englanders move down to Florida's east coast or half-back down to North Carolina for retirement, but they stay Bruins fans.

I was/am NY Rangers/ Yankees/ Bills fan my entire time in Texas but also would go to Houston games. In New England, I would have gone to a Sox game.

mrnyc · #55 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 11:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by memph

Is hockey really that big in Indiana, Oregon and Washington? Or even Ohio for that matter? I think there's more NHL players from some small towns in Canada than some of those states.

well yeah canada, but you're kidding right? the cleveland area has always had high school hockey leagues and neighborhood arenas and has produced many nhl players over the years. there have been 23 nhl players from ohio, mostly from around cleveland:
http://www.hockey-reference.com/friv...ince=&state=OH

Acajack · #56 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 1:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by llamaorama

I always have to remind myself that Seattle does NOT have an NHL team. I think that's interesting. I would have thought the NW would be big into hockey?

Will the Quebec team revive the Nordiques name the way Winnepeg reclaimed the name Jets?

I don't believe anyone has answered this, so yes, the team would be called the Nordiques.

Evergrey · #57 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 1:40 PM**

Once LeBron retires and Clevelanders inevitably lose interest in the Cavs again... I'd like to see the NBA franchise replaced by the NHL. Cleveland is such a natural hockey city.

Private Dick · #58 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 1:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Once LeBron retires and Clevelanders inevitably lose interest in the Cavs again... I'd like to see the NBA franchise replaced by the NHL. Cleveland is such a natural hockey city.

I'd like to see both NBA and NHL in Cleveland... and in Pittsburgh.

Any real city needs to have a pro basketball team.

Basketball is THE urban sport.

Evergrey · #59 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 2:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Private Dick

I'd like to see both NBA and NHL in Cleveland... and in Pittsburgh.

Any real city needs to have a pro basketball team.

Basketball is THE urban sport.

A-10 basketball is all I need.

HomeInMyShoes · #60 Posted **Aug 29, 2014, 2:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdxtex

Hockey is really big in the NW. Washington State has 4 teams in the CHL (highest tier developement league in the world) and Oregon has one, the Portland Winterhawks. Most of the players are Canadian or European, with some yanks too.

But almost no players from Washington are in the NHL. Somewhat surprising. I'd like to see more recent stats, but I found From 2010-2011. Five players from Missouri surprises me.