Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

If I was Gary Bettman I'd be telling you hockey is alive and well in Florida and Phoenix. Forget the fact that they were 22nd and 29th in attendance and that FLA has sold off all their talent in every year since the lockout. I'm sure Panthers fans are pleased to see Luongo, Ballard and Horton in the Cup Finals. And that Phoenix will get an owner even though we still haven't found one in two years who wants to spend their own money to buy the team. Except for Jim Ballsille who was going to pay well over market value for this worthless franchise. If I was him I also wouldn't have given an argument for each team moving to the East. I would make no comment, tip-toe around the issue and when the decision was made would go on about how it as the right decision and it will workout great.:lol

Edit: I also take major offense that you would think I would run a league that badly.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

The fact that they won't let Jim Ballsille buy a team is one of the things wrong with the NHL.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

He fucked that up. I think he'd be a great owner. Has the money and has the passion for hockey. But he tried to bully his way in with Nashville and especially with PHX. True North had been talking with the NHL since 2007 and kept their mouth shut and look where it got them.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Why Bettman ever thought a team would work in Atlanta is beyond me. This is the second time a team has fled the city for Canada (the Calgary Flames were the first). It also looks pretty bad on him that for all the (misguided) effort to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix and move in new ownership in Tampa, he did nothing whatsoever to prevent this, even though Sun Belt expansion was his baby since he came into the Commissioner's Office (not that it was really worthwhile to make the effort--the Thrashers lost something like $130 million). I'm happy about the news, although it's a shame it happened so late. The thought of Southeast Division teams traveling to Winnipeg 4 times a year and the rest of the East doing it twice is an ugly one.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Ouch. :D

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I agree that he did, but the NHL is just as much to blame IMO. It should have been a match made in heaven.

Either way a team back in Canada makes me :bounce

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To be fair the sun belt wasn't all him. Coyotes, Canes, Preds and Thrash were his. But yeah I agree all kinds of F-ups along the way. I think it got to a point where no one wanted the Thrashers and he couldn't turn away an ownership group like True North anymore.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

It would be. Looking at all the bad owners they've had over the last 10 years or so it really would be. I also think Hamilton isn't a place they want to go. If he wants to look a little further south and out of TO's and Buffalo's territory I think they'd look at it. I don't know if it would hurt Buffalo but the NHL seems to think it would.

Everything being equal (having ownership and decent arenas) I think relocation cities are Quebec, Seattle, Hartford, Kansas City (sadly), and then Southern Ontario.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

See I disagree, I'm originally from Toronto/Southern Ontario. And I'm 1000% convinced that a team would not only do well, but THRIVE!

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It may, and it may not. On the one-hand, saving hockey fans from Southern Ontario who can't get Leafs tickets from having to drive down to Buffalo, which many of them do, could drive down attendance in Buffalo. On the other hand, Buffalo has one of the most passionate fan bases in the NHL, their merchandise has been a top seller for the last 6 years, and they've got one of the best owners in the league in Alan Pegula, who will do anything he can to keep the team competitive and fans in the seats.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I'll take your word for it. I'd love to see more teams pack their arenas and have the energy the Canadian markets do. I just think Hamilton/Southern Ontario might be the last on the list of locations because of Mr. Blackberry. :rolleyes

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

As far as a new hockey team succeeding in Canada, at this point, I don't see it as a problem in the least. The biggest reason, I think, that teams like Quebec and Winnipeg left was the weakness of the Canadian dollar at the time, the rising salaries in pre-cap days, and the opportunity for more immediate profits in the States. These days, that's really not a factor. The dollars are almost equal, a salary cap is in place to minimize costs, and there's no shortage of Canadians who want to see NHL hockey. Winnipeg was not struggling to draw fans when they left, and they won't be when they come back. If Bettman really cares about having profitable teams in a profitable league, moving another team to Canada, wherever it might be, is the smart thing, rather than sticking with Sun Belt franchises struggling to keep afloat.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Then in that case, I have no problem saying he has one new ugly looking baby.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I agree. The NHL still has some issues to deal with, PHX and FLA and maybe NYI and CBJ. They need to look at the big picture. If profits league wide have gone up each year with some of those teams bleeding money, what would it be if you cut those teams loose?

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I have the cutest baby in the world and you know it.

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I stand by what I said, but ESPN did just publish this column by Scott Burnside that offers some interesting counterarguments:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/column...ott&id=6611534

The Pegula mess that he refers to concerns Pegula being outbid, but that the higher bidder wanted to move the team (probably to Hamilton, ON, actually), which, given the Sabres' profitability in Buffalo, the NHL owners probably wouldn't have approved of anyways, so I'm not quite sure how it fits into the story, but take of it what you will.

ETA: I do note that Pegula's first name is Terry, not Alan, as I said in my earlier post. Don't know why I thought it was Alan.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Nothing but good news today if you ask me. This strengthens the league greatly just by moving one team.

As far as realignment I say it's between Columbus and Nashville. Both of them would be looking for ways to save money, and travel would be a good place to start, plus Nashville moving to the Southwest makes perfect sense. I also can't speak for Detroit, but Chicago does not have a rivalry with Nashville. I would put Detroit, Vancouver, St Louis, Calgary, San Jose and Minnesota all as better rivalries than Nashville. They just play in our division.

Also, I thought we would hear the new cap today? That's what I've been waiting for.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I respectfully submit 3rd cutest ;)

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I just really can't imagine the Red Wings in the Eastern Conference. I'm trying to find some sort of credible argument without going the "I'm so afraid of them, please keep them away" route.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

This was the best day of my life!!! Words cannot describe how I feel today. Go Jets Go

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

holy shit. a resident Jets fan now....and it's Zac Brown! This is great.

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Would they win the East every year? Yes.

I don't want to play them in the Stanley Cup finals ever, ever. Not even a chance of that. Keep them here.

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I don't think they would win the East every year but they would certainly put a dent in Crosby and Ovechkin's chances at Stanley Cup glory.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

I'm a little sarcastic but yeah that's my point. Western Conference > Eastern Conference last 3 seasons.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Oh, I'm sorry. You'll have to excuse me, I don't read douchebaggery. ;)

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Bruins!:hug

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The Pens are going to K.C. :lorraine:lorraine:lorraine

http://www.1835movement.com/PensNation/?p=2272

For a preseason game blol.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

oh snap. there it is

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puc...urn=nhl-wp6146

First, it's about time.

Second, I love this guy. I wrote to him when I was younger and we had a short correspondence before he went to Carolina. The guy is absolute class and Panthers fans (blolol, what like three of them?) are going to love his style.

Re: NHL 2011/2012 Thread
 

Based on what I read, IF Detroit moved to the East, it's likely that they would be put in the Northeast division, while moving Boston to the Atlantic, and Pittsburgh to the Southeast.