Expansion

[Winston Wolf]

Disagree. Las Vegas has an affluent, growing resident population with no major sports competition.

As a resident of Las Vegas, I can assure you 100% that Las Vegas couldn't support a team from any major sport. Hockey especially wouldn't work, although the Las Vegas Thunder had a very good following their first few years here. However, after Bonk and Zholtok left, the team went from IHL contender to league worst and the arena completely emptied. An expansion team simply wouldn't be good enough to keep people going to the games.

Also, Las Vegas is the fastest growing city in the U.S., but why do people move here in the first place? Just because it's a very easy place to find low paying jobs; the weather and most other things here suck for full-time residents. So, most of this growing residence is Mexican descent and/or people looking for work, either way, not people who can afford tickets to an NHL game.

It's also true that gambling is not allowed on leagues which have a team located here. If you think the casino moguls are going to allow any money to be lost, then you have another thing coming. These are the guys who control this town, so it's not going to happen.

 

[Safir*]

The NHL should add six more teams.

Las Vegas NV
New Orleans LA
Kansas City MO
Portland WA
Cleveland OH
Houston TX

These six cities are all in key television markets, and would help the NHL further expand their footprint in the all-important US. Expansion money is also an important source of revenue for the league.

Houston could host a NHL team, since the city is one of the fastest growing metropolis' in the US.

BTW the NHL would have another bonafine rivalry, between the Stars and the Houston based team. The Oilers have been rumored to relocated to Texas, in the past.

 

[I.am.ca]

Neither one of those towns is financially viable. Everyone knows that.

Yes but moving teams to cities where hockey doesn't seem to catch on makes perfect sense right. Carolina seemed like a good idea to the NHL so did Phoenix...yet those guys have some trouble with the attendance. Ppl can argue that they arent but they are struggling with the attendance and there are stats out there that prove that and people have posted them many times and well i am not gonna post them right now cuz i'm just too tired to do the grind work.


If Winnipeg did get an NHL team their small rink will sell out and well if it sells out with 15,000 fans everytime being a small rink, thats pretty good IMO. Quebec City if they were awarded a team again in say 2006 they would have time to start building a rink or whatever they need.

You don't build a rink and then ask for a team, u see if u can get one first then u get the plans to house your team.


Expansion seemed like a good idea and well its a good idea for sure because players get a chance to play in NHL and well teams like Atlanta, Columbus, and etc have some extremely bright futures, brigther than some of the original six teams.

 

[I.am.ca]

I agree with those who say 30 teams are perfect for the league, I don't think there should be anymore extra teams, but I do think some teams from the south should locate to cities with a better fanbase, Winnipeg and Quebec are a good start, and maybe even Hamilton in the future, but I don't see it happening unless some major changes happen in the league.

Not as long as Gary Bettman is in charge. Get a Canadian that has played hockey in there and we might have a chance to see the Jets fly and the Nords play again.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

Contraction is not an option. It would hurt the league. I can only possible see teams from the south move. The two major candidates are Carolina and Anahiem. I also think expansion isn't a great thing right now. Possibly in 5years the option could considered but right now the league can't support it and there is possibly not enough talent right now. When other countries start producing more players it could happen. Personally if there was an expansion either Quebec Sity or Portland/Seattle should be considered. Las Vegas wouldn't work. Look at Phoenix. Quebec would have a good fanbase and would likely be successful. There is a market for Portland/Seattle. I think the NHL has to wait for a while before expaning again. The league can't grow too fast.

 

[Safir*]

Contraction is not an option. It would hurt the league. I can only possible see teams from the south move. The two major candidates are Carolina and Anahiem. I also think expansion isn't a great thing right now. Possibly in 5years the option could considered but right now the league can't support it and there is possibly not enough talent right now. When other countries start producing more players it could happen. Personally if there was an expansion either Quebec Sity or Portland/Seattle should be considered. Las Vegas wouldn't work. Look at Phoenix. Quebec would have a good fanbase and would likely be successful. There is a market for Portland/Seattle. I think the NHL has to wait for a while before expaning again. The league can't grow too fast.

As I said earlier, Houston would be a good market but I think that the franchise would have to pay off the Stars for invading there territory. The same goes for Seattle, because it's so damn close to Van-City.

I'll say that one of the sunbelt teams may move to Houston (eg. Preds, Canes, Ducks) and one franchise should move to Quebec.

Las Vegas NV: They don't have a proper NHL arena, I think.
New Orleans LA: Not really a good market.
Kansas City MO: A possible market. They are construction a new arnea.
Portland OR: I'm not sure, if the Rose Garden is still modern.
Cleveland OH: Pittsburgh, Columbus & Buffalo are too close.
Houston TX: Great market & they have a proper NHL Arena (the Toyota Center.)
Winnipeg MB: the MTS Center is to small for NHL standards
Quebec PQ: Potenitally a big fan base, but they lack a proper NHL arena
Seattle WA: The Key Center is outdated and needs to be replaced. Seattle is too close to Vancouver, I guess.

 

[J17 Vs Proclamation]

As I said earlier, Houston would be a good market but I think that the franchise would have to pay off the Stars for invading there territory. The same goes for Seattle, because it's so damn close to Van-City.

I'll say that one of the sunbelt teams may move to Houston (eg. Preds, Canes, Ducks) and one franchise should move to Quebec.

Las Vegas NV: They don't have a proper NHL arena, I think.
New Orleans LA: Not really a good market.
Kansas City MO: A possible market. They are construction a new arnea.
Portland OR: I'm not sure, if the Rose Garden is still modern.
Cleveland OH: Pittsburgh, Columbus & Buffalo are too close.
Houston TX: Great market & they have a proper NHL Arena (the Toyota Center.)
Winnipeg MB: the MTS Center is to small for NHL standards
Quebec PQ: Potenitally a big fan base, but they lack a proper NHL arena
Seattle WA: The Key Center is outdated and needs to be replaced. Seattle is too close to Vancouver, I guess.

Houston isn't a bad idea but the main problem is the Stars. Is their a fan base to for both teams?
Las Vegas definitly not. It wouldn't work. Same with Cleveland. Out of Winnipeg amd Quebec, Quebec would be the most likely and if expansion happened again (shouldn't happen for a while until the league is stable) it should be a Canadian team. There is room for another Canadian team and their is a massive fanbase. Though i think the NHL would look to America instead of Canada. As for Seattle, Vancouver has a large fanbase and there is definitly rom for a neighbouring team. In my personally view i don't like the idea of teams moving. It would be unfair to fans, as being a Florida fan, who people have suggested could move i sure as hell wouldn't support Tampa Bay.

 

[ACC1224]

Disagree. Las Vegas has an affluent, growing resident population with no major sports competition.

Maybe, but there is too much competition. Who'll go to a game when they can go see Celine Dion or Barry Manilow every night?

 

[PanthersRule96]

(edited ) You can see below in the quote what was here before though

Who do you think would be the first to be relocated/contracted though?

IMO:

Pittsburgh
Carolina
Anaheim

Of course I know a lot of people will say Florida, but FLA basically came in to the league twice, so to speak. First off, as an expansion team in 1993 with a group of past their prime hard workers etc.... and then as the modern mold for an expansion team like Minnesota and Nashville did, a group of a couple top prospects/young players (Niedermayer, Jovanovski, Whitney, Dvorak, Kozlov), and a bunch of non producing veterans, (Muller, Gagner, etc...). Then they got Bure and he carried them out of the bottom of the standings but the whole team was build around him so they had to rebuild again, and now, after 3.5 years, they are finally about to come out of it with a solid core unlike any other time in the franchise history. They never build a solidly based team. It was a win now, suffer in the future approach.

Florida IMO can support a team when they start to win. A hockey game is, ask almost anyone in South Florida, the most uh, I can't really describe it, but almost everyone, whether a hockey fan or not, likes going to Panther games, especially when they were winning, and being there because of the different atmosphere than the other pro sports in FLA. People love going to hockey games in SFLA, but since FLA has been losing, no one goes.

Teams that win and can't sellout should be relocated IMHO.

Carolina is in the position Florida was 2 years after the cup run in 96. They had veterans and were attempting to build a group of younger players, but they struggled. Carolina, no offense to CAR fans, will struggle like FLA did for a ocuple more years, but not as long as FLA has because FLA was setback because of Pavel Bure. Still, who else should be contracted???

 

[se7en*]

Plus Florida still has pretty decent attendance.

But then I never thought attendance was justification for contraction. There has to be issues much bigger than that.

 

[Thornton97]

Let's wait untill we get a season running before we start talking about expansion/contraction/and what not.

Who do you think would be the first to be relocated/contracted though?

Sorry, I found those two lines right next to each other somewhat humerous....

 

[PanthersRule96]

Sorry, I found those two lines right next to each other somewhat humerous....

I know. I was thinking the same thing when I typed it.

Perhaps I should've deleted it

 

[Papa Smurf]

New Orleans, Kansas City, Houston and Las Vages will not and should not get teams.

 

[acr*]

I see no reason why a Winnipeg franchise couldn't survive with some proper marketing to not just the Winnipeg area, but all of Central Canada. Right now, hockey in Canada is East and West, and that's it. Between Toronto and Edmonton/Calgary(whichever's further east), you've got a ton of land and no Canadian NHL Franchise for those fans to identify with. Why couldn't they try and garner support from Manitoba, Sasketchewan, and Western Ontario for "Central Canada's team"?

But I'm just a Stupid American with no expertise on the Canadian Economy.

 

[Papa Smurf]

I see no reason why a Winnipeg franchise couldn't survive with some proper marketing to not just the Winnipeg area, but all of Central Canada. Right now, hockey in Canada is East and West, and that's it. Between Toronto and Edmonton/Calgary(whichever's further east), you've got a ton of land and no Canadian NHL Franchise for those fans to identify with. Why couldn't they try and garner support from Manitoba, Sasketchewan, and Western Ontario for "Central Canada's team"?

Between Edmonton (the furthest eastern WC Canadian team) and Toronto (The furthest western EC Canadian team) you have Saskatchewan, Manitoba and western Ontario (Which is huge!). However, the only city in that giant space with a giant population is Winnipeg. The only other cities with a big (but not too big) population is Regina and Saskatoon.

 

[acr*]

Between Edmonton (the furthest eastern WC Canadian team) and Toronto (The furthest western EC Canadian team) you have Saskatchewan, Manitoba and western Ontario (Which is huge!). However, the only city in that giant space with a giant population is Winnipeg. The only other cities with a big (but not too big) population is Regina and Saskatoon.

They could get a lot of support from all the small town people in the middle of it all too though, couldn't they? If I'm thinking right, Manitoba is directly above Minnesota(haven't looked at a map in a while though), and hockey is king therein all the small towns, so it's not like the people in small towns couldn't identify with a Winnipeg franchise.

 

[Papa Smurf]

They could get a lot of support from all the small town people in the middle of it all too though, couldn't they? If I'm thinking right, Manitoba is directly above Minnesota(haven't looked at a map in a while though), and hockey is king therein all the small towns, so it's not like the people in small towns couldn't identify with a Winnipeg franchise.

You have a point, especially since that's probably one of the reasons the Flames and Oilers still exist.

 

[se7en*]

Not to mention Calgary and Edmonton put together surpass the population of Sask & Manitoba combined.

 

[ceber]

They could get a lot of support from all the small town people in the middle of it all too though, couldn't they? If I'm thinking right, Manitoba is directly above Minnesota(haven't looked at a map in a while though), and hockey is king therein all the small towns, so it's not like the people in small towns couldn't identify with a Winnipeg franchise.

I think with the right revenue sharing it could work. If the primary source of revenue continues to be the gate, I'm not sure having a lot of fans scattered outside a 150 mile radius helps all that much.

 

[firstroundbust]

we need to realize hockey for what it is...a demographically driven niche sport...relocate some of the stinkers up north...

 

[thrash27]

What about Milwaukee.

 

[Bicycle Repairman]

we need to realize hockey for what it is...a demographically driven niche sport...relocate some of the stinkers up north...

Baloney. That's a losers' attitude.

Look at NASCAR. Once considered a regional sport, it's been able to expand beyond its traditional fanbase in the Southern and MidWest states. There's absolutely no reason why the NHL can't do the same. Retrenchment is no strategy.

 

[Safir*]

I see no reason why a Winnipeg franchise couldn't survive with some proper marketing to not just the Winnipeg area, but all of Central Canada. Right now, hockey in Canada is East and West, and that's it. Between Toronto and Edmonton/Calgary(whichever's further east), you've got a ton of land and no Canadian NHL Franchise for those fans to identify with. Why couldn't they try and garner support from Manitoba, Sasketchewan, and Western Ontario for "Central Canada's team"?

But I'm just a Stupid American with no expertise on the Canadian Economy.

What about the economic background in Winnipeg?

For example, Carolina has a good network of sponsors etc.

 

[thrashers=cup05]

Las Vegas doesn't have the kind of fanbase that a team would need, it'd be dependant on the tourist income to survive.

Your kidding right LAs Vegas is one of the fastest growing residential cities in the Nation. However by that calculation we should see an NHL team here in henry county GA in 15 years.

 

[Mountain Dude]

The NHL should add six more teams.

Las Vegas NV
New Orleans LA
Kansas City MO
Portland WA
Cleveland OH
Houston TX

These six cities are all in key television markets, and would help the NHL further expand their footprint in the all-important US. Expansion money is also an important source of revenue for the league.

I want to know what you're smoking, because its clearly really really strong.