Which city should get a team?

[sandman441]

Juneau. It is a city of what 20,000 people with no major highways and no major city within a days drive. That is ridiculous. Why not just put a team in Kenora Ontario? Anchorage doesn't have the population and for one is way to far away. If you are going to go that far, why not just put a team in Russia....

Juneau wouldn't be a good place sometimes they get bad storms in the winter and you can't fly in or out.

Anchorage I think might be able to support a franchise we have two other cities (wasilla, palmer)which are close. One of the things that could help out is that we get permanent funds which we get every year and it's a check from the government from oil companies it's not a set amount I think last year it was $900 and that could help pay for season tickets. Anchorage has a population of 260,283 not sure on Wasilla or Palmer they are about 45 minutes away and alot of people commute back and forth. What I don't think will work is I don't think alot of people will come because if the team is losing like the Aces have been for about 01,02,03 give or take a few years. The other thing is we would probably want Gomez and Conklin. You also have the travel problem from here to Seattle is about 3 hours and gets worse the further you go I think to tampa florida it's 9 hours.

 

[Hasbro]

I've been stumping for Oklahoma City for a while. It's not the biggest market, but fans there and nearby Tulsa a rabid minor league hockey fans, the team would have the city to it's self outside of college sports, there is a ton of oil money there which would help with ownership and sponsors and a built in rival with the Stars.

Hockey might be more atractive to Portland now that the Jailblazers drove a good deal of their fanbase away.

 

[sandman441]

Alaska is just a plain ridiculous idea. Have you people looked at a map? There is NOTHING in northern BC - and it's a HUGE area. Alaska is FAAAAAAAAAAR away and too sparsely populated. People only go there on cruises, and that's only cuz it's cheaper to go there than to warmer climates.


Come on we get hunters also . That's not entirely true it depends on where you want to go in Alaska. It's not that sparsely populated we have two cities near anchorage 45 minutes - 1 hour drive which alot of people drive every day. After that there are three other cities soldotna/kenai which is about a 3 hour drive and Fairbanks which is a good 7 hour drive. There are other smaller cities but they aren't that populated probably a couple hundred people minimum. But you are right about travel times though and it gets quite warm in the summer even where I am it doesn't usually get that cold it is usually about 20 degrees.

 

[KillerB 's]

Alaska is just a plain ridiculous idea. Have you people looked at a map? There is NOTHING in northern BC - and it's a HUGE area. Alaska is FAAAAAAAAAAR away and too sparsely populated. People only go there on cruises, and that's only cuz it's cheaper to go there than to warmer climates.


Come on we get hunters also . That's not entirely true it depends on where you want to go in Alaska. It's not that sparsely populated we have two cities near anchorage 45 minutes - 1 hour drive which alot of people drive every day. After that there are three other cities soldotna/kenai which is about a 3 hour drive and Fairbanks which is a good 7 hour drive. There are other smaller cities but they aren't that populated probably a couple hundred people minimum. But you are right about travel times though and it gets quite warm in the summer even where I am it doesn't usually get that cold it is usually about 20 degrees.

Didn't you say that you thought Anchorage would be able to support a franchise??

 

[Hasbro]

Alaska is just a plain ridiculous idea. Have you people looked at a map? There is NOTHING in northern BC - and it's a HUGE area. Alaska is FAAAAAAAAAAR away and too sparsely populated. People only go there on cruises, and that's only cuz it's cheaper to go there than to warmer climates.


Come on we get hunters also . That's not entirely true it depends on where you want to go in Alaska. It's not that sparsely populated we have two cities near anchorage 45 minutes - 1 hour drive which alot of people drive every day. After that there are three other cities soldotna/kenai which is about a 3 hour drive and Fairbanks which is a good 7 hour drive. There are other smaller cities but they aren't that populated probably a couple hundred people minimum.

Considering Alaska is our 2nd least populous state I'd say no. Alaska-Anchoridge and Alaska-Fairbanks can't even get nonconference opponents to come to the state and their recruiting suffers as a result of the location. I'd love to see Alaska-Juneau get a hockey team though.

 

[trenton1]

Wisconsin.

Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee...makes no difference to me. It's probably the last expansive area in the US that has the hockey culture and enough of a population to have a shot with an NHL hockey franchise. A nice potential rival for the Wild too, I'd say.

 

[Puckclektr]

Alaska is just a plain ridiculous idea. Have you people looked at a map? There is NOTHING in northern BC - and it's a HUGE area. Alaska is FAAAAAAAAAAR away and too sparsely populated. People only go there on cruises, and that's only cuz it's cheaper to go there than to warmer climates.


Come on we get hunters also . That's not entirely true it depends on where you want to go in Alaska. It's not that sparsely populated we have two cities near anchorage 45 minutes - 1 hour drive which alot of people drive every day. After that there are three other cities soldotna/kenai which is about a 3 hour drive and Fairbanks which is a good 7 hour drive. There are other smaller cities but they aren't that populated probably a couple hundred people minimum. But you are right about travel times though and it gets quite warm in the summer even where I am it doesn't usually get that cold it is usually about 20 degrees.

Why would the NHL put a team in a market of 260,000 people> If they did that you would see NHL teams in Halifax, Barrie, London, Kitchener, Hamilton, St. Catherines-Niagara, Sherbrooke, Windsor, Oshawa, Regina, Saskatoon and Victoria before Anchorage. But that will never happen...Who drives 7 hours to watch a hockey game. I have, but have made a weekend out of it.

 

[canucks666]

Alaska is just a plain ridiculous idea. Have you people looked at a map? There is NOTHING in northern BC - and it's a HUGE area. Alaska is FAAAAAAAAAAR away and too sparsely populated. People only go there on cruises, and that's only cuz it's cheaper to go there than to warmer climates.


Come on we get hunters also . That's not entirely true it depends on where you want to go in Alaska. It's not that sparsely populated we have two cities near anchorage 45 minutes - 1 hour drive which alot of people drive every day. After that there are three other cities soldotna/kenai which is about a 3 hour drive and Fairbanks which is a good 7 hour drive. There are other smaller cities but they aren't that populated probably a couple hundred people minimum. But you are right about travel times though and it gets quite warm in the summer even where I am it doesn't usually get that cold it is usually about 20 degrees.

no offense but if i was a hockey player in almost ANY team - i'd DREAAAAAAAAADDD having to come to alaska. Not cuz alaska sucks but because it'd be such a loooong trip. To basically teh middle of nowhere.


And you're telling me a city of ~200,000 people would be able to get almost 20,000 every 3/4 days? No UFAs would ever want to sign in Alaska either.



Maybe I'm being harsh but it's the truth I think. As such I don't think Alaska will have a major sports franchise for a very very long time. I guess you had an ECHL team at one point? Was that successful? i actually don't know

 

[sandman441]

Didn't you say that you thought Anchorage would be able to support a franchise??

I said that but it's not really an option because of travel. I think they could if you took out travel time. Alaska is the least populous state but people are moving here.

 

[rockon83]

my turn.

for the USA, i think milwaukee is definitely the top choice for a new market. it's got a bigger metro area than columbus, nashville, carolina, or buffalo... is very cold, and has great interest in hockey from what i understand.

hamilton is also a definite. with the amount of ppl in the region, and the leafs always sold out, this is a perfect spot. yeah the sabres and leafs are close, but if you can have the isles/rags/devs so close in nyc, you can do the same there.

i am against new teams anywhere in the south, but houston may work just due to the market size. hockey is a cult, and in such a large market, the cult is sure to be big enough.

one of portland or seattle should work... not sure which.

baltimore is a possibility too.

 

[KillerB 's]

Wisconsin.

Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee...makes no difference to me. It's probably the last expansive area in the US that has the hockey culture and enough of a population to have a shot with an NHL hockey franchise. A nice potential rival for the Wild too, I'd say.

True. Wisconsin does seem like a good place for a NHL team, most likely Milwaukee because Green Bay is just about 100% for the Packers and I don't know if the fans have enough room within themselves to root for another team. If that makes sense.

 

[Habsfool]

The Fans of Quebec Ciy Deserve a TEam
But the city is not ready the dont have a Arena

 

[KillerB 's]

my turn.

for the USA, i think milwaukee is definitely the top choice for a new market. it's got a bigger metro area than columbus, nashville, carolina, or buffalo... is very cold, and has great interest in hockey from what i understand.

hamilton is also a definite. with the amount of ppl in the region, and the leafs always sold out, this is a perfect spot. yeah the sabres and leafs are close, but if you can have the isles/rags/devs so close in nyc, you can do the same there.

i am against new teams anywhere in the south, but houston may work just due to the market size. hockey is a cult, and in such a large market, the cult is sure to be big enough.

one of portland or seattle should work... not sure which.

baltimore is a possibility too.

I don't know if Baltimore would be a good spot for a team because they are squeezed between DC and NYC.

 

[sandman441]

no offense but if i was a hockey player in almost ANY team - i'd DREAAAAAAAAADDD having to come to alaska. Not cuz alaska sucks but because it'd be such a loooong trip. To basically teh middle of nowhere.

Not really in the middle of nowhere we are the biggest city in Alaska so there are things to do no offence taken though.

And you're telling me a city of ~200,000 people would be able to get almost 20,000 every 3/4 days? No UFAs would ever want to sign in Alaska either.

I think they could we were supposed to get a pre season game some time around september 11 and the first game was sold out after two days and the second game was really close to sold out. That really doesn't mean that much but there are alot of hockey fans here. I think we could get a couple of UFA's here like I said it is usually not that cold it's usually about 20 degrees. In the summer they can fish and alot of players fish we've had Gomez we know him and my brother sold him the cabin next to ours, Mike Peluso, Jacques Lemaire and a minnesota assistant coach not sure which one but they were there, Rob Conn, Grant Jennings he lives here now, there are probably a few more but that is most of them. We would also have to build a new arena and with the permanent fund we get every year I think alot of people would use it to pay for season tickets. Plus in the winter the really only things to do is ski, play hockey, snow machine, and any other snow sports you can think of so there is not alot to do unless you like outside so this would give people another option to do things inside.


Maybe I'm being harsh but it's the truth I think. As such I don't think Alaska will have a major sports franchise for a very very long time. I guess you had an ECHL team at one point? Was that successful? i actually don't know

your not being harsh because it is the truth just because of the travel. I also doubt we will get a pro franchise if ever because of travel. We do have a ECHL team the last two years they have been good and were doing good with attendance with last year most of the games were sold out. Before that though the team was terrible and basically nobody went because they sucked.

 

[Hasbro]

I don't know if Baltimore would be a good spot for a team because they are squeezed between DC and NYC.

It's reputation isn't all that great right now either.

 

[The Frugal Gourmet]

I guess that's what gary bettman thought..........

try telling this to people in Raleigh, and millions of others that couldn't care one bit about hockey.

Yes, how absolutely foolish of Bettman to think that people could like and become interested in hockey..

Fact is in this new NHL system what matters more is if the market is RIGHT - not if the market is LARGE. The NFL can survive in Green bay but it couldn't survive in LA. The NHL will be similar.

Places like Quebec City and Winipeg may be smaller but they would get behind the team 100% unlike a place like Houston or Raleigh or even Anaheim or Nashville or Florida.

I would never argue that the only qualification for profitability and growth are size. But, I would argue it's probably the best indiciator of profit potential we have.

Looks to me like the evidence shows hockey tradition is not as good an indicator of profitability as size. Why do I believe this? Count the number of teams that have failed in cities steeped in "hockey tradition". Now count the number of teams that have failed in large markets. The former number is larger.

The potential for Houston is -- quite obviously -- the greatest of any city remaining. I would say the profit indicators are highest there.

Of course, the notion that Houston fans would not take an overwhelming interest in hockey is not *that* far off. After all, they seem to be rather bored by every sport. I cannot prove that Houston would be the best place for the next market.

However, I do take a little issue with your logic here:

1) You use the example of 2 NFL teams relocating from LA as proof that LA is a failed market. If relocating a franchise constitues proof that the former market cannot support a team, than Winnipeg cannot support a team. Either you accept that Winnipeg can't support a hockey team given the fact that one moved from there, or you admit that there exists no real evidence that LA cannot support a football team.

2) Your qualification for what represents a good market seems to be *attendance*. Explain how you arrived at this conclusion. I thought the goal of owning a team fell into one or both of two categories: making money and winning.

3) Your argument for Houston failing depends upon showing that teams in much smaller sunbelt markets have low attendance: Raleigh, Nashville, Phoenix, and Anaheim. In my mind, these areas are not comparable to Houston (they are smaller, culturally less cosmopolitan, etc.) and not all of them have true financial problems (once again, I fail to see how the attendance thing is so important... though I guess "deserve" is subjective).

 

[JonathanK]

Winnipeg and Québec City...

Exactly

 

[Puckclektr]

no offense but if i was a hockey player in almost ANY team - i'd DREAAAAAAAAADDD having to come to alaska. Not cuz alaska sucks but because it'd be such a loooong trip. To basically teh middle of nowhere.

Not really in the middle of nowhere we are the biggest city in Alaska so there are things to do no offence taken though.

And you're telling me a city of ~200,000 people would be able to get almost 20,000 every 3/4 days? No UFAs would ever want to sign in Alaska either.

I think they could we were supposed to get a pre season game some time around september 11 and the first game was sold out after two days and the second game was really close to sold out. That really doesn't mean that much but there are alot of hockey fans here. I think we could get a couple of UFA's here like I said it is usually not that cold it's usually about 20 degrees. In the summer they can fish and alot of players fish we've had Gomez we know him and my brother sold him the cabin next to ours, Mike Peluso, Jacques Lemaire and a minnesota assistant coach not sure which one but they were there, Rob Conn, Grant Jennings he lives here now, there are probably a few more but that is most of them. We would also have to build a new arena and with the permanent fund we get every year I think alot of people would use it to pay for season tickets. Plus in the winter the really only things to do is ski, play hockey, snow machine, and any other snow sports you can think of so there is not alot to do unless you like outside so this would give people another option to do things inside.


Maybe I'm being harsh but it's the truth I think. As such I don't think Alaska will have a major sports franchise for a very very long time. I guess you had an ECHL team at one point? Was that successful? i actually don't know

your not being harsh because it is the truth just because of the travel. I also doubt we will get a pro franchise if ever because of travel. We do have a ECHL team the last two years they have been good and were doing good with attendance with last year most of the games were sold out. Before that though the team was terrible and basically nobody went because they sucked.

YOu can do the exact same things in virtually all of Canada. Who would go to Alaska just because they could fish or snowmobile....?

 

[JonathanK]

Houston, Millwaukee, Winnipeg.

In that order.

 

[sandman441]

YOu can do the exact same things in virtually all of Canada. Who would go to Alaska just because they could fish or snowmobile....?

because it's not as cold . There are more things to do than that I'm just giving an example.

 

[Puckclektr]

I would rather put a team in Richmond Hill, Ontario than pretty much any other city in the states...a million people within 20 minutes of downtown Richmond Hill. Although it is still a long shot

 

[KillerB 's]

I would rather put a team in Richmond Hill, Ontario than pretty much any other city in the states...a million people within 20 minutes of downtown Richmond Hill. Although it is still a long shot

You are really against a team in the US huh?

 

[Puckclektr]

You are really against a team in the US huh?

No. I am far from a team in the US. I am against putting ANOTHER team in the US. We have tried to kater hockey to the US for years now. We have been expanding since the 60's(post original 6) and they are still trying to sell the game. It is the real fans in Canada that are losing out....Get rid of Raleigh, Miami, Atlanta, Nashville, Anaheim, Phoenix, and replace them with Hamilton, Winnipeg, and Quebec City. I would rather see a team in Grand Rapids than Raleigh or Hartford than Miami or even ALbany/Syracuse.

 

[GSC2k2*]

I think Toronto should get a team. The Air Canada Centre has just been sitting there waiting to be filled up with a franchise. The citry has waited long enough for one.

 

[KillerB 's]

I think Toronto should get a team. The Air Canada Centre has just been sitting there waiting to be filled up with a franchise. The citry has waited long enough for one.

lol