Bring the NHL to Houston!!!

[Ignoramus*]

I'm all for a team in Houston. Really surprised there ins't one there already, to be honest. I'm a massive market (4th biggest in the US I believe) and the Stars have proven that hockey can work in Texas.

 

[knorthern knight]

Houston and Seattle are the only US cities I think the NHL should consider. Possibly Portland.

Seattle does not have a half-decent temporary facility anywhere near the level of QC's Colisee, let alone a permanent facility. Houston and Portland have NHL-capable arenas; the question is whether those arena owners want the NHL, not visa versa.

 

[token grinder]

c'mon gary, make it 24!

 

[kombayn]

The owner of the Winterhawks wants a team and probably already has a good relationship with Paul Allen since they play at the Rose Garden Arena and could possibly get a naming-rights agreement for the Arena with NBA & NHL tenants.

I'm all for Houston getting a team too and Les Alexander wants to sell his team and I'm sure if a powerful group wants they can buy the Rockets along with the Coyotes if they don't work out and do that move as well.

Right now, the only team for sale and considerable relocation is the Phoenix Coyotes.

 

[MoreOrr]

The owner of the Winterhawks wants a team and probably already has a good relationship with Paul Allen since they play at the Rose Garden Arena and could possibly get a naming-rights agreement for the Arena with NBA & NHL tenants.

Where did you hear that? Do you have a link?

 

[piqued]

Bill Gallacher was rumored for a long time to be the frontrunner to buy the Stars.

link

 

[Ryan34222]

move Yotes to Houston

than add 2 more expansion teams, QC and Hamilton

or move Yotes to QC and add Houston/Hamilton as expansions.. either way, lets just get a team in Hamilton

 

[KevFu]

move Yotes to Houston

than add 2 more expansion teams, QC and Hamilton

or move Yotes to QC and add Houston/Hamilton as expansions.. either way, lets just get a team in Hamilton

If they were going to go to 32 teams in three new markets with PHX relocating, you'd want to move the Coyotes to the smallest of the three markets to maximize expansion fees.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

c'mon gary, make it 24!

haha, someone should totally make that website.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

If they were going to go to 32 teams in three new markets with PHX relocating, you'd want to move the Coyotes to the smallest of the three markets to maximize expansion fees.

you could still collect a substantial relocation fee from the move though. You could make it a de facto expansion fee.

 

[Ryan34222]

If they were going to go to 32 teams in three new markets with PHX relocating, you'd want to move the Coyotes to the smallest of the three markets to maximize expansion fees.

agreed, move Yotes to QC than..

 

[uhlaw97]

Here's something else to consider.

If Houston were to get an NHL team, would they be called the "Aeros," in rememberance of their WHA, IHL, and AHL teams, or would they be called something else, like the Apollos, possibly?

Most of Houston's other pro sports teams have space oriented nicknames (Astros, Rockets, Comets, Aeros, etc), and Houston once had a low level minor league hockey team called the Apollos. Apollos was also one of the finalists in the contest to name Houston's NFL team, which, of course, became the Texans (I voted for Apollos, personally).

Any ideas?

 

[worstfaceoffmanever]

One of the predictions:

Nashville's team relocates to Houston.

Of course this article was written BEFORE Atlanta relocated to Winnipeg; they predicted an NHL relocation to Winnipeg, but they predicted it would be the Coyotes.

They also predicted that Atlanta would move to Quebec; maybe it'll be Phoenix now, and that the NY Islanders would remain in NYC. Seattle and KC would get expansion teams. Florida will then relocate to Milwaukee and Carolina to Hamilton.

Nearly every aspect of that is from some nutter's wildest fantasies. Quebec, Hamilton, and Seattle have no NHL caliber facilities (Quebec is trying to get one). Florida is locked into its lease for another two decades. Carolina and Nashville are stable in their current markets. Nashville especially won't be moving because it's owned by a consortium of local businessmen.

The only NHL team that could be moving in the foreseeable future is Phoenix, but they won't if the City of Glendale is willing to continue bankrupting itself to cover the team's losses. If the Islanders' new arena gets shot down in August, they'll probably leave Nassau County, but even then, I don't think they'd leave New York.

Unless there's a Daddy Warbucks in Houston waiting to swoop in on the Coyotes (which probably would have happened by now if it was going to), the city will have to wait for an expansion franchise. I think they're getting one eventually, though, especially with Atlanta leaving. They need to try their hand in some of the other big markets like Houston and Portland to make up for the loss of Atlanta and expected loss of Phoenix.

 

[kdb209]

Here's something else to consider.

If Houston were to get an NHL team, would they be called the "Aeros," in rememberance of their WHA, IHL, and AHL teams, or would they be called something else, like the Apollos, possibly?

It's not likely.

The AHL Houston Aeros (majority owned by the Minnesota Wild) own the trademarks on the name and it's not likely that they would give it up - especially if they are forced to relocate due to an NHL team and especially if minority owner Chuck Watson (who loathes Les Alexander) has anything to say about it.

 

[saskganesh]

If Aeros is not available due to some oddball AHL veto power over the NHL, then Apollos would be great.

I do not think an AHL and NHL team could co-exist in Houston. Thus I suspect the AHL owners of the name -- which largely only resonates in Houston (?) -- could make a nice transfer price. A good faith deal here could be possible.

 

[not a trapdoor]

Houston and Seattle are the only US cities I think the NHL should consider. Possibly Portland.

Seattle will try to get an NBA team first, which will probably exclude that market for a while. I suspect that gaining an NHL team isn't going to entice Seattle to build a new arena given that losing their NBA team wasn't enough to make them to it. I expect that Seattle will only seriously consider the NHL once they've funded & begun the planning of a new arena.

Houston should be at/near the top of the list. Atlanta would be up there also (although given the specifics of that market, it'd be a longer term proposition). Seattle would me more of a "maybe one day" thing.

 

[KillerKampfer*]

Not good enough to support a bad team for a decade+ of futility.

But a good market to move a team to that will be competitive from the outset.

 

[KingJet*]

I doubt Bettman will ever move the Coyotes, the players like it there cause theres Golfing and warm weather.

Why not expand a few More teams

Houston Aeros (Have to call them that)
Hartford (Whalers or something)
Milwaukee
Kansas City
Hamilton Steel (Or Something)
Quebec Nordiques
Seattle Thunderbirds (Like the Canucks just not with the same players)
Toronto (2)


I didn't put Portland cause, Only thing about this one is that they might prefer WHL because the Winterhawks have been one of the most Successful WHL teams in the league and I bet a lot of Hawks fans would be pissed, or they could have both who knows)

 

[SkepticalDougO]

I don't know if it'll ever happen- but I hope Houston does get a team eventually, I know there is no chance of a team in Louisiana (New Orleans, AHL maybe)- so being a short 3 hour drive to Houston I'd get to make a few games a year.

 

[KevFu]

Anyone who can't spell the name of a team that's been around for 40 years isn't someone who should be writing about hockey.

I love how ONE TEAM moving suddenly means everyone in the South is going to move. What makes the situations in Tampa, Florida, Nashville, Carolina or even Phoenix for that matter remotely resemble the situation in Atlanta?

In the relocation era of the NHL in the 90s, there was an economic structure in place in the NHL that made it so small markets couldn't compete without high revenue streams from new arenas; and even then with a slim margin for error. That gap has been narrowed now due to the new CBA tying revenues to payroll.

There's nothing now that prevents southern markets from being successful. In Winnipeg, Quebec, Hartford and currently Long Island, the arenas were such that selling out every night and winning did not guarantee financial success. In today's model, if the team wins, the fans show up and the owners profit. Like Tampa, Dallas and Carolina illustrate.

Relocation happens when there's a massive shortfall in the holy trinity: market, ownership, arena/lease. Yes, southern markets have a quicker turnaround from full arena to empty arena in down times. But the Coyotes hit bankruptcy due to losing making the market disinterested, the ownership running the team into the ground, and a lease which hampered their profitability. Atlanta relocated because you had owners who didn't want the team, and no owner wants to take a team where the lease is going to be a problem (which it would be).

But if Atlanta had WON, and won consistently, and the people showed up, with the lease ASG had on the arena (Thrashers paying Phillips Arena is just money changing pockets in the same owner's pants), they'd have been successful.

One of the main issues with 90s relocations simply doesn't apply to these teams mentioned: Arena/lease.

Quebec's building was coming up on FIFTY years old when the 'Diques left. CAR (2024), Tampa (2026) and Florida (2028) all have long leases in buildings that aren't even 15 years old yet. Nothing like QUE, WIN or MIN.

For half those teams to be on the move in the next nine years for the NHL to be in that dude's configuration, we'd need three separate large-scale events to occur, all with negative outcomes. Things like:
Owner goes bankrupt AND no one wants the team locally; Building collapses and can't be rebuilt, lease is voided; AND we'd need Toronto and Buffalo to accept terms for Hamilton; Vancouver to accept Seattle, Houston's NHL/AHL lease and ownership to be sorted out.

I could accept someone saying the NHL will have that configuration in 25 years, but not 10. And that's even a stretch. 10 years from now, we're going to have at least 27 of the current markets having their same franchises at minimum. And the safer bet is on ALL 30 than on 27 (with 29 being the most likely).

 

[piqued]

Well the NHL is coming to Houston this fall, sort of. Phoenix and Dallas will play a preseason game inside the home of the Texans. Obviously the roof will be closed. Trial run for a southern Winter Classic?

 

[NinthSpoke06]

Hamilton is not a small market like Winnipeg & Quebec City because Hamilton as access to millions of people in the outlining in & around southwestern ontario .

Hamilton may not be a small market per se, but like Bettman said, it would add TV eyes because they will take away from the fans who currently watch Toronto and Buffalo games. Not exactly the ideal market for NHL relocation or expansion.

 

[KevFu]

Supporting a minor league team and an NHL team is two VERY different things. Just because an AHL team does well doesn't mean they will average over 15,000 people a game for the NHL, at twice the ticket price.

True, but Houston's pretty much supported all their sports pretty well over the decades. Texans have a massive "state/city ego." Doesn't matter what it is.

And it's not just tickets, it's merchandise sales, tv ratings among other things that come into play with the NHL that don't with the AHL. The competition for major sports is complicated in that region. Lots of teams and only so many fans available. How will they schedule NHL games on their local affiliate when there's NBA, MLS, MLB, NCAA among others.

It's not complicated at all: They love their teams.

How is the Texas landscape any different than say, Northern California? San Jose Sharks, SF Giants and 49ers, Oakland A's and Raiders, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, SJ Earthquakes; Cal, Stanford, St. Mary's, San Jose State, USF, Pacific, UC Davis, Sac State.

The competition for sports love is no different than Dallas, who was excelling until Hicks bought Liverpool. Just take everything we know about Dallas fans and replace "most are Longhorn fans, but a lot of people are Texas A&M, Baylor, TCU or SMU" with "most are Longhorn fans, but a lot of people are Texas A&M, Baylor, Houston or Rice."

How would they manage their affiliates with NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL? The exact same way Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Detroit, Denver, Philly, Washington and Miami do. This isn't re-inventing the wheel, here.

I'm not doubting their passion for sports, there just isn't enough to go around. Look at Dallas right now, they had a pretty bad year this year and fans stopped coming to games. Revenue has gone down for them since they went to the conference finals. Look at the Avalanche also. Same thing with them.

Only a competitive team EVERY year can sustain viability. This isn't guarranteed in todays NHL.

By that metric, Detroit, Boston, Chicago, and two New York teams would have folded by now. The Stars had a drop off in attendance (15,017) and drew about the same as the:
2007 Bruins (14,764)
2007 Devils (14,164)
2007 Capitals (13,929)
2006 Blackhawks (13,318)
2004 Penguins (11,877)
2004 Sharks (15,836)
2002 Flames (15,719)
2002 Lightning (15,366)
2001 Kings (15,642)
2001 Oilers (15,612)
2001 Ducks (13,512)
2000 Canucks (14,642)
And of course, the Devils, Islanders, Sabres, Hurricanes, Panthers, Predators, Coyotes, Blues, Blue Jackets and Thrashers.

If dipping below 16,000 fans in down years is a sign you can't sustain a franchise, the league would be the Canadiens and Leafs.

 

[zissou]

Here's something else to consider.

If Houston were to get an NHL team, would they be called the "Aeros," in rememberance of their WHA, IHL, and AHL teams, or would they be called something else, like the Apollos, possibly?

Most of Houston's other pro sports teams have space oriented nicknames (Astros, Rockets, Comets, Aeros, etc), and Houston once had a low level minor league hockey team called the Apollos. Apollos was also one of the finalists in the contest to name Houston's NFL team, which, of course, became the Texans (I voted for Apollos, personally).

Any ideas?

Houston "Bayou City" Bombers.

 

[kdb209]

From the Roman Numerals thread:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coy...s-dallas-stars-reliant-stadium-cancelled.html

HOUSTON - An NHL exhibition game between the Phoenix Coyotes and Dallas Stars scheduled to be played in Reliant Stadium on Sept. 23 has been canceled.

Stars spokesman Rob Scichili says the game was called off because of the cost of putting ice in the stadium, the home of the NFL's Houston Texans. Scichili says the game will not be rescheduled.

Ramon Alvarez, a spokesman for Fox Sports Southwest, said the network is trying to "extend the Stars' fan base into Houston," since more of their games will be televised in the market in the near future. A new regional sports network will begin airing Houston Rockets games in 2012 and Astros games in 2013, freeing air time for more Stars game on the current Fox Sports station in the city.