MMC
Global Moderator
I don't know anything about them, but I drove through them with my girlfriend when I was in Ontario last month and they seem like a pretty big metro to me. Could an NHL franchise succeed there?
Kitchener-Waterloo-CambridgeDefinitely not
EDIT: Wait which Tri-Cities are you referring to? There are several
Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge
I don't know anything about them, but I drove through them with my girlfriend when I was in Ontario last month and they seem like a pretty big metro to me. Could an NHL franchise succeed there?
You scared me for a moment, I was about to say the Tri-Cities is barely supporting a Major Junior Hockey team!
I don't know anything about them, but I drove through them with my girlfriend when I was in Ontario last month and they seem like a pretty big metro to me. Could an NHL franchise succeed there?
Sorry, I didn't realize that was a thing.For 99% of this board when you post Tri-cities---we will think you are talking about Washington state--which is getting a team at some point in time
so which Tri-cities are you talking about
if you google tri-cities---washington state comes up
Actually this is not true. Most of the non-manufacturing people who lost their jobs were quickly absorbed into rest of the local tech community. The current high tech industry is stronger than it was at the height of RIM's success. The commercial real estate was also mostly purchased by the University of Waterloo.The area 'could' but it was also hit hard by the collapse of Blackberry.
Actually this is not true. Most of the non-manufacturing people who lost their jobs were quickly absorbed into rest of the local tech community. The current high tech industry is stronger than it was at the height of RIM's success. The commercial real estate was also mostly purchased by the University of Waterloo.
The area itself is not large enough to support an NHL team at just over 500K but an arena on the 401 linked into a transportation network would draw from several million. With the right owner I have no doubt that the region could support a team. But I also have no doubt that an NHL team is not going to happen any time in the foreseeable future.
They are not a contender for a team. Frankly they never were since the NHL clearly had no interest in Balsillie's plan. But that has nothing to do with the economics of the area. It does have an impact on potential ownership of course which is why I said that with the right owner this region could support a team even though I have no illusions that it could happen.I think the reason most people are under the impression that the area was hard hit by what happened to RIM is because the name of Jim Balsillie has mostly disappeared from the lexicon of the tech industry. It was his name that was synonymous with attempts to bring the NHL to the region. With him out of the picture, most people do not consider the area to be a serious contender for a team.
They are not a contender for a team. Frankly they never were since the NHL clearly had no interest in Balsillie's plan. But that has nothing to do with the economics of the area. It does have an impact on potential ownership of course which is why I said that with the right owner this region could support a team even though I have no illusions that it could happen.
That's fine. I actually agree that many see Balsillie as the only viable owner and that the downfall of RIM (now Blackberry) was the end of the story as far as the NHL is concerned. So if my post came across as confrontational it was not intended that way.I'm not disputing what you said about them not being a contender for a team. I was simply stating an opinion regarding your reply to Fenway. You were focused on his belief the area could support a team and I was pointing out why some people were under the impression the area was hard hit because of what happened to RIM.
Actually this is not true. Most of the non-manufacturing people who lost their jobs were quickly absorbed into rest of the local tech community. The current high tech industry is stronger than it was at the height of RIM's success. The commercial real estate was also mostly purchased by the University of Waterloo.
The area itself is not large enough to support an NHL team at just over 500K but an arena on the 401 linked into a transportation network would draw from several million. With the right owner I have no doubt that the region could support a team. But I also have no doubt that an NHL team is not going to happen any time in the foreseeable future.
Balsillie was lying and breaking rules from the beginning. He was the issue not the area!They are not a contender for a team. Frankly they never were since the NHL clearly had no interest in Balsillie's plan. But that has nothing to do with the economics of the area. It does have an impact on potential ownership of course which is why I said that with the right owner this region could support a team even though I have no illusions that it could happen.
It might, it would heavily depend on the western Toronto suburbs, to the extent, it would make more sense just to do Toronto 2. The issue is, it would be a team people would have to drive to, there is no relatively easy or cheap way to draw in people from Sauga, and Halton by public transport. That may make it tough to sell significant season ticket packages which tends to be the lifeblood of teams along with TV money as they get most of it in advance. For example, living in central Toronto, I can't see any way I would try to go on the 401 to catch a game on a weekday with any frequency no matter the price of tickets. Traffic in this city is a nightmare, you also write off the entire Northeastern and Eastern suburbs.
Based on Toronto's struggles to support an OHL franchise over the years, I would expect a hypothetical NHL franchise in Kitchener would severely impact the Rangers. I doubt we'll see an NHL team there, though, for all the reasons already stated in the thread. The team would get very little support from Toronto proper -- the Leafs are too ingrained, and as @93LEAFS said, the traffic from Toronto to that area is horrendous.Since the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL have been around since 1963 how much would they be impacted if an NHL team was ever given to the city of Kitchener?