If Winnipeg was such a great market, do you honestly think that they would lose their franchise?
Yes, given the circumstances. The Canadian low dollar. Run-away player costs. Owners that were not willing to lose millions of dollars let alone 30 million per year. Lack of Corporate Welfare programs for billioniare sports franchise owners in Canada (no 180 million donation for an arena like Glendale gave the Coyotes; we prefer to use tax dollars for things like hospitals, roads and schools). But guess what...
- the Canadian dollar has improved...
- the new CBA limits how much big markets can spend and allows smaller markets to hold on to their players...
- an ownership group with the means to support a team seems to have formed
- a new arena was built mainly with private funds...
times change...you could say the same thing regarding the Wild or AVS. those cities both lost their teams and are now wildly successful franchises...
meanwhile the Coyotes are coming to Winnipeg for another exhibition game, where I will bet you dollars to donuts they'll get their best gate $$ of the season.
Good luck with the Coyotes. I think you'll need to get rid of Gretzky and his tribe before you'll see any improvement. For heaven sakes, isn't Gretzky's younger brother the head of scouting?
GHOST