Enough of these NHL to Halifax ideas.....

Sens Rule

Registered User
Sep 22, 2005
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Why do posters continue to say Halifax or Regina or Saskatoon or Victoria or EVEN Kingston, Moncton, St. John's could support an NHL team? Are they dense? Do they think you could plop an NHL team anywhere in Canada and people that live 6 hours away will buy season tickets?

These are the facts - Hamilton or a team somewhere in Southern Ontario like Kitchener-Waterloo, London, St. Catherine's, or a second Toronto team is possible. There are enough people close enough that that is viable for certain from a population point of view.

Winnipeg and Quebec City are PROBABLY too small with not enough corporate support to support an NHL team but they are at least a possibiliy worth discussing.

Halifax is far too small to support an NHL team. So is Victoria, or even a combined Regina/Saskatoon team that has the arena between the 2 cities.

Moncton, St. John's, Kingston are just moronic ideas. They are extremely small cities. They are 1/7 to 1/10th the size of the SMALLEST existing metro areas with NHL teams. And they are not even affluent cities compared to the average in Canada.
 

Sens Rule

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Sep 22, 2005
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Yellowknife!!!!!!!!!! :yo:

"As of the 2005 city survey, there were 19,429 people in Yellowknife."

Well I guess if every single person went to every single game that could work. Since there is little else to do there it might be a good expansion option.
 

Doc Scurlock

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Nov 23, 2006
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"As of the 2005 city survey, there were 19,429 people in Yellowknife."

Well I guess if every single person went to every single game that could work. Since there is little else to do there it might be a good expansion option.

Dude. You're not counting the metro area. If you include the surrounding communities it'll probably jump to 20,000 easy.
 

MoreOrr

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Jun 20, 2006
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Winnipeg and Hamilton are probably the only Canadian cities that have reasonable potential to support an NHL franchise, and even with them I think it'll be 2015 before either are really in position to do it.

As for Halifax, I'll admit that I used to talk about it getting an NHL team; being from Nova Scotia, I loved the idea, but I certainly wasn't being realistic at the time. Halifax is at least 100,000 in population away from being able to support a team.
And on top of that, having a team in Halifax might be just as bad as having a team in Miami, Florida. It would be putting a team way out on the fringes of the continent where no other team is nearby and travel by other teams would be very impractical. Oh of course, when the NHL eventually expands to Europe, Halifax will be a just next door in comparison. In fact, when the League ultimately does expand to include European cities that will be when Halifax is probably large enough to support an NHL team.
 

Sens Rule

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Sep 22, 2005
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Dude. You're not counting the metro area. If you include the surrounding communities it'll probably jump to 20,000 easy.

And I forgot the 1000's who will drive the 1927 km between Whitehorse and Yellowknife in the middle of the winter.

Taking all that into consideration Yellowknife is a no-brainer.
 

Cavo

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Apr 25, 2006
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Halifax, NS
Winnipeg and Hamilton are probably the only Canadian cities that have reasonable potential to support an NHL franchise, and even with them I think it'll be 2015 before either are really in position to do it.

As for Halifax, I'll admit that I used to talk about it getting an NHL team; being from Nova Scotia, I loved the idea, but I certainly wasn't being realistic at the time. Halifax is at least 100,000 in population away from being able to support a team.
And on top of that, having a team in Halifax might be just as bad as having a team in Miami, Florida. It would be putting a team way out on the fringes of the continent where no other team is nearby and travel by other teams would be very impractical. Oh of course, when the NHL eventually expands to Europe, Halifax will be a just next door in comparison. In fact, when the League ultimately does expand to include European cities that will be when Halifax is probably large enough to support an NHL team.


I disagree. And there's no comparision with Halifax and the Florida teams, there are hockey fans everywhere in Nova Scotia, more than the State of Florida i'm guessing. The only thing that would prevent a team in Halifax is the lack of corporate sponsorship. Filling the rink wouldn't be a problem. You have Metro Halifax, booming with advid hockey fans, (look no further than the Ottawa/Male Leaf exhibition game, and the world jr's before that.

Then you have your Truro's, Bedford, Sackville, Valley, heck i'm guessing even the rabid fans in Yarmouth would make the 3 hour trek,as welll as Cape Breton.

At the end of the day we'll never see it, although Fred MacGilvary is pushing a new, larger stadium as we speak. We have the 2008 Men's Worlds next year, and he sees the bigger complex as a drawing card for larger scale events, and teams in the near future.
 

Sens Rule

Registered User
Sep 22, 2005
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Winnipeg and Hamilton are probably the only Canadian cities that have reasonable potential to support an NHL franchise, and even with them I think it'll be 2015 before either are really in position to do it.

As for Halifax, I'll admit that I used to talk about it getting an NHL team; being from Nova Scotia, I loved the idea, but I certainly wasn't being realistic at the time. Halifax is at least 100,000 in population away from being able to support a team.
And on top of that, having a team in Halifax might be just as bad as having a team in Miami, Florida. It would be putting a team way out on the fringes of the continent where no other team is nearby and travel by other teams would be very impractical. Oh of course, when the NHL eventually expands to Europe, Halifax will be a just next door in comparison. In fact, when the League ultimately does expand to include European cities that will be when Halifax is probably large enough to support an NHL team.

Halifax has 1/3 the metro area of Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa and 1/2 that of Winnipeg and Quebec City. It does not have a large corporate base and it is not growing at a high rate.

Halifax is not 100 000 people away from being an NHL sized market it is about 400 000 away from being a fringe possibility like Winnipeg or Quebec City is.

Despite talk of a CFL team in Halifax for more than a decade and the very high popularity of University football in the Maritimes there still is not even a CFL team in Halifax. If you can't attrack a CFL team than you have very, very little hope of an NHL team in Halifax.

Halifax is not that far away that it makes travel very hard. It is quite close to most Eastern Cities by air travel. There may not be much direct commercial flights from a lot of American cities to Halifax Airport but that is not that relevant since so many teams fly charter now. So that is not a big negative.
 

Brazz

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Nov 6, 2005
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Halifax is much to small for NHL team, but here is hoping then can get a CFL team some day
 

Sens Rule

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Sep 22, 2005
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People talk like Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton sell out every single game. The fact is they almost did that this year but over the last 10 years they each had seasons where they had 1000's of empty seats each night. Same with Vancouver which is twice as big as those 3 cities. Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton were all small market teams when the dollar was at 70 cents. Winnipeg and Quebec LEFT Canada becuse they did not have a big enough population and corporate support to keep their teams when the payroll of an NHL team was far less.

Hockey is popular in Canada - that is certain - but only Montreal and Toronto are able to guarantee that they sell out every game regardless of the teams performance.

Halifax is 1/3 the size of those cities - and Halifax has less cities/towns close enough to the city to drive 3 hours to get there than any of these cities.

Take Ottawa - Kingston is less than 2 hours from the arena. Cornwall, Brockville, Hawkesbury, Pembroke, Smiths Falls, Perth and so on. Heck even fans of the Habs or Leafs can drive from their cities easily to Ottawa for a few games.

Halifax does not have near the same number of people that could drive to their arena from outside the city as Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa. One hour drive, Two hour drive, Three Hour drive, Four hour drive, Five Hour drive and the population disparity keeps getting worse and worse.

More people live in Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton then the entire population of Nova Scotia AND the areas of New Brunswick closest to Halifax (Moncton etc).
 

MoreOrr

B4
Jun 20, 2006
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I disagree. And there's no comparision with Halifax and the Florida teams, there are hockey fans everywhere in Nova Scotia, more than the State of Florida i'm guessing. The only thing that would prevent a team in Halifax is the lack of corporate sponsorship. Filling the rink wouldn't be a problem. You have Metro Halifax, booming with advid hockey fans, (look no further than the Ottawa/Male Leaf exhibition game, and the world jr's before that.

For one thing, I was never comparing Halifax/Nova Scotia fans with Miami/Florida fans. It was a physical geographical comparison, both cities being located on pennisulas, so to speak, with almost no other NHL cities anywhere around them.
 

MoreOrr

B4
Jun 20, 2006
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Halifax is not 100 000 people away from being an NHL sized market it is about 400 000 away from being a fringe possibility like Winnipeg or Quebec City is.

....

Halifax is not that far away that it makes travel very hard. It is quite close to most Eastern Cities by air travel. There may not be much direct commercial flights from a lot of American cities to Halifax Airport but that is not that relevant since so many teams fly charter now. So that is not a big negative.

I will stand corrected and say that the Halifax area is 200,000 people away from being able to support an NHL team, and that yes it probably won't have that 200,000 more before there are NHL teams in Europe.

As regards to distance, of course Halifax isn't so terribly far from many Eastern NHL cities. But imagine inter-Conference play with cities on the west coast having to fly into Halifax, or fans in Halifax having stay up until at least 11pm for the start of any game that Halifax would be playing on the west coast. And if you talk about a team's rivals being geographically close, I wonder which current NHL city would claim Halifax as its rival. (of course, there are rivals made in the Playoffs.) At least Miami has Tampa Bay.
 

krudmonk

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Jan 12, 2006
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You're asking a bunch of chest-thumping banner-wavers to be sensible? They just want the sport in Canada. Supporting arguments take a back seat.
 

Sotnos

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Jul 8, 2002
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People talk like Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton sell out every single game. The fact is they almost did that this year but over the last 10 years they each had seasons where they had 1000's of empty seats each night. Same with Vancouver which is twice as big as those 3 cities. Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton were all small market teams when the dollar was at 70 cents. Winnipeg and Quebec LEFT Canada becuse they did not have a big enough population and corporate support to keep their teams when the payroll of an NHL team was far less.

Hockey is popular in Canada - that is certain - but only Montreal and Toronto are able to guarantee that they sell out every game regardless of the teams performance.
Wow, someone being that honest is refreshing to see. :handclap:
 

jol

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Jan 31, 2003
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Maybe Quebec City or Winnipeg could support a NHL team specially if canadian dollar keeps becoming stronger against USD. Then teams income will be strong CAD based and expenses (salaries) weak USD based.

JOL
 

Sens Rule

Registered User
Sep 22, 2005
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I will stand corrected and say that the Halifax area is 200,000 people away from being able to support an NHL team, and that yes it probably won't have that 200,000 more before there are NHL teams in Europe.

As regards to distance, of course Halifax isn't so terribly far from many Eastern NHL cities. But imagine inter-Conference play with cities on the west coast having to fly into Halifax, or fans in Halifax having stay up until at least 11pm for the start of any game that Halifax would be playing on the west coast. And if you talk about a team's rivals being geographically close, I wonder which current NHL city would claim Halifax as its rival. (of course, there are rivals made in the Playoffs.) At least Miami has Tampa Bay.

Every Canadian Team would be a natural rival. As well as Boston in a Canadian Maritimes vs New England rivalry. However Halifax isn't getting a team so it is a moot point.
 

tiz

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Oct 27, 2006
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Nova Scotia
Halifax is projected to continue to grow at it's current pace, as people are moving from rural areas to the city. They project Halifax's population will double within the next 10 years, I suspect we might see an NHL team in Halifax at some point. It's just a matter of years.
 

Alpine

Registered User
Oct 28, 2005
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Moncton, NB
Halifax is projected to continue to grow at it's current pace, as people are moving from rural areas to the city. They project Halifax's population will double within the next 10 years, I suspect we might see an NHL team in Halifax at some point. It's just a matter of years.
As much as Halifax has the past, Moncton holds the future . Moncton is the fastest growing city in the Maritimes and isn't tied to history. Unlike Halifax, Moncton doesn't wrap itself around history but looks to the future.
Moncton will be the first NHL city in the Maritimes, probably by 2025.
 

LeafErikson

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Jun 23, 2004
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The only Canadian cities I see as ever potentially/or are capable of supporting an NHL team are Hamilton, KW, London (pretty much anywhere in sw Ontario) Winnipeg, and Quebec City.
 

LeafErikson

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Jun 23, 2004
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Victoria B.C.
Halifax is projected to continue to grow at it's current pace, as people are moving from rural areas to the city. They project Halifax's population will double within the next 10 years, I suspect we might see an NHL team in Halifax at some point. It's just a matter of years.

I would say atleast 15, the very least.
 

tony d

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Jun 23, 2007
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Put a team in my hometown of Garnish, Newfoundland; 650 people and all.

Kidding of course but I doubt you'll see a NHL team in any of these small Canadian cities, the population base just isn't there to support a NHL team.
 

Sens Rule

Registered User
Sep 22, 2005
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Halifax is projected to continue to grow at it's current pace, as people are moving from rural areas to the city. They project Halifax's population will double within the next 10 years, I suspect we might see an NHL team in Halifax at some point. It's just a matter of years.

Halifax is going to double in population in 60 or 70 years not 10 years. Halifax is growing at a substantially smaller rate then every single Canadian city with an NHL team.

How can you possibly think Halifax is growing at a pace that will see it double in population in 10 years?
 

Sens Rule

Registered User
Sep 22, 2005
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As much as Halifax has the past, Moncton holds the future . Moncton is the fastest growing city in the Maritimes and isn't tied to history. Unlike Halifax, Moncton doesn't wrap itself around history but looks to the future.
Moncton will be the first NHL city in the Maritimes, probably by 2025.

Yeah in 18 years Moncton might have 165000 residents. They would be the size of Sudbury or Kingston Ontario. They are almost certain to get an NHL team then. As everyone knows Moncton is rich and is a huge corporate center like Toronto, Chicago and LA.

The NHL is hungry to expand to the 250th biggest Metro Area in North America.
 

Crosbyfan

Registered User
Nov 27, 2003
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It seems like Moncton then, unless Yellowknife can rally the support of Whitehorse.
 

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