Speculation: New Arena/Management Update

[Price is Wright]

Probably a better way to divide up the league. I bet the Florida teams love all the travel.

Once you get to 32 teams, you can do four divisions of eight or eight divisions of four. Unfortunately, someone is always gonna be missing out. Either you put Arizona in a central division, or you try to make a northwest division and include Winnipeg, or you try to fit Nashville in a southeast so Tampa and Florida and Carolina are closer, or you can't keep Philly/Pittsburgh together, or you can't keep the NY teams all together minus Buffalo. There's always someone who seems to miss out.

Screw it, expand to 40 teams ride the expansion money through any hard times:

West: Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Vegas, Arizona, Seattle, Salt Lake
Northeast: Montreal, Boston, Ottawa, Toronto, Buffalo, Detroit, Columbus, Quebec, GTA, Hartford
Central: Winnipeg, Minnesota, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Milwaukee, Kansas City
Atlantic: New York, Long Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, Carolina, Tampa, Florida, Atlanta Part XXVIII

 

[Howler Scores]

I wonder how much it will increase travel

 

[jmichael7753]

Rumors on the radio waves are it’s very possible the Coyotes could be headed to Houston.

KTAR reporting the news.

I've been listening to 92.3 all morning and haven't heard a mention of that.

 

[TheLegend]

Seattle expansion was unanimously approved. Coyotes will move to the Central in 2021-22.

 

[Neighborhood Coyote]

I wonder how much it will increase travel

I wondered this same thing. I'm also a little miffed because they added a natural possible rival to the Yotes in LV just 5 hours north and now they will be in a different division. Hope the Coyotes get something out of this deal.

 

[moosemeister]

I wondered this same thing. I'm also a little miffed because they added a natural possible rival to the Yotes in LV just 5 hours north and now they will be in a different division. Hope the Coyotes get something out of this deal.

A new home in Houston knowing our luck

 

[Mosby]

 

[moosemeister]

Not wrong. We will see an uptick in attendance seeing Winnipeg, Minnesota and Chicago come through more per year

 

[doaner]

I wondered this same thing. I'm also a little miffed because they added a natural possible rival to the Yotes in LV just 5 hours north and now they will be in a different division. Hope the Coyotes get something out of this deal.

Maybe we finally get an all star game

 

[MIGs Dog]

I wonder how much it will increase travel

Houston is on the east side and away from downtown traffic...should be an easy drive.

 

[jmichael7753]

I didn't even think about the Time zone aspect of this. Would help significantly in TV viewership especially with folks like me that need to get up at 3am.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

A new home in Houston knowing our luck

That's what Bettman meant when he said that moving the Coyotes to the Central was the best possible solution - if the team's new ownership/arena issue fizzles, it's a quick hop, skip, and jump to Houston with Fertitta and they won't even have to alter the alignment paperwork.

 

[Mosby]

 

[Murf]

As long as we were at 31, I wasn’t concerned. The NHL wasn’t going to move us before they got that last expansion payment. Now, who knows. Anything is possible.

 

[RABBIT]

Pagnotta has some credibility, so this is a relief.

 

[Tom Polakis]

I can see the argument (other than geographical) for moving to Quebec City, but what is the argument in favor of moving to Houston? Isn't that an even worse hockey market than Phoenix? It's not significantly more cosmopolitan, and it has less transplants from northern cities. Seems like Houston would have the same issues as Phoenix does with tepid fan support.

 

[CBJ goalie]

Not crazy about the move to the Central.....I think it would have been better to move Colorado to the Pacific, and Edmonton and Calgary to the Central.
Edmonton and Calgary have a history with Winnipeg.

 

[Coyotedroppings]

Oh... the Central Division.. ****, I thought it was a move to central Phoenix!

 

[moosemeister]

Not crazy about the move to the Central.....I think it would have been better to move Colorado to the Pacific, and Edmonton and Calgary to the Central.
Edmonton and Calgary have a history with Winnipeg.

I mean it’s easier to move one team than three. I get why they did it.

The only thing that’s concerning is this makes it that much easier to relocate the team to Houston

 

[The Feckless Puck]

I can see the argument (other than geographical) for moving to Quebec City, but what is the argument in favor of moving to Houston? Isn't that an even worse hockey market than Phoenix? It's not significantly more cosmopolitan, and it has less transplants from northern cities. Seems like Houston would have the same issues as Phoenix does with tepid fan support.

Houston has:

• ...a top of the line arena already in place with no financial or political entanglements with the city;
• ...an extremely wealthy owner already vetted by another league with interest in joining the club;
• ...perfect alignment for the Central Division;
• ...built-in in-state rivalry with Dallas;
• ...access to nearly 2.3 million people as the fourth-largest city in the U.S. behind NYC, LA, and Chicago (nearly twice the population of Phoenix);
• ...a stronger hockey history than Arizona has;
• ...the #7 TV market in the US (and access to Dallas-Fort Worth, which is 5th);
• ...a clean slate for the League so that they can forget the last decade-plus ever happened.

The case is tremendously overwhelming in favor of Houston over Phoenix. No amount of tony Scottsdale eateries and bars is going to make a better argument. The only thing in the way of a quick relocation is Bettman's pigheadedness and his latter-day distaste for how relocations look in terms of the NHL's overall strength.

 

[YotesFan47]

I was so excited to move to the central but with all this talk of Huston, I'm now bummed. Quit bursting my happy little bubble!

 

[MIGs Dog]

I didn't even think about the Time zone aspect of this. Would help significantly in TV viewership especially with folks like me that need to get up at 3am.

I live in Central time zone, so I'm happy

 

[Dirty Old Man]

Houston has:

• ...a stronger hockey history than Arizona has;

meh. true up until the mid 90s maybe, but I would disagree now.

 

[Coyotes2000]

Hey everyone.. it's all good and fine

 

[Dirty Old Man]

I was so excited to move to the central but with all this talk of Huston, I'm now bummed. Quit bursting my happy little bubble!

One of the twitter responses from a texas person to Cohen was interesting: "Dallas was in the Pacific for years, so not feeling too sorry for Arizona." Maybe not so much the tone, but it is true, after all the 21->30 expansion was completed, Dallas was geographically "isolated" for 15 years and survived. This is only for me an annoyance, decreasing the likelihood that the hyenas shut up.