NHL in Seattle?

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YogiCanucks

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Jan 1, 2007
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Seattle is a FANTASTIC sports town but I don't see how they'd support hockey. Selfishly I'd love it to continue to renewed rivalry between Vancouver and Seattle.
 

GKJ

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Feb 27, 2002
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This Seattle thing gained legs pretty quick. Given an arena, I think this is a no-brainer.
 

rojac

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putting all the canadian teams in the same division is just plain dumb. The northwest division is horrendously laid out.

The one thing that putting the Canadian teams in one division does is maximizes the number of games between Canadian teams which are big rating grabbers for TSN and CBC.
 

LeftCoast

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Aug 1, 2006
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While I would love to see the NHL in Seattle, I have some reservations. I suspect an NHL team would be used as the catalyst to build a new arena (or renovate Key Arena yet again) and lure the NBA back to Seattle. In that case, while it would be hard to match the disinterest and incompetence the Atlanta Spirit Group has demonstrated, I would want to know that the ownership group is committed to hockey first and foremost. Honestly, I think the NHL would need a good 10 years in Seattle to develop the market without competition from the NBA.
 

Melrose Munch

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Mar 18, 2007
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While I would love to see the NHL in Seattle, I have some reservations. I suspect an NHL team would be used as the catalyst to build a new arena (or renovate Key Arena yet again) and lure the NBA back to Seattle. In that case, while it would be hard to match the disinterest and incompetence the Atlanta Spirit Group has demonstrated, I would want to know that the ownership group is committed to hockey first and foremost. Honestly, I think the NHL would need a good 10 years in Seattle to develop the market without competition from the NBA.
I have to agree with this. Seattle can be a four sport market, but the NHL would be last.
 

sigma six

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Aug 2, 2005
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Whatever works, I'm just glad someone is trying to get something started. I do wonder who the prospective owner is, if not Ballmer. The guy from Amazon, maybe?
 

MuzikMachine

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Nov 14, 2005
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While I would love to see the NHL in Seattle, I have some reservations. I suspect an NHL team would be used as the catalyst to build a new arena (or renovate Key Arena yet again) and lure the NBA back to Seattle. In that case, while it would be hard to match the disinterest and incompetence the Atlanta Spirit Group has demonstrated, I would want to know that the ownership group is committed to hockey first and foremost. Honestly, I think the NHL would need a good 10 years in Seattle to develop the market without competition from the NBA.

As there are no major tenants at the Key Arena and provided there would be the proper funding in place (sounds like there is little appetite for public funding), what are the chances the Key Arena could be imploded and a new arena constructed at that site?

What would be preferable; an arena in downtown Seattle or a more suburban area like Bellevue?
 

james bond

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Aug 5, 2007
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As there are no major tenants at the Key Arena and provided there would be the proper funding in place (sounds like there is little appetite for public funding), what are the chances the Key Arena could be imploded and a new arena constructed at that site?

What would be preferable; an arena in downtown Seattle or a more suburban area like Bellevue?

Both areas could probably work but after seeing the Coyotes have trouble in a suburban area maybe downtown (key arena rebuild) would be best. It may be prudent to ensure the Arena would have some type of public transport nearby. I hope that the Bellevue site could still be in play if a downtown venue doesnt come to fruition.
http://www.king5.com/video/featured...ential-NHL-Seattle-team-rumors-122631509.html
 
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sigma six

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Part of the problem with Key is that not only is it's interior unsuited to hockey but it is sandwiched between a residential neighborhood and the rest of Seattle Center. In a way, this was cool because you could literally walk to Key from the Queen Anne neighborhood. But there's not much room to expand the arena's footprint without modifying Seattle Center.

Because of this, an Eastside location might indeed be a better idea; just start from scratch.

KeyArena.jpg


dropofflocals.gif
 

HabsByTheBay

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Dec 3, 2010
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London
After moving to Seattle, I don't know how well an NHL team would do here. Look at the support for the Sounders. They are broadcast on the local NBC affiliate. That's how lame this area is when it comes to sports. If there were an NHL team here, and they ran it like the Sharks then I can see it being successful. But to those who say it's a Mariners town, they get like 14k a night for games that's not the definition of a baseball town.
The Mariners have stank for years, that's why they get 19,000 a game. Still, their attendance is hardly embarrassing.

Seattle's a great sports town. Their love of the Seahawks knows no bounds despite the fact the Seahawks have usually been pretty crappy, they've treated the Mariners very well for the past 20 years (they were a joke franchise before then), they've set new standards in MLS support for the Sounders and they loved the Sonics. They're huge backers of UW sports as well.

Hell, it's probably one of the better sports towns in the country.
 

No Fun Shogun

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May 1, 2011
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The Mariners have stank for years, that's why they get 19,000 a game. Still, their attendance is hardly embarrassing.

Maybe, but it is close.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

24th in the league in attendance. Not technically awful, but well below average, especially considering that they have the second lowest capacity percentage draw.

What's worrisome though is if you look through the archives, you'll see that they've had a steady decline for the past decade. 2001 and 2002 saw them have the best draw in the entire MLB, but since then they've been dropping every single year. Granted, yes... they haven't been to the postseason in a long, long time, but I'd hardly call a team that went from the best to the bottom quarter in attendance in a decade due to average to mediocre performances for the most part that strong of an indicator of a town's sports loyalty.

You are right about their support of the Seahawks and the Sounders, though. Only question is if an NHL team would be consistently followed as those teams, or if they'd only pack the house when they're doing good, like the Mariners.
 

AdmiralsFan24

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Mar 22, 2011
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The Mariners have stank for years, that's why they get 19,000 a game. Still, their attendance is hardly embarrassing.

I agree with this. Back in the early 2000s when the Mariners were good they averaging over 40,000 a game and were top 5 in percentage of the stadium filled. Then Bavasi totally wrecked the team the team and for the most part they have sucked ever since but even in a three year stretch from 2004-2006 when the Mariners averaged a 70-92 record they were still in the top half of MLB in attendance. Attendance only started to fall in the last few seasons and prior to the start of this year the Mariners had lost 100+ games in two of their last three seasons.

For comparison, that's like an NBA team having a 31-51 record, same with the NHL. I don't know of many people that are going to want to pay to watch that.
 

schulzte

Registered User
Oct 20, 2007
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It seems like the Tacoma Dome would make a better temporary facility than Key Arena. It wouldn't be a great facility, but at least most of the seating would have a view of all the ice. The Tacoma Dome has 16,000 seats (mostly bleachers and no suites), an ice plant, and has hosted hockey in the past. I think the NHL needs to get into Seattle ASAP, and try to stake a claim for the city themselves before the NBA tries to go back.
 

knorthern knight

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Mar 18, 2011
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I suspect an NHL team would be used as the catalyst to build a new arena (or renovate Key Arena yet again) and lure the NBA back to Seattle. In that case, while it would be hard to match the disinterest and incompetence the Atlanta Spirit Group has demonstrated, I would want to know that the ownership group is committed to hockey first and foremost. Honestly, I think the NHL would need a good 10 years in Seattle to develop the market without competition from the NBA.
I think that the things to watch out for are that
  1. the arena isn't too busy, and
  2. the owners have a cable TV revenue stream for the NHL team
The problem at Atlanta is NOT the NBA team, but rather that ASG feels they can make more money by kicking out the Thrashers for 45 dates, and bringing in 15-to-20 concerts/tractor-pulls/wrestling etc events. Philips in Atlanta is the 2nd busiest venue in the US, and Sprint in KC is number 3. Sprint is doing very well, thank you, without NHL OR NBA. AEG who runs Sprint Center in KC (not to be confused with ASG who runs Philips Arena in Atlanta), do not seem to be trying very hard to pull in an NHL or NBA team.

If you want to get into conspiracy theories, maybe ASG would like to switch over to Sprint Center's business model, i.e. all events and no major league sports, in order to maximize profits at Philips. ASG knows that kicking out the Hawks could cause riots in Atlanta. But if the NBA implodes, and/or relocates out of Atlanta, ASG could point their fingers elsewhere, and escape blame.

Toronto has the NHL Leafs and the NBA Raptors in Air Canada Centre, but there is competition from Rogers Centre, Roy Thomson Hall, and a few convention centres. So Air Canada Centre would not be able to instantly/profitably be able to fill 45 holes in their winter schedule. I don't know if there are equivalant indoor sites in Atlanta. Also, MLSE has cable TV revenues for the Raptors and Leafs. There is no equivalant for concerts/whatever.
 

mucker*

Guest
I think Seattle would be perfect for the NHL. It is an affluent, sophisticated, pretty big market.
They could support 4 major sports teams, but without the NBA, it makes the NHL more viable.
They would at some point need a new rink.

I read that globemail article, and I found it encouraging that Vancouver is really for them getting a team.
Usually it is not often you see a nearby city want a potential team taking away from them but in this case it makes sense, because Vancouver has a lot of traveling to do, and this would ease.

I'm curious, right now, in Seattle, do they care at all for the NHL?
Do they get CBC, Canucks games, or any hockey teams?
Are they a satellite city for Vancouver right now, is the stanley cup finals and are the Canucks treated almost like they play nearby?
 

Mantha Poodoo

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Jun 5, 2008
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SJ - Seattle - Vancouver - Edmonton - Calgary division would be win. And fix a crapton of divisional alignment problems.
 

LosVikingsDeChicago

Registered User
Aug 2, 2005
289
12
I think Seattle would be perfect for the NHL. It is an affluent, sophisticated, pretty big market.
They could support 4 major sports teams, but without the NBA, it makes the NHL more viable.
They would at some point need a new rink.

I read that globemail article, and I found it encouraging that Vancouver is really for them getting a team.
Usually it is not often you see a nearby city want a potential team taking away from them but in this case it makes sense, because Vancouver has a lot of traveling to do, and this would ease.

I'm curious, right now, in Seattle, do they care at all for the NHL?
Do they get CBC, Canucks games, or any hockey teams?
Are they a satellite city for Vancouver right now, is the stanley cup finals and are the Canucks treated almost like they play nearby?

I just moved to Seattle, but I would hazard to guess that the interest is minimal at best like a lot of NHL cities once their teams have been eliminated. You can probably do a scan of the media outlets to gauge interest. Also, you can get CBC if you get Comcast, but in terms of OTA it's a bit more difficult to receive a signal from Seattle.
 

MoreOrr

B4
Jun 20, 2006
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I just moved to Seattle, but I would hazard to guess that the interest is minimal at best like a lot of NHL cities once their teams have been eliminated. You can probably do a scan of the media outlets to gauge interest. Also, you can get CBC if you get Comcast, but in terms of OTA it's a bit more difficult to receive a signal from Seattle.

I don't live there, but I'd hazard a guess that they're not interested in what they don't have.
 

LosVikingsDeChicago

Registered User
Aug 2, 2005
289
12
I don't live there, but I'd hazard a guess that they're not interested in what they don't have.

I agree. I guess what I was trying to elucidate that even cities with the NHL don't even care what happens once their team is eliminated. I'm from Dallas, and I can tell you that the interest in the Stanley Cup would be extermely low even if the Mavericks weren't playing in the NBA finals.
 

sigma six

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Aug 2, 2005
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Hmm. The Metros original color scheme is too close to what Minny currently has. I would prefer to go with Seattle's penchant for navy blue and green (Seahawks, M's, T-birds) but the Nucks already latched onto that.

The neon green is kinda cool as an alternate/third.

Or maybe they could go with the emerald and yellow of the Sonics. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

edit: I also think the Sounders colors could work well, sort of like the Nucks colors but in reverse.
 
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AdmiralsFan24

Registered User
Mar 22, 2011
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Wisconsin
I agree that the last uniforms wouldn't work because those look almost exactly like the Wild uniforms.

That green is way too bright. If you used the blue as the main color and the green as a secondary color, those uniforms would be pretty cool.
 
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