NHL in Seattle?

[LeftCoast]

Why doesn't Seattle try AHL first in lieu of being an NHL market-in-waiting, like Winnipeg? Affiliate with Vancouver.

This.

The NHL is not going to expand for at least another 5, probably more years. In the meantime, an AHL team in Seattle could build the market.

The AHL would work better as a market builder than the WHL. The AHL is a professional league and the calibre of hockey is a big step up from Major Junior. More importantly however, an affiliation with an NHL team (preferably Vancouver) would carry over to the NHL as people would tend to follow prospects who get called up to the NHL.

As far as travel costs go, I'm sure Abbotsford would welcome another west coast team to split the visiting team travel costs with. Seattle is far enough away that it would not cannibalize the Abbotsford market, but close enough that, if it were the Canucks farm team, Canucks fans from Vancouver would make road trips.

Maybe some day UW will have an NCAA hockey program.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

As far as travel costs go, I'm sure Abbotsford would welcome another west coast team to split the visiting team travel costs with.

I'm sure they would but now that the Moose are gone what's the closest team after Abbotsford? Every other city is more than a three hour flight.

Not sure why you would want an AHL team in Seattle when there's only one other team on the West coast and only three more West of the Mississippi River and those three teams are in Texas.

 

[LeftCoast]

I'm sure they would but now that the Moose are gone what's the closest team after Abbotsford? Every other city is more than a three hour flight.

Not sure why you would want an AHL team in Seattle when there's only one other team on the West coast and only three more West of the Mississippi River and those three teams are in Texas.

There are also the OK City Barrons (Edmonton's affiliate).

As flights are generally cheaper in the US, I wouldn't be surprised if travel costs from Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City and Chicago to Seattle are cheaper than Vancouver / Abbotsford to Winnipeg. I also wouldn't be surprised if teams currently on occasion flew into Seattle (or Seattle -> Bellingham) from Chicago and DFW and bussed up to Abbotsford.

The AHL expanding its footprint westward in inevitable. What it takes is clusters of teams in certain areas. There are now 4 teams in the South West. Abbotsford and Seattle might open up a West Coast cluster (Sacramento, Portland) or even a Pacific Northwest cluster (Portland, Salt Lake City).

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

Forgot about OKC. Still though, a team in Seattle would likely go to the North Division which means division games with Hamilton, Toronto, Grand Rapids, Abbotsford, Cleveland and Rochester. That is just an insane travel schedule.

 

[LeftCoast]

Forgot about OKC. Still though, a team in Seattle would likely go to the North Division which means division games with Hamilton, Toronto, Grand Rapids, Abbotsford, Cleveland and Rochester. That is just an insane travel schedule.

That's true. If the AHL does continue to expand westward, at some point an East - West divisional alignment would make sense.

 

[beth]

Is there any more room near Quest and Safeco to build a new 18K seat Arena? Would probably be the best location.

I have heard Bellevue mentioned in the past. Most important thing about a new arena is the location.

People aren't going to make a long trek to Glendale to see hockey in Arizona. People would make the long trek to Kanata to see hockey in Eastern Ontario for the Senators.

Building location must be convenient for people to get to. Should be somewhat near downtown, don't want to put it in the suburbs.

If congestion is as bad as you say, think what would happen if a Seattle team made the finals. Vancouver is having to deal with traffic for a 5pm local start time for the finals.

I'm not sure where the best open spaces are, all I know is that Seattle Center where Key Arena is happens to be super crappy to get to. It's just that all the streets from the freeway to get there are all convoluted and congested. And there's not a whole lot of parking, so you're driving all around looking for a spot which just makes things worse. Just about any place than that would be better! Bellevue isn't far, it's just across the lake, and while the bridges do get congested at peak times too, they still would be better than the mess at Seattle Center, IMO.

 

[Max et Guillaume]

How can people claim that Seattle would fail? I agree maybe AHL would be a great first step, but you need two things to make an NHL team work: fans, and corporate $$$.

Seattle metro currently supports 3 WHL franchises, + 1 in Spokane, 1 in Tri-Cities and 1 in Portland. You definitely have enough interest in hockey.

Seattle is home to Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, Amazon, Expedia, Nordstrom, JR Simplot amongst others... all HUGE corporations. Getting corporate financing for luxury boxes and such would be easy pie.

The main problem, today, is the arena. Key is not a viable solution, as many have stated. Unless the city (and-or potential owner) builds a new, nice stadium that can support AHL/NHL level hockey and bring back an NBA team, I don't see it happening... but the potential is definitely there, no doubt about it.

 

[GKJ]

This.

The NHL is not going to expand for at least another 5, probably more years. In the meantime, an AHL team in Seattle could build the market.

The AHL would work better as a market builder than the WHL. The AHL is a professional league and the calibre of hockey is a big step up from Major Junior. More importantly however, an affiliation with an NHL team (preferably Vancouver) would carry over to the NHL as people would tend to follow prospects who get called up to the NHL.

As far as travel costs go, I'm sure Abbotsford would welcome another west coast team to split the visiting team travel costs with. Seattle is far enough away that it would not cannibalize the Abbotsford market, but close enough that, if it were the Canucks farm team, Canucks fans from Vancouver would make road trips.

Maybe some day UW will have an NCAA hockey program.

And I only say affiliate with Vancouver, not just because it's right up the road, but the Canucks have had proven success with their affiliates. Manitoba's last 3 coaches all went on to the NHL, one of them winning a Stanley Cup, another with a chance this month to do it. Obviously, this is in partnership with TNSE. But the Moose moved from Minnesota, so the NHL is following these guys around

Closer affiliates are becoming the way of the AHL, provided it's in the right market. If not Vancouver, then someone like Anaheim or Colorado would be interested.

 

[LosVikingsDeChicago]

FYI - The local NBC affiliate isn't even showing the Stanley Cup. It's on another channel. Tell me how high the sport ranks in the area again?

 

[Seattle Shark]

FYI - The local NBC affiliate isn't even showing the Stanley Cup. It's on another channel. Tell me how high the sport ranks in the area again?

Yeah, KING 5 pushes anything sports related onto their sister station. They seem to think that their local newscast supersedes everything.

 

[ReidusFoose]

I think a team in Seattle could take a page from Buffalos book and have people from Vancouver coming down to see games

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

I think a team in Seattle could take a page from Buffalos book and have people from Vancouver coming down to see games

Aside for Canucks games, I don't. Buffalo is right on the border and the B.C./USA border isn't anywhere near as populated as the Ontario/USA one.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Aside for Canucks games, I don't. Buffalo is right on the border and the B.C./USA border isn't anywhere near as populated as the Ontario/USA one.

I'm pretty sure that Seattle will support its team all on their own without much help from Vancouver road games. They have 3.5 million people, hockey roots which includes a few junior teams that are well-supported, and some decent corporate backing. If they find a way to get themselves an arena, I don't think they'd have a problem as long as they stay away from perpetual failure on the ice.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

FYI - The local NBC affiliate isn't even showing the Stanley Cup. It's on another channel. Tell me how high the sport ranks in the area again?

Don't really see that as a huge problem. Milwaukee gets great NHL ratings and our local NBC affiliate didn't say a word about the Stanley Cup on the news or promote it at all before the series started.

 

[jkrdevil]

Seattle affliates are a little wierd when it comes to live sports. Didn't the Seattle ABC affiliate used to tape delay non-Seahawks Monday Night Football games as to not interrupt their news broadcast?

 

[Renbarg]

Don't really see that as a huge problem. Milwaukee gets great NHL ratings and our local NBC affiliate didn't say a word about the Stanley Cup on the news or promote it at all before the series started.

Ya but at least its probably on the local NBC affiliate.





I think Seattle is a very weird city and a hard to put a finger on.

The fact that hockey isn't really American probably works in its favor. I have no doubt that part of the reason soccer is so popular in Seattle is the fact that it is "European" and therefore "cool" to embrace. Something similar might happen with hockey.

 

[might2mash]

FYI - The local NBC affiliate isn't even showing the Stanley Cup. It's on another channel. Tell me how high the sport ranks in the area again?

Wow, I didn't think NBC would allow that from their affiliates. Usually they only let national programming be superseded in cases of breaking news or something.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

Ya but at least its probably on the local NBC affiliate.

It was but is it really any better? Unless a bunch of people don't get the channel that they put the game on I don't see that as any worse than not promoting it at all when it's on your network.

 

[jkrdevil]

Wow, I didn't think NBC would allow that from their affiliates. Usually they only let national programming be superseded in cases of breaking news or something.

Affiliates can basically do what they want. See the whole NBC late nate fiasco a couple of years ago. That basically happened because affiliates threatened to revolt and pre-empt NBC programming.

 

[beth]

Yeah, the tv thing is super annoying. Directv had the Cup game listed on KING5, but it was actually on KONG16, its sister station. If I wasn't watching the game from the beginning and depended on the DVR to catch it, I would've been screwed!

 

[sigma six]

The fact that hockey isn't really American probably works in its favor. I have no doubt that part of the reason soccer is so popular in Seattle is the fact that it is "European" and therefore "cool" to embrace. Something similar might happen with hockey.

Thousands of people play soccer in school and rec leagues in the pac northwest, that's why MLS is doing so well here. People already liked the sport.

I'm sure you didn't intend to call us all pretentious, or anything.

 

[MuzikMachine]

Wow, I am surprised that these news articles are coming out now, and especially surprised that Bill Daly is acknowledging them. This kind of came out of nowhere, but I would love an NHL team in Seattle, and I think most Canucks fans would agree with me. Seattle is an amazing city and it would be great to be able to have a roadtrip to see a Canucks road game! Do we have any forumers from Seattle who can comment? From what I know of Seattle's arena situation, a new arena would probably never be approved, but what about a growing suburb like Bellevue? There might be an appetite for a Glendale-type arena district there as they have a booming downtown,

I agree with the concept, I just don't know if Glendale is the best example if you were trying to sell the idea to Bellevue city council .

For those in Seattle, how is Bellevue regarded? If a suburban arena was constructed in the Seattle area, would Bellevue compare to Scottsdale while Tacoma compares with Glendale in terms of demographics and a long-term season ticket base? I'm not familiar either city, but I do recall hearing that if Jobing.com arena was built in Scottsdale, the Coyotes might have had a better chance to be successful based on the demographics of the community.

 

[Canuckommunist]

Nah Seattle isn't nearly as yuppieish as people make it out to be. They're a good sports town. They love the Seahawks and the Mariners are a good draw. If the NBA came back people would go back to cheering for the Sonics. Soccer isn't a big draw coz it's "European", the whole West Coast is into soccer and it's a big draw in America period (just not as much as other sports). It's just that, in the absence of NBA/NHL and football for much of its season and the fact the climate out here is actually pretty suitable to go enjoy a game, you know.

Seattle would be a good hockey city. They'd get a lot of fans coming down from Vancouver for those friendlies and more of a West coast presence could do nothing but good for the NHL. The West Coast is already a good area for hockey development and an NHL team would get it on the radar (especially if they could get it in before the NBA did). There'd be growing pains but I think far less severe than what many Southern teams were experiencing. However they really need an arena first. Once that's done it's probably only a matter of time.

Ya but at least its probably on the local NBC affiliate.

I think Seattle is a very weird city and a hard to put a finger on.

The fact that hockey isn't really American probably works in its favor. I have no doubt that part of the reason soccer is so popular in Seattle is the fact that it is "European" and therefore "cool" to embrace. Something similar might happen with hockey.

 

[LosVikingsDeChicago]

I agree with the concept, I just don't know if Glendale is the best example if you were trying to sell the idea to Bellevue city council .

For those in Seattle, how is Bellevue regarded? If a suburban arena was constructed in the Seattle area, would Bellevue compare to Scottsdale while Tacoma compares with Glendale in terms of demographics and a long-term season ticket base? I'm not familiar either city, but I do recall hearing that if Jobing.com arena was built in Scottsdale, the Coyotes might have had a better chance to be successful based on the demographics of the community.

It takes about 17 minutes to drive from Bellevue to downtown Seattle without any traffic, with traffic it might take 30 minutes or more. Let's just put it this way, my wife works at the most expensive building in downtown Bellevue. Her building includes Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, Niemann Marcus, Ferragamo, Hermes, etc. The Eastside is awash in Microsoft money.

 

[gernb]

An arena update with an NHL mention.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nba/2015487119_arena02.html