YogiCanucks
Registered User
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.
putting all the canadian teams in the same division is just plain dumb. The northwest division is horrendously laid out.
I think a team in Seattle could do ok. Better than some of the desert teams at any rate.
I have to agree with this. Seattle can be a four sport market, but the NHL would be last.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.
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?
The Mariners have stank for years, that's why they get 19,000 a game. Still, their attendance is hardly embarrassing.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.
The Mariners have stank for years, that's why they get 19,000 a game. Still, their attendance is hardly embarrassing.
I think that the things to watch out for are thatI 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 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.
I don't live there, but I'd hazard a guess that they're not interested in what they don't have.
Seattle Metropolitans should be the name hands down. They were the first American team to win the Stanley Cup in 1917.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Metropolitans