Beaner
Registered User
...and this is why I say that former Sonics owner Barry Ackerly should be getting his nuts roasted in the media right now. He purposely built Key Arena in this manner so that an NHL Franchise wouldn't take money away from the Sonics.
I'll also go out on a limb and say that if the T-birds move to Kent they will fold or move out of state within two to four years. There hasn't been a successful hockey franchise south of Seattle...ever. That and Kenton (Kent-Renton) has the worst freeway system in the State.
Agree fully about Ackerly.
Not too sure if it would spell the end of the T-Brids if they moved to Kent. The previous T-Birds owner, Bill Tuill, got out of the Seattle Team, won the expansion bid into Everett and it is one of the more successful teams attendance wise and on the ice as well, in the entire league. They have a very nice 6500+ rink in Everett, which is brand new.
If it can be done successfully just north of Seattle, I see no reason why it couldn't succeed just south of Seattle, in a community that WANTS a team, and is willing to put up the $$ to get a team.
Anyway you slice it though, the T-birds cannot survive in the Key arena for much longer.