Penguins moving to Quebec ???

sushinsky4tsar

Registered User
Oct 17, 2002
804
0
Edina, MN
Visit site
The funny thing is that if Pittsburgh didn't currently have a team, that would be the one market that everyone would point to as the perfect fit for an NHL franchise if they would just build a new arena. It's large when compared to such locations as Kansas City, Portland, and OKC. Football is king by a huge margin, but there is some hockey. Natural rivalries with Philly, Buffalo, and Columbus. No NBA team to compete against. No major NCAA hockey programs.

When you factor in that there actually is a team in Pittsburgh, and it's a team with a rich history......I really hope they can get something done.

I will take Pittsburgh over Houston any day when it comes to the NHL. The only major market that I really feel is being neglected, and would potentially bring more to the NHL than Pittsburgh, with a team of Crosby and Malkin, technically already has a team named the Blackhawks
 

petrskudra1

Registered User
Jun 14, 2005
1,381
0
Pittsburgh
Im not trying to say that Pittsburgh is a better hockey town than Buffalo and New York, but I cant see why Pitt isnt just as good or better. Any city can be a great hockey town if you you are a winner. Pittsburgh was tested this year, Buffalo has done well in down years, but through the Rangers dry spell the fans weren't exactly filling the seats. Im not calling New Yorkers bandwagoners, but Im saying with the size of that city, New York should be the Toronto of America.
 

tinyzombies

Registered User
Dec 24, 2002
16,826
2,338
Montreal, QC, Canada
ChitownExile said:
What you heard and the reality of the Pens are two completely different things.

For starters, the metropolitan area of Pittsburgh (primarily Butler and Allegheny counties) alone is nearly 25% of Quebec's total population. And considering that 3.5 million is the estimated total of the Montreal metropolitan area, I don't know where your "new" fans are coming from, because the Habs already have quite a fan base. Secondly, the number of counties in Ohio, West Virginia, and PA that are within an hour of Pittsburgh probably would add a couple hundred thousand to the available market for the Pens. That might push the possible market for the Pens to well over the 2.5 million mark.

According to the numbers this year, the Pens averaged 15,804 people per game, which is over 90% capacity. For the second WORST club in the NHL. Season ticket prices, while lower than Detroit and NYR, for example, are still not bottom-of-the-barrel. In fact, the biggest problem with the Pens' finances isn't attendence or merchandising, but a terrible lease on an outdated facility. Fix that, and I'm willing to bet the Pens turn a profit a few years into a new lease.

Also, Pittsburgh had the second highest TV ratings in the US, out of all American teams, second to Detroit. I don't see a new team out of Quebec commanding nearly that amount of brand recognition, even with Crosby and Malkin.

I'd love to see Quebec with a team again, but to say that Quebec City is a more viable hockey market than Pittsburgh is absurd when looking at the numbers. It's purely Canadian bias.

I don't even think there's a comparison, but I was trying to be nice. Quebec City is in the heart of hockey country, Pittsburgh is a medium-sized US town that has a hockey team and a decent, if sporadic, hockey tradition (mostly Lemieux tho). I know you guys are nervous about losing your team, and I might seem like I'm poking a stick, and you must be sick of all the stories. I've been to Pittsburgh and liked it a lot, so I have nothing against the town.

Apparently this story is a huge hoax anyway. And, like it's been said, the Penguins have legal complications that make it unlikely that they would move, at least in the short-term. Sounds like Lemieux is really trying to make it happen (a new Pittsburgh arena) by playing hardball tho.
 

Luigi Lemieux

Registered User
Sep 26, 2003
21,437
9,057
raketheleaves said:
I don't even think there's a comparison, but I was trying to be nice. Quebec City is in the heart of hockey country, Pittsburgh is a medium-sized US town that has a hockey team and a decent, if sporadic, hockey tradition (mostly Lemieux tho). I know you guys are nervous about losing your team, and I might seem like I'm poking a stick, and you must be sick of all the stories. I've been to Pittsburgh and liked it a lot, so I have nothing against the town.

Apparently this story is a huge hoax anyway. And, like it's been said, the Penguins have legal complications that make it unlikely that they would move, at least in the short-term. Sounds like Lemieux is really trying to make it happen (a new Pittsburgh arena) by playing hardball tho.
with a metro population of 2.4 million, pittsburgh would be the 3rd largest city in canada behind toronto and montreal and slightly larger than vancouver, so it's not as small as you think.
 

Finest

Puck Fittsburg
May 15, 2006
5,587
0
Long Island
Im not trying to say that Pittsburgh is a better hockey town than Buffalo and New York, but I cant see why Pitt isnt just as good or better. Any city can be a great hockey town if you you are a winner. Pittsburgh was tested this year, Buffalo has done well in down years, but through the Rangers dry spell the fans weren't exactly filling the seats. Im not calling New Yorkers bandwagoners, but Im saying with the size of that city, New York should be the Toronto of America.


You have a very valid point, and even though you dont call them bandwagoners, I would venture to say that many are. But! that isnt nessacarly a bad thing, i mean only time will tell but who knows how many people will return next season. It could be more and we could have established more fans. But through the ''dry spell'' ( i call it the woner years, like wondering *** has gone wrong) they still had i would venture a guess off 80-85% which is by no means great, but still had people there. I for one welcome bandwagon type fans, because as longs as that team wins, it spreads the word through its fans, and thats where growth for the league comes from. So as long as a major market team like NYR keeps winning in the reg season i see the sport growing.
Pitts fans understand the game and understand what it is to be re-building which is what they have been forced into. Pitt will be around for a long while more, this is all massive speculation!
 

blackhawksmaniac

Registered User
Jun 4, 2006
368
0
South Bend, IN
hotwheels* said:
No, if the Habs want an NHL franchise pick another team, no way in hell should the Penguins leave. They have a strong history in the NHL (two stanley cups don't make it a weak history).

Move the Panthers to Quebec or something.

Amen. Miami does not deserve an NHL team
 

shatner_rules

You're in Trouba
Nov 22, 2004
229
0
Manitoba
Originally posted by skullman80

If the Pens leave it's because the politicians have the fix in.

Amen. In our case(Winnipeg) it was the politicians listening to all those old farts who sit at home and watch The Price Is Right instead of building a new arena at that time which could have given us a fighting chance.

A bring back the Jets site that I frequent stated that Mark Chipman(owner of the AHL Manitoba Moose) put a bid in for the Penguins in May. I know, wishfull thinking.

No one likes to lose a team(believe me I've been there). I seriously can't see them(Penguins) moving to a Canadian city.
 

SuperUnknown

Registered User
Mar 14, 2002
4,890
0
Visit site
The problem in Quebec is corporate support. With a large share of employment being government jobs, there aren't that many corporations that can support the team (luxury box).
 

Dutch

Registered User
May 17, 2006
683
0
Trois-Rivières
Smail said:
The problem in Quebec is corporate support. With a large share of employment being government jobs, there aren't that many corporations that can support the team (luxury box).
There is NO luxury boxes in the Colisée right now... so unless there's a new arena and a miracle... the Remparts have nothing to worry about.
 

Saint Teemu

Registered User
Aug 16, 2005
142
0
Holy moley... it must have been a slow news day.

It'll be a chilly day in Heck before Winnipeg or Quebec gets a team, I fear. While they're both hockey hotbeds, I just don't think either city has a willing and (financially) viable owner who could make it happen.

As for Pittsburgh, isn't a deal for a new arena really close to getting done? And even if it isn't, they'd move to a large US centre first - there's no way an American owner would say, "Screw Houston, screw Las Vegas, screw Seattle, screw Oklahoma City! Let's go to Winnipeg, baby!"



By the way, I really enjoyed the article that translated "Les Nordiques" to "The Scandinavian Ones".
 

phillypensfan

Registered User
Aug 3, 2005
2,197
0
I hate the talk that the Pens could be sold to someone who is going to move them,but I don't yet think I've heard Oklahoma City as another potential destination. That could be interesting,I know they have a team in the CHL(Oklahoma City Blazers)I think it is...the arena for that team seats 10,400 which isn't bad for a minor league team. There is another one in Tulsa(Oilers). That could be a pretty decent market down there,but I just don't see OKC being considered when it comes to getting an NHL team.
 

roast

Registered User
Mar 3, 2004
858
0
Pittsburgh
God forbid the pens move, but if they don't I can't see them going to Quebec...how old is Le' Colisée? The only thing that is hurting the pens is that dump the civic arena...its not other problems in the city. Although what is going to kill this is Ed Rendell is a total ****** bag who only seems to care about Philly (no offense to Flyers fans) and our current mayor Bob O'Connor who is only concerned about finding abanded cars.
 

futurcorerock

Registered User
Nov 15, 2003
6,831
0
Columbus, OH
Pens to Quebec is the biggest crime in the history of hockey.

There's nothing good about moving a failed market's franchise to another failed market. NOTHING.
 

dabid

Registered User
Feb 6, 2006
9,733
677
HFBoards
futurcorerock said:
Pens to Quebec is the biggest crime in the history of hockey.

There's nothing good about moving a failed market's franchise to another failed market. NOTHING.
Worked out for Colorado alright..
 

skullman80

Registered User
Nov 18, 2005
4,088
2
Pittsburgh, Pa
futurcorerock said:
Pens to Quebec is the biggest crime in the history of hockey.

There's nothing good about moving a failed market's franchise to another failed market. NOTHING.

Pittsburgh isn't a failed hockey market. Period.

There wouldn't even be talk of moving the team, if there was a new arena built.
 

CoupeStanley

Registered User
Dec 1, 2003
2,783
187
Nicolet
coupestanley.com
I never really beleived it but if really Guy Laliberté is part of the project, it's a whole different matter.

The guy's loaded with cash. He's a master of world reknown at entertainment and producing quality shows . He rarely failed at anything.
 

HandshakeLine

A real jerk thing
Nov 9, 2005
47,751
31,593
Praha, CZ
CoupeStanley said:
I never really beleived it but if really Guy Laliberté is part of the project, it's a whole different matter.

The guy's loaded with cash. He's a master of world reknown at entertainment and producing quality shows . He rarely failed at anything.

Mark Cuban just announced today that he is part of a group bidding on the Pens with the express purpose of keeping them in Pittsburgh. Quebec might have to start looking for another team after all.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->