Sens Board Perspective- NHL Expansion Into Las Vegas

[Sens Mile]

Hey guys,

If a mod wants to lock this up than no issues, I do not want to break HFboards rules.

What are Ottawa fans perspectives on the recent belief that NHL will expand into Vegas? As a fan of parity, I am all in favour of expanding out west before going back to the east. I personally believe that within 30 years we will be around 50 teams and love to see NHL all throughout North America.

Anyway, what are your personal opinions?

Click to read more...

 

[Rand0m]

As long as Quebec City gets a team then I don't care.

 

[Sens Mile]

As long as Quebec City gets a team then I don't care.

Thinking about going to the otherside? They need one for when an eastern team relocates

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Thinking about going to the otherside? They need one for when an eastern team relocates

Thats what Im thinking, they're saving Quebec for when a team like the Panthers leaves town.

The league can't add another team to the east without making the conferences even more unbalanced. ITs stupid that the east has more teams as it is, im actually surprised more people aren't upset by this.

Throw a team in vegas and its a bit better.

BEsides, im sure the NHL is concerned with the status of the Canadian dollar. It doesn't look like it will be on par with the greenback again any time soon, if it drops to 60ish cents again . . .

 

[Sens Mile]

Thats what Im thinking, they're saving Quebec for when a team like the Panthers leaves town.

The league can't add another team to the east without making the conferences even more unbalanced. ITs stupid that the east has more teams as it is, im actually surprised more people aren't upset by this.

Throw a team in vegas and its a bit better.

BEsides, im sure the NHL is concerned with the status of the Canadian dollar. It doesn't look like it will be on par with the greenback again any time soon, if it drops to 60ish cents again . . .

That low, jeez hopefully not

 

[HispanicAtTheDisco]

Add a team in Vegas, then one is either Portland or Seattle. Relocate someone to Quebec.

 

[Sens Mile]

Add a team in Vegas, then one is either Portland or Seattle. Relocate someone to Quebec.

Seattle seems like a definite to me, European expansion to follow

 

[TheNewEra]

please, and get them to take greening

 

[L'Aveuglette]

Seattle seems like a definite to me, European expansion to follow

European expansion would be terrible. The NHL is a north american league.

 

[Sens Mile]

With flight technology, that is the old way of thinking. In about 15 years a flight from Canada to Australia will take two hours, European NHL expansion is an inevitability. I am completely supportive of a global NHL presence

 

[QuietOnTheFront]

Add a team in Vegas, then one is either Portland or Seattle. Relocate someone to Quebec.

I agree with this 100%.

Need at least two teams in the West to balance the current alignment. Having a team in Seattle would be great for me as it would give me two chances to see the Sens.

 

[DrunkUncleDenis]

With flight technology, that is the old way of thinking. In about 15 years a flight from Canada to Australia will take two hours, European NHL expansion is an inevitability. I am completely supportive of a global NHL presence

I doubt we'll see hypersonic commercial airliners for a while. That'd be 4,000 MPH. Humans going Mach 6 = dangerous as hell.

I don't think European expansion work work. Logistics and travel would be terrible. I'm not sure Europe as a whole would be too interested in the NHL style of hockey, either, but I don't know the stats on that.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Add a team in Vegas, then one is either Portland or Seattle. Relocate someone to Quebec.

Sounds good.

My only worry is the other business in Vegas. The NHL will have to work with the NHLPA to add a very strong set of strict guidelines regarding gambling and associating with anyone connected to the industry.

We don't need to see an NHL version of the Black Sox.

 

[bacon25]

Hey guys,

If a mod wants to lock this up than no issues, I do not want to break HFboards rules.

What are Ottawa fans perspectives on the recent belief that NHL will expand into Vegas? As a fan of parity, I am all in favour of expanding out west before going back to the east. I personally believe that within 30 years we will be around 50 teams and love to see NHL all throughout North America.

Anyway, what are your personal opinions?

Personal opinion, hell NO! But if we are going to look at this on an economic level, Bettman should move the Coyotes to Vegas. The Coyotes are not doing well and will not improve despite the promises that they will. It only makes sense to take a struggling desert team and slightly relocate them to Vegas.

As well there is no owner in Vegas, no stadium and no stable fanbase. As stated in other threads of this topic, if no other mainstream pro sports organization has moved in on Vegas that should tell everyone something. Hockey is still unpopular in the US despite what Bettman and the media say. I could go on but suffice to say I am not high on the idea. IF Bettman is set on another Western American city, Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake would be better options. Quebec city, Toronto and Hamilton deserve teams before we experiment with more sunbelt teams. Bettman is playing everyone for a fool in that he knows Canadian teams will rake in million in expansion fees and pay more in order to get a team. Vegas is thrown into the mix in order to rake up the price.

There is also the talk of dilution of talent in the NHL, and the fact that there is already too many teams. Anyways I'll get off my soapbox, I followed the Coyotes sale thread for years and it was blatant how stupid the NHL was to put a team in Arizona.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Dilution of talent in the league is a very good thing. As long as the league remains strict on the hooking, holding and interference, having more teams will give the skill guys and speedsters much more room to operate and do their thing.

There's just so many players who are good at the game right now, and so many good, solid defensive systems, you need to hope your opposition makes a rare mistake to get a scoring chance.

More teams = more players = dilution of skill = more errors = more scoring chances for guys with skill.

 

[Baby Ryan]

Seattle and Las Vegas expansion. Panthers relocate to Quebec.

Do it.

Please.

Would just be more exciting to be able to watch more teams in the league as well as another team in Canada.

 

[18Hossa]

Agreed with the majority, expand to Seattle and Vegas, move Panthers to Quebec, and then move the Coyotes to Portland/other western team.

 

[Benjamin]

I dont care where a team is located as long as its successful.

 

[Karl Cowensson]

I doubt we'll see hypersonic commercial airliners for a while. That'd be 4,000 MPH. Humans going Mach 6 = dangerous as hell.

I don't think European expansion work work. Logistics and travel would be terrible. I'm not sure Europe as a whole would be too interested in the NHL style of hockey, either, but I don't know the stats on that.

Its not how fast the plane can go but how high. Once you get into orbit its 20 mins to any where on the planet. Within 20 years it may be economical for NHL teams to travel that way, we are supposed to see the first commercial space flight in the next year.

But until that happens keep it in North America.

Seattle and Las Vegas expansion. Panthers relocate to Quebec.

Do it.

Please.

Would just be more exciting to be able to watch more teams in the league as well as another team in Canada.

You gotta think this is the plan. Canadian dollar may not be on the rise, but a Quebec team would fill the arena every game, something the Panthers wont be able to do anytime soon. Plus the NHL really really needs to even out the conferences. When realignment happend I thought for sure an expansion announcement would come soon, I'm surprised its been this long for them to announce anything.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Its not how fast the plane can go but how high. Once you get into orbit its 20 mins to any where on the planet. Within 20 years it may be economical for NHL teams to travel that way, we are supposed to see the first commercial space flight in the next year.

But until that happens keep it in North America.



You gotta think this is the plan. Canadian dollar may not be on the rise, but a Quebec team would fill the arena every game, something the Panthers wont be able to do anytime soon. Plus the NHL really really needs to even out the conferences. When realignment happend I thought for sure an expansion announcement would come soon, I'm surprised its been this long for them to announce anything.

Someone's gotta explain the science behind that one. I've been out of school too long, and the idea of that kind of fast flight in semi-space (? or whatever it's called) is new to me.

 

[Busboy]

Vegas seems like a no brainer to me. The NHL should have no problem selling season tickets to casinos who can then giveaway or package tickets to guests. It's just another draw to get people into casinos.

Serve alcohol during the game and force customers to exit the stadium through the casino floors. Seems like a great business plan.

 

[StefanW]

Expansion will happen regardless of what we think, so I guess we should embrace it.

The plus is that it can level out the unbalanced number of teams in each conference. That is not a huge deal, but it does make some sense. It also puts money into the pockets of current owners, which is neither here nor there to me. Trickle down economics works as well in hockey as it does in any other business environment, which is to say that it does not work at all.

The downside is a further dilution of talent, although adding 2 teams to a 30 team league wont be huge in that regard. The bad side of dilution of talent is we see more marginal players, and scoring drops. It is not a coincidence that the dead puck era of dropping scoring rates coincided with expansion from 22 to 30 teams. When guys who should be in the AHL start to get NHL jobs, and third line players become second line players due the dilution of talent, scoring takes a hit.

I think contraction would make the game better, but that is not going to happen.

 

[Benjamin]

Someone's gotta explain the science behind that one. I've been out of school too long, and the idea of that kind of fast flight in semi-space (? or whatever it's called) is new to me.

I cant explain it but the ISS's speed is 7.66 km per second.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

I cant explain it but the ISS's speed is 7.66 km per second.

Yeah, but the ISS is in orbit around the Earth. I'm pretty sure commercial aircraft won't be that high up in our lifetime. That's like outer space....I think the commercial stuff they're doing is that point below the outer atmosphere right were you start to lose gravity, iirc. Leave the atmosphere and you need helluva expensive/sophisticated ship to survive the re-entry without burning up.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Expansion will happen regardless of what we think, so I guess we should embrace it.

The plus is that it can level out the unbalanced number of teams in each conference. That is not a huge deal, but it does make some sense. It also puts money into the pockets of current owners, which is neither here nor there to me. Trickle down economics works as well in hockey as it does in any other business environment, which is to say that it does not work at all.

The downside is a further dilution of talent, although adding 2 teams to a 30 team league wont be huge in that regard. The bad side of dilution of talent is we see more marginal players, and scoring drops. It is not a coincidence that the dead puck era of dropping scoring rates coincided with expansion from 22 to 30 teams. When guys who should be in the AHL start to get NHL jobs, and third line players become second line players due the dilution of talent, scoring takes a hit.

I think contraction would make the game better, but that is not going to happen.

It all depends on the rules and officiating. If the less-skilled guys aren't allowed to hook & hold their way to NHL jobs, that will open up room for skilled guys. But, you need to have skilled guys who have enough hockey IQ to be able to adapt and play with less talented linemates (in other words, are able to make their linemates better). Then you could easily see an increase in scoring.

But yeah, if the NHL decides to allow bottom feeders to be competitive right from the start by allowing tons of interference to level the playing field, it will be dead puck era 2.0.