2021-22 NHL season thread

A franchise in Hamilton would be more predatory for the Sabres in terms of attendance.

Toronto must make a killing off regional TV. They wouldn’t suffer in attendance, but bringing another team into the same broadcast area wouldn’t be in their interests.

Houston does seem to be next in line. Many thought Dundon planned on a relocation there.

Gord Miller of TSN insists Quebec City won’t get a team because Bettman and the owners don’t want to invite PK Peladeau into the club - he’s a bit of a nutter and an outspoken separatist.

After Houston, I would look to Portland.

 

Yep. It was Evans. And it was 1982, not 83 as I posted. The Kings were down 5-0 entering the third period and scored five times, tying the game at 19:55 before winning in overtime. Evans sprinted from one end of the Forum ice to the other with teammates chasing after the winner. Lessard was the goalie.
Kings owner John C. Reilly, er Jerry Buss, left the game at the second intermission.
The Kings went on the win the series over the heavily favored Oiler in five games.

 

You know how people say “I can’t watch” during a tense moment but they still do? I literally buried my head inside my T-shirt when the Avs were up in the shootout. But somehow Riddick shut them out. Preds up a point on Dallas entering tomorrow night.

 

I understand the historic role the Maple Leafs have played as English-speaking Canada's team and the hesitance to disrupt their monopoly in that market, and the desire to protect Buffalo, but doesn't there somehow have to be a way to work it out financially for everyone to get a second team in Toronto, given the size of the city and level of hockey interest? If the New York area can have three teams and southern California can have two then two in Toronto seems like it ought to be workable.

 

Doesn't Toronto have a bunch of junior hockey teams? A lot of interest in watching hockey.

 

Toronto does not have a major junior (OHL) hockey team. The Toronto St. Michael’s Majors (owned by Eugene Melnyk) were downtown until 2008 or so but couldn’t really draw. They moved to suburban Mississauga, kept the nickname for a few years and are now the Mississauga Steelheads.

There are plenty of Junior A teams in the city (a notch below major junior) but I don’t think any of them draw either.

Toronto is a notoriously “big-league only” city.

 

Toronto also has the AHL Marlies
I would assume they don’t draw either

 

The Marlies whiffed early on, charging huge prices for minor league hockey and fans tuned them out, but once they adjusted their price point and fashioned themselves as a cheaper destination than a Leafs game for kids, families and minor hockey outings, things turned around for them (some good teams helped too).

 

If we assume that Bettman would subvert his own ego long enough to give up on hockey in Phoenix, Quebec has the best arena/fan interest situation by a mile, but moving them would require kicking either Detroit or Columbus into the Western Conference, which they don't want. And that's before we start getting into the language issues. Ottawa and Montreal are bilingual situations. Quebec City is basically unilingual French. When the Nordiques left the first time, there was no English language daily in the area. Other than them, you're probably looking at Houston or Kansas City.

I've seen a lot of clowning on Florida in the last couple pages, but they just clinched the Presidents Trophy last night so unless their ownership is floundering again, I don't think anyone in the Eastern Conference is moving any time soon.

 

Toronto isn't New York, granted, but it is awfully big - greater metro area is 6.2 million, according to one source I found - and given that it would be hard to imagine a region with a higher interest in the sport it just seems like there must be a solution there. It may be the case that the impact on Buffalo, a franchise that's already in some trouble, would be more than they want to risk; I can completely understand how a team in Hamilton would be problematic for that reason.