Globe and Mail reports that NHL may be loaning money to Phoenix Coyotes

An honest question here. How could the Maple Leafs stop the league from putting a team in Southern Ontario? Yeah, they could sue but they'd certainly lose, right? What other option do they have?

 

Scottsdale, the same city that approved the Galleria, an upscale mall built just as S&Ls went bust.

 

Anybody putting a team there would buy off the Leafs (and, if necessary, the Sabres) and make it all back very quickly, because the new team will have a licence to print money.

As well, the new Leafs owners would likely be far more receptive to a second GTA team than were the previous ones. An instant rival for the Leafs means boffo TV bucks for Bell and Rogers.

 

An honest question here. How could the Maple Leafs stop the league from putting a team in Southern Ontario? Yeah, they could sue but they'd certainly lose, right? What other option do they have?
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They bully the other owners to block any move to their neighborhood. Otherwise, there would have been another team in southern Ontario a long time ago.

 

Frankly, now that the Leafs are a playoff team, I think the incentive to fight goes down. I mean, they could fill the ACC to watch Jonas Gustavsson and Friends for like $500 a head. Now that they have a handful of good players, they can charge $Texas (or would that be $Alberta?)

On the other hand, the Hamilton/Markham/Missisauga/Whatever Suburbanites are, instead of an alternative and a means of sticking it to the Leafs for their incompetence, the freak show out in the sticks now. Other than Max Domi, what player on the current Coyotes roster can one really market as a face of the franchise? Boedker! Chipchura! Ekman Larsson!

 

Smith? Mind you Doan is still there. But OEL is the future of that team.

 

How many teams are candidates to move? Might as well just look up the attendance figures and work up from the bottom.

 

One of those three franchises has consistent financial health.

 

Regardless, they have three of them there. I'm sure the largest hockey market in the world can support more than one franchise.

 

I don't doubt OEL is good, I'm just saying a non-North American defenseman won't sell tickets and gear.

 

I think it's more than just attendance alone. It's corporate sponsorships, suite sales, ticket prices, broadcast rights and all sorts of stuff.

It would be worth examining why Phoenix has struggled to avoid making the same mistakes somewhere else. I think there are a lot of dynamics in place. I've read the arena is in a less than ideal location. The team has been up and down, but did have three straight playoff years before this last one. Tickets seem to be affordable. Maybe the lease is not so good. It would be worth a good analysis.

 

I caution anyone from jumping to any conclusions.