Nashville Predators moving to Canada? NOPE! Sorry, Canucks (and KC!)...

If Wal Mart is still open, stop by there and see if you can get the giant-sized box of logic.

 

A year removed from the strike that hit Nashville very hard (given that the Preds had just made the playoffs for the first time), and despite Leipold's midseason announcement he was looking to dump the team, Nashville DID support the team. Did they sell as many tickets as a 110-point Maple Leafs team would? No, of course not.

But Nashville outdrew in total attendance six of the (semi) original NHL cities, and in average outdrew nine cities, all of which were larger markets.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance?sort=home_avg&year=2007

Throw in the fact that the NHL was seen on American TV about as often as Lindsay Lohan at an AA meeting, and it seems to me Nashville has nothing to be ashamed about when it comes to its support of the Predators.

 

Bingo.

The Canadian media jizzed itself at the thought of bringing a team to Hamilton, and now that it's not going to happen, all the Southern hate comes out. Nashville has been a way, way, way better NHL market than many that could be named here. Especially when you consider that 10 years ago, nobody in Nashville could name one NHL player outside of Gretzky. It has come a long, long way, and it's only going to get better. Just look at the youth programs in that city and the grassroots popularity of the sport. Again, the kids that grew up with the Predators are now heading into college. In another 10 years, they'll be money-making members of the workforce able to afford season tickets.

 

Spinning get a grip.

Nashville was practically giving away tickets and some of their prices were less than we'd pay to see a junior game up here. They were, as I said before, papering the house.

The Canadian media didn't "jizz" itself over the issue. What they were focusing on was Gary's transparant attempts to block Balsillie's purchase of the Preds and move them anywhere in Canada.

Yes, and Jim's offer was what, $40 million more than the eventual purchase price.

Once again, and to make it as clear as possible: no rational business person would choose to put an NHL franchise in Nashville over S.W. Ontario. If they did and they worked for me, I'd can their ass on the spot.

 

From the Tennessean

Suck it, Ontario!

 

Hamilton smells like the world's biggest cheeseburger fart.

Reminds me of an old joke sure to raise the ire of any Hamiltonian:

My girlfriend once asked me to kiss her where it stinks. So I took her to Hamilton!

I'll be here all week, folks! Tip your waitress!

 

Hamilton is the Pittsburgh of Canada, where Stelco and Dofasco, once the country's two biggest steelmakers, provided a comfortable middle class life for people like my parents and their kids.

Dofasco has successfully reinvented itself although the workforce is half what it was 15 years ago and Stelco is a shell of its former self.

Parts of are third world worthy but there are great neighbourhoods (like around McMaster University)

But trust me, it ain't Nashville.

 

But you can always take the GO Train.

What's a Hamilton comparable? New Jersey?

 

Suddenly, it looks like the deal Nashville tried to make with the Predators might fall through ...

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/300900.html


... which means Kansas City is back in the running again. The KC group gave Leipold a $10 million, nonrefundable deposit to have exclusive negotiating rights until Oct. 31.

 

And Bettman says ,no, it's all coming together as preordained.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/263411

Actually, at this point, who gives a damn?

They screwed the one group that was a slam dunk to make it work: Balsillie's

 

Say it isn't so....the Nashville Soap Opera has re-surfaced again.

How come I am not surprised....

How long until the deal with Balsillie is done? Do we want to make a prediction here? Bettman should just realize that Balsillie is the only taker and Bettman should just take the money and run.