Penguins for sale - still and again

If you fill that arena, that's 15,000 times more people than the Blues are drawing.

 

And yet on average, the Blues draw only 161 fans less per game that the Islanders. And for as much as Phoenix has been blasted in this thread, Washington, New Jersey and Chicago -- three places with a lot of people -- draw less.

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

 

I've been told that the Winnipeg arena also doesn't have suites. If that's true the 'peg won't be home to an NHL team anytime soon.

Hey, Des Moines has a new 17,000 seat arena, maybe the Penguins could move there. Oklahoma City's arena is pretty nice...

 

I would have zero problem yanking the teams out of Washington and Jersey. Move one of them to Hartford and the other to Halifax or St. John's.

As for Chicago, well, if you were a hockey fan living there, you'd stay home too. Or you'd cheer for the Wolves or the Milwaukee Admirals.

 

At the time of the IHL's collapse, I believe Rich DeVos owned the Griffins/Blades/Orlando Solar Bears, so he decided to stick with the team in his home town/state and allowed the other two to fold. So it's not as simple as you make it sound.

 

Is there another rink in Halifax other than the Metro Centre? Because according to the latest Canadian Hockey League guide, that place seats 10,595 for a Mooseheads game, nowhere near enough for the NHL.

 

Random question to throw out there to my Canadian friends: Could/would the Maritimes support an NHL team?

 

"I did not know that."

 

From Trade Centre Limited, which owns the Metro Centre:

Trade Centre Limited has achieved more during our history than originally envisioned but to continue that growth, there must be new investment. We need new and expanded facilities, so we can generate even more business and spin-offs for Nova Scotians. To that end, we’re working with Halifax Regional Municipality and the Province of Nova Scotia to study concepts for a new building to replace the current Halifax Metro Centre and expand convention facilities. This important initiative will continue our long-standing legacy, allow us to create new and exciting opportunities, and realize our long-term goal to make Halifax the continent’s best events destination.

Not to say it'll happen, but it is being discussed. Although if Halifax gets the 2014 Commonwealth Games, regional and provincial funding will certainly go toward an outdoor stadium before a new arena.

 

Hmm, good question. The problem with Canadians in the East, as far as I know and have heard, is that unemployment is rampant, there are few jobs and lots of people are fleeing for the booming West.

Not sure how much A) Corporate money there is or B) How much disposable income folks have to spend on hockey.

That being said, the Maritimes are terrific hosts for the Canadian University Basketball Championship tournament, have done great jobs hosting major curling events and the World Juniors.

 

Obviously the Irvings would be the first ones looked at to bring an NHL team to the maritimes. As SSM points out, corporate support would be dodgy but fan support would be strong. The maritime teams pretty much saved the QMJHL.

 

The other thing is, if someone else wants to buy the Penguins they'll get it for a helluva lot less than the $175million Balsillie offered. Like less than $100 million