The push for a new Islanders arena needs more cowbell

Sam Mellinger has a few takes on Kansas City, AEG and Sprint Center in Saturday's Kansas City Star.

 

Not that its ever going to get done, but Howard Baldwin says the arena can be retrofitted for about $40 mill. Not that the state or any of the private industry left has that kind of money.

 

Toronto and area suck as hockey towns. Honestly.

The AHL Marlies draw flies, as do the Hamilton Bulldogs. And the junior teams have equally pathetic attendance figures (sorry, Huggy). If not for the fans making the trek from Owen Sound, this year's Memorial Cup in Mississauga would have been as much of a disaster in the stands as it was on the ice (fuck you with a rusty tin can, Brian O'Neill and the CHL officiating crew).

 

1. Hartford needs a brand new arena, not another coat of paint on that dump.

2. I'm thinking the Canucks probably would have something to say about Seattle if it were ever a legitimate possibility and probably would say no, just because the Canucks suck.

3. Funny about what Double J said, as we were discussing this at the weekend ... Toronto is a Leafs town, not a hockey town.

4. Houston would probably do OK at the gate with all the transplants and multinationals based there. The attendance would be better in Houston than in Uniondale.

5. Brooklyn is probably the only viable way for the Islanders to remain in their current market.

 

Why in the hell would the Canucks possibly say no to a team in Seattle?

 

Seattle to Vancouver is quite a bit further away than Hamilton to Toronto (or even Hamilton to Buffalo).

 

If a hockey team moves in the middle of the night, does anyone notice?

 

The TV markets overlap, slightly, and the Canucks would lose all six fans from Bellingham to a Seattle team.

 

I believe the issue with Houston is Les Alexander. He's a minority owner of the Aeros (I think the Wild are the majority owners), but the biggest issue is he is also part of the Toyota Center, and his contract with the Toyota Center says that he must approve any NHL tenant.

If Bettman could entice him into ownership or if he could someone talk Alexander into letting a different NHL team play in the TC, then Houston is an obvious step above any other potential market because of the combination of market size and NHL-sized and available arena.

 

ok

 

Know what would be awesome? Move the team to Brooklyn, call them the Dodgers and watch the fur fly.

 

The only thing that would disappoint me more than if the Isles were forced to move would be if the Isles sign Alexi Yashin.