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NHL might expand


MadVlad

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Suprisingly, Gary Bettman may be deciding to expand the league again. According to this article, the NHl is looking into possibilities for KC and Vegas. KC has the nice new arena and some powerful friends, Vegas has Jerry Bruckheimer as a potential owner. Here in Hartford, we have a guy that has been pursuing a team, but we don't have an arena yet, and his opinion was our best bet would be expansion. Upon hearing that, everyone thought he was crazy. Maybe not, though Hartford would have a tough time getting a team before Vegas and KC. Thoughts?

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I think it would be a really bad idea for expansion. The league is already stretched thin, ratings and casual fan interest is at an all time low. What makes hockey in southern Nevada a good idea anyway? Or the middle of the country? I don't consider either one a hockey market.

Meanwhile, move some of these poor performing, underappreciated teams northward to where people do care about hockey. I'd like to see a team in Winnipeg, Quebec City, and Hartford again before I see one in KC or Vegas.

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I think it would be a really bad idea for expansion. The league is already stretched thin, ratings and casual fan interest is at an all time low. What makes hockey in southern Nevada a good idea anyway? Or the middle of the country? I don't consider either one a hockey market.

Meanwhile, move some of these poor performing, underappreciated teams northward to where people do care about hockey. I'd like to see a team in Winnipeg, Quebec City, and Hartford again before I see one in KC or Vegas.

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My ideal version of the NHL...

Boston

Long Island

Rangers

New Jersey

Hartford

Philadelphia

Detroit

Montreal

Toronto

Ottawa

Buffalo

Pittsburgh

Columbus

Chicago

Minnesota

Dallas

St. Louis

Winnipeg

Colorado

Calgary

Edmonton

Vancouver

Anaheim

San Jose

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My ideal version of the NHL...

Boston

Long Island

Rangers

New Jersey

Hartford

Philadelphia

Detroit

Montreal

Toronto

Ottawa

Buffalo

Pittsburgh

Columbus

Chicago

Minnesota

Dallas

St. Louis

Winnipeg

Colorado

Calgary

Edmonton

Vancouver

Anaheim

San Jose

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My ideal version of the NHL...

Boston

Long Island

Rangers

New Jersey

Hartford

Philadelphia

Detroit

Montreal

Toronto

Ottawa

Buffalo

Pittsburgh

Columbus

Chicago

Minnesota

Dallas

St. Louis

Winnipeg

Colorado

Calgary

Edmonton

Vancouver

Anaheim

San Jose

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:stop: Obviously there must be some form of Northeast or Midwest bias when i see a list like this. No southeastern cities? Elimination of two of the past three Stanley Cup Champions? :rofl: Keep Columbus, add Hartford, at the expense of Carolina and Tampa Bay (among others)? Tampa was the #3 team in home attendance (19,876) , and Carolina was #15 (17,386), ahead other more ESTABLISHED markets in the midwest and northeast.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance

Yes, the NHL probably oversold itself by the expansion in the 90's, but further expansion to Las Vegas and or Kansas City would be a mistake. In my opinion, Houston would be a better market than Kansas City, and it, of course has an arena already in place. I hope Bettman comes to his sense's concerning possible expansion, and hopefully the Board of Governors would block any move of the Nashville franchise to a Canadian city.

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:stop: Obviously there must be some form of Northeast or Midwest bias when i see a list like this. No southeastern cities? Elimination of two of the past three Stanley Cup Champions? :rofl: Keep Columbus, add Hartford, at the expense of Carolina and Tampa Bay (among others)? Tampa was the #3 team in home attendance (19,876) , and Carolina was #15 (17,386), ahead other more ESTABLISHED markets in the midwest and northeast.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance

Yes, the NHL probably oversold itself by the expansion in the 90's, but further expansion to Las Vegas and or Kansas City would be a mistake. In my opinion, Houston would be a better market than Kansas City, and it, of course has an arena already in place. I hope Bettman comes to his sense's concerning possible expansion, and hopefully the Board of Governors would block any move of the Nashville franchise to a Canadian city.

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Here's my list of cities and Divisions:

Boston

Hartford

Montreal

Quebec City

Toronto

Ottawa

Buffalo

NYR

Pittsburgh

Philadelphia

Washington

Columbus

Orlando

Atlanta

Detroit

Chicago

St. Louis

Dallas

Minneapolis

Kansas City

Winnipeg

Colorado

LA

San Jose

Anaheim

Vancouver

Calgary

Edmonton

Here's what this does: It gets rid of some problems and some experiments gone awry. First, the Islanders and Devils. These are abominations that must end. The Devils might do better in Newark, but we'll see. The Islanders for all their "history" are fair weather fans that don't deserve that history. These two teams need to go, the Rangers rule that city. Nashville is miraculously working on an inverse attendance relationship. The better the team does, the worse the attendance. Gone. Carolina, despite our new friend here's hopefulness, had an uptick this year due to winning the Stanley Cup. Prior years were an abomination (last year they were good, so attendance picked up when it looked like something might happen). Gone. Tampa and Florida? Well, Tampa is going through something similar to the Hurricanes, an uptick due to a good team. Florida has bad attendance, even though they went to the finals one year, they still couldn't draw well even the next year. I chose Orlando because it's a nicely growing city, still close enough for the Tampa fans to attend, and it's a destination. Plenty of Northern people on vaca during the winter. Phoenix..... I still have a hard time with hockey in the desert. Sorry, gone. A case could be made for Washington, but I included it with cities like Chicago, Boston, and St. Louis. Despite bad attendance, these are cities that aren't going anywhere, like it or not. Included were traditional hockey markets like Quebec, Winnipeg, and Hartford. Righting some old wrongs right there. Also added was Kansas City. New arena, good geographical location, I'm giving it a chance. 28 teams, 4 divisions of 7, I'm thinking a winner.

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Or, we could have 6 divisions.....

Boston

Montreal

Quebec City

Hartford

Ottawa

NYR

Pittsburgh

Philadelphia

Buffalo

Washington

Dallas

Columbus

Orlando

Atlanta

Detroit

Chicago

St. Louis

Toronto

Minneapolis

Kansas City

Colorado

Anaheim

LA

San Jose

Winnipeg

Vancouver

Calgary

Edmonton

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Or (Jesus, I'm on a roll):

Canada East:

Toronto

Montreal

Quebec City

Ottawa

Northeast:

NYR

Pittsburgh

Philadelphia

Hartford

Boston

Southeast:

Washington

Dallas

Columbus

Orlando

Atlanta

Midwest:

Detroit

Chicago

St. Louis

Buffalo

Minneapolis

Southwest:

Kansas City

Colorado

Anaheim

LA

San Jose

Canada west:

Winnipeg

Vancouver

Calgary

Edmonton

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Atlantic

New Jersey

NY Rangers

NY Islanders

Philadelphia

Pittsburgh

Northeast

Ottawa

Montreal

Toronto

Buffalo

Boston

Southeast

Carolina

Washington

Atlanta

Nashville

Tampa Bay

Midwest

Detroit

Chicago

Columbus

Minnesota

St Louis

Central

Dallas

Houston or Kansas City

Edmonton

Calgary

Colorado

Pacific

Phoenix

Los Angeles

Anaheim

San Jose

Vancouver

Switch Nashville to the Southeast Division, Move the Florida team to either Houston or Kansas City. If Houston doesnt want a team, then move it to Kansas City (which would be in the Midwest division), and shift Minnesota to the Central division.

If after 5 years, if things havent improved in Nashville, perhaps move it to either Kansas City or Houston, and then shift Columbus to the Eastern Conference.

Just an idea.

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Idea 2...

Boston*, Hartford, New York , Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto

Buffalo, Columbus, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Carolina, Tampa Bay

Detroit, Chicago*, Minnesota, Dallas, St. Louis, Winnipeg

Colorado, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Anaheim, San Jose

* The Blackhawks and Bruins get dumped, but replaced with the best organizations/rosters that got contracted. Just for the sake of argument, the Predators move to Chicago and become the new Blackhawks. The old Blackhawks are dissolved. Two other pre-existing teams become the new Jets and new Whalers.

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I've been arguing against contraction/relocation in the other thread, but at the same time I have to oppose any further expansion. The whole problem with the NHL is that it's looking for immediate success in difficult markets, so I have a hard time imagining the league being better off with MORE new markets to deal with. I still believe that the league can have success in the Sun Belt if it takes the time to generate grassroots interest and cultivate a multi-generational fan following. But in order for that to happen, the league desperately needs to stabilize and start working on establishing real rivalries and team identities (who is the Nashville Predators' biggest rival? Anyone?). I see no point in expanding until all current franchises are at a reasonable state of health and stability.

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I've been arguing against contraction/relocation in the other thread, but at the same time I have to oppose any further expansion. The whole problem with the NHL is that it's looking for immediate success in difficult markets, so I have a hard time imagining the league being better off with MORE new markets to deal with. I still believe that the league can have success in the Sun Belt if it takes the time to generate grassroots interest and cultivate a multi-generational fan following. But in order for that to happen, the league desperately needs to stabilize and start working on establishing real rivalries and team identities (who is the Nashville Predators' biggest rival? Anyone?). I see no point in expanding until all current franchises are at a reasonable state of health and stability.
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all great suggestiosn, but we should get an Admin to move this all into one topic, so we don't double post. I do like the idea of taking two good teams and basically moving the rosters into both Chicago and Boston, maybe because I am a Boston fan. It is easier than rebuilding though.

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Or maybe it's because the ownership of the Blackhawks and the Bruins is so pitiful and uncaring about the fans that they don't deserve teams anymore.

I don't know how either are profitable anymore. And I also heard the Chicago AHL team outdraws the Hawks.

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Or maybe it's because the ownership of the Blackhawks and the Bruins is so pitiful and uncaring about the fans that they don't deserve teams anymore.

I don't know how either are profitable anymore. And I also heard the Chicago AHL team outdraws the Hawks.

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