NHL returning to Winnipeg?

• gerb131

  

  jordo212000;775249 wrote:They said on PTI that team in Winnipeg would not be called the Jets. Early front runner is supposedly Manitoba Moose

  
  Thats the name of the minor league team I heard it too and thought it was beyond stupid.
  Say Columbus gets a pro baseball team....Columbus Clippers uhhh nooo.
• ts1227

  

  I believe the Moose would then be moved elsewhere as well (they're talking Thunder Bay or Saskatoon, among others... another one mentioned was a chain reaction where they move to Abbotsford, and the Heat move or fold), so there would not be an AHL and NHL team with the same name.
• jordo212000

  

  ts1227;775326 wrote:I believe the Moose would then be moved elsewhere as well (they're talking Thunder Bay or Saskatoon, among others... another one mentioned was a chain reaction where they move to Abbotsford, and the Heat move or fold), so there would not be an AHL and NHL team with the same name.

  
  The people who own the Moose are the guys buying the Trashers, so the fact that tthe AHL team has that name is moot. If they want the Thrashers to be the Moose, they'll be the Moose
• ts1227

  

  jordo212000;775366 wrote:The people who own the Moose are the guys buying the Trashers, so the fact that tthe AHL team has that name is moot. If they want the Thrashers to be the Moose, they'll be the Moose

  
  True, but there its a yahoo story regarding possibly moving it. Generally places can't support both (which is why only toronto does).
• NNN

  

  jordo212000;774924 wrote:The NHL really shot themselves in the foot by expanding into the SE. Nobody cares about hockey down there. Very few kids/adults in south have probably ever had the opportunity to play hockey.

  USA Hockey has reported enormous growth in the southeast region over the last 20 years, vastly outstripping population trends, shifting demographics, and a host of other things. The ECHL has been predominantly Southern teams, and most of them have been extremely well received in the smaller cities and have contributed to the growth of the game.
  

  ts1227;775012 wrote:And they keep shooting at the same foot until they blow it clean off in terms of their stubbornness to let these failed southern expansion teams move (see the Coyotes). Hopefully Bettman swallows his pride and just lets the thrashers move.

  Phoenix was a relocation, not an expansion.
  

  stlouiedipalma;775020 wrote:Good point. The Coyotes were the subject of much speculation in Winnipeg all last year as everyone watched that soap opera unfold in Arizona. If I lived in Glendale I would be highly pissed at the amount of money that community has given to the NHL. They got a nice arena in a bad location (access, etc.) and they all get the luxury of paying on all of this for years with no owner in place. They just voted to give the NHL more money to run the franchise until a buyer can be found. I guess Florida isn't the only place where hockey hasn't caught on.

  I'd be more pissed at the assclowns who built America West Arena. Before the plans for it were even finalized, let alone before ground was broken, it was made known that the NHL would be expanding or relocating there in the near future. They basically gave hockey the finger and built an arena where nearly 25% of the seating capacity was in an overhang that physically obstructed the view of one-third of the rink. A brand-new arena that literally could not sustain a hockey team....total crap.
  

  Little Danny;775210 wrote:How much longer until the CBJ moves? Reports are they lost $25M last year and $14M the year before. Let's be honest, there are some devout hockey fans in town, but it is not as if hockey is #1, 2, or 3 on most people's priority list in Central Ohio either. NHL Hockey teams should be in places that actually care about hockey.

  
  Go sit on a pine cone.
  

  jordo212000;775247 wrote:Common Man and the Torg say that they think as long as the current group owns the Blue Jackets, the team will remain in Columbus. Apparently they are central Ohio businessmen and they think moving the Blue Jackets would murder their other businesses (fan backlash/protest)

  
  That's the most accurate thing that those two buffoons have ever said. Don't forget that COLHOC and their partners didn't charge rent to any of the Arena District businesses during the lockout year of 2004-05, thus ensuring both their survival and the survival of the entire area going forward.
  

  gerb131;775272 wrote:Thats the name of the minor league team I heard it too and thought it was beyond stupid.
  Say Columbus gets a pro baseball team....Columbus Clippers uhhh nooo.

  jordo212000;775366 wrote:The people who own the Moose are the guys buying the Trashers, so the fact that tthe AHL team has that name is moot. If they want the Thrashers to be the Moose, they'll be the Moose

  
  The NHL holds the trademarks and copyrights for the name "Winnipeg Jets", and the only way that they were going to release that is if Phoenix ended up back there. Since TNSE already holds everything for the name "Manitoba Moose", it's highly likely that that's what they'll go with.
• Writerbuckeye

  

  Next step: Move Columbus to the Eastern Conference.
  
  That would save the team a lot of money, and help boost attendance because more natural rivalries could develop.
• ptown_trojans_1

  

  Writerbuckeye;775515 wrote:Next step: Move Columbus to the Eastern Conference.
  
  That would save the team a lot of money, and help boost attendance because more natural rivalries could develop.

  
  I'm hearing that as well. If the Winnipeg move does happen, and the Coyotes stay put and don't move to eastern Canada, I can see the Jackets moving east. They would probably take the same spot the Thrashers have in the SE as the NHL doesn't want to mess with the other two Eastern Divisions. As someone who lives in DC, I wouldn't mind seeing my Jackets three times a year as a divisional foe. It would also mean that Columbus would get to see Crosby and Ovie more.
  Finally, it would really help the Jackets make the playoffs as 1. The Eastern is not as deep as the West and 2. The Jackets have a great record (near .700 over the past few years) over the Eastern Conference.
• ts1227

  

  NNN;775503 wrote:Phoenix was a relocation, not an expansion.

  
  I meant the general expansion of the league to the South and West (generally at the expense of Canadian and northern cities). Poor wording on my part
  
  
  In addition, looks like the AHL Moose would go to St. John's, Newfoundland to make room for the NHL Moose if all works out with this relocation.
  http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/05/21/moose-headed-to-st-johns-report
  
  Also, it looks like the old Moose would be the AHL affiliate of the new Moose, with the Canucks most likely aligning with Atlanta's AHL affiliate (Chicago)
  http://bleacherreport.com/articles/708368-canucks-seeking-new-ahl-affiliation-with-moose-franchise-moving-to-st-johns
• queencitybuckeye

  While a CBJ fan and not at all a Dead Things supporter, don't they really have at least as good an argument to be the team that moves to the East?
• NNN

  

  queencitybuckeye;776069 wrote:While a CBJ fan and not at all a Dead Things supporter, don't they really have at least as good an argument to be the team that moves to the East?

  
  That assumes that the discussion would even come down to an argument, which it wouldn't.
  
  Detroit would face the following obstacles:
  1) They're not the easternmost team in the West, nor one with extenuating geographic circumstances
  2) They'd be split up from Chicago, meaning that there'd be only one O6 team in the West
  3) Although it might provide a small boost to certain Eastern teams in attendance, it would hurt a couple in the West at the same time
  
  Basically, there are better reasons for Columbus (who has applied for the East) than for Nashville (who has not) or Detroit (who seems to think that there was some "promise", even though the two people who claim that it exists each say that the other guy was told it, basically meaning it doesn't exist).
• NNN

  

  ts1227;775797 wrote:I meant the general expansion of the league to the South and West (generally at the expense of Canadian and northern cities). Poor wording on my part

  The only teams that would be in anything resembling trouble would be Atlanta, who is the victim once again of a bad ownership situation, and Phoenix, who was the victim of both a shortsighted arena plan AND a bad ownership situation. I'm convinced that, had there been a rapture today, the only fools guaranteed to be left behind would be ASG, Jerry Moyes, and Jim Balsillie.
• Classyposter58

  

  Bout time they move the Thrashers out! Hamilton also deserves a team, cities have multiple teams so why not the Toronto area? Florida is a joke down there and a non-competitive franchise so move em up. Really the only place that worked out was Cali in this whole deal
• ptown_trojans_1

  

  Classyposter58;776290 wrote:Florida is a joke down there and a non-competitive franchise so move em up.

  Umm Tampa? They won a cup and are in the ECF. Unless you mean the Panthers, which yeah they are awful.
• Tiger2003

  

  ptown_trojans_1;776353 wrote:Umm Tampa? They won a cup and are in the ECF. Unless you mean the Panthers, which yeah they are awful.

  
  Umm if he said Florida I'm going to go with the Panthers since they are called the Florida Panthers. They have made the playoffs 3 times in their 17 years of the NHL.
• dazedconfused

  

  sounds like a good move to me. atlanta and phoenix's current ownership situation is a mess. get some stability for the atlanta franchise at least
• End of Line

  

  Classyposter58;776290 wrote:Bout time they move the Thrashers out! Hamilton also deserves a team, cities have multiple teams so why not the Toronto area? Florida is a joke down there and a non-competitive franchise so move em up. Really the only place that worked out was Cali in this whole deal

  
  -Hamilton will never get a team b/c the Maple Leafs and Sabres will not allow it.
  
  -Move the Panthers to Kansas City or Portland
• jordo212000

  

  Bout time they move the Thrashers out! Hamilton also deserves a team, cities have multiple teams so why not the Toronto area? Florida is a joke down there and a non-competitive franchise so move em up. Really the only place that worked out was Cali in this whole deal

  
  -Hamilton will never get a team b/c the Maple Leafs and Sabres will not allow it.
  
  -Move the Panthers to Kansas City or Portland

  Portland would probably be good? But Kansas City? How is that any different than Florida? They don't really even support the Royals and you think they support a hockey team too? Is hockey even big in Missouri?
• End of Line

  

  Portland has a very strong following for hockey. They have a WHL team and nearly sell out every one of those games. There's a ready to go arena as well.
  
  I believe Bettman has wanted to put a team in KC for a while. Don't know why really.
• NNN

  

  Classyposter58;776290 wrote:Bout time they move the Thrashers out! Hamilton also deserves a team, cities have multiple teams so why not the Toronto area? Florida is a joke down there and a non-competitive franchise so move em up. Really the only place that worked out was Cali in this whole deal

  
  Because Hamilton sucks, that's why. They have a dilapidated arena without a new one on the horizon, and one potential owner who got himself railroaded for not only being a complete tool, but engaging in illegal activities while being a complete tool. Sticking a team in Hamilton would also wipe Buffalo off the map for the NHL, so given the choice between keeping the Sabres or satisfying the whims of a midget bald clown, what's more likely to happen?
  
  And why the hell should Florida move? They're doing fine....they're not winning, but they're not exactly hemorrhaging money either. They have a hell of a lot more support than Pittsburgh did from 2000 to 2005, so if Florida should pack up, then....
• End of Line

  

  NNN;777121 wrote:And why the hell should Florida move? They're doing fine....they're not winning, but they're not exactly hemorrhaging money either. They have a hell of a lot more support than Pittsburgh did from 2000 to 2005, so if Florida should pack up, then....

  
  The same Florida team that has a shitty attendance unless the Flyers, Penguins, or Habs come to town? I forget where I saw it but, they average 11,000 fans a game.
  
  Tallon recently has stripped their team down, Vokoun will most likely leave SF unless they pay him 7mil+
  
  They currently only have 17mil committed. I thought the NYI were bad at this, hell no. How are they even going to reach the cap floor? There's no way in hell they're brining in Brad Richards or anyone remotely close to him.
• stlouiedipalma

  Another display of the support the Atlanta area shows for sports...
  
  http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6573968
  
  If that's all they can muster for a rally to save their team, I'd say it's gone, baby, gone.
• Classyposter58

  

  NNN;777121 wrote:Because Hamilton sucks, that's why. They have a dilapidated arena without a new one on the horizon, and one potential owner who got himself railroaded for not only being a complete tool, but engaging in illegal activities while being a complete tool. Sticking a team in Hamilton would also wipe Buffalo off the map for the NHL, so given the choice between keeping the Sabres or satisfying the whims of a midget bald clown, what's more likely to happen?
  
  And why the hell should Florida move? They're doing fine....they're not winning, but they're not exactly hemorrhaging money either. They have a hell of a lot more support than Pittsburgh did from 2000 to 2005, so if Florida should pack up, then....

  
  Ha Quebec City? In all honesty though Portland would be a solid fit
• NNN

  

  stlouiedipalma;777384 wrote:Another display of the support the Atlanta area shows for sports...
  
  http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6573968
  
  If that's all they can muster for a rally to save their team, I'd say it's gone, baby, gone.

  
  There were plenty more inside; these were the people who either refused to go inside to consider buying or re-upping season tickets (since nothing is actually definite) or who were just hanging around.
  
  Here are a few fun facts to consider, though:
  1) When Hartford had their last "save the Whalers" rally, it attracted around 400 people, and that was with player appearances.
  2) ASG, in a further effort to demonstrate how much they care, had no player appearances at the event, no front office appearances at the event, and not even the Thrashers' mascot.
  3) They did, however, have the Atlanta Hawks mascot.
  4) They also didn't have the ice or even the rink configuration set up; anyone who went in was greeted with the Hawks' court/basketball configuration. Keep in mind that the Hawks aren't still playing either.