Huh? I’ve never noticed that at all. Almost every Pens fan I know is also a fan of the Steelers – and vice versa. (Well, depending on if they’re fans of both sports, mind you)
Ok, so Winnipeg gets the team next year (unless Québec builds that stadium and get the Nordiques back instead, which would be cool). The situation is untenable; Ice Edge won’t be able to finance several years of losing money in the desert, Reinsdorf and the NHL don’t want to, Glendale can’t afford to…this team will end up moving. It’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when. And the other sunbelt teams will follow, sooner or later. Not all to Canada, but certainly out of the financial sinkholes they are currently in.
I don’t know where they all can go, though, unless they disappear altogether. Sure, Phoenix can go to Winnipeg, and maybe Atlanta can go somewhere in Southern Ontario, and Florida can be relocated to Quebec City, but even if Carolina, Nashville, Dallas, L.A and Anaheim are all hemorrhaging money (which I don’t know if they are), where do you want to ship them to? Seattle? Milwaukee? Saskatoon?
Southern Ontario could take one, maybe two more teams, IMHO. I was a strong supporter of moving the Coyotes to Hamilton; there’s a “we aren’t from Toronto!!” mentality to residents in that city which could support a local team and generate one hell of a rivalry. It would be good for the city, too. As for another team; I don’t know. GTA somewhere. There’s a group in Vaughn…plop it next to Canada’s Wonderland and it could work. I think the Hammer is a better first choice, though.
Whenever I read about teams maybe moving, Halifax keeps coming into the conversation. It’s a city that’s popping up a lot in other contexts as well; hosting the Commonwealth games, getting a CFL expansion team (which IMHO would only happen if/when Ottawa comes back into the picture). I don’t know if they could really manage an NHL team, but within Canada, I think it’s the next most likely place after Winnipeg, Southern Ontario and Québec City.
In the States…I admit I don’t know.
I actually think Vegas could work, as much as it pains me to say it. A ton of Canadians go there on trips already, and if Céline and the Cirque pulled it off, I think a good marketing team could pull in enough money to make it worthwhile.
I don’t really understand why the Islanders aren’t working; is it bad management? Too crappy a team, even with Tavares? A geography/neighbourhood attitude thing? I would have thought the New York area would be perfect, but I guess the Rangers have a stranglehold on that market.
Contracting the league might be worthwhile. Bring it down to 24 or 26 teams. With 8 in Canada!
You can’t put an arena next to Canada’s Wonderland because urban sprawl got there first. There’s still a bit of an open area on the SW corner of the Rutherford Rd./Highway 400 intersection, but I doubt it’s big enough to build an arena on. (Put “Canada’s Wonderland” into Google Maps, you’ll see what I mean.)
I was hoping they could put a team in Kitchener/Waterloo; it’s outside both Toronto and Buffalo’s protected area. They definitely need a new arena though; where the OHL team plays is unsatisfactory even temporarily.
The largest arena in Halifax is the Metro Centre, where the QMJHL’s Mooseheads play. It only seats a little more than 10,000 though, so they’ll obviously need a new one.
I honestly don’t know whether a team in Vegas could work or not. There’s the argument that “the first one (major league sports team) in wins.” There’s also the argument that “if the Canadian tourists wanted to watch hockey, they’d stay home.”
Nassau is a shithole now and it was a shithole ten years ago. There’s a rather ambitious project to transform the area around the arena into a modern suburb. It would cost a bajillion dollars though, and still needs to be approved by the appropriate authorities.
I could get onboard with a contraction plan. Get rid of Phoenix, Atlanta, Florida, and maybe Tampa too.
Realistically, Canada right now has exactly one market for another hockey team: the greater Toronto area. Hamilton, Mississauga, whatever, it doesn’t matter. Toronto could probably support two more teams, in fact.
I’d love for Winnipeg to have a team but it’s likely too small and too poor a market, and doesn’t have an arena. By all means give it a try, but they weren’t selling the place out before and I am afraid they wouldn’t again.
Did Fleury shut his brain off or something? He was just standing there!
Mike Cammalleri, Man of Destiny.
And Jesus, but don’t ya think there are 29 teams right now kicking themselves for not drafting P.K. Subban? The guy’s like 12 years old and playing like he’s been through ten years of playoffs. He’s freaking amazing.
Another shocker!
Classy gesture by Ray Shero just now; congratulating Gauthier and Bob Gainey.
I’m thinking of Saku Koivu right now.
Woohoo!!!
What a game! What a series! That was unexpected, many diehard Canadiens fans didn’t think they’d win this one. Wow!
Yanno, it tells you something about a hockey market when a team is able to sell out 21 270 (I think) seats in a stadium when the team isn’t even playing there!!!
Habs opened the Igloo by beating the Pens. Only seems fitting that they would close it in the same way too! Good night, Penguins! Enjoy the links!
I’ve said it before. I’m going to say it again. Holy Shit. Didn’t see that coming either. Way to go Habs.
21273, but who’s counting
It also says something about a city and its team when a local university (U. de Montreal, I think) offers a course in “The Religion of The Montreal Canadiens,” or something like that.
I’m stupefied.
That’ll happen when you cheer for the Leafs. May I suggest therapy?
Absolutely weak effort by Gonchar on the fourth Hab goal that got Fleury chased.
Gonchar’s effort should have had him sent to the dressing room.
And with the Flyers and Bruins going to Game 7, the Habs have a legitimate shot at the Grail.
Now repeat after me : " There is only one God. Stanley is its name and the Habs are his prophet !"