New NHL team in Ontrario - Jim Balsillie - phoenix coyotes - hamilton

[pokochu]

NHL in Hamilton is a good thought. Winnipeg did their due diligence and was ready for real long time ago. Quebec City is going through all the processes now. Quebec City is ahead of Hamilton to be the next one hosting an NHL team. When the Nordiques are back, then Hamilton would have to work behind the scenes to become the next one.

[bwildcatboy]

Sorry boys but what they should do is bring back the jets, fuck the coyotes and give us the winnepeg jets also fuck the panthers and bring my whalers back as well as the trashers can be the one to go to ontario

[lster97]

My new re-alignment:

Panthers- Winnipeg

Coyotes- Hamilton

Predators- Quebec City

Thrashers- Seattle or Portland

[FAITHandLOGIC]

No way! Phoenix has to be the one to return to Winnipeg so the Jets get their team back.

[MemoPortero]

@lster97 Agreed, but I'm still on the edge with the Thrashers. It's a fact that their owner history is piss poor and the team and fanbase has suffered for it. Plus Atlanta is a town that is known as a fair weather city. If the team show up to play neither will the fans. Give them at least a year or so after they attain their new owner, and we'll see how the fans react if they are successful on the ice.

[MemoPortero]

@MemoPortero if the team doesn't**

[lster97]

The NHL teams have some success in the south. My Dallas Stars will never move, because tons of kids (So many you wouldn't believe if you saw) play hockey in Dallas, they have a good arena, they have a rich history that includes many division titles, two presidents trophies, and a stanley cup and the Stars have an awesome fan base that shows up to every single game. The Lightning and Hurricanes can stay in their cities because they've won the cup, have a good arena, and have a decent fan base.

[Deempie92]

I'd actually like seeing the coyotes move to Hamilton..

Not because it would stroke my Canadian patriotic ego..

Not because it would mean the other teams (who deserve their place in the league) could be moving too!

Not because i'm a disgruntled Winnipeg or Quebuec fan.

But because it would be the better economic choice for the league and it would be more exciting for the sport to have more variety and competitors to keep the leafs from cashing in while not producing.

[shithawkguy]

OH MY FUCK they are only paying 6 bucks and getting free parking food and all that shit are you fucking kidding me? my dad has to pay more then that to get into watch my JR.C games for fuck sakes

[professorfoxtrot]

At this point Gary Bettman is trying to save face.. He gambled the hopes of Quebec and Winnipeg citizens on a failed vision of a southern U.S. market. Now it has become a joke of gloriously pathetic proportions and there is something to be said when the State of Florida has as many hockey teams as Ontario. Secondly, Jim Basille is not an idiot he knows where there is profit to be had. Why can't these two men just come to terms?

[justray26]

I would love to see Jim get this team for a few reasons. One: then I can actually afford to take my son and daughter to an NHL game without taking out a loan; two, it would be the end of Bettman; and three because I think he would actually care about trying to bring a cup to Ontario (I'm looking at you leafs). It makes me sick that a team can hike up tickets in this economy with a product that is sub par... but that is another discussion....

[ohweloveeverton]

2:18 TAKE IT OFF

[Aphois]

teams, such as Buffalo, are still trying trying to recover which is a real shame because the Sabers are really the only "real" team Buffalo has. I say bring back the Jets, bring back the Nordiques. Even the weakest Canadian team would still be more finacially succesful than 90% of the southern US teams.

[MatteisMaximus]

if you dislike Gary Bettman and are on facebook, please look up the group

Gary Bettman must go

Join the group, refer all of your friends, sign the petition that is on the links, and spread the word about the group to all of your friends, and request they do the same.

Thank you!

[Aphois]

Few things; I agree, Souther US teams shouldn't exist with the exception of Carolina and only because they have consistently done well and have garnered a decent fanabse. Teams like Columbus, Tampa, Pheonix shouldn't exist and should be moved.

They won't however move because of Gary Betmen and his moronic way o f managing the NHL.

As far as Aaron's comment regarding hockey failing in Canada in the 90s. It did, I agree, but not because of the sport. It failed because of the lockout and some

[tberts36]

1.colombus is not a southern team, it's in ohio, and is no further south than chicago, colombus should stay in the league hands down and continue to get a growing fan base. 2. Tampa Bay is doing fine, they won the stanley cup after the lockout and also have continued to have a growing fanbase, the only reasonable team you stated was phoenix and the fact that you mention teams like columbus and tampa bay when you forget to mention atlanta or nashville shows you're pretty uneducated on the topic

[shithawkguy]

1. columbus has lost almost 70 mill since the lockout 2. even tho tampa won the cup as soon as they started doing shitty again the fans stopped going to games thats just a bunch of yankees jumping on the bandwagon cuz they had a winning team, you can buy season tickets for tampa for only 239 bucks, do the math that breaks down to being about 7 bucks per game, not a sign of a growing fanbase. it appears you are the uneducated one

[Deempie92]

Tampa bay is running their southern franchise the right way..they ESPECIALLY know their market value and synchronise their prices to that. The lightning don't have a Toronto-, Detroit- or even Buffalo- kind of fanbase (they still beat Carolina, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Islanders in that stat), but they don't lose any money at all. Tampa Bay's market-value has expanded ever since they started play. The Stanley cup obviously brought that peak, right now the growth is just... under average xD

[shithawkguy]

synchronise their prices? LMAO they charge next to nothing with loads of deal(free parking, free beer and burgers, buy one get one free type shit etc.) cuz they know they could never get anyone to show up if they charged even average prices. tampas gonna fail soon with the rest of them

[josephkennith]

all nhl teams have ovr 75 percent stadium attendence.

[Deempie92]

You guys really don't know do you? xD

Tampa Bay has an average NHL-fanbase. The St. Pete Times Forum never had a stadium-attendance lower then 85%. They have had only two losing seasons since 2000-2001 and you are still saying the franchise sucks! Toronto and Edmonton should've been moved several times if the criterium would be "consistently doing well".

As for Columbus, THEY'RE NOT SOUTHERN, and an emerging market.

[shithawkguy]

they lose money.

[shutupwhiteguy]

Should it happen?

nO

Will it happen?

No

NHL will maximize hamilton by getting expansion fees of 400 million dollars, Balsillie could've had a team...now he wont..ever