Ongoing NHL thread - Part III

[jstewismybastardson]

Phil Kessel: 'Good chance' I bring Stanley Cup to Toronto - Sportsnet.ca

he's gotta fill it with hotdogs no???

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

My hope would be that Kessel rents a hot dog cart for the day, parks it on the sidewalk outside the Sun's building and cooks hot dogs all day placing them into the Cup for fans to take and eat.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

So Vegas will get a team. Rather it would have been Quebec City. Got to think the team will be a failure.

NHL expansion to Las Vegas: 5 things to know about future team

I think that there was a lot of thought put into this decision & the NHL believed that this was a risk (if you can calling getting $500M up front a risk) worth taking. As per this article:

The big question on everyone's mind is how will putting a pro hockey team in a market saturated with other entertainment options survive? The good news is that Foley went to work right away on trying to prove there was a market for a hockey team, specifically.

The team has already collected deposits for more than 13,000 season-ticket packages. An important note about those ticket sales is that the first run of tickets were not made available to corporations or private businesses, to get a true test of fan interest. When it comes to selling luxury suites, they shouldn't have much problem with the many businesses that would be able to snap them up.

Additionally, Foley has expressed his commitment in growing the game in and around Las Vegas. They're hoping to get more people involved in the sport by growing the youth hockey community and providing the community at large more options to get out and skate. The team has committed to building a $17 million practice facility that will have two ice sheets that would be available for community use when not in use by the team.

There's a lot of work to do when it comes to building up hockey in Nevada. According to USA Hockey's recently released membership report for the 2015-16 season, only 1,305 hockey players registered in the state of Nevada. That said, the presence of an NHL team led to massive growth in states like Texas, Arizona and North Carolina, so there's definitely growth potential anywhere when the game has more exposure.

There's no doubt that a venture like this brings great risk, but it's a calculated one for the NHL. They have a chance to be the only major pro sports game in town, with a growing population in the city and large transient population flooding the market.

Additionally, this building should have a really easy time drawing away team fans. It's in the middle of pretty much everything that's going on in Vegas. There's no doubt that this will become one of the most popular road trips in the league, too.


No doubt I would certainly consider a road trip to Vegas over Quebec City or most other places.

 

[dash]

The location of the arena in Vegas is crucial and that's the main reason why I think Vegas has a chance to succeed where places like Florida (Sunrise) and Phoenix (Glendale) have struggled. Put the arena in the middle of an entertainment district and people will come Ray, people will come.

 

[BGDave]

The location of the arena in Vegas is crucial and that's the main reason why I think Vegas has a chance to succeed where places like Florida (Sunrise) and Phoenix (Glendale) have struggled. Put the arena in the middle of an entertainment district and people will come Ray, people will come.

Very good point. The ECHL team played at the Orleans casino arena, and the location was a problem. No way anyone goes there from the Strip.

Can you say "Winter Classic 2020" in Vegas?

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Can you say "Winter Classic 2020" in Vegas?

when we were there in Nov it was 22 celsius, we were poolside in shorts and the locals were wearing jackets and long pants lol

 

[jstewismybastardson]

betcha this is what Bowman offered benning for Hamhuis at the deadline

 

[dash]

The Hawks were in a cap pickle, so they had to dump Bickell and TT was the carrot that needed to be added to the package.

 

[forty_three]

What does/will youth hockey look like after this?

In 2015/2016 - USA Hockey had 1305 registered hockey players in all of Nevada. 200 less than Alabama.

Alabama.

800 Of those are adult players. The largest concentration of youth players is at the 9-10 age level. 112 for the whole state. My organization in Columbus (one of 4 in town) had 140+ 9-10 age group kids itself. Statewide in Ohio, that age group has 1700.

I don't care if roadtrippers (or Casino owners) buy tickets. If the game isn't growing at a grassroots level, it's not worth it in the long run. Why not put a team in Dubai? People like visiting there too. If the goal is to have a neat place to go watch a game, then we could play games in various stadiums around the... um.

(for the record)
WI - 16900
WA - 9000
Quebec, I am sure, demolishes those numbers

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Good trade. With the Canes in the midst of rebuilding Bickell even has a shot at showing he's still a useful NHLer. Essentially getting TT for a 2nd and 3rd rounder is a steal.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

Damn. That's gotta sting the Hawks to give up TT like that. I wish Ottawa would make this kind of move.

 

[dash]

That Carolina team is going to be pretty damn good in a couple of years when they are playing in Quebec City

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Damn. That's gotta sting the Hawks to give up TT like that. I wish Ottawa would make this kind of move.

They pretty much had to choose between Shaw and TT.

My two cents, I woulda gone with TT.

 

[KennyBanyeah]

That Carolina team is going to be pretty damn good in a couple of years when they are playing in Quebec City

Wouldn't that be some nice symmetry though after the stacked team they gave up to Colorado?

 

[KennyBanyeah]

They pretty much had to choose between Shaw and TT.

My two cents, I woulda gone with TT.

I woulda gone TT every day of the week and twice on Sundays. But the Hawks seem to like douchebags, so there's that.

 

[dash]

Wouldn't that be some nice symmetry though after the stacked team they gave up to Colorado?

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I woulda gone TT every day of the week and twice on Sundays. But the Hawks seem to like douchebags, so there's that.

It's almost like they're getting rid of Bickell to keep Bickell 2.0.

What's more, there are GM's that likely see Shaw the same way they do and likely would've given up a decent enough package for him.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

As long as QC stays in the division they're in now (doubt it), I'd be fine with it.

More likely we'd see a re-alignment with the Florida teams moving into the Metro with QC and either DC or CBJ moving into the Atlantic, with neither division name still making any sense whatsoever.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

If the Hawks had to add TT as a sweetener for someone to take 1 year of Bickell at $4 mil, Ken Holland must be shitting himself right now.

 

[dash]

Ken Campbell @THNKenCampbell
Even after acquiring Bickell, 'Canes are still more than $8 million below the floor. Yup, this salary cap thing is working out just swell.