It's been a big week for me. New car, new job, and now, much like injured training camp invitee Kyle McLaren, I will not be around for Rangers training camp, either. While he will be failing physicals, I'll be in lovely Las Vegas for the 2nd year in a row. Got a great deal too. Last year, we paid $120/night for the MGM Grand. This year, we got a nicer hotel for $90/night. Last year, if we wanted the hotel I'm staying at this year, it would've been $180/night. Thank you, Internet.
Here's what I'm hoping for to happen while I'm gone...
- Dany Heatley to finally be traded - and not to the Rangers, unless it's for Wade Redden, which I think we all know the odds of that happening are less than 1%.
- The Rangers roster to be finalized. Probably not going to happen, but we should have a good picture of it by Friday.
- Blair Betts to have a job in the NHL. Has no GM watched him the past 3 years to see how good he is on faceoffs and on the penalty kill?
- This Phoenix Coyotes situation to be resolved. My ideal resolution: Have them play this year in the same spot since it's too late to move an entire franchise, but have them play next year in Hamilton, Ontario. Sure, it would kill their attendance this year, but, be honest, who is going to see a bad hockey team play in the desert, anyway?
- Brandon Dubinsky to be signed - and not for $2M. Remember how often he didn't score last year? I'm sure he'll have a good year, he'll be a heart and soul player, and he'll grow leaps and bounds, but he still has trouble scoring, he isn't a first-line center, and since the Rangers are tight on Cap room as is, giving him a lot of money would make things very rough come trade deadline day.
- One of the two discount hockey jersey sites I visit gets a Marian Gaborik jersey in so I can buy a new one for under $50.
- My SUV to arrive. (Probably won't for another month though.)
- Bryan to text me updates if any of the above happen.
Have a good week. See you Saturday.
Two friends. Two bitter enemies. Two obsessed fans. One Rivalry.
Showing posts with label hamilton ontario. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hamilton ontario. Show all posts
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Why Stay?...
For the past few months, I have been mulling around a question in my head...
Why Stay?
Why would the NHL even want to stay in Phoenix? The team averages under 15,000 fans per game, yet Gary Bettman keeps saying how committed the NHL is to hockey in Phoenix. In Hamilton, Ontario, 12,000 signed up for season tickets a few years ago without even having a team. They didn't just put their name on a list, they gave Jim Balsillie a deposit for them, hoping he would bring them a team.
But this isn't about Hamilton. You could easily replace Hamilton with Seattle, Toronto, Winnipeg, Kansas City, Quebec City, or (my personal choice) Las Vegas.
Why stay in Phoenix? The team is a drag to the owners of the teams who actually make money because of revenue sharing. It is an embarrassment to the league to have a team file bankruptcy.
Are the 14,632 fans they averaged last year really that important to the rest of the league? (By the way, their attendance is dwindling, the year before they averaged 14,820.)
Other cities are begging for teams. Balsillie is intent on moving them to Hamilton, which has been hockey-ready for years. Seattle just lost its basketball team, its football team is garbage, and its baseball team lost over 100 games last year. Las Vegas has said it wants a team, regardless of league. Same for Kansas City, who offered up their Sprint Center for free. Winnipeg wants their team back; Quebec is such a good market that it houses entire leagues in the city. A 2nd team in Toronto would do so good that the Maple Leafs actually had to nix the idea out of greed, not necessity.
Is Gary Bettman really that stubborn to admit his decision to grant a franchise to Phoenix was a mistake? I've made mistakes, and I admit them. Mine don't cost people millions of dollars.
Hockey in Arizona is a joke. For that matter, hockey in Miami and Atlanta is ridiculous also, but that's for another day.
Is it about expanding the game within the U.S.A.? There are better ways to do that then with a 25% empty building, and the four letters for that are E, S, P, and N.
There are probably 13,000 people who would actually care if a young-and-coming team left the desert. A ton more would care if Canada got another team.
Come on, Gary. Admit your mistake. Eat your crow. Stop backing the Coyotes. Sometimes, you have to kill your weakest link. Or at least move them to a place where people want them.
Why Stay?
Why would the NHL even want to stay in Phoenix? The team averages under 15,000 fans per game, yet Gary Bettman keeps saying how committed the NHL is to hockey in Phoenix. In Hamilton, Ontario, 12,000 signed up for season tickets a few years ago without even having a team. They didn't just put their name on a list, they gave Jim Balsillie a deposit for them, hoping he would bring them a team.
But this isn't about Hamilton. You could easily replace Hamilton with Seattle, Toronto, Winnipeg, Kansas City, Quebec City, or (my personal choice) Las Vegas.
Why stay in Phoenix? The team is a drag to the owners of the teams who actually make money because of revenue sharing. It is an embarrassment to the league to have a team file bankruptcy.
Are the 14,632 fans they averaged last year really that important to the rest of the league? (By the way, their attendance is dwindling, the year before they averaged 14,820.)
Other cities are begging for teams. Balsillie is intent on moving them to Hamilton, which has been hockey-ready for years. Seattle just lost its basketball team, its football team is garbage, and its baseball team lost over 100 games last year. Las Vegas has said it wants a team, regardless of league. Same for Kansas City, who offered up their Sprint Center for free. Winnipeg wants their team back; Quebec is such a good market that it houses entire leagues in the city. A 2nd team in Toronto would do so good that the Maple Leafs actually had to nix the idea out of greed, not necessity.
Is Gary Bettman really that stubborn to admit his decision to grant a franchise to Phoenix was a mistake? I've made mistakes, and I admit them. Mine don't cost people millions of dollars.
Hockey in Arizona is a joke. For that matter, hockey in Miami and Atlanta is ridiculous also, but that's for another day.
Is it about expanding the game within the U.S.A.? There are better ways to do that then with a 25% empty building, and the four letters for that are E, S, P, and N.
There are probably 13,000 people who would actually care if a young-and-coming team left the desert. A ton more would care if Canada got another team.
Come on, Gary. Admit your mistake. Eat your crow. Stop backing the Coyotes. Sometimes, you have to kill your weakest link. Or at least move them to a place where people want them.
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