Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

[Coug00]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

HNIC now saying that there is another bidder for Coyotes willing to pay $220 million AND move them to Seattle if the Gosbee group can’t work out a deal to stay in Phoenix. The new group wants to put Jeremy Roenick in the front office to run operations. Also claiming that Vancouver wanted to move their AHL affiliate to Key but they were blocked. They were told that Key wasn’t available for hockey. Apparently this has all come together in the last 48 hours. Things are all over the place. Buckle up and hang on, looks like its going to be a wild ride!!

and this...

http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2013/6/16/4435440/coyotes-sale-seattle-ownership-group

According to CBC's Hockey Night in Canada Hotstove (which is always connected on these sort of things), there will be a city council meeting to potentially approve a deal on June 25. However, if the deal doesn't work out and isn't approved, the Coyotes may be gone within the week. On July 2, an ownership group led by New York Yankees minority owner Ray Bartoszek and investor Anthony Lanza will take the team to Seattle.

The best part of that article...

Even stranger: you may see Coyotes draft picks at the 2013 NHL Draft wearing the jerseys of a team that might not exist anymore two days later.

Not too strange

[BunnyHardaway]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

I feel bad for Quebec seemingly getting the shaft. I wouldn't mind Seattle getting a team, but they're asking to lose money if they plan on playing in Key Arena for a few years.

[DrJones]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

I feel bad for Quebec seemingly getting the shaft. I wouldn't mind Seattle getting a team, but they're asking to lose money if they plan on playing in Key Arena for a few years.

Quebec (and Toronto 2) will shell out big bucks for expansion teams; Seattle won't. Canucks fans will ensure that Seattle sells out their games until the new arena arrives.

[SPTO]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

Seattle would be the most logical and dare I say, last viable US market to put a team in. There's a hockey culture in that part of the country and now without the basketball team the new hockey team will get all the attention and love that it deserves. It'll be weird for Coyotes players to go from a place where they're invisible to somewhere where they'll most likely be recognized.

[ImTellinTim]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

^ I don't think you're off base in saying Seattle is the last viable NHL market in the US at all. In fact, Seattle is probably a better market for the league than about seven current US markets with an NHL team.

[pietasterp]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

Seattle would be the most logical and dare I say, last viable US market to put a team in. There's a hockey culture in that part of the country and now without the basketball team the new hockey team will get all the attention and love that it deserves. It'll be weird for Coyotes players to go from a place where they're invisible to somewhere where they'll most likely be recognized.

I don't know about "last viable", but I would imagine the NHL would also do really well in Portland. The problem with the Coyotes isn't even necessarily the market, as far as I can tell - my impression was that it had as much to do with the ownership as anything else.

[SPTO]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

I don't know about "last viable", but I would imagine the NHL would also do really well in Portland. The problem with the Coyotes isn't even necessarily the market, as far as I can tell - my impression was that it had as much to do with the ownership as anything else.

It's not even the ownership per se but rather the location, when the Coyotes were moving out of America West Arena they were gonna go to Scottsdale where the fanbase is from but Bettman and the NHL mandated that they move the team to Glendale after they were given a sweetheart deal which as we've seen has backfired in a colossal way.

[ImTellinTim]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

I don't know about "last viable", but I would imagine the NHL would also do really well in Portland. The problem with the Coyotes isn't even necessarily the market, as far as I can tell - my impression was that it had as much to do with the ownership as anything else.

You and I probably have a much different picture of the word "viable". When I see that word I think "successful". Portland seems like a good thing because they have the NBA team plus The Timbers who the locals have embraced. There's a reason for that. It's because both teams have been there for a very long time. Just planting a NHL team there now wouldn't do great just because IMO.

As for your assertion that the market isn't the problem with Phoenix, yes it absolutely is the problem! FFS, I feel like I'm in bizzaro world sometimes when it comes to discussing this sport. Hockey isn't that popular, OK?! Quit trying to force it where it doesn't work. It's OK to acknowledge where you are as a sport and maximize what you can out of that.

Sorry for the rant at the end there, that wasn't meant directly for you, pietasterp.

[DrJones]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

As for your assertion that the market isn't the problem with Phoenix, yes it absolutely is the problem! FFS, I feel like I'm in bizzaro world sometimes when it comes to discussing this sport. Hockey isn't that popular, OK?! Quit trying to force it where it doesn't work. It's OK to acknowledge where you are as a sport and maximize what you can out of that.

Sorry for the rant at the end there, that wasn't meant directly for you, pietasterp.

Yes, the market is obviously a big problem, but as SPTO mentioned, building the arena in Glendale instead of Scottsdale or downtown Phoenix was a catastrophic mistake.

[pietasterp]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

You and I probably have a much different picture of the word "viable". When I see that word I think "successful". Portland seems like a good thing because they have the NBA team plus The Timbers who the locals have embraced. There's a reason for that. It's because both teams have been there for a very long time. Just planting a NHL team there now wouldn't do great just because IMO.

As for your assertion that the market isn't the problem with Phoenix, yes it absolutely is the problem! FFS, I feel like I'm in bizzaro world sometimes when it comes to discussing this sport. Hockey isn't that popular, OK?! Quit trying to force it where it doesn't work. It's OK to acknowledge where you are as a sport and maximize what you can out of that.

Sorry for the rant at the end there, that wasn't meant directly for you, pietasterp.

Ha! No problem, man - we're all "friends" here (insomuch as you can be friends w/ people who you have no idea who they are and have never met...). Always room for vigorous disagreement.

When I say Portland is viable, I also mean successful. Maybe not on a Toronto or Quebec level, but given the population, it's a really sports-friendly area that embraces their teams with nary a big pro team other than the Blazers. I think there's a WHL team there that is one of the more fervently supported teams in the league. But in the end, I really can't "prove" that the NHL would do well there, it's just a feeling I get based on the demographics, the overall vibe of the area and people I know that live there. And as a side note, haven't the Portland Timbers only been there for like a year or two? I thought they were a brand-new team in the MLS.

As for your second point, I fully acknowledge that may be totally right.

[BunnyHardaway]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

Ha! No problem, man - we're all "friends" here (insomuch as you can be friends w/ people who you have no idea who they are and have never met...). Always room for vigorous disagreement.

When I say Portland is viable, I also mean successful. Maybe not on a Toronto or Quebec level, but given the population, it's a really sports-friendly area that embraces their teams with nary a big pro team other than the Blazers. I think there's a WHL team there that is one of the more fervently supported teams in the league. But in the end, I really can't "prove" that the NHL would do well there, it's just a feeling I get based on the demographics, the overall vibe of the area and people I know that live there. And as a side note, haven't the Portland Timbers only been there for like a year or two? I thought they were a brand-new team in the MLS.

As for your second point, I fully acknowledge that may be totally right.

The MLS team has only been playing since 2011 but the original Timbers started playing in the NASL in 1975.

[pietasterp]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

The MLS team has only been playing since 2011 but the original Timbers started playing in the NASL in 1975.

Huh...Learn something new every day!

[Coug00]

Paul Allen hasn't been shy about refusing to share the Rose Garden with an NHL team. I don't see Portland with a team anytime soon.

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[jb12780]

Seattle Sounders. They top the charts in MLS attendance and have a great fanbase. It's a no brainer.

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[pietasterp]

re: Fate of Coyotes decided in 2 decades(?)

Paul Allen hasn't been shy about refusing to share the Rose Garden with an NHL team. I don't see Portland with a team anytime soon.

No, I don't either. I just threw that out there as the name of a market where I think the NHL could do well.