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Jntg4

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I'm not for the expansion, but I just want to throw this out there. Hamilton only avereaged 4,848 fans in the AHL last year. Thants in the lower half of the league, they are also the affiliate team of Montreal.

Doubt that effect would carry over to NHL. We've seen somewhat poorly attended minor league soccer teams blossom into very well attended MLS markets in recent years.
 

Sunbiz1

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Expansion in the midst of a strike?, that's pretty bold discussion considering the NHL will be lucky to keep the current fan base.
 

Jntg4

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Expansion in the midst of a strike?, that's pretty bold discussion considering the NHL will be lucky to keep the current fan base.

There is no strike, there never was. And Canadians will keep watching, so adding Canadian teams will generate a lot more revenue for the league. A short term fix for financial struggles to come for many existent owners and it adds two should-be healthy franchises to the league.
 

Jntg4

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Reports (denied by league, but why would they admit it now during negotiations), have 2 expansion teams being announced in Toronto (Markham?) and Quebec.

Note that this move could lead to the 4-conference realignment actually coming into effect, with the two expansions sliding into the easternmost conferences almost seamlessly.

Markham's arena should be ready by 2014-15 if the Toronto team would play there, and Quebec has a rich owner in place, but their arena won't be ready until 2015-16. However, they are also renovating the old Nordiques Arena (Colisee Pepsi) as a temporary home for a proposed team.

Now, I am not advocating this or dismissing it as a bad move. It goes both ways. Economically, it is a great move, putting an extra $33.3 million in each owner's pocket immediately, creating new jobs for players, and adding two healthy markets to add to the teams in the league are are economically stable. Now, as Dewey prefers to look at alone, it also dilutes the talent pool, which is unarguably a bad side.

However, rather than debating whether it is right or not, as it either will or won't happen one way or another, let's just track the progress on this, if the reports were true (THN is trustworthy), and debate the side effects.

The realignment. Would you like it in place before or when the expansion teams are added? Team names? Compensation going to the Maple Leafs? Hamilton instead of Markham/Toronto proper to slightly appease the Leafs? Any other concerns?
 

dabynsky

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Well Quebec would seem the most likely target, and you would assume they would just take the Nordiques name. Toronto II is kind of interesting and could see them going with an old name like the Tecumsehs or Shamrocks. I could also see the minor league club's name, Marlies, being part of the deal with the Leafs. More like the team will claim Hamilton or Markham as their home and then the name could be anything.
 

Jntg4

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Feel bad for Hamilton after they were selling Hamilton Predators season tix for 07-08 season and then nothing happened because governors blocked it
 

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I just don't see this happening at all. I see 30 teams for quite a while. I still do believe up to 2 may be moved in the future, but certainly not expansion.
 

Jntg4

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expansion wont happen and shouldnt happen. the end.

Again, IF the reports are true. There has been a lot of talk on twitter coming from THN, TSN, LeBrun, etc. on twitter about it.
 

Crystallas

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Bring the Panthers back.

GU3Js.png
 

southern_cross_116

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I have no idea why you would basically repost this -and I also have no idea what exactly you mean by this line:

Now, as Dewey prefers to look at alone, it also dilutes the talent pool, which is unarguably a bad side.

As it happens I have been saying this since the 1990's -including in this folder. Plus I don't think I was alone either.

And also as it happens it is an incredibly stupid idea to consider expansion when the NHL is running one team right now and has other teams on shaky financial footing.

But then again, doing intelligent things is not really a hallmark of the NHL front office.
 

Jntg4

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  6. Northwestern Wildcats
Um.. "Dewey likes to look at alone", is not "Dewey alone likes to look at". Alone means without economic benefit, rather than without other people agreeing in this case. Both have to be looked at, and all I said is that I understand the NHL's rationale and the benefits, I am not saying I don't understand the negative effects or that I agree with expansion at all.
 

DewsSox79

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I have no idea why you would basically repost this -and I also have no idea what exactly you mean by this line:



As it happens I have been saying this since the 1990's -including in this folder. Plus I don't think I was alone either.

And also as it happens it is an incredibly stupid idea to consider expansion when the NHL is running one team right now and has other teams on shaky financial footing.

But then again, doing intelligent things is not really a hallmark of the NHL front office.

:clap:
 

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