That is goof news for the 18 Coyote fans in Arizona.

Back to things that are relevant.....what's the latest on Sundin?

It's just you...
- The-O-G

I stopped at this bit of nonsense.
- Barx

If you are gonna call it nonesense at least back it up fool. I have my sources. Where are yours to back up your claim?

People these days...

That is goof news for the 18 Coyote fans in Arizona.
- garbow

goof news indeed.

If you are gonna call it nonesense at least back it up fool. I have my sources. Where are yours to back up your claim?

People these days...
- TheDeez

I think the "nonsense" he was referring to was your claim that with the right owner, Phoenix "could become a hot bed for hockey." You really think that the current ownership issue is what's kept people from caring about this team for the past 16 years? Compared to the support they'd get in a smaller Canadian market - be it Quebec, K-W, or even Saskatoon - the level of fan interest is laughably low.

Personally, I had more trouble with the bit where you claimed that Phoenix had a future if they only had the right owner, yet Dallas and Columbus are ripe for moving (even though their attendance figures regularly outstrip that of the Coyotes).

how hammered were you when you posted this?
- Fountain-San

I was thinking the same thing. Still not sure what the last sentence meant.

Seriously. Not my best moment. I was at airport picking up my wife at the airport and seconds before she came out I figures out I screwed up. So I wasn't exactly great to see you!
- Eklund

*scratches nuts, takes another bite of donut*

Hey EK!

You should of had a V8
- habby93

Hey Ek, what happened to that 75% done leaf trade

Hey Ek, what happened to that 75% done leaf trade
- lgouke

I'll tell you what happened...the other 25%

Hey Ek, what happened to that 75% done leaf trade
- lgouke

The 75% chance of it getting done was 100% made up. The 25% chance of it not, though...that was 100% real.

ek you should do a correction post every time you post something that was wrong, it would double the amount of posts and maybe double the amount of hits.......money in the bank

I think the "nonsense" he was referring to was your claim that with the right owner, Phoenix "could become a hot bed for hockey." You really think that the current ownership issue is what's kept people from caring about this team for the past 16 years? Compared to the support they'd get in a smaller Canadian market - be it Quebec, K-W, or even Saskatoon - the level of fan interest is laughably low.

Personally, I had more trouble with the bit where you claimed that Phoenix had a future if they only had the right owner, yet Dallas and Columbus are ripe for moving (even though their attendance figures regularly outstrip that of the Coyotes).
- tryan83

Even if the right owner can't fix the problem do you really think that Bettman is going to allow Phoenix to move? He has resisted movement of the Cyotes time and time again. That is why I said that Columbus and Dallas may be more viable options for movement.

Even if the right owner can't fix the problem do you really think that Bettman is going to allow Phoenix to move? He has resisted movement of the Cyotes time and time again. That is why I said that Columbus and Dallas may be more viable options for movement.
- TheDeez

Yes I do. At some point, he's going to figure out that it's just easier to move the team to Quebec City rather than taking heat for it. It will also probably hurt the owners in negotiations with the NHLPA - they'll claim to be losing money, and the players will point out that they're willingly keeping a bottomless money pit of a team in the desert when there are other cities clamouring for a club of their own.

It's ironic: he can't own his mistake, and yet he and the NHL literally do own that same mistake.

I don't like to see cities lose their team either but I have not seen anything that shows me hockey is thriving in Phoenix. Attendance alone shows that. over the last 5 years they have ranked 30th, 29th, 30th, 27th and 24th in capacity.
- nastyflyergirl

and this is with cheap tickets....$20 lower bowls

and this is with cheap tickets....$20 lower bowls
- flashfire

I don't know if it's part of the problem but there are soooooooo many scalpers down there it's not even worth walking up to the ticket office. Not sure how they get all their tickets or how they sell them for so cheap but it must hurt business!!

and this is with cheap tickets....$20 lower bowls
- flashfire

you can get $25-35 lower bowl tix at st petes forum in Tampa to watch the bolts and they used to give tix away for free at gas stations or for.$5

If you are gonna call it nonesense at least back it up fool. I have my sources. Where are yours to back up your claim?

People these days...
- TheDeez

an empty arena is my source.

you can get $25-35 lower bowl tix at st petes forum in Tampa to watch the bolts and they used to give tix away for free at gas stations or for.$5
- dmarsden2988

I can confirm this. I went to a Bolts/Habs game down there a few years back. $32US for 8th row on the blueline.

and this is with cheap tickets....$20 lower bowls
- flashfire

If I remember this correctly - and somebody back me up if you remember it too - they even had a promotion a couple of years ago where at certain stores in the area, if you bought a bottle of Smirnoff, you got two free tickets to a Coyotes/Blues game.

Even if the right owner can't fix the problem do you really think that Bettman is going to allow Phoenix to move? He has resisted movement of the Cyotes time and time again. That is why I said that Columbus and Dallas may be more viable options for movement.
- TheDeez

Why Columbus and Dallas?they are not in the sort of financial trouble the Coyotes are in right now..... far from it actually , seeing that Bettman is defending tooth and nail a franchise that is on life support .

Why Columbus and Dallas?they are not in the sort of financial trouble the Coyotes are in right now..... far from it actually , seeing that Bettman is defending tooth and nail a franchise that is on life support .
- Alexzanki

He just picked the next two lowest attendance numbers. It could just as easily have been Florida and New Jersey; it wouldn't have changed his argument. "Phoenix just needs an owner, then - voila! - fan apathy will disappear! But other teams...well, they're screwed."

Even if the right owner can't fix the problem do you really think that Bettman is going to allow Phoenix to move? He has resisted movement of the Cyotes time and time again. That is why I said that Columbus and Dallas may be more viable options for movement.
- TheDeez

Investors/Ownership groups care about tangible things, like potential of a market. Phoenix/Scottsdale has the sixth biggest population in the United States. It is also HQ of five fortune 100 companies, and probably fifty others with major operations which employ more people than live in, say, Saskatoon. I'm using them as an example since it seems popular to suggest NHL teams just move to Canada, where the fans are.

Saskatoon has one major publicly traded company, which is a uranium cg, whom employs less than 700 people. There are realistically no major financial or manufacturing firms. The second and third biggest employers are schools. What I am basically saying is that Scottsdale would be a more attractive market for a NHL owner if Phoenix was 400 miles away.

Quebec City, another popular "automatically can support a team" destination, has no business presence beyond a hospital network and a paper mill. Cominar is there, a largely anonymous real estate firm. Meanwhile there are 800k people in Columbus, OH (which has a very strong, diverse economy which I can argue is in the "emerging" category) with absolutely noting to do on a Thursday night, and NHL investors know it.

What the NHL needs more than additional teams in markets which have very visible limitations is fewer teams, deeper talent pools, more robust community development, and the continuation of ROI. As much as people seem to think that Gary Bettman is personally manipulating the situation in Phoenix to avoid looking like an ass, or to avoid scorn from Winnipeg for moving their team to the desert only to see it fail is folly. Right, dinner time. Discuss.

Investors/Ownership groups care about tangible things, like potential of a market. Phoenix/Scottsdale has the sixth biggest population in the United States. It is also HQ of five fortune 100 companies, and probably fifty others with major operations which employ more people than live in, say, Saskatoon. I'm using them as an example since it seems popular to suggest NHL teams just move to Canada, where the fans are.

Saskatoon has one major publicly traded company, which is a uranium cg, whom employs less than 700 people. There are realistically no major financial or manufacturing firms. The second and third biggest employers are schools. What I am basically saying is that Scottsdale would be a more attractive market for a NHL owner if Phoenix was 400 miles away.

Quebec City, another popular "automatically can support a team" destination, has no business presence beyond a hospital network and a paper mill. Cominar is there, a largely anonymous real estate firm. Meanwhile there are 800k people in Columbus, OH (which has a very strong, diverse economy which I can argue is in the "emerging" category) with absolutely noting to do on a Thursday night, and NHL investors know it.

What the NHL needs more than additional teams in markets which have very visible limitations is fewer teams, deeper talent pools, more robust community development, and the continuation of ROI. As much as people seem to think that Gary Bettman is personally manipulating the situation in Phoenix to avoid looking like an ass, or to avoid scorn from Winnipeg for moving their team to the desert only to see it fail is folly. Right, dinner time. Discuss.
- Gian_Carlo

Those were his reasons for moving the team there in the first place, but there's now demonstrable proof that it's not working. Just because a city has a large population and potentially-adequate corporate support, doesn't mean that it's a viable market for everything that looks its way. Madrid is a big city, but I don't think they'd be a particularly good NHL market.