Sunday, February 5, 2012

Puck Daddy Relocation Super Fun Time (UPDATE)

"NHL relocation to Seattle: Will new arena, Coyotes' plight bring pucks to Pacific Northwest?" (link fixed)

These articles are always fun, because they are pure speculation and basically don't solve anything.  I shall paraphrase:  "There is a guy in Seattle who wants to build a new arena for the NBA.  Also, possibly for the NHL.  A Seattle-Vancouver rivalry would be cool."
LOOGIT HOW CLOSE THEY IZ!
The Glendale/Coyote situation is pretty simple to figure out:

  • The Coyotes represent a team in Bettman's southern influence zone.  Taking that team away does not 'spread the influence of the game.'  Bettman does not want to lose another one of those teams (e.g. Atlanta).
  • The NHL also does not want to own the Coyotes anymore.  They lose over $20 million annually.
  • No particular "cities" are interested, meaning none of the current possible ownership groups are looking to move the Coyotes from Glendale.  None of these groups are like a True North for Winnipeg.
  • Thus, no one has said anything about Seattle getting an NHL team.  But, some guy wants to build a new arena for a future NBA team because the Key Arena is junk.
What can Seattle learn from Kansas City?  Well, first, they need an owner to bring a team to Seattle.  Also, they need an hockey (NHL) ready arena, which has caused this speculation.  Third, they need city officials willing to bring in a NHL team.  Plus, a whole bunch of other things to go the right way just to take one team to another city.

So, yeah, do that, and then maybe we have a story.

UPDATE: Yeah, also Bettman never says anything about Seattle in this video that Greg Wyshynski has embedded in his article talking about a possible NHL team in Seattle.  I think the key phrase is "we don't like moving franchises," a point Bettman has harped on before when talking about the stability of the league and continued growth of the game.  If keeping the team in Arizona is the priority, then KC, Seattle, Quebec, etc. are not even being discussed by the "interested buyers."

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