One of the more interesting things to circulate both TSN and The Globe and Mail last week was the six-part, multi-platform story where they investigated the possibility of Canada adding a seventh NHL team, title Why Not Canada?. They looked at four potential locations for franchises including Winnipeg, Hamilton, Quebec City, and a second team in the Greater Toronto Area.
If you did not get a chance to either watch it on Sports Centre, or read it, I highly suggest that you do it now. It was a very interesting and intelligent look at the different locations and went beyond the “We Want a Team Here” and looked at the building, corporate support, legal issues, and regional demographics.
After it was all said and done, they seemed to be high on the possibility of a team in either Winnipeg or Quebec, and not so much on adding a third team to Ontario. As much as I would love a team in Southwestern Ontario, or in Toronto, I think that I understand the situation now.
I think that Quebec City is the most likely destination for a new NHL team in Canada. A second Toronto team doesn’t have anywhere to play, and would have to contend with the Leafs for territorial rights. Winnipeg and Hamilton have very small old buildings, both of which would be the smallest in the NHL. Quebec may not have an arena, but there are plans already to build a new one, which may get some government support as the city plans to bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Also, the owner of Quebecor Pierre-Karl Peladeau, has stated that he would love to own a team. This gives them the stability that the old Nordiques never had. The only reason they left was because there was no funding for a new arena, and there were concerns over the Quebec economy. Neither of these seem to be issues anymore.
If there were to be a second, I think it would be in Toronto. The Leafs claim to have veto power over any team within 80 km of the Air Canada Centre. While the league disputes this claim, I don’t think that they want to get into it with the people at MLSE. Last year, there were reports that they were looking into putting a team in Vaughn by Highway 400, which is within 80km, but still well away from downtown.
Now there is an important thing to figure out here. How will these teams get to Canada? Will they be relocated like the Coyotes or Hurricanes? Or will they be an expansion team like the Blue Jackets or Thrashers?
Thirty franchises seems like it may almost be too many for the talents level that exists in hockey, so I doubt that we will see any expansion teams in the immediate future. I think that relocation is far more likely, especially given the amount of struggling teams that exist in the NHL. Off the top of my head, the teams that are struggling financially at the moment are the Atlanta Thrashers, the Nashville Predators, the New York Islanders, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Florida Panthers, and of course the Phoenix Coyotes. While obviously all six of those teams won’t move, if there is a relocation I imagine that it will be from one of those teams.
I think that the Thrashers and Predators are both too new to move. It would embarrass the league a bit too much to have a team move after less than 15 years in action, no matter how much financial sense it would make.
Also, I think that there is hope that the Islanders can emulate the Capitals, Blackhawks or Penguins and turn some lean years on and off the ice into successful contenders with large followings. While I’m a little skeptical about that, I see the point and commend their optimism.
There is something that tells me that the Hurricanes will not move in the near future, and I’m not certain as to why. I mean, the team has only made money twice since they moved to Carolina, one was the year they won the Cup, and the other was two seasons ago when they made it to the Conference Finals.
The Phoenix Coyotes, whose struggles have been front page news. I don’t think that they will stay in Phoenix for too long, it is just not a viable hockey market and I think that everyone other than Gary Bettman sees that. They did relatively well this season with their attendance, but I think that was a one time only thing, after they gained so much attention off ice and they did frighteningly well on the ice. I think that there will be a big drop next year in both attendance and on ice success, which should prompt their search for a new owner to hasten, and then, well all bets are off.
The other darkhorse team to move is the Florida Panthers. They have had low attendance for years, and have fluctuated between bad and mediocre over that time. One other fact though is the resurgence of the Miami Heat. I mean, if you live in South Florida and only have so much money to spend on sports, would you go to see LeBron James and Dwayne Wade, or a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in a decade, and shows no sign of recovering? I think that the new look Heat will cause big problems for this team, and relocation should be something that needs to be reconsidered.
While there are lots of teams that need to be moved, there is no guarantee that they will go to Canada. There could be teams in Kansas City, Las Vegas or Seattle, and you know that the NHL is eager to investigate any of those markets, especially Kansas City as they have a brand new arena with no team to play there.
Still though, I’d love to see a team go back to Quebec, if only so we can have the Nordiques Jersey again. That would be pretty awesome. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to see it again.
Until next time,
G
