August 16, 20159 yr This is really bad, but I didn't even know that the Coyotes changed their name from "Phoenix" to "Arizona." I guess they're worried that folks in places like Winslow, Flagstaff, and Yuma might be inclined to root for other NHL teams? ;)
August 16, 20159 yr ^ Don't feel bad about not knowing about the name change. Last season was the first season under the "Arizona Coyotes" name. And there wasn't much reason to follow them last season because they were the 2nd-worst team in the NHL. When new ownership bought the team in 2013, they announced the name change from Phoenix to Arizona. Which is technically correct because their arena is located in Glendale and is not within the city limits of Phoenix. It also matches the NFL's Arizona Cardinals, which is also in Glendale. Plus, maybe they thought they'd get a better arena lease deal with the City of Glendale with this name change? (They didn't)
August 17, 20159 yr Which is technically correct because their arena is located in Glendale and is not within the city limits of Phoenix. Oh, don't get me started on this. Tons of teams have played or are currently playing in cities that don't match the city name on their uniforms. Heck the Cleveland Cavaliers played well outside of Cleveland in northern Summit County for several decades.
January 30, 20169 yr The NHL is on their break for tomorrow's All-Star Game in Nashville. So now's a good time for an update on NHL expansion news. The NHL opened up expansion bids in 2015. A number of cities had been rumored to be interested in acquiring an NHL franchise. Seattle, Kansas City, Houston, Las Vegas, Quebec City, Hamilton/Southern Ontario and even a second team in Toronto were thought to be in the running and might apply for an expansion team. However, only Las Vegas and Quebec City ultimately applied. It was thought that Seattle and Kansas City were likely candidates to apply, but chose not to for a couple of reasons: - Seattle's NHL application was thought to be linked with acquiring an NBA team for a new arena that would replace their existing Key Arena. But when a proposed relocation of the Sacramento Kings to Seattle fell through, it took their NHL bid with it. - Kansas City's NHL non-application is thought to be issue over the franchise fees the NHL is rumored to be asking for this round of expansion teams. The Hunt family, which would have submitted the application, has said they believe the expansion franchise fees to be too high - which is rumored to be $500 million. The last time the NHL expanded in 2000 (Minnesota and Columbus), the expansion fees were $80 million.
January 30, 20169 yr So Las Vegas and Quebec City are the places in play for any NHL expansion: http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2015/07/21/nhl-to-focus-exclusively-on-expansion-bids-for-las-vegas-and-quebec-city/ - Quebec City (which previously had an NHL team from 1979 to 1995 until they moved to Denver) opened an 18,000+ seat arena in September 2015 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videotron_Centre. - Las Vegas is building a 17,500 seat arena that is scheduled to open in April 2016 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile_Arena_(Las_Vegas). However, the NHL doesn't seem to be fast-tracking these applications. It's thought that the NHL would not be ready to award these expansion teams until the 2017-18 season, at the earliest. One issue causing pause is an existing East-West team imbalance in the league. Starting with the 2013-14 season, the NHL moved the only two teams located in the eastern time zone but not in the Eastern Conference (Detroit and Columbus). After this reorganization, 16 teams were in the Eastern Conference and only 14 teams were in the Western Conference. It was thought that expansion teams and/or franchise relocation would balance the two conferences in the future. But the expansion process yield one eastern city and one western city, which doesn't solve the east-west imbalance issue. And the current franchise relocation front doesn't seem to offer a solution either. The most likely team to be relocated (Arizona) is already in the West. The Florida (Miami-area) franchise was once thought to be a likely relocation team, but has since stabilized. So, for now, its Las Vegas and Quebec City as the most likely expansion teams. But the NHL isn't in hurry.
February 2, 20169 yr An NHL expansion update (sort of) from the ASG in Nashville over the weekend: Bettman rejects notion that the NHL is waiting for Seattle By Jason Brough, Pro Hockey Talk - NBC Sports January 30, 2016, 6:01 PM EST NASHVILLE — There’s a theory that some people have about NHL expansion, and it goes something like this: Las Vegas is a slam dunk. Sin City will get a team sometime in the near future. But Quebec City, the other formal candidate in the current process, is a different story. For reasons related to the Canadian dollar and alignment, the NHL would rather expand to Seattle. And so the league is stalling, waiting to see if Seattle can gets it arena act together, before it makes a decision on Quebec City. That’s the theory anyway. MORE: http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/01/30/bettman-rejects-notion-that-the-nhl-is-waiting-for-seattle/
April 8, 20169 yr Just a week ago, the Red Wings' hopes of continuing their 24 consecutive playoff appearance to 25 looked all but over. Boston and Philadelphia fell apart late in the season and now have made the Red Wings the favorites after winning 4 of 5 games. After dominating Philly on Wednesday in Detroit, the Red Wings had to fly into Boston where they clearly looked exhausted. A win in Boston would have secured their playoff bid, but they got routed 5-2 against the Bruins. If the Wings win tomorrow, they are in the playoffs. If they lose, there are multiple scenarios where they can still make the playoffs depending on the results of Boston and Philly. Interestingly, Detroit plays the NY Rangers, who have an incentive to lose tomorrow. With a loss, the Rangers will play the Panthers and avoid playing the two best teams in the East (Pittsburgh and Washington) until the Conference Finals. With a win, they will play the Penguins who have been on fire lately. Also of note, for the first time since 1970, no Canadian teams have qualified for the playoffs. This is likely bad for viewership of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as Canadian fans are much more likely to watch a Canadian team than an American one. 58% of Canadian hockey fans have said they will watch less playoff hockey with the absence of any Canadian teams. Let's Go Red Wings!
April 12, 20169 yr The Red Wings did it. 25 consecutive playoff appearances. That's the longest current streak in the major four sports, with the Spurs next at 19 seasons. But the Red Wings received some bad news too. Long-time center Pavel Datsyuk announced he would be ending his 15-year career with the Red Wings and retiring at the end of this season: http://nhlnumbers.com/2016/4/10/pavel-datsyuk-confirms-departure-to-russia
May 31, 20169 yr You don't need to speak Punjabi to know who scored the game-winning goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the San Jose Sharks:
June 6, 20169 yr Finnish player scores game-winning OT goal for the San Jose Sharks in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Finnish announcer goes nuts!
June 13, 20169 yr Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup last night at San Jose. I feel pretty confident in assuming that most here at Urban Ohio will cheer this news in the same way that Sharks fans did last night!! First video: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman awards the playoff MVP trophy to Sidney Crosby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU_Q4GYcCP8 Second video: The Stanley Cup is awarded to team captain Sidney Crosby and the Penguins:
June 13, 20169 yr ^ My dad said he was happy just because the "better team won." He has his favorite teams, and Pitt isn't one of them, but in the end he just loves hockey. Now how about that Pens vs. Monsters exhibition game :-)
June 14, 20169 yr http://bluejacketsxtra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2016/06/15/0614-nhl-exp.html Vegas expansion is (officially) happening. Very Stable Genius
June 14, 20169 yr ^ Good catch D&S! Here's a little more from the AP (who broke the story) and the former ProHockeyTalk site (now folded into NBC Sports): http://bigstory.ap.org/article/f665e04a389a4bdb846216dcb14089c6/ap-source-nhl-settles-las-vegas-expansion http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/06/14/report-nhl-picks-vegas-for-expansion/
June 14, 20169 yr ^Personally, I think Vegas will be too similar to Phoenix. I think Seattle would be a much better fit...but they never submitted a bid. After the buzz of having a team in Vegas, I can see that franchise struggling. They've been consistent on wanting an even 16/16 split, and there are a couple avenues to get there. Wait a couple years, and hope Seattle gets their act together. Perhaps KC would jump in? The NHL could also put a team in Quebec or Toronto and then relocate the Panthers or Hurricanes out west. Very Stable Genius
June 14, 20169 yr Would love for Cincy to get a team. They have a long history of hockey back in the day. Would love for the NHL to come back there.
June 14, 20169 yr ^They have the Cyclones now. If the CBJ switch their ECHL affiliation to them, then Ohio has its own franchise lined up (fairly similar to the Indians organization in baseball). NHL, AHL, and ECHL all affiliated and all in Ohio. No need for an NHL team in Cincinnati. There are 6 NHL franchises within a 5 hour drive. The league wants a balance of 16/16, so adding a team in the Eastern time zone doesn't make sense. Very Stable Genius
June 17, 20168 yr Would love for Cincy to get a team. They have a long history of hockey back in the day. Would love for the NHL to come back there. There are rumors of Cincy moving up to the AHL after expansion and US Bank arena improvements. Cincinnati is far too large a city to be stuck with ECHL hockey... from a hockey perspective, its a shame the Ducks didn't win the late 90's hockey wars in Cincinnati.... its also a shame the Railraiders didn't pan out. AHL hockey is a *huge* improvement over ECHL....
June 19, 20168 yr ^He recently stated he isn't 100% certain. So we'll see.... Sorry Ryan, http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/06/18/its-official-pavel-datsyuk-is-leaving-the-red-wings/
June 20, 20168 yr :cry: Yeah it sucks. I figured he was actually leaving, but holding out a bit of hope.
June 20, 20168 yr There is no hope. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 30, 20168 yr NHL unrestricted free agents can be signed beginning Friday, July 1. And this off-season's highest free-agent prize is Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos. Stamkos is 26-year-old, a center and a prime goal scorer. How prime? Only one player has scored more goals than Stamkos since he joined the NHL as an 18-year-old in 2008. And that player is Alex Ovechkin! So, it was thought that this summer might be a "Stamkos Sweepstakes" with teams like Detroit and Toronto (Stamkos was born in Ontario) vying with his current club Tampa Bay to sign him. But yesterday, Stamkos announced prior to the July 1 date that he was resigning with Tampa Bay for 8-years at $8.5 million/year. Resigning with Tampa Bay probably makes the most sense for Stamkos from a "win-now" viewpoint. TB is only one season removed from reaching the Stanley Cup. Last season TB reached the Eastern Conference Finals (despite Stamkos and their starting goaltender missing most of the playoffs) losing to Pittsburgh, the eventual Stanley Cup winner. And TB's roster is mostly unchanged and will be favored to reach the Conference and Stanley Cup Finals next season. -- The only surprise was per year salary amount. $8.5 million is nothing to sneeze at. But it does place him slightly below the $10 million/year contracts of Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin, Kane and Toews. So Stamkos gave TB a bit of a hometown discount. But that's somehat offset by Florida having no state income tax, which bumps up his net equivalent salary close to those other players.
June 30, 20168 yr ^ On any normal day, yesterday's Stamkos signing would have been the most important NHL story. But yesterday was not a normal day. The Stamkos signing got overshadowed by this blockbuster trade of two All-Star defensemen: -- Montreal traded P.K. Subban to Nashville for Shea Weber P.K. Subban is a 27-year-old mobile offensive defenseman who has six years remaining on an 8-year, $9 million/year contract. Subban got this current deal two two seasons ago after he sat out a few games as part of a contract negotiation with Montreal. This deal also includes a no-movement-clause that kicks in July 1, 2016 (and would have prevented Montreal from trading Subban without his agreement). Shea Weber is a big all-around defenseman with a big shot who will be 31-years-old going into next season. Weber has 10 years remaining on a 14-year, $7,857,143/year contract. Weber's 14-year contract was signed in 2012, before the NHL & NHLPA agreed to limit new contracts to an 8-year maximum. It also carries a lower annual cap hit only because the last three years pay out $1 million/year (when Weber would be 39, 40 & 41). This type of contract that artificially lowers the annual cap hit is also banned now. Montreal fans are totally bummed over this trade and Nashville fans are overjoyed. It's not that Shea Weber is a worse defenseman than P.k. Subban. It's the ages and contracts that are at issue. Subban is nearly 4 years younger and on a contract that runs another six years until he is 33. Weber will be 31 next season and under contract until he is 41(!) to Montreal. Subban is a better skater and plays a faster game that is becoming the NHL standard. Weber is less mobile and at the age where player skills can begin to decline. So why does Montreal trade a younger faster player for an older slower player? Subban's contract holdout a few years ago might be one reason. Another might be a bad personality fit in Montreal. Although Habs fans loved P.K., management never seemed to warm up to his flamboyant and outspoken style. Montreal is an old Original Six franchise that values traditional hockey attitude. And Shea Weber fits that mold more than P.K. does. On the other hand, Nashville must be thrilled to get a younger player. And as for P.K. being "too flashy" for Nashville? Flashy is not a negative in America's County Music Capital or for a younger franchise looking to forge an identity.
June 30, 20168 yr It's going to be hilarious when Weber retires with a year left on his deal and Nashville gets hit with a $24m cap hit. Very Stable Genius
June 30, 20168 yr It's going to be hilarious when Weber retires with a year left on his deal and Nashville gets hit with a $24m cap hit. How would Nashville get a $24m cap hit if Weber is under contract with Montreal? EDIT: Nevermind - I just saw this graphic on http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2016/6/29/12061262/canadiens-oilers-pk-subban-taylor-hall-trade-analysis-grade-devils-predators-nhl-weber-larsson EDIT #2: This explains the Cap Recapture concept:
July 17, 20168 yr More about the Las Vegas NHL expansion team, which will begin play in the 2017-18 season: http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/17069335/las-vegas-expansion-team-having-trademark-naming-issues-owner-says - The owner, who is a graduate of West Point, has said he'd like to name his Las Vegas team the "Black Knights" as a nod to the Army. However, there may be a trademark issue that prevents him from doing so. The Canadian sports network TSN also reported that "Knights" was a likely name for the team. - Another ongoing process is getting a top minor league affiliate. It's being reported that Salt Lake City will likely be their AHL team. And finally, there is the question of who will be on the Las Vegas team's roster. That will be decided by an expansion draft after next season. By June 17, 2017, all 30 current NHL teams will submit their lists of protected players on their rosters. On June 20, 2017, the Las Vegas team will choose one unprotected player from each of the 30 teams. On June 21, 2017, the NHL will announce those selections. Below are two articles that delve into the upcoming expansion draft in more detail: - NBC SPORTS: Making Vegas’ team competitive quickly – How expansion draft will work - SB NATION: Here's your handy guide to how the NHL's Las Vegas expansion draft will work
July 17, 20168 yr More about the Las Vegas NHL expansion team, which will begin play in the 2017-18 season: http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/17069335/las-vegas-expansion-team-having-trademark-naming-issues-owner-says - The owner, who is a graduate of West Point, has said he'd like to name his Las Vegas team the "Black Knights" as a nod to the Army. Ha! How original. More proof that all the good sports names have been taken. Sincerely, The Kansas City Wiz
July 26, 20168 yr NHL’s Islanders Are Considering a Move to Queens With Mets Help The New York Islanders are in talks with the owners of baseball’s New York Mets about building a hockey arena adjacent to Citi Field in Queens, people with knowledge of the discussions said. Willets Point is emerging as a persuasive alternative to the team’s current home at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center if the Islanders’s owners and arena officials can’t agree on a series of hockey-specific improvements. The team’s first season at Barclays Center, which is owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, was marred by poor reviews from fans, who complained about obstructed view seats, and from players, who who said the quality of the ice was sub-par. The team’s owners also realized they couldn’t make as much money as their league counterparts, most of which play in bigger arenas. Barclays Center, also home to basketball’s Brooklyn Nets, is small by NHL standards. It holds 15,700 for hockey, including about 1,500 obstructed-view seats. The Islanders averaged 13,626 fans a game this past season, down 11 percent from the year before. Among the league’s 30 teams, only Arizona and Carolina drew fewer fans. MORE: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-21/nhl-s-islanders-said-considering-a-move-to-queens-with-mets-help
August 17, 20168 yr More about the Las Vegas NHL expansion team, which will begin play in the 2017-18 season: http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/17069335/las-vegas-expansion-team-having-trademark-naming-issues-owner-says - The owner, who is a graduate of West Point, has said he'd like to name his Las Vegas team the "Black Knights" as a nod to the Army. Ha! How original. More proof that all the good sports names have been taken. Sincerely, The Kansas City Wiz I like the Black Knights name for Vegas. Don't mind the Knights either. But that copies the fairly well-known Canadian junior league team London Knights - so its less than ideal. According to the below report, if the Vegas team doesn't/can't go with Black Knights or Knights, they are looking at three different "Hawk" variations as an option: DesertHawks, RedHawks, NightHawks. Update: Vegas expansion team could still go with ‘Hawks’
August 17, 20168 yr Seahawks, Blackhawks, Atlanta Hawks...come up with something more creative. Very Stable Genius
August 17, 20168 yr Seahawks, Blackhawks, Atlanta Hawks...come up with something more creative. RedHawks!
September 1, 20168 yr "Desert Knights" name is getting a look from Las Vegas: http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/08/25/the-las-vegas-desert-knights-maybe/
September 24, 20168 yr Apparently the name of the Las Vegas franchise is down to Silver Knights, Desert Knights or Golden Knights: http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/09/23/unveiling-of-las-vegas-team-name-and-logo-pushed-back-to-november/
October 12, 20168 yr http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/10/09/report-nhl-may-be-considering-future-outdoor-game-at-west-point/ I could see this happening. Sports and the military seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. Plus its a cool looking site. Apparently, the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils played an indoor exhibition game at West Point this preseason. But the rumors of an outdoor game at Navy's 38,000-seat football stadium in gaining traction. According to the above linked article: From Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: "At the World Cup, there was a rumour going around the NHL is considering an outdoor game at the football stadium. Proximity makes the Rangers the host. There are two franchises with ownership ties to the army that would undoubtedly want to play (Florida and Las Vegas)." -- Larry Brooks of the New York Post later added on Twitter that the NHL has already done an initial survey of the site.
October 12, 20168 yr http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/10/10/breaking-crosby-diagnosed-with-concussion/ The NHL 2016-17 season begins tonight. But as the above linked article shows, it will begin without Sidney Crosby, the 29-year-old captain of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Crosby was looking good in the pre-season, playing on Team Canada in the World Cup of Hockey and being named tournament MVP. But he apparently suffered a concussion during a Penguins team practice and is out indefinitely. This is the third diagnosed concussion of Crosby's career - the last one had him out for almost the entire 2011-12 season. And while some anti-Penguin hockey fans might be cheering this news - don't. Its never good for a league to lose its most marketable player. His situation reminds me of Eric Lindros - a former #1 overall pick from 1991 whose career was hampered and cut short due to concussions. And no hockey fan should want a repeat of that.
October 12, 20168 yr Crosby missed something like 107 games due to concussions in 2011 and 2012 (my stat might be slightly off). Very Stable Genius
October 13, 20168 yr Its never good for a league to lose its most marketable player. Matters not. We're in the Auston Matthews era now.
October 13, 20168 yr Crosby missed something like 107 games due to concussions in 2011 and 2012 (my stat might be slightly off). Yeah. Crosby won his first Stanley Cup in 2009 at age 22. Then he suffered a pair of concussions in 2011. The first was in the middle of the 2010-11 season that caused him to miss the last 41 games of that season. He then missed the first 20 games of the 2011–12 season due to the lingering effects of his concussion, returned for 7 games, then missed another 40 games before returning for the final 15 regular season games and 6 playoff games in 2012. That was his worst bout with concussions. However, since that bad stretch, Crosby has played one strike-shortened season and three full seasons without recurrence of concussion symptoms. Until this week. It's now being reported that he's skating and doing some light practicing. So maybe he won't sit for a long stretch this time. But its still disappointing that it looked he had put this behind him. And now it looks like this concussion cloud will instead linger for the rest of Crosby's career.
October 13, 20168 yr Its never good for a league to lose its most marketable player. Matters not. We're in the Auston Matthews era now. You might be right. My satellite system offers a free preview of NHL Center Ice channels during the opening weeks. So I got to see Matthews amazing debut game with Toronto last night. It was a stunning offensive performance. (However, Toronto ended up losing to Ottawa 5-4 in OT, when Matthews didn't cover his man on the defensive end - which shows the promise and problems for Toronto this season.)
November 16, 20168 yr Arizona Coyotes not going anywhere . . . for two years: http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/23/coyotes-and-glendale-amend-arena-lease-putting-this-dispute-behind-us/ Arena update for the Arizona Coyotes - aka "The perennial NHL franchise most likely to relocate": http://nhl.nbcsports.com/2016/11/14/finally-coyotes-announce-plans-for-new-arena/ This announcement was for a partnership between the Yotes and Arizona State University. This partnership has a construction plan to build a 16,000-plus seat NHL arena for the Coyotes with an attached 4,000 seat multi-sport arena for ASU on university-owned land. (The above link shows the proposed site and arena rendering.) It actually looks good and seems like a decent plan. However, its only the first step of a long process and not a done-deal yet. But if it happens, it would stop the relocation rumors to cities like Seattle or Portland or Quebec City or Kansas City.
November 16, 20168 yr Their current arena is 13 years old (3 years younger than Nationwide) and they want to build a new one?? Who would pay for it? Oh...taxpayers. What a joke. Relocate the Coyotes. Very Stable Genius
November 23, 20168 yr Las Vegas franchise unveiled their official name and logo: - Las Vegas NHL expansion team will be named the 'Golden Knights': http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2016/11/22/las-vegas-nhl-expansion-team-name-golden-knights/94308010/ - Las Vegas NHL team picks 'Vegas Golden Knights' as name: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/las-vegas-nhl-team-picks-vegas-golden-knights-as-name-023126967.html - New NHL franchise will be the Vegas Golden Knights: https://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2016/11/22/new-nhl-franchise-will-be-the-las-vegas-golden-knights.html
December 9, 20168 yr Whoops? Might this be something, or nothing? Vegas Golden Knights' trademark request denied by U.S. patent office LAS VEGAS -- The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has denied the Vegas Golden Knights' trademark application a little more than two weeks after the new NHL franchise unveiled its name and logo. The office on Wednesday cited potential confusion with the team name for the College of Saint Rose in New York, which is also the Golden Knights. The Las Vegas franchise is set to take the ice next season. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league will formally respond by a June 7 deadline outlining why it believes the name should be registered "in co-existence" with that of Saint Rose "just as a number of other nicknames currently co-exist in professional and college sports (particularly where there is no overlap as to the sport for which the nickname is being used)." "We consider this a routine matter, and it is not our intention to reconsider the name or logo of this franchise," Daly said. "We fully intend to proceed as originally planned, relying on our common law trademark rights as well as our state trademark registrations while we work through the process of addressing the question raised in the federal applications." MORE: http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/18234450/vegas-golden-knights-trademark-request-denied-us-patent-office
January 31, 20178 yr islanders out of brooklyn -- back to nassau? or...? January 30, 2017 Dave Brown REPORT: BARCLAYS CENTER PLANS TO CUT TIES WITH ISLANDERS Not even the team's home arena wants the New York Islanders anymore. Bloomberg reports that Barclays Center in Brooklyn is planning to part ways with the 44-year-old NHL franchise after the 2018-19 season. Sooner, if the team can find a new venue in which to play. No one is commenting on the story, but the devil is in the details: Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who owns the building and the Nets, has since November been seeking an investor to take a stake in both. As of earlier this month, a financial projection shared with potential investors showed the Islanders won't contribute any revenue after the 2018-19 season -- a clear signal that the team won't play there, the people said. The reason, you probably figured already, is money. Prokhorov has concluded that the Barclays could make more money without having to be burdened with NHL hockey. As Bloomberg notes, the Isles are third-worst (and dropping) in home attendance in the NHL over the past two seasons after moving from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Barclays could make more money from concerts and such. more: https://sports.vice.com/en_us/highlight/report-barclays-center-plans-to-cut-ties-with-islanders
February 1, 20178 yr islanders out of brooklyn -- back to nassau? or...? REPORT: BARCLAYS CENTER PLANS TO CUT TIES WITH ISLANDERS Bloomberg reports that Barclays Center in Brooklyn is planning to part ways with the 44-year-old NHL franchise after the 2018-19 season. Sooner, if the team can find a new venue in which to play. more: https://sports.vice.com/en_us/highlight/report-barclays-center-plans-to-cut-ties-with-islanders Interesting. I posted a July 2016 article that reported the Islanders were unhappy with the Barclays Center and were considering building a new hockey arena adjacent to Citi Field in Queens: https://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27918.msg812327.html#msg812327 You'd think a dual-tenant arrangement between the NBA Nets and the NHL Islanders would be perfect for a modern arena like the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. (It is practically the modern standard for a new arena to be easily convertible back-and-forth from basketball to hockey configurations.) But, as I understand it, the Barclays Center didn't do this and was designed primarily for basketball use. To accommodate the ice surface, they basically had to shoehorn it in. The b-ball capacity of 17,732 gets reduced to 15,795 for hockey, some of the seats have obstructed views and the scoreboard is off-center to the ice surface. This odd arrangement is even noticeable on TV because the whole left end of the ice surface doesn't have any "on the glass" seats - the most expensive and desirable seats for many hockey fans. Instead, there is a blank left-over space that has been filled in with some Honda ads and two Honda vehicles! That $280 million renovation of Nassau Coliseum in Long Island (the Isles former home) that you posted HERE looks really promising. The problem for the Islanders is that the new hockey capacity at the renovated Nassau would be only 13,000 - down from the 16,170 when the Isles played there. 13,000 is a bit too small for an NHL franchise. The smallest arena capacity in today's NHL is 15,294 for Winnipeg in their downtown facility built in 2004. And the standard NHL size is in the 18,000 to 20,000 range. So it'll be interesting to see how this plays out. I think a new arena next to Citi Field is the Islanders ultimate goal. But single-tenant arenas are a tough sell these days, especially if taxpayer assistance is sought. The renovated Nassau Coliseum could be a short-term home or a stop-gap. However, if everything falls apart for the Islanders - i.e. no new arena, kicked out of Barclays, playing in a 13,000-seat Nassau - a brand new 18,259-seat arena is sitting available in Quebec City, Canada: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Vid%C3%A9otron
February 1, 20178 yr Or Move them to Cleveland. Cleveland is 2nd in AHL Attendance and I think this time around would be well supported.
February 1, 20178 yr ^While I would welcome that I think there are a number of cities better suited to host an NHL franchise than Cleveland. In this order: Quebec City, Kansas City, Seattle, Houston, Portland, Hamilton, Toronto (#2).
February 1, 20178 yr Greater New York essentially has three NHL teams, making this the only major sports league with three franchises in the same metropolitan area. This is easy for me to say, since I'm not an Islanders fan (and I do sort of remember what it felt like to have the Browns move to Baltimore), but I can't see why the franchise needs to stay in that region. I say move them to Quebec City and have them switch divisions to be united with the other three Canadian teams in the Eastern Conference.
February 1, 20178 yr Or Move them to Cleveland. Cleveland is 2nd in AHL Attendance and I think this time around would be well supported. San Diego led the AHL in attendance...and they kind of need the morale boost right now! But really, the Islanders belong in Long Island. It didn't seem right to see them in Brooklyn.
Create an account or sign in to comment