2022-2023 Around The League

[Bill Peckerskull]

And then people wonder why the NHL can't attract new people lol. Can you imagine this happening in the NFL, NBA or MLB? Bettman knows hockey in Arizona is a failure but they insist on embarrassing the league.

I just think he doesn't want to admit they failed there. I think he wants to wait and see what happens if and when Matthews goes back there in a few years.

They should have let them go to Houston, KC, or Quebec.

I know it's early but watching these games feels like the league is going to be really wide open this year. Tampa/Colorado/Florida/Toronto all look worse. NYR/Edmonton are going to be good but nothing special. You have some young teams that are improved and teams like Vegas bouncing back. Penguins/Boston/Dallas have had good starts.

My pick would be Carolina/Calgary for the Presidents trophy.

Calgary looks like the best team so far, IMO.

 

[Pokecheque]

If New Jersey had an actual goalie they'd be the best team in the league right now and I don't think it'd be all that close.

 

[The Moops]

If New Jersey had an actual goalie they'd be the best team in the league right now and I don't think it'd be all that close.

The Graves effect

 

[Spirits]

Kadri was absurd in the regular season last year. There's no way your replacing that production.

This board was saying the 2021 team was the best we would ice in this era and that was wrong. They said over and over how the 2022 roster would take a hit. In short, I'm not sure I would be making these kinds of declarations just yet.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

And then people wonder why the NHL can't attract new people lol. Can you imagine this happening in the NFL, NBA or MLB? Bettman knows hockey in Arizona is a failure but they insist on embarrassing the league.

Posts like this are just so silly...

Bettman isn't the one who makes the decisions. He's just a mouthpiece for the Owners. If the owners around the league truly had a problem with what was going on in Arizona right now, something would be done about it.

But also... Bettman doesn't own the team in Arizona either. There's a legitimate ownership group for the Coyotes that are currently dead set on keeping the team in Arizona. Bettman cannot simply force that ownership to relocate. If they want to stay in and suffer through this situation it is well within their rights.

Plus its not like this situation is going to be forever. The fact they have a clear path towards a brand new arena will ultimately make a few rough years worth it in the eyes of said ownership group that wants NHL hockey in Arizona.

 

[Grigowski]

I know it's early

Yup, it is.

When all is said and done, i still expect the usual suspects to come out on top.

 

[Metallo]

Posts like this are just so silly...

Bettman isn't the one who makes the decisions. He's just a mouthpiece for the Owners. If the owners around the league truly had a problem with what was going on in Arizona right now, something would be done about it.

But also... Bettman doesn't own the team in Arizona either. There's a legitimate ownership group for the Coyotes that are currently dead set on keeping the team in Arizona. Bettman cannot simply force that ownership to relocate. If they want to stay in and suffer through this situation it is well within their rights.

Plus its not like this situation is going to be forever. The fact they have a clear path towards a brand new arena will ultimately make a few rough years worth it in the eyes of said ownership group that wants NHL hockey in Arizona.

The NHL is a franchise model. In a franchise model you enforce standards of quality. Saying that ARZ should be left doing whatever is not how a franchisor/franchisee relation should work. This is a failure of the NHL to do something about the ARZ situation.

 

[Chiarelli]

Why do people assume Matthews will go to Arizona? Dude will prioritize being paid big, then winning. Arizona won’t be able to match other teams in either area.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[Shane Diesel]

And then people wonder why the NHL can't attract new people lol. Can you imagine this happening in the NFL, NBA or MLB? Bettman knows hockey in Arizona is a failure but they insist on embarrassing the league.

The Chargers played in a soccer stadium when the team first moved to LA, so something similar has in fact happened in a different league.

You only watch sports for the arenas? Seems odd, but to each their own.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

Bruins getting healthier, and they've been good without some of their top guys.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Posts like this are just so silly...

Bettman isn't the one who makes the decisions. He's just a mouthpiece for the Owners. If the owners around the league truly had a problem with what was going on in Arizona right now, something would be done about it.

But also... Bettman doesn't own the team in Arizona either. There's a legitimate ownership group for the Coyotes that are currently dead set on keeping the team in Arizona. Bettman cannot simply force that ownership to relocate. If they want to stay in and suffer through this situation it is well within their rights.

Plus its not like this situation is going to be forever. The fact they have a clear path towards a brand new arena will ultimately make a few rough years worth it in the eyes of said ownership group that wants NHL hockey in Arizona.

The owners are committed to staying in Arizona because that was a condition of the sale of the franchise to them. There have been several groups with much more secure financing over the years that have been interested in purchasing the Coyotes but wanted to do so with the intention of relocating them and were told to pack sand by the league.

 

[myperbixhurts]

Wow, Marchand is like few months early returning. Wasn't he projected to miss couple of months at least? Can we get Landy back a month early?

 

[RECKLESS]

Wow, Marchand is like few months early returning. Wasn't he projected to miss couple of months at least? Can we get Landy back a month early?

No. We're the Colorado Avalanche and it will be more like two months late.

 

[The Merchant]

No. We're the Colorado Avalanche and it will be more like two months late.

I mean the surgery was

 

[Pokecheque]

Cue Risto (not the Uncle, the player) landing in Torts's doghouse in 5, 4, 3...

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[redacted]

It is harder to force teams to move than you'd think. If the NHL pulled back the franchise and moved it, they'd be setting themselves up for a pretty large legal headache.

With that though, if the new arena project fails... there may not be another option. Certainly the NHL will want to avoid Quebec City (TV money and Canadian dollar issues)... and unless it is Houston, I doubt the TV execs will be happy losing the Phoenix market. If the Hawks weren't so influential, TV didn't matter, and didn't want to lose a local market... Milwaukee would be pretty perfect honestly.

 

[MacKaRtin]

It is harder to force teams to move than you'd think. If the NHL pulled back the franchise and moved it, they'd be setting themselves up for a pretty large legal headache.

With that though, if the new arena project fails... there may not be another option. Certainly the NHL will want to avoid Quebec City (TV money and Canadian dollar issues)... and unless it is Houston, I doubt the TV execs will be happy losing the Phoenix market. If the Hawks weren't so influential, TV didn't matter, and didn't want to lose a local market... Milwaukee would be pretty perfect honestly.

The right time to move the team was last off-season when the Coyotes no longer had a commitment to an arena deal with Glendale. There would have been no contracts broken there (well, except for the Coyotes not paying their rent) and the team could have been easily relocated. Instead the league decided to double down and play in a college arena even though there is no signed agreement with Tempe for the permanent solution.

 

[Pokecheque]

It is harder to force teams to move than you'd think. If the NHL pulled back the franchise and moved it, they'd be setting themselves up for a pretty large legal headache.

With that though, if the new arena project fails... there may not be another option. Certainly the NHL will want to avoid Quebec City (TV money and Canadian dollar issues)... and unless it is Houston, I doubt the TV execs will be happy losing the Phoenix market. If the Hawks weren't so influential, TV didn't matter, and didn't want to lose a local market... Milwaukee would be pretty perfect honestly.

The NHL made this mess many moons ago. Bypassing any sort of arena deal in Scottsdale, they got greedy and put it out in the middle of nowhere, just assuming economic growth and urban sprawl would eventually reach Glendale. Then it didn't, and since then Bettman has had to beg, borrow, and deal with a number of people who seem to have more money than sense, and each subsequent desert sugar daddy has been more goofy than the last.

Every time they kick this can down the road they're just making the eventual fallout that much worse.

That said, there's no magical unicorn owner in, say, Houston, willing to step up and buy the team AND move it, so the NHL is more or less stuck for now. But they still made this mess.

 

[redacted]

The right time to move the team was last off-season when the Coyotes no longer had a commitment to an arena deal with Glendale. There would have been no contracts broken there (well, except for the Coyotes not paying their rent) and the team could have been easily relocated. Instead the league decided to double down and play in a college arena even though there is no signed agreement with Tempe for the permanent solution.

The NHL made this mess many moons ago. Bypassing any sort of arena deal in Scottsdale, they got greedy and put it out in the middle of nowhere, just assuming economic growth and urban sprawl would eventually reach Glendale. Then it didn't, and since then Bettman has had to beg, borrow, and deal with a number of people who seem to have more money than sense, and each subsequent desert sugar daddy has been more goofy than the last.

Every time they kick this can down the road they're just making the eventual fallout that much worse.

That said, there's no magical unicorn owner in, say, Houston, willing to step up and buy the team AND move it, so the NHL is more or less stuck for now. But they still made this mess.

I don't disagree with either... just saying it is hard to get out of this situation today. Now if the Tempe deal falls through (and decent chance of that happening)... that's the next window to a solution.

Funny enough though, tickets for tonights game are the most expensive for all the games. I'm gonna find a way to see a game there. Probably the last chance to see a legit NHL game in such a small, intimate venue. Like going to Winnipeg on steroids.

In other news... Kasper is disgusting

 

[redacted]

Also on the arena discussion... the Canadian outcry will get even stronger when the Flames are moved within the next 2 seasons.

 

[Pokecheque]

Also on the arena discussion... the Canadian outcry will get even stronger when the Flames are moved within the next 2 seasons.

Wranglers in 2026 are gonna be all

 

[Vk1ing]

The Chargers played in a soccer stadium when the team first moved to LA, so something similar has in fact happened in a different league.

You only watch sports for the arenas? Seems odd, but to each their own.

Lol the coyotes got kicked from their old stadium (shamed for not paying their bills) and you are comparing them to a new team not having a stadium. Hardly a fair comparison. Also I don't care about arenas for the most part but I don't want to watch this bush league stuff happening at the highest level in hockey. The NHL should have some standards in terms of conduct, is that too high of a bar?