Around the League - 2023 Offseason Edition

[Pokecheque]

How could Morales be outspent in a campaign when he has so much to gain by this.

By all intents and purposes this sounded like a slam dunk, yikes.

Oh I wouldn't have said it was a slam dunk by any means, not after what happened between Barroway's efforts and the Goldwater Institute.

I still say this lands about 99.9999999999% on Bettman and whoever that idiot was running the Coyotes at the time for moving the franchise out in the middle of f***ing nowhere. That doomed them more than anything else. If they had tried harder to build a rink around the Scottsdale area they'd be in great shape.

 

[Gruyeriev]

Paul Allen died in 2018. Also, a potential roadblock to Portland is its geographic proximity to Seattle, San Jose, and Vancouver. There’s likely going to be a concern of the parties involved of cannibalizing one another’s fan bases and TV deals. This would especially be true with Seattle who was in year 2 and is still trying to cultivate a following.

Also I think Portland is more like Austin Texas. Not really a huge sports town. True they have the Winterhawks and a loyal fan base but Washington has the Thunderbirds, Silvertips, Americans and Chiefs. Not to mention the Metropolitans history and people still weren’t sure how they would do.

In fact the people voted against the Metropolitans name and the old sweater. We were this close to being the Sockeyes. I was hoping they would bring back the Totems logo but I think they wanted to steer clear of using cultural appropriation in light of the changes to the Red Skins, Indians, fighting Sioux. Etc.

 

[Reparlana]

Oh I wouldn't have said it was a slam dunk by any means, not after what happened between Barroway's efforts and the Goldwater Institute.

I still say this lands about 99.9999999999% on Bettman and whoever that idiot was running the Coyotes at the time for moving the franchise out in the middle of f***ing nowhere. That doomed them more than anything else. If they had tried harder to build a rink around the Scottsdale area they'd be in great shape.

I agree with this, I had family that lived in Scottsdale growing up but I was young and none the wiser at the time.

On a long road of miss steps and the chance to stop taking on water this might be the final plank that gives way and sinks them.

I'm not one of those people that thinks hockey in Arizona never had a chance, I'm actually quite partial to Arizona and am pretty bummed by this. Even now I hope they get an arena.

This is actually shaping up to be the Nordiques, by all intents and purpose it looks like as a managed franchise they are turning the corner with good pieces in place. I personally would have loved seeing Bedard go there. With where things stand and the uncertainty does Logan Cooley even sign.

This is absolutely 20 years of miss stepping and failures rearing it's ugly head and the most recent.

 

[Vaslof]

Bettman is f***ing crazy to still keep the Yotes in Arizona. Just can't admit he was wrong.

 

[Goulet17]

At one point not long ago, the Colorado Avalanche had a substantial interest in the Utah market as it was the primary NHL team carried on regional cable. The Avalanche also stretched into the Eastern Idaho and over into the Boise market as well (although that started to become more of a SJ Sharks market). I am not sure how the Avs would be impacted considering the whole recent Comcast situation, but at one point not long ago, Utah represented a valuable market for the Avs. The entire television markets in Utah and Idaho would be lost to Colorado if an NHL team relocated to SLC, which would have represented a not so insignificant loss not too long ago.

I am not sure if the Kroenkes have a say in the possible relocation, but other NHL markets have had in the past, and we have seen other situations in which organizations in other professional leagues have a say in "territorial" markets.

 

[Balthazar]

Bettman is f***ing crazy to still keep the Yotes in Arizona. Just can't admit he was wrong.

But but...think about all that untapped market and TV deals!

He rather spend the upcoming season with 5k fans/game in Arizona than 19k fans/game in Quebec city. Literally.

 

[Alienblood]

I see Dubas wants more autonomy.

Just goes to.show you, the GM's are just number crunchers and don't have the final day.

Most of them I should say

 

[Foppa2118]

I see Dubas wants more autonomy.

Just goes to.show you, the GM's are just number crunchers and don't have the final day.

Most of them I should say

The Soo Greyhounds made Dubas their GM when he was 25 years old. Then the storied Maple Leafs made him assistant GM and GM of the Marlies when he was 28.

When he was 32 the Leafs let the legend Lou go to give Dubas the reins as GM like he wanted. He's 37 now and he's rewarded them with 1 win past the first round in five years.

Everything about this guy screams spoiled little brat. He's had everything handed to him on a silver platter, and accomplished nothing in the process, and now he's trying to command more autonomy?

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I honestly believe there are some owners who are telling Bettman to keep Arizona there specifically so it will continue to be a shit team with nothing to do other than be the final resting spot for bad contracts and LTIR cap shenanigans.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

I honestly believe there are some owners who are telling Bettman to keep Arizona there specifically so it will continue to be a shit team with nothing to do other than be the final resting spot for bad contracts and LTIR cap shenanigans.

That's an interesting angle I hadn't thought of. I wonder how much that offsets the fact that the profit sharing has to make up from such a lack of revenue for that franchise. I seem to recall reports of anger when the whole Mullet Arena thing happened because Arizona would have to be propped up by other teams.

 

[Balthazar]

 

[Balthazar]

 

[dahrougem2]

I agree with this, I had family that lived in Scottsdale growing up but I was young and none the wiser at the time.

On a long road of miss steps and the chance to stop taking on water this might be the final plank that gives way and sinks them.

I'm not one of those people that thinks hockey in Arizona never had a chance, I'm actually quite partial to Arizona and am pretty bummed by this. Even now I hope they get an arena.

This is actually shaping up to be the Nordiques, by all intents and purpose it looks like as a managed franchise they are turning the corner with good pieces in place. I personally would have loved seeing Bedard go there. With where things stand and the uncertainty does Logan Cooley even sign.

This is absolutely 20 years of miss stepping and failures rearing it's ugly head and the most recent.

The Nordiques probably aren't even in the top 5 choices of possible relocations in Bettnan's mind.

I believe he'd sooner put a 2nd team in Toronto before putting a team in Quebec City.

 

[Hasbro]

I see Dubas wants more autonomy.

Just goes to.show you, the GM's are just number crunchers and don't have the final day.

Most of them I should say

Like clockwork. Stat Whacker fails and either the excuses fly or "he wasn't REALLY an analytics guy".

 

[Alienblood]

The Soo Greyhounds made Dubas their GM when he was 25 years old. Then the storied Maple Leafs made him assistant GM and GM of the Marlies when he was 28.

When he was 32 the Leafs let the legend Lou go to give Dubas the reins as GM like he wanted. He's 37 now and he's rewarded them with 1 win past the first round in five years.

Everything about this guy screams spoiled little brat. He's had everything handed to him on a silver platter, and accomplished nothing in the process, and now he's trying to command more autonomy?

Avs would still take him here tomorrow as would s lot of teams

Point is Shanahan has the final say, it's on his shoulders

 

[lionsDen]

AI Reimagines Mascots For All 32 NHL Teams

After doing the same thing for the NBA and NFL, former World Series of Poker final tablist Garry Gates asked AI to create mascots for all 32 NHL teams.

news.sportslogos.net

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.

The blues has a big vajayjay

I loved the Chicago one, the mascot looked as depressed as you would expect for a mascot of that shitty team.

Am I crazy or is that an angry bird

 

[lionsDen]

maybe that’s why we have heard about adding teams this year Atlanta and another if I remember right. Smells like the nhl might have been hedging bets

 

[Freaky Styley]

AI Reimagines Mascots For All 32 NHL Teams

After doing the same thing for the NBA and NFL, former World Series of Poker final tablist Garry Gates asked AI to create mascots for all 32 NHL teams.

news.sportslogos.net

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.

They all look like stuffed animals and then the Vegas one is a transformer that can topple a city

 

[Metallo]

AI Reimagines Mascots For All 32 NHL Teams

After doing the same thing for the NBA and NFL, former World Series of Poker final tablist Garry Gates asked AI to create mascots for all 32 NHL teams.

news.sportslogos.net

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.

Washington Anals!!!

Also the NJD one looked the cheapest by faff and VGK is just not a mascot for kids.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

That's an interesting angle I hadn't thought of. I wonder how much that offsets the fact that the profit sharing has to make up from such a lack of revenue for that franchise. I seem to recall reports of anger when the whole Mullet Arena thing happened because Arizona would have to be propped up by other teams.

As I understand it the owners are divided on some of these things. But I also believe some owners have more say than others if you know what I mean.

maybe that’s why we have heard about adding teams this year Atlanta and another if I remember right. Smells like the nhl might have been hedging bets

Yeah, it was Houston and Atlanta that Weekes tweeted about.

But that couldn't include a transfer, as the conference would become unbalanced because the net effect is adding one eastern conference team. For both to get a team, it has to be two expansions, and I think that would be too much too soon. Although, if they can get close to 1B per team for expansion rights, that would be a lot of dough to be turning down as an owner.

 

[The Merchant]

 

[UncleRisto]

I loved the Chicago one, the mascot looked as depressed as you would expect for a mascot of that shitty team.

Reminds me of this The Wonder Years album cover.

 

[Reparlana]

The Nordiques probably aren't even in the top 5 choices of possible relocations in Bettnan's mind.

I believe he'd sooner put a 2nd team in Toronto before putting a team in Quebec City.

Oh there is 0% chance the Nords get a team.

Look no further than the Canadian $

I meant if/when Arizona relocates they are set up to give there new fan base a well built team by all accounts.

 

[The Merchant]

Clayton Keller's dad:

 

[AvBuff]

By all accounts, the Coyotes and the Proposition proponents utterly and completely screwed the pooch (pun intended) with the messaging on 301,302 and 303. This was a phenomenal deal to put a state-of-the-art sports facility on a current landfill funded by the owners and through a limited sales tax on local (as in Tempe) retail and food/beverage sales.

And they effed it up. .