Around the League - 2024-2025
- Thread starter Leaf Rocket
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ULF_55
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rumman
Registered User
- Sep 10, 2008
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There's lots of teams in sports that have had 2 or three chances, especially since the previous franchise was set up to fail and the first team was too, just not as bad.
Personally I think putting another team in Canada is the square peg, round hole because aside from the expansion fee, it does absolutely nothing for sustained revenue c
compared to these giant markets in the states and will do nothing to create new fans.
The braves showed doubters that moving closer to their target demographic was night and day.
There's two different owners who are willing to put their money on it.
They know that most of the fans are in the burbs and while most are Caucasian, there's also lots of POC who live in the burbs who fit in that demographic as well, while I'm other areas more dominated by POC tend to not be as interested.
Those areas in the burbs tend to be a bit better off and with hockey being really expensive it's more likely that's where most of the kids who play live in those areas and most new fans likely would come from there as well. And we know that any team will spend money on trying to grow the game in all of Atlanta as well.
Houston is such a no brainer, Texas is just such a kick ass state when it comes to sports and I really think that Atlanta done right will be a huge success as well.
ULF_55
Moderator
Can I ask what benefit you see in growing the game?
Do you mean in an altruistic way?
If they lost teams I could care less, as it wouldn't negatively impact me.
Menzinger
Kessel4LadyByng
You don't get players like Matthews starting to l learn to play hockey in new markets without growing the game.
ULF_55
Moderator
There still would have been a 1st. overall player.
Leafs haven't won anything with Matthews so perhaps not the best argument.
Menzinger
Kessel4LadyByng
I mean sure, but id rather see a guy like Matthews than a Yakupov, not all 1st overalls are interchangeable
Leafs lack of cups aside, I've had a lot of fun watching him. I think the sport as a whole as well as my enjoyment of it is better off with him in it than not.
ULF_55
Moderator
Yes.
But that is the entertainment part, and I could enjoy a championship if won by a team of nobodies.
McDavid winning a Cup isn't high on my list of things as a Leafs fan. Growing the game didn't make Crosby or MacKinnon.
If the league was 24 teams you would still have the best players.
Growing the league is about generating revenue.
I want a high salary cap. You need growth in viewership for that to happen. That’s what NHL fans and the NHL is not realizing. Growth doesn’t mean you have to target specific minority groups. It means make your product more interesting, stop being boring and allow the players to have personality.
If the WBNA can do record numbers this year, there is no excuse why the NHL can’t. It just comes down to they suck at marketing players and the sport. Every other league has figured it out quickly, you need rivalries, you need dominant personalities because those things sell and make people want to tune in, thus increasing ratings and making the sport valuable to TV networks or streaming platforms.
ULF_55
Moderator
So it isn't about the game it's about the money.
Doesn't benefit me any if the players make 1 million or 24 million.
When I started watching players had to have jobs in the off season to make ends meet. Cups were still won, games were still on TV or radio.
But yes, growing the game isn't about the game, it is about the money.
A couple of different reasons really.
The more fans that fall in love in big markets or areas means more kids pick up the sport and add to the talent pool, I mean look at the amount of youth we have.
More fan also means a healthier richer league which means more money and a higher salary cap
Fogelhund
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- Sep 15, 2007
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I get the argument of growing the game, and a bigger base for future players. But Atlanta doesn't make a lot of sense to me. It's failed a couple of times, and a grand total of three NHL players were ever born in the State... that isn't current players, that's historically. Will yet another attempt suddenly encourage people in Georgia to play hockey, when it appears it hasn't in the past?
Houston I get, big city, maybe it works... I don't know.
In the short-term, it means 46 players are now NHL roster players, that would otherwise be playing in the AHL. I don't think that helps the quality of the game any. Maybe over a 20-25 year period, it encourages enough new players to make that gap up, but that's a long time period.
At some point, growth just doesn't make sense.
Anyway, who knows if they are really considering it or not... Bettman says no, but then I don't really trust him.
“We’re not going through an expansion process,” Bettman said in a small scrum today. “Other than updating the [league’s] board [of directors] in October of the places that expressed interest, nothing else is gonna be done. Everything else was either speculation or had no basis.”
Houston I get, big city, maybe it works... I don't know.
In the short-term, it means 46 players are now NHL roster players, that would otherwise be playing in the AHL. I don't think that helps the quality of the game any. Maybe over a 20-25 year period, it encourages enough new players to make that gap up, but that's a long time period.
At some point, growth just doesn't make sense.
Anyway, who knows if they are really considering it or not... Bettman says no, but then I don't really trust him.
“We’re not going through an expansion process,” Bettman said in a small scrum today. “Other than updating the [league’s] board [of directors] in October of the places that expressed interest, nothing else is gonna be done. Everything else was either speculation or had no basis.”
Fogelhund
Registered User
- Sep 15, 2007
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""
Laine thinks he might challenge for the Rocket???
Laine thinks he might challenge for the Rocket???
Peasy
Registered User
Gem of a quote from him last year lol.
ULF_55
Moderator
Good for him.
Not everyone has to smooch butt.
Hope he has found a good headspace, and doesn't score against Leafs.
ULF_55
Moderator
Colorado Avalanche sign F Logan O’Connor to six-year, $15M extension | TSN
The Colorado Avalanche signed forward Logan O’Connor to a six-year contract extension, the team announced on Monday. TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports that the deal is worth $15 million and carries a $2.5 million average annual value.
www.tsn.ca
This just seems weird ...
Might be brilliant.
6 team NTC ... hmmm, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, ???
BertCorbeau
F*ck cancer - RIP Fugu and Buffaloed
Fogelhund
Registered User
- Sep 15, 2007
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Darcy Tucker
My Name is Bob
Oh man exactly. I've loved what the WNBA has done pushing the individual personalities and soap opera story lines. It's been a rare treat to follow. Clark is a beast. Reese ended up sucking. The Facebook groups were wild.
The NHL needs more of this. McDavid and Draisaitl chasing a cup is a good start.
Menzinger
Kessel4LadyByng
ULF_55
Moderator
Guess that is important to some fans.
I don't follow players off the ice/court/floor/diamond/track/hill/oval/...
If something is on mainstream media, birth, death, signing, trade, arrest, ... certainly.
WNBA got their Unicorn in Clark plus they played on the jealously of past and present players.
They tried to do that with Tkachuk but it faded off after that playoffs run.
I just think people don't care enough about Hockey in general. Same can be said about the WNBA prior to this past season BUT the alternative Sports is really Baseball during the WNBA season. Where as Hockey for NFL, NBA and MLB to compete with. Most of all Hockey is a really hard sports to promote due to the best player often plays 1/3 of the game.
If I am in charge of promoting NHL, I would start on grass root level, sponsor youth teams for equipment and ice surface instead of pushing on TV commercials. Need more people to play the game to actually care to watch.
Leafsnation is pretty much what happened in the WNBA with Clark, Reese and all the other stuff.
Fans constantly yapping about who is better....the only difference is instead of just fans arguing, some of the WNBA players past and present will always take the bait from medias and start yapping stuff and if they will consistently double or triple down on what they said despite being completely wrong at times.
Peasy
Registered User
Yeah seems like a messy situation. Nice to not be on the receiving end of one of those. As Whitney said bruins really played their hand horribly. they knew this summer they would have to commit to one goalie. When they traded ullmark you showed that swayman is your choice. But now it seems like they dont want to commit to him long term but he wants that? How would you not have known this going into the situation and deciding on which one to keep. Seems like they probably could have gotten ullmark to sign the type of deal they are looking for. I wonder what a Swayman trade would have looked like this summer.
