Bettman meeting with Ryan Smith, owner of Utah Jazz and Real Salt Lake (upd: Smith asks NHL to open expansion process)

[OneSharpMarble]

I vote for them to be named the Salt Lake City Soakers.

 

[KevFu]

I don’t know how this makes any sense. It’s not news that they’re looking for a building. They were kicked out of one municipality, skunked in another, and some believe basically stonewalled from Phoenix by Ishbia. There’s been urgency for two years and no one’s been amenable to that.

It makes perfect sense if the league has heard Smith's pitch and thinks Salt Lake should be team #33.
If that were true, then you'd have team #32 with a roster but no arena for the next 3-5 years.
And team #33 with an arena but waiting 3-5 years to get a roster and start playing.
Putting the Coyotes in Utah and making Phoenix wait for both an arena and roster for 3-5 years makes perfect sense

The NHL also can promise more with AM than just "you'd be first in line for an expansion team." It's not "You'd be first to get a team back with an arena." It's "your return is guaranteed, just put the shovel in the ground and we plan your expansion draft."

Because there's no risk/downside. The "worst case" scenario is that even with a new arena, PHX sucks as a hockey market. Half you guys have believed that for 15-30 years. And if PHX returns with a new arena and shows everyone that ownership/arena was always the problem, the NHL wins. And if no arena ever gets built... the ARZ problem is "solved."

Anyone notice there is no one from Utah around here?

When Vegas was closing in on getting a team, there was couple of Vegas people hanging around here. Ditto for Seattle.

I'm not a huge fan of stereotypes, but I am a stereotypical loud-mouthed arrogant jerk from New York. I'm well traveled, and every Utah person I've ever met has been either a complete sweetheart, or someone who's polite to strangers and only a jerk in secret.

So a message board of trash-talking fans is something that fits my personality, but may not fit theirs.

 

[GKJ]

It makes perfect sense if the league has heard Smith's pitch and thinks Salt Lake should be team #33.
If that were true, then you'd have team #32 with a roster but no arena for the next 3-5 years.
And team #33 with an arena but waiting 3-5 years to get a roster and start playing.
Putting the Coyotes in Utah and making Phoenix wait for both an arena and roster for 3-5 years makes perfect sense

The NHL also can promise more with AM than just "you'd be first in line for an expansion team." It's not "You'd be first to get a team back with an arena." It's "your return is guaranteed, just put the shovel in the ground and we plan your expansion draft."

Because there's no risk/downside. The "worst case" scenario is that even with a new arena, PHX sucks as a hockey market. Half you guys have believed that for 15-30 years. And if PHX returns with a new arena and shows everyone that ownership/arena was always the problem, the NHL wins. And if no arena ever gets built... the ARZ problem is "solved."




I'm not a huge fan of stereotypes, but I am a stereotypical loud-mouthed arrogant jerk from New York. I'm well traveled, and every Utah person I've ever met has been either a complete sweetheart, or someone who's polite to strangers and only a jerk in secret.

So a message board of trash-talking fans is something that fits my personality, but may not fit theirs.

That’s not what the post was about though

 

[Brodie]

Utah Latter Day Skates

 

[PCSPounder]

Behind Houston and Atlanta for sure. Maybe even Portland.

Ready for a bit of a jolt?

There’s more clamor for WNBA to Portland than there is NHL to Portland, at least at this time.

 

[KevFu]

That’s not what the post was about though

I read it as quoted in another post. My bad.

 

[KevFu]

Ready for a bit of a jolt?

There’s more clamor for WNBA to Portland than there is NHL to Portland, at least at this time.

That's not surprising at all. As an investment, an NHL franchise requires 10 figure buy in to get 7-8 figures in profits annually. The real profit is on the sale.

But women's sports are minor league prices now, despite being the best league in the country in their sport (saying "Women's Basketball" and "Men's Basketball" are different sports, obviously). They don't play in minor league cities, they have national TV deals. It's just growing the acceptance of (which time handles) and fan base (which Caitlin Clark is doing).

It's like MLS 30 years ago: The Chicago Fire cost $10m and are now worth $515m. And the WNBA is in a much better position than MLS because there's ONE better league for their fans to see on TV if they want to be snobs about it, and not like 12.

 

[AintLifeGrand]

It makes perfect sense if the league has heard Smith's pitch and thinks Salt Lake should be team #33.
If that were true, then you'd have team #32 with a roster but no arena for the next 3-5 years.
And team #33 with an arena but waiting 3-5 years to get a roster and start playing.
Putting the Coyotes in Utah and making Phoenix wait for both an arena and roster for 3-5 years makes perfect sense

The NHL also can promise more with AM than just "you'd be first in line for an expansion team." It's not "You'd be first to get a team back with an arena." It's "your return is guaranteed, just put the shovel in the ground and we plan your expansion draft."

Because there's no risk/downside. The "worst case" scenario is that even with a new arena, PHX sucks as a hockey market. Half you guys have believed that for 15-30 years. And if PHX returns with a new arena and shows everyone that ownership/arena was always the problem, the NHL wins. And if no arena ever gets built... the ARZ problem is "solved."




I'm not a huge fan of stereotypes, but I am a stereotypical loud-mouthed arrogant jerk from New York. I'm well traveled, and every Utah person I've ever met has been either a complete sweetheart, or someone who's polite to strangers and only a jerk in secret.

So a message board of trash-talking fans is something that fits my personality, but may not fit theirs.

i lived in Utah for 4 years.. does that count?

 

[Spydey629]

Utah Latter Day Skates

Latter Day FIGHTING Saints?? If only to resurrect the greatest hockey logo ever?

 

[KevFu]

i lived in Utah for 4 years.. does that count?

As a college hoops junkie, who spent time in the WCC, I followed a lot of message board stuff, mostly regarding realignment. You just didn't see a lot of BYU fans talking trash with the WCC fans. (Part of that could be that seven fan bases had no reasons to open their mouths since 1998). It was like "we have this WCC board... and all the BYU fans are on their own BYU board."

A lot of Gonzaga fans were like that too, but that was because the WCC was/is beneath them in their view. With BYU it was more like "we keep to ourselves."


I just looked for "Utah NHL message board" and the top results are
#1 - this site.
#2 - BYU message board thread
#3 - Utah Utes message board thread
#4 - Mountain West message board thread.

 

[Brodie]

Utah’s official state fish is the cutthroat trout. Cutthroats would be a cool name

 

[Reaser]

Utah’s official state fish is the cutthroat trout. Cutthroats would be a cool name

Would be, but also tough to pull off in hockey, of all sports.

 

[sneakytitz]

Would be, but also tough to pull off in hockey, of all sports.

San Jose has been using "Earthquakes" for 30 years now, so never say never!

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

San Jose has been using "Earthquakes" for 30 years now, so never say never!

2 franchises though..... the original EARTHQUAKES became the Houston Dynamo

 

[sneakytitz]

2 franchises though..... the original EARTHQUAKES became the Houston Dynamo

True.

I always found it bizarre that the Chiefs/Braves/Indians caught flack for their names and symbolism but no one cared about a team named after something that kills ~10,000 a year, or the Miami Hurricanes for that matter. Just bizarre.

 

[Spydey629]

Question for the panel…

In terms of Phoenix, is this a Cleveland Browns 2.0 situation, keeping all of the stats and history, or Houston Texans 2.0 where the it is a completely brand new team.

As a Pens fans, my heart goes out to the Coyotes fans. Having lived through my team go through something similar, I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

 

[PCSPounder]

Utah’s official state fish is the cutthroat trout. Cutthroats would be a cool name

ECHL Idaho Steelheads came about with Cutthroats as the other big option at the time. Or so the hype train claimed.

FWIW… perhaps just to suggest that what emerged as minor league perhaps best remains there. However, if you bring up Kraken, I will be conflicted- until I recall Nagoya Grampus, anyway.

 

[Brodie]

I just know that they’re going to go with some crappy 90s style name like Salt Lake Swarm and I’m going to have to live with that

 

[Spydey629]

I just know that they’re going to go with some crappy 90s style name like Salt Lake Swarm and I’m going to have to live with that

I'd love to see Bees, Stingers, or something to that effect. Just have a gut feeling they won't go there, since two teams not names for insects already have "bug" mascots -- Tampa and Columbus.

 

[joelef]

Tsn not coping well with coyotes moving to utah

 

[Brodie]

Question for the panel…

In terms of Phoenix, is this a Cleveland Browns 2.0 situation, keeping all of the stats and history, or Houston Texans 2.0 where the it is a completely brand new team.

As a Pens fans, my heart goes out to the Coyotes fans. Having lived through my team go through something similar, I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

It’s hard for me to imagine that the OG history is not coming back to the Jets ala the Charlotte Hornets as part of the deal, regardless of what happens to the Coyotes IP

 

[sneakytitz]

Tsn not coping well with coyotes moving to utah

Canadian fans in markets without a team never are but....sorry? Money talks and we have them beat in multitudes in terms of sponsorships, TV deals, merchandise, etc. Can't deny that Toronto, Montreal, and Edmonton are powerhouses in those areas but there aren't any of them left up that way.

 

[Spydey629]

It’s hard for me to imagine that the OG history is not coming back to the Jets ala the Charlotte Hornets as part of the deal, regardless of what happens to the Coyotes IP

I totally forgot about that franchise identity swap.

So now that it's on my mind... the Washington Senators started from scratch both times, right??

 

[rojac]

I totally forgot about that franchise identity swap.

So now that it's on my mind... the Washington Senators started from scratch both times, right??

Yes. Neither MLB nor the NHL have done that "history belongs to the city not the team" nonsense.

 

[GKJ]

I totally forgot about that franchise identity swap.

So now that it's on my mind... the Washington Senators started from scratch both times, right??

Yes.