Devils almost moved to Nashville in 1995?

[HisIceness]

Anyone remember this and know the story? Why were the Devils about to move in the first place, and did them winning the Cup in 1995 save them from doing so?

 

[Speedtrials]

There was a lot of speculation in the papers, but not sure how close it was. I am pretty sure their name was rumored to be The Flying Elvis's. At the same time the New Jersey Nets were supposed to become the Dragons. I still remember seeing Nj Dragons memorbilia at a sports store

 

[HisIceness]

Can't find anything about the Flying Elvis' but holy **** you're not kidding about the NJ Dragons

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/15155466/once-nets-seriously-considered-becoming-swamp-dragons

David told me, "This is the stupidest f---ing idea I've ever heard."

Yeah, no kidding.

 

[EventHorizon]

Here are some articles about it:

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/29/nyregion/hockey-fans-caught-between-devils-and-nashville.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives...-nhl-source-devils-agreement-article-1.679997

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/04/s...e-devils-lemaire-not-so-sure-he-would-go.html

From what I remember? Most people believed it was damned close and that the Cup likely saved them. I distinctly remember during the playoffs on FOX that they had a segment between periods or after a game or something where they were actually interviewing people in a bar in Nashville about the prospect of getting a team. They seemed very excited about it.

As far as a name, I also remember it being rumored that the name might be Nashville Trappers as trapper would have a pretty neat dual meaning.

But luckily the Devils stayed, Nashville got their expansion team (with a better name than Trappers) and all our local rivalries here stayed intact.

 

[jkrdevil]

They threatened during the 1995 playoffs. How close they really came no one really came. Winning the Cup did help bring the state to the table to get a more favorable lease and renovations to the arena.

 

[Brodeur]

Chris Terreri at the Cup celebration

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

It was likely a ploy by then-owner John McMullen to get a more favorable lease from the state-owned arena they were playing in at the time. McMullen was a long time Jersey resident, who had jumped through hoops just to move the team to Jersey in the first place, so I don't think he was anxious to leave.

But yes, winning the Cup MAY have helped convince the state to make concessions on the lease.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I distinctly remember during the playoffs on FOX that they had a segment between periods or after a game or something where they were actually interviewing people in a bar in Nashville about the prospect of getting a team.

I distinctly remember watching a FOX interview, but it's this one:



IIRC this is also when the booing during the Cup presentation started getting out of hand. Jersey REALLY didn't like Bettman.

 

[EventHorizon]

I distinctly remember watching a FOX interview, but it's this one:



IIRC this is also when the booing during the Cup presentation started getting out of hand. Jersey REALLY didn't like Bettman.

Haha, yeah I remember that one too.

 

[vikash1987]

I love that interview from the '95 Cup Finals...a classic! I don't think Devils fans have ever fully forgiven Bettman for his handling of the whole Devils-NJSEA confrontation. He was either blaming the media, or making curious comments which hinted at his preference for relocation, e.g. how having three teams in the NYC area was difficult. Given that this was such a sensitive issue, and given what we eventually saw with Quebec, Hartford and Winnipeg, a little bit of support (even if it was empty rhetoric) would have gone a long way.

 

[EventHorizon]

I love that interview from the '95 Cup Finals...a classic! I don't think Devils fans have ever fully forgiven Bettman for his handling of the whole Devils-NJSEA confrontation. He was either blaming the media, or making curious comments which hinted at his preference for relocation, e.g. how having three teams in the NYC area was difficult. Given that this was such a sensitive issue, and given what we eventually saw with Quebec, Hartford and Winnipeg, a little bit of support (even if it was empty rhetoric) would have gone a long way.

That's why I'll always believe that the Cup saved the Devils. I mean really, a relocation to Nashville at that time makes a lot of sense. It gets a foothold in a region the league hasn't been in yet (other than the Florida teams but they're a bit far away). It would have been the first of the major 4 sports leagues in Tennessee (NFL wouldn't be there for another 2 years) and it still would have left 2 teams in the NY metropolitan area so you're gaining one media market while not losing another. For a league that only just got back on US Network television the addition of another media market would have been a very enticing possibility. I think it was only the embarrassment that would have ensued after seeing your league champion move that very off-season that saved them.

And I have to say on a personal level I'm very grateful for that. I know I'm a Ranger fan and I'm not supposed to like it (I was sick to my stomach when they won) but it turns out about three and a half years later I'd meet a girl whose family were Devil season ticket holders since day one. A girl I would wind up marrying. One of the things that helped us fall in love was our love for hockey and had the Devils moved, I don't know if she would have still had the love for hockey in her, and who knows if we would have even met. I don't even want to think of how different my life would be if the Devils moved.

 

[HisIceness]

Man Bettman missed a real golden chance to become a troll and wave to the crowd there.

 

[pbgoalie]

Wasn't a fan holding a sign during the Devils Stanley Cup parade
that said something like "there's already too many people with no teeth in Nashville"?

 

[Hackett]

Those colors for the dragons court just scream 90s to me. Actually, if Vancouver grizzlies and their mid 90s expansion cousins in Toronto had a baby, that's how the court would like.

 

[vikash1987]

And I have to say on a personal level I'm very grateful for that. I know I'm a Ranger fan and I'm not supposed to like it (I was sick to my stomach when they won) but it turns out about three and a half years later I'd meet a girl whose family were Devil season ticket holders since day one. A girl I would wind up marrying. One of the things that helped us fall in love was our love for hockey and had the Devils moved, I don't know if she would have still had the love for hockey in her, and who knows if we would have even met. I don't even want to think of how different my life would be if the Devils moved.

That's amazing! Just goes to show that off-ice love/marriage can manifest from hockey rivalries

The Rangers-Devils rivalry has added so much value over the years to both teams and to both fan bases. Just imagine if their '94 series---which I consider the greatest in playoff history---never took place. Similarly, just imagine, Ranger fans, how empty life would have been without the Devils post-'95.

Wasn't a fan holding a sign during the Devils Stanley Cup parade
that said something like "there's already too many people with no teeth in Nashville"?

Great quote!

Those colors for the dragons court just scream 90s to me. Actually, if Vancouver grizzlies and their mid 90s expansion cousins in Toronto had a baby, that's how the court would like.

Great analogy! (And great Jing Yang avatar )

 

[tony d]

I remember that, imagine if they had moved in 1995. Would Houston get the team Nashville got in 1998? Can't see New Jersey getting a team. Or would have Portland, Seattle or Milwaukee gotten that team?

 

[Its a Trap]

It was likely a ploy by then-owner John McMullen to get a more favorable lease from the state-owned arena they were playing in at the time. McMullen was a long time Jersey resident, who had jumped through hoops just to move the team to Jersey in the first place, so I don't think he was anxious to leave.

But yes, winning the Cup MAY have helped convince the state to make concessions on the lease.

I distinctly remember watching a FOX interview, but it's this one:



IIRC this is also when the booing during the Cup presentation started getting out of hand. Jersey REALLY didn't like Bettman.

These two posts are the story. NJSEA had an absurd lease deal with the team where they got a percentage of literally everything. Was really the biggest reason for the move to Newark.

And the beginning of that interview is quite possibly one of the best "blah-blah sucks" chant of all time

 

[HisIceness]

I remember that, imagine if they had moved in 1995. Would Houston get the team Nashville got in 1998? Can't see New Jersey getting a team. Or would have Portland, Seattle or Milwaukee gotten that team?

Seems pretty likely this could have happened since Houston was trying to acquire the Oilers that same year.

 

[EventHorizon]

I remember that, imagine if they had moved in 1995. Would Houston get the team Nashville got in 1998? Can't see New Jersey getting a team. Or would have Portland, Seattle or Milwaukee gotten that team?

Certainly NJ would have never gotten a team again. The Rockies move was a perfect storm of a failing team, an owner originally from NJ and a brand new building in NJ which was built with the idea of luring the Knicks and Rangers out of NYC just like the stadium in the Meadowlands did with the Giants and eventually the Jets. The plan of luring those two teams out of the Garden didn't work so with a brand new arena in New Jersey, even with two teams already in the area, the move made sense. By the time the late '90s expansion rolled around, the arena in the Meadowlands wasn't new anymore and there was no plan to build a new arena in New Jersey, so the return of the NHL to this state would never happen.

With the late '90s expansion, the two failed bids were Houston and Oklahoma City. Would those other three cities you mentioned put in a bid with only five cities vying for four spots? I don't know, it's possible. I would definitely think though ultimately that no matter what other cities bid, Houston surely would have gotten the team.