Per Friedman: Coyotes players told team moving to Utah starting next season (Mod warning post #50)

[LPHabsFan]

Sad...will fans flock to the new team or be done with them

It is one state to the North.

But hard to stomach

There is absolutely no way that any of the fans will flock to the new team

 

[End on a Hinote]

2025 Winter Classic: Denver vs. Utah

Book it.

 

[Turin]

Sad...will fans flock to the new team or be done with them

It is one state to the North.

But hard to stomach

NHL is going back there, so they'll probably just find something else to do in the meantime.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Okay? Arizona isn't going to have a hockey team anymore in 5 days.

And another american team will face similar fate too... Maybe Salt Lake, lets see in 5 years.

 

[Empoleon8771]

And another american team will face similar fate too... Maybe Salt Lake, lets see in 5 years.

Maybe if the Canadian markets weren't a maximum size of like 800k people with a shitty economy, the NHL would be expanding more into Canada.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

They haven't, especially for a team relative to it's spending, history, nightlife and fan support. And yea.. lets just ignore the decades leading up to Ken Hughes were not dominated by french speakers, lets ignore that the guy there now who isn't is still FROM MONTREAL. Lets ignore that the vast majority of their coaches the last however long are all french.. then yea, I would be talking out of my ass. But I'm not.

This really isn't the thread for it but being from Montreal doesn't make you French-Canadian and go compare their FA history to most other teams and you'll see the Canadiens have pulled more quality than most (largely had to because they've been terrible at developing until very recently).

It's the last I'll say on it but you're just flat out wrong and I don't care if you realize it or not.

 

[LPHabsFan]

NHL is going back there, so they'll probably just find something else to do in the meantime.

This is extremely questionable. We'll see if Muruelo even sticks with the land auction after this.

Edit: Also, I don't really get the whole talk about expansion to Arizona, especially with Muruelo. Isn't this the same guy where there are now reports about him not paying bills? Again? Why would the NHL let this guy back in the owners circle after all of this plus Tempe?

 

[TLEH]

Phoenix is a good market. If you put those owners in any city it will fail. Chicago was a dumpster fire for years because of Dollar Bill. The market isn't the problem.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Maybe if the Canadian markets weren't a maximum size of like 800k people with a shitty economy, the NHL would be expanding more into Canada.

Maybe if the NHL were focusing on making revenues instead of forcing hockey to unconventional market.

Give me 800k of die-hard fans vs 2.2 millions casual fans.

American have 4 major sports, Canada has 1.

 

[TLEH]

This is extremely questionable. We'll see if Muruelo even sticks with the land auction after this.

Meruelo can get f***ed as far as I am concerned. Played at Mullet for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 and doesn't own a single piece of land and the arena plans exist on an excel spreadsheet and AutoCAD.

He's not a serious owner and a grifting business man who is going to make 700M by owning a team for 3 years and running it further into the ground.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Maybe if the NHL were focusing on making revenues instead of forcing hockey to unconventional market.

"Making revenues" and "markets with a maximum size of like 800k people with shitty economies" don't match.

 

[Turin]

This is extremely questionable. We'll see if Muruelo even sticks with the land auction after this.

The league has propped up this lame-duck franchise for 12 years now because they believe in the market. They'll go back the second an owner and a building appear.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Well in terms of sports owners, 2 billion net worth is on the smaller side but yes I’d also like 2 billion if someone on HF is giving it away

I don't have exactly $2 billion, but I've got something pretty close: a dollar and 28 cents.

I’m just surprised it is going to be Salt Lake City and not Houston since Houston is a much larger market.

If Houston had an interested owner ready to write a check, it could have a team. Instead, it's got someone who's interested but only at a certain price - which, for this transaction, isn't enough to get the job done.

You must work for the federal government.

Easy to spend other people's money and think it's nothing.

$2.2 billion for the major sports leagues is nothing, relatively speaking. That might be hard to fathom, but if you're worth $2.2 billion you're not sniffing an NFL team on your own. Probably not getting a team in any of the other 3 leagues, unless it's one of the ones at the bottom of the list in valuation - and even then, it depends on how that $2.2 billion in net worth is composed. The more it's tied up in hard assets that you may not be able to sell easily if needed, the more likely the answer is no.

 

[StickShift]

I wonder what the likelihood is that Armstrong and his management staff are retained by the Utah owner—or whether he has his own team in place to reset the culture.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

"Making revenues" and "markets with a maximum size of like 800k people with shitty economies" don't match.

Sure, start by translating that great Utah economy into big bucks before talking shit about a market you know nothing about.

Quebec has one of the highest growing economy in Canada but you won't know that because you are fixated about 800k.

Quebec has way more growing potential than Winnipeg for instance but they are always used as comparable for some reason.

 

[Oilslick941611]

lol no they don’t. If they did Phoenix would have moved about 15 years ago.

THe PHX/Glendale area is a major market. It makes sense to try and make it work and to keep trying.

Quebec City...Smaller than Ottawa.

 

[Beaker]

Thoughts go out to all the staff that live in Arizona having to find new work to support themselves & their families

 

[TLEH]

Sure, start by translating that great Utah economy into big bucks before talking shit about a market you know nothing about.

Quebec has one of the highest growing economy in Canada but you won't know that because you are fixated about 800k.

Quebec has way more growing potential than Winnipeg for instance but they are always used as comparable for some reason.

You're fixated on the "market"

Not like Phoenix is the 10th biggest metro area in the US or anything. 4.5m+ people, a ton of transplants from the Midwest who like hockey. Go spend time there and half the people you meet will be from Chicago or Wisconsin.

If you run the team like shit with shit owner(s) for a decade+, this will happen. The market isn't the problem.

 

[Meichel Kane]

Sure, start by translating that great Utah economy into big bucks before talking shit about a market you know nothing about.

Quebec has one of the highest growing economy in Canada but you won't know that because you are fixated about 800k.

Quebec has way more growing potential than Winnipeg for instance but they are always used as comparable for some reason.

 

[PunchImlach is Alive]

Players aren't going to be climbing over each other to play hockey in Utah but it's still better than playing for a Canadian team so we'll see how this all works out.

 

[Jason316]

Maybe if the Canadian markets weren't a maximum size of like 800k people with a shitty economy, the NHL would be expanding more into Canada.

Canadian players don't want to play in Canada.

Look at the team North of Washington state its the All-American team(Miller, Hughes, Demko, Brock)

 

[HolyGhost]

Atleast they are slapping the oilers around tonight

 

[LPHabsFan]

Maybe if the NHL were focusing on making revenues instead of forcing hockey to unconventional market.

Give me 800k of die-hard fans vs 2.2 millions casual fans.

American have 4 major sports, Canada has 1.

It's not just 800k diehards. It's several million when you consider the provincial reach that hockey, and specifically a hockey team from Quebec City would have. There is a lot of anti Montreal sentiment across the province and the team would be able to 100% tap into that. Along with that, not everyone went from the Nords to the Avs. There's still people who just stopped watching hockey. Even the people that did go from the Nords to the Avs or Bruins or Lightning would come back in a heartbeat.

The league has propped up this lame-duck franchise for 12 years now because they believe in the market. They'll go back the second an owner and a building appear.

Yes, part of it does have to do with that but I also believe that it's combined with not having a real alternative plus being able to convince the owners to cover the losses with lines of credit.

Meruelo can get f***ed as far as I am concerned. Played at Mullet for 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 and doesn't own a single piece of land and the arena plans exist on an excel spreadsheet and AutoCAD.

He's not a serious owner and a grifting business man who is going to make 700M by owning a team for 3 years and running it further into the ground.

As I added to my post, I doubt the NHL wants him back. Secondly, I doubt very much that he's walking away with 700 million. Going to be much lower than that.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Sure, start by translating that great Utah economy into big bucks before talking shit about a market you know nothing about.

Quebec has one of the highest growing economy in Canada but you won't know that because you are fixated about 800k.

Quebec City's GDP was $40.1 billion Canadian in 2022, which is about $30 billion in USD. Salt Lake City's GDP in 2022 was $111 billion USD.

 

[purdy44]

What is SLC going to do about the arena? From my understanding, it's terrible for hockey (a la Barclays in Brooklyn). EDIT: Unless they're playing at the Maverik, which has better sightlines.