Melrose Munch
Registered User
- Mar 18, 2007
- 23,898
- 2,251
Makes no sense not to go into Houston and Atlanta as double expansion with Quebec City and Seattle. Besides the owners failed the market.
Makes no sense not to go into Houston and Atlanta as double expansion with Quebec City and Seattle. Besides the owners failed the market.
Never say never, but probably not for a long time, especially as the only viable arena is owned by the very people that wanted nothing to do with hockey and sold the Thrashers in the first place.
And Houston's a long shot as well, as any move into there would have to go through Les Alexander and his arena, and he doesn't seem to have the capital and/or the interest in an NHL team anymore.
I thought ATL spirit sold both the teams. One to Winnipeg and one to Atlanta.From what I know - the Atlanta Spirit Group was just an absolute train wreck as an ownership group. That being said - they basically kicked the Thrashers out of the Phillips Arena, and had absolutely NO desire to own a hockey team. Any "return to ATL" would have to include a new arena, which pretty much kills that throught process immediately.
I think that with a good ownership group, hockey could work in the ATL, but I highly doubt that anyone would be willing to pony up the $'s necessary to fund an arena for another try.
EDIT: Great minds think alike NFS!
I thought ATL spirit sold both the teams. One to Winnipeg and one to Atlanta.
Nope, ASG still owns the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena.
Makes no sense not to go into Houston and Atlanta as double expansion with Quebec City and Seattle. Besides the owners failed the market.
I can see Atlanta being an option down the road, way down the road, but not anytime soon.
I don't see it being even remotely feasible for the league to consider until Atlanta builds a new arena...which, going by their record with the other teams, should happen by 2019.
I think there is more interest in a team in Atlanta from people on this forum then in the NHL and Atlanta itself.
Atlanta will never get another NHL team and given the way the fans here were abandoned by Bettman and the League, that's fine with me. After over 35 years of solid support, the NHL will never see another dime of my money.
As for the rest of the fans here, my good friend from the frozen north is mistaken. Given good ownership a commitment to winning, Atlanta will support pro hockey. The Flames drew well, as did the Knights and the Thrash before Waddell and ASG started killing the market.
Regardless of the excuses for lack of fans, facts are facts. Overall, the fan support for NHL hockey in Atlanta was poor. Some southern markets work (see Nashville and LA) and others don't (see Phoenix, Atlanta and Florida). There is nothing wrong with that either. It's like trying to make Cricket popular in Mongolia; it ain't ever gonna happen because there will never be a large enough fanbase to provide that support. That is just life, and some people need to accept that.
It makes perfect sense not to go there. Atlanta failed twice. The Flames were decent enough on the ice and still didn't draw. Houston, we've heard the song and dance with every southern city "large population, people moving there all the time, lots of transplants from northern cities, etc"
Until you get 10 teams in Canada the Southern markets will have to wait.
Revisionist history much? Atlanta's fan support didn't start to fail until ASG intentionally ran then team into the ground so that it would.
It's not revisionist history; it's cold hard facts that clearly some people will never accept.
What you've said is actually your opinion and assumptions, not facts.
Go look up average fan support for both NHL Atlanta teams. That will bring you back into reality, unlike believing an NHL team in Sacramento will ever occur.
What you've said is actually your opinion and assumptions, not facts.