Not related to the Coyotes or Houston...but of interest if you like to see a hockey game break out during a UFC match. The Battle of Alberta starts tonight...@8:30 PM CST. Edmonton and Calgary are 185 miles apart...ala Houston v. Dallas...but the combatants can whack each other with bladed sticks and can opt to barfight in the middle of the game. Give it a watch. I'm fairly certain the entire series will not disappoint. https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/33934328/guide-battle-alberta-calgary-flames-edmonton-oilers
According to Friedman, the arena situation is the biggest stumbling block in the way of Houston joining the NHL. “The one issue with Houston is they really don’t have an arena,” Friedman said. “Obviously, there’s one where the Rockets play but the league has met with that ownership group before and has been underwhelmed by what it heard. I think if they go there, they want to go there in their own (building) situation. “And the guy I look (for in this) is Tim Leiweke. Tim Leiweke is a guy who solves arena problems. For example, one of the reasons the Seattle Kraken are in the NHL is because they couldn’t get an arena for a long time and he went in there and solved that problem. “I’ve said this before, but I do believe the long-term play there is him solving this problem. And if that happens, I do believe Houston will be in the league.” https://theathletic.com/4302822/2023/03/14/nhl-expansion-houston-atlanta/ There’s been a lot of NHL expansion chatter in the last week, most of it focused on two possible options: Houston and Atlanta. If you know commissioner Gary Bettman’s playbook, you also know what happens next in terms of an official response. The league will carefully shrug off the initial reports, citing no immediate plans to expand. It will also acknowledge that there’ve been expressions of interest and the underlying message that you’re supposed to grasp is, “There are always expressions of interest in a thriving business such as ours!” If you rewind what happened when the NHL admitted first the Vegas Golden Knights (in 2017) and then the Seattle Kraken (in 2021), that’s exactly how the script played out. Remember, past expansions were mostly ill-planned money grabs. It meant many teams got off to rocky starts. Some that had promising beginnings did so because of the novelty factor. By the time they needed to produce on the ice — and couldn’t because the terms imposed on the newcomers were so punishing — interest soon flagged. By contrast, Vegas and Seattle became instant success stories, on and off the ice. Vegas paid $500 million to get in, which seemed like an eye-popping number at the time. The NHL upped the ante to $650 million for Seattle. It isn’t hard to imagine the next round of expansion will cost a team a cool $1 billion. A few years back, I wrote a story imagining where the NHL would choose to operate if it could simply start a 32-team league from scratch. It created something of a fuss. Today’s exercise is a little different: Part pie-in-the-sky, part sober realism. Where should the NHL go next? Let’s consider six scenarios, beginning with No. 1, which is probably indisputable. Houston For a long time, many of us believed Houston would eventually be the relocated destination of the Arizona Coyotes that – if truth be told – have been the longest-running soap opera in league history. Owner after owner – and including for a while, Bettman himself, because the league ran the team during one of the interminable bankruptcies – couldn’t make a go of it. And yet, here are the Coyotes, still operating on a shoestring, aiming for some future when a new arena in Tempe receives approval, gets financing, sees shovels in the ground and ultimately arises from the ashes, like a Phoenix, to become a viable contributing NHL organization. That’s Bettman’s vision and hope. Feel free to wade in on the comment selection below, if you have a different perspective. But before you do that, consider this: Bettman is, first and foremost, a businessman. Growth drives every business, not just professional sports. With franchise values skyrocketing across all the major leagues in North America, it’s hard to imagine the NHL turning down the dollars that one and maybe even two or three future expansions could provide. The other factor when Bettman talks about expansion is it helps to fill in the gaps of geography. That’s what’s meant by footprint. Houston’s footprint is tantalizing. The fourth-largest city in the U.S. by population, after New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. It would be a natural rival for Dallas. It has an underrated hockey history – both in the WHA and in minor pro. Rich Preston, who played on the WHA Aeros with the Howes, told me last summer that if you asked anyone who played professional hockey for any length of time, what their favorite stop was, it would be Houston. If the NHL ever abandoned the Coyotes, Houston would be the perfect fallback plan. That doesn’t seem likely to happen – at which point, Houston rockets to the top of the charts, for a 33rd team. The only real question is, who gets to be No. 34? [Others listed: Atlanta, Toronto, Quebec City, Kansas City, Halifax]
The referendum for the new arena in Tempe is in May. We'll see what the voters do. Clearly they have no long term plan for staying in Arizona if that referendum fails. Having said that, I've been reading the random rumblings about expansion, too. I'd prefer that, but at this point beggars can't be choosers.
It seems strange that the NHL would try Atlanta for a third time. I know Quebec City is really small, but they'd sell out every game. Then again, I also know TV revenue is what drives every league and Quebec City doesn't bring anything to the table there.
Think it would be cool if Houston got the Coyotes or an expansion team. Houston fans love their sports so you know it would be well supported for sure. Will be hard for Quebec to get another one due to their size. When the Nordiques were there, they sold out every game and the fans loved their team, but the TV revenue and other streams for the NHL to make money is simply not there compared to other Canadian cities with teams such as Calgary,Winnipeg, etc. I can't see Atlanta getting another team; when the Thrashers were there they had a very limited fanbase, no one really seemed to care.Not sure why that would change now? Vegas is a viable choice but again not sure how many people would show up? Toronto already has the Maple Leafs and their ton of diehard fans, makes no sense to put another team there or Halifax either. Again like Quebec can't see the revenue in that scenario. I'm not from Houston so can't really say that I am biased haha, but just coming from a non resident if you will, I do think that Houston is the best option for the Coyotes to move too if it happens. The fans will be there, the TV revenue will be there, and can even play off/build up having a rivalry with the Stars which will make it even more of a draw for audiences. Really no downside in my opinion. Plenty of places big enough to play the games at also until a new arena is perhaps built? All gravy.
Would give me a Western Conference team to cheer for along with my Carolina Hurricanes. Double chance of winning something haha.
I remember catching an Aeros game at Toyota Center like around 2006 or so. The upper tier section was blocked off by blank curtains, and the audience was only in the lower bowl section. So it can be done but, I'm sure with Tilman at the helm he's probably asking a fortune to have games at Toyota Center and demanding all concessions revenue. With him being a restaurant mogel, I'm sure he's streamlined the art of the concessions in the stadium which I'm sure at this point is pure profit now
Rockets want to keep all those taxpayer dollars to themselves. NHL wants a whole new kitty just for them.
1. Just build an ice rink stadium in Pearland. That way the Clear Lake and Sugarland denizens can easily get to it. 2. ? 3. Profit
What's fishy? Tilman is the landlord, and he can set the terms. I find it very believable that he would make it financially untenable for an NHL team that isn't his. The number of teams that rent an arena from another team in a subordinate relationship is very few for a reason.
Tilman refusing to spend a few million dollars on a title contender when he throws around stupid money all the time strikes me as odd as well, but it happened. Like I said, teams don't move in and rent for a reason. I looked it up and the only NHL team that isn't a sole tenet or co owner is the Kings in the Staples Center. The Coyotes are "technically" the sole professional tenet in their arena, but anything seems better than what they are currently doing.
