Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site dciem.UUCP Path: utzoo!dciem!jeff From: jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) Newsgroups: net.sport.hockey Subject: Re: NHL Expansion, if any Message-ID: <1565@dciem.UUCP> Date: Fri, 31-May-85 08:47:39 EDT Article-I.D.: dciem.1565 Posted: Fri May 31 08:47:39 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 31-May-85 10:07:38 EDT References: <1820@watcgl.UUCP> <5566@ucla-cs.ARPA> <511@alberta.UUCP> <512@alberta.UUCP> <7503@ucbvax.ARPA> Reply-To: jeff@dciem.UUCP (Jeff Richardson) Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada Lines: 63 Summary: > Hamilton is about the same size as > Calgary or Edmonton, and has a successful CFL franchise. It has always > been a mystery to me why Alberta got into the NHL before Hamilton. Alberta got into the NHL first because the Oilers survived the WHA. It makes more sense to put a team in Alberta first anyway because Hamilton is pretty close to Toronto, but Calgary and especially Edmonton are a long way from Vancouver. However, as I said yesterday, Hamilton could support a team now. > About expanding in Seattle: Is it really in > Vancouver's territory? Wouldn't the political boundary hinder > Washington state people from supporting a Canadian based team, both > psychologically and physically? That may be true, but when someone says that Seattle is in Vancouver's territory, they are referring to an NHL by-law that says that each team's territory extends for so many miles from that city, and that if any other team wants to base themselves in that territory, they have to financially compensate the team that's already there. This can add a substantial amount to the already high cost of setting up a team in a new city. If I remember correctly, the Islanders still hadn't paid off their debt to the Rangers by the time they won their first Stanley Cup. I'm sure the territories can cross the national border because when the Maple Leafs wanted to move their farm team to St. Catharines (which is in Ontario between Hamilton and Niagara Falls), the Sabres complained because St. Catharines was in their territory. > I recall that a WHA team in Ottawa quickly folded. I was > in Ottawa for a couple days last year, and found that Ottawa was a fair > sized metropolis in its own right, certainly comparable to Calgary. > So I cannot understand why major league hockey wouldn't succeed in > Ottawa-Hull. Remember that Calgary once folded a WHA team, yet when > the Flames moved in, the team was able to survive -- despite several > seasons in a small rink. Perhaps the NHL label was necessary (and > maybe envy over Edmonton :-) ). The Ottawa-Hull area is certainly large enough to support a NHL team, and since most of the people there work in government or high-tech (i.e. secure jobs and/or high salaries) they should be more capable than the average Canadian city with the same population. However, the people there tend to be die-hard Montreal Canadiens fans. Even though the Canadiens are almost a two-hour drive away, the WHA team couldn't compete with them, and an NHL expansion team would likely have the same problem. An established team would probably have a good chance though. By the way, believe it or not, Ottawa is the city with the 4th most Stanley Cups. Only Montreal, Toronto and New York have won more. > On paper, Ohio should be able to handle one or two franchises, yet > WHA and NHL teams there have always died. Does anyone have any > theories why? I don't know about two franchises, but Cleveland should certainly be able to handle one. The Barons may have died because they just weren't any good. It seems to me that the Cleveland Crusaders and the Cincinnati Stingers were among the more successful WHA franchises, outside of the four survivors. (Weren't the Stingers still around when the league folded?) Cleveland already has a nice arena, but the NHL will likely be reluctant to give another chance to a city that has already rejected them once. -- Jeff Richardson, DCIEM, Toronto (416) 635-2073 {linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,floyd}!utcsri!dciem!jeff {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!dciem!jeff