NHL heading to Winnipeg!!!

[roccerfeller]

Originally Posted by thurmas

iam just baffled bettman still wants these guys running this team.i mean if they have this much trouble just to raise enough to buy the team and still can't seem to raise it, and on top of that this team has lost over $300 million since going to phoenix how in hell could they ever afford to run this team they would only last a week and then they would be all out of money.Bettman has the richest man in canada willing to buy this club, move it to a great market that infringes on no one's territory with a good cozy arena just pull the plug already gary. What the nhl should have instead of a southern strategy is a northern one imagine winnipeg, quebec, seattle, portland,milwaukee these places love hockey they have proven support for either junior hockey or nhl and would actually bring in paying customers and ratings and they would bring in new rivalries. Imagine seattle vs vancouver or minnestoa vs winnipeg or quebec montreal again it would be great.

I know what you mean...but he has been ordered by court (BK from last year) to ensure that he does every single thing in his power to keep the Yotes in Glendale. So, he has very smartly washed his hands with dealing with the owner search and let it up entirely to the Glendale city council.

Ultimately, the lease STILL HAS NOT been sorted out with the CoG/IEH, and once that is done, NHL has to still approve the new owners through the BoG...

So even if they go through, there is always a chance IE will not be approved - mainly because it does not appear they have deep pockets. If they did, this whole thing would have been DONE a long time ago. Last year the NHL approved them as owners, but it was mainly to keep JB at bay from relocating the team outside of NHL rules.


NHL and GB both like TNSE here in the Peg, so its only a matter of time before things move in our direction. The way CoG has been setting this up...is horrible...they just have not been working as hard as they should to keep the team there. Its a shame. I feel for those Yotes fans

[Only The Lonely..]

MTS Centre upsizing press box
Unrelated to possible return of NHL, says True North

By: Gary Lawless | Winnipeg Free Press
Posted: 20/08/2010 1:00 AM


True North Sports and Entertainment has begun work on an expansion of its MTS Centre press box.

The current press box is not suitable for NHL hockey should True North, owners of the downtown rink and the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League, make a step to the big league in the future.

An expansion, reportedly to cost somewhere in the neighbourhood of $1 million, would add a lower level to the current press box to make room for extra radio, TV and print journalists associated with major league hockey.

The first step of the expansion is being undertaken as steel is being added to reinforce the existing press box in order to support a lower level.

"To say the recent news about the possible return of the NHL to Winnipeg is behind this work is presumptuous," said True North director of communications Scott Brown. "We've long been unhappy with the press box and discussions to make changes have been ongoing for some time."

Cranes have been shifting in and out of the arena this week as work on the press box is being scheduled around concerts and other building rentals.

MTS Centre is one of the busiest venues in North America and regularly transforms from hockey rink to concert bowl several times a month.

The upper level of the press box would be reconfigured to house electronic broadcast crews while the lower level would host print journalists.

The bulked up infrastructure would enable True North to add a second level at a later date should extra room and facilities ever be needed. Work is expected to continue right up until the beginning of the Moose season in early October.

True North has entered an agreement with the NHL to purchase and relocate to Winnipeg the Phoenix Coyotes if a deal cannot be brokered to keep the team in Arizona.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has given the City of Glendale a deadline of Dec. 31 to find and close a deal with an owner willing to keep the team in the Phoenix suburb and Jobing.com Arena.

To date an owner has not been found. Recent reports have the city talking with a number of groups. Its main suitor, Ice Edge Holdings Inc., remains interested but according to Glendale has failed to document its ability to finance a purchase.

"There are others out there that are viable," said Coyotes CEO Mike Nealy, in a recent interview with the Glendale Republic.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca


Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 20, 2010 C3

[Only The Lonely..]

NHL calibre practice facility up and running



Posted: 18/08/2010 2:09 PM | Winnipeg Free Press

The MTS Iceplex at 3969 Portage Avenue opened Monday, though only two of the four NHL regulation-sized rinks are up and running. The third should be in business Friday and the fourth by Sept. 3, said general manager Rick Bochinski.

Construction is still in progress, Bochinski said, but all programming is going on as scheduled and there should be a grand opening sometime in late September or October. So far, Bochinski said things are going smoothly.

"We’re very excited. The comments from the people that have come into the building are very encouraging," he said.

The rinks will be a training facility for the Moose and will be accommodating more than 20,000 hours of recreational ice time for junior, minor and adult hockey teams.

The MTS Iceplex will also be the official home of the Winnipeg Blues junior hockey team.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has given the City of Glendale a deadline of Dec. 31 to find and close a deal with an owner willing to keep the team in the Phoenix suburb and Jobing.com Arena.

To date an owner has not been found. Recent reports have the city talking with a number of groups. Its main suitor, Ice Edge Holdings Inc., remains interested but according to Glendale has failed to document its ability to finance a purchase.

"There are others out there that are viable," said Coyotes CEO Mike Nealy, in a recent interview with the Glendale Republic.

To those that don't follow the day-to-day, tiny details - the Coyotes still remain unsold with very little apparent interest. Ice Edge is all but dead in the water. There's just about NOTHING coming out of Glendale or IEH these days, and you'd think ANY positive news would be trumpeted all over the media. Anything positive would surely help season ticket sales down there.

I'd put even odds on NHL hockey in Winnipeg for 2011-12 at this point unless something drastic happens soon.

[Marc B.]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

NHL calibre practice facility up and running

The MTS Iceplex at 3969 Portage Avenue opened Monday, though only two of the four NHL regulation-sized rinks are up and running. The third should be in business Friday and the fourth by Sept. 3, said general manager Rick Bochinski.

That's where I'm playing hockey this winter.

[drew]

Originally Posted by freeweed

To those that don't follow the day-to-day, tiny details - .

I think the vast majority of people following this story are either in Winnipeg or grew up in Winnipeg during the Jets years.

There is essentially zero interest in this story within the city where the league is fighting tooth and nail to keep the team in.

For me, this is the biggest pissoff.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by drew

I think the vast majority of people following this story are either in Winnipeg or grew up in Winnipeg during the Jets years.

There is essentially zero interest in this story within the city where the league is fighting tooth and nail to keep the team in.

For me, this is the biggest pissoff.

Couldn't agree more. Well, it partially pisses me off, partially is a huge source of amusement, and at its core really justifies what everyone's saying. The NHL should move this team back, it's a no-brainer.

It's like the "Save The ..." rallies. Winnipeg had 50,000 people show up. Phoenix/Glendale had under 100. There's some hilarious Youtube footage of their rally floating around. In it, people even point out that there's zero local media covering this, but SEVERAL reporters from Winnipeg.

[DLLB]

Originally Posted by freeweed

To those that don't follow the day-to-day, tiny details - the Coyotes still remain unsold with very little apparent interest. Ice Edge is all but dead in the water. There's just about NOTHING coming out of Glendale or IEH these days, and you'd think ANY positive news would be trumpeted all over the media. Anything positive would surely help season ticket sales down there.

I'd put even odds on NHL hockey in Winnipeg for 2011-12 at this point unless something drastic happens soon.

Here's hoping. Spent many years watching the Jets

[DLLB]

Originally Posted by freeweed

Couldn't agree more. Well, it partially pisses me off, partially is a huge source of amusement, and at its core really justifies what everyone's saying. The NHL should move this team back, it's a no-brainer.

It's like the "Save The ..." rallies. Winnipeg had 50,000 people show up. Phoenix/Glendale had under 100. There's some hilarious Youtube footage of their rally floating around. In it, people even point out that there's zero local media covering this, but SEVERAL reporters from Winnipeg.

I hope that moron Bettman sees it.

[RTD]

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/...297/story.html

[RTD]

Winnipeg way ahead in NHL courtship; Quebec City missing the owner, the arena

By: Gary Lawless

Posted: 17/09/2010

Error To suggest Winnipeg and Quebec City are competing for an NHL franchise is both presumptuous and ridiculous.

First of all, in the words of commissioner Gary Bettman, the NHL views relocation as undesirable.

Secondly, should the league be forced to make such a move, Winnipeg is years ahead of Quebec City in the relocation queue.

Setting aside the fact Winnipeg has an NHL-ready building and Quebec City does not, the relationship between True North Sports and Entertainment and the NHL has been carefully cultivated and slowly matured. It's ready to bear fruit.

In dating terms, Winnipeg has asked for the league's hand in marriage and nicely been told to wait on the porch while dad mulls it over.

. . .

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opi...103119779.html

[RTD]

Game on: Winnipeg vs. Quebec

How two spurned cities stack up in race to woo NHL back
It's shaping up to be the biggest-ever hockey battle between Winnipeg and Quebec City -- which will be the first to see the return of the NHL?

It has long been assumed by hockey watchers in the Manitoba capital that Winnipeg was at the top of the list to receive a relocated franchise. After all, the 15,003-seat MTS Centre is just six years old, has been deemed suitable by NHL brass for the world's biggest hockey league and a potential ownership group is already in place.



If you are scoring the matchup, Winnipeg has two crucial elements in its favour -- it has the blessing of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, and the backing of the richest man in Canada, David Thomson.

Quebec City, meanwhile, which lost les Nordiques to Denver in 1995, a year before the Jets took flight for Phoenix, does not have a new building. But it has grandiose plans to build a new $400-million arena -- complete with some degree of federal funding. Everything else, including a potential owner and the holding of serious discussions with the NHL, appears to be a couple of years behind the Winnipeg effort.

. . .


http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bre...103127579.html

[Xelebes]

RTD, remember to only post an excerpt of the article. Either post the first few paragraphs or a couple paragraphs where the most pertinent information is.

[Only The Lonely..]

I hope Quebec City gets a team one day but Lawless is right, they're just too far behind at this point.

Winnipeg started on its new arena in earnest in 2001 with the goal of having it open in 2003, and in reality I believe it opened in '04.

Then to find the right ownership group and opportunity takes us to 2011 if Phoenix folds.

If Quebec starts today on a new rink, it might be 2017 or 2020 before anything fruitful comes of this.

My calculations are based on 3 to 4 years for arena construction, plus a couple of years to find the right team to relocate while assembling an ownership group.

Winnipeg is the next Canadian city to get an NHL team.

There should be no doubt about this.

[Nicko999]

There will be no new Canadian teams as long as Buttman is commissioner.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..

I hope Quebec City gets a team one day but Lawless is right, they're just too far behind at this point.

Winnipeg started on its new arena in earnest in 2001 with the goal of having it open in 2003, and in reality I believe it opened in '04.

Then to find the right ownership group and opportunity takes us to 2011 if Phoenix folds.

If Quebec starts today on a new rink, it might be 2017 or 2020 before anything fruitful comes of this.

My calculations are based on 3 to 4 years for arena construction, plus a couple of years to find the right team to relocate while assembling an ownership group.

Winnipeg is the next Canadian city to get an NHL team.

There should be no doubt about this.

Presumably Quebec City's team can play at the Colisée for now. Calgary Flames played at the Stampede Corral for several years, which was far less NHL-worthy than the Colisée. I'm pretty sure that if one of these cities gets a team, both will.

[Mille Sabords]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Presumably Quebec City's team can play at the Colisée for now. Calgary Flames played at the Stampede Corral for several years, which was far less NHL-worthy than the Colisée. I'm pretty sure that if one of these cities gets a team, both will.

True enough. Remember too that the Senators played in the woefully-inadequate Civic Centre (a 10,000-seater) before the Corel Centre opened three seasons later!

All this being said, Lawless is making logical points. The tone of his article also shows, whether he realizes it or not, how much Winnipeg is NHL-starved.

[CorbeauNoir]

Hmmm, the plot thickens. Again.

The City of Glendale says a prospective buyer of the Phoenix Coyotes, "in a show of good faith," has deposited $25 million US in an escrow account.

The figure is equal to the amount of city funds Glendale had deposited, at the NHL's insistence, to cover potential losses for the coming season while a local buyr was sought.

Glendale, in a news release Friday, said the buyer has asked for confidentiality because negotiations are ongoing, but there have been multiple reports the city has been in talks with Chicago investor Matthew Hulsizer.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/stor...#ixzz0zqEYmAjz

As for the Winnipeg/QC 'race', there should hardly be any surprise about Winnipeg being ahead. Virtually all of the elements needed for a potential QC team are entirely speculative.

[Only The Lonely..]

The city of Glendale doesn't even know what the word 'escrow' means.

[roccerfeller]

^ Its a political move by the CoG


This shows intent, but doesn't mean anything yet. If I was the NHL and the CoG pulled this on me to get out of the escrow agreement we already made, I would be extremely ticked off.

I swear, the CoG is going to do in Phoenix Coyotes fans pretty bad.