Quote:
Originally Posted by b31den
Although Albany is supposedly "similar" in size to the Alberta cities it really can't hold a candle to them. Albany is more like Regina, Kelowna, or perhaps Halifax if you feel really generous:
Image from Wikipedia
There are at least 6-8 american teams that should either move or fold. Several would have to fold as the NHL has overexpanded and there are a limited number of cities left which could support new teams.
Also, Las Vegas is death for pro sports teams, no one will touch that. Not the NFL, MLB, NBA or even the desperate NHL.
I guess the bottom line is the NHL's problems stem from:
1) Overpaid Players
2) Seeking to become a "major sports league" in the US when most of it doesn't care about hockey
3) The NHL is too focused on making money (aka losing money) |
Although I would agree that the NHL in Albany will happen when pigs fly, it is at the centre of a polycentric region of more than 1 million people with other cities like Schenectady, Saratoga Springs, Troy, and dozens of other small towns of 20,000 people or so. Many metro areas in the northeast U.S. are structured like this, as opposed to those in Canada (especially the west) where the central city municipality makes up 80 or 90% of the metro's population.
It all adds up, and a million people in a whole bunch of contiguous, smaller municipalities is still the exact same number of potential customers as one million people in one large city.
But as I said, I don't think the NHL would ever go to Albany. Although they do have an arena that is bigger than anything you'd find in Winnipeg or Quebec City at the moment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Union_Center