Coyotes Coming to Halifax?

[Doggard]

Article from today's Globe and Mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sport...rticle1231960/

[q12]

Damn that would be sweet!

Phoenifax Coyotes!

[q12]

Article from CBCsports.ca:

Coyotes' pitch scores with Halifax

Group interested in NHL team envisions 5-game series at Metro Centre

Halifax can certainly handle five NHL games a season, but hosting a team remains a pipe dream, a Metro Centre official says.

A Toronto-based group is trying to sweeten its $150-million US bid for the Phoenix Coyotes with the promise that five regular-season games would be played in a Canadian city, either Halifax or Saskatoon.

'I think the market could really support [it].'—Scott Ferguson, TCL president

Scott Ferguson, head of the firm that runs the Halifax Metro Centre, said talks have been underway with Ice Edge Holdings for a couple of weeks.

"We're not, obviously, at that level right now of hosting an NHL team. We have talked about it, in the future, as to whether or not we would be 10 or 15 years down the road," said Ferguson, acting president and CEO of Trade Centre Ltd.

"Right now the prospect is really to handle five regular-season games, which I think the market could really support."

Ice Edge favours Saskatoon and its 11,300-seat arena, according to a report in the Globe and Mail.

The Halifax Metro Centre, which has hosted several NHL exhibition games, has 10,500 seats.

Ferguson said the fact that Halifax is a small city with smaller facilities could be a good thing because it's not a threat to fans in Phoenix or larger Canadian cities with NHL teams.

Ice Edge is expected to present what it calls its "grassroots Canadian hockey strategy" to the executive board of the NHL this week.

The Coyotes filed for bankruptcy protection two months ago.

Jim Balsillie, co-chief executive of Research In Motion, also has made a bid for the Coyotes, and wants to move the team to Hamilton, Ont.

[spaustin]

In the Expos last year in Montreal, they played a bunch of their games in Puerto Rico before being moved to Washington. I suspect, if Phoenix played a few games here, it would follow a similiar script and the team would end up in some larger Canadian market in a year or two. They're pretty much dead in Phoenix and any delay in moving is of course just to stop Balsillie from getting them.

[phrenic]

Come on Gary just give the poor guy (Balsillie) his hockey team!

It would be nice if they played a few games here though.

[q12]

Article from the Herald:

A midsummer ice dream for Halifax

By ROGER TAYLOR Business Columnist
Tue. Jul 28 - 4:46 AM




IT MAY BE hard to believe but Halifax is being tossed around as a potential NHL city.

Actually it’s just part of a proposal by a group trying to buy the Phoenix Coyotes. If successful in acquiring the franchise, Ice Edge Holdings LCC would have the Coyotes play a limited number of regular season games here. In theory, such an arrangement would make the team more financially viable and allow it to remain in Arizona.

The fact that Halifax is being mentioned as possibly becoming a sister city to Phoenix in the operation of the Coyotes is, in itself, exciting news for this city, which tends to like punching above its weight in many respects.

Ice Edge is reported to be prepared to pay US$150 million for the Coyotes. The group is in talks with either Halifax or Saskatoon as the home-away-from-home for the struggling National Hockey League team.

I don’t know of any Phoenix link to Halifax except that Bobby Smith, owner of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Halifax Mooseheads franchise, was once the general manager of the Coyotes and I believe he still makes his home there.

But Ice Edge is reported to be leaning toward Saskatoon, where a relatively new arena is being expanded to accommodate more fans for an upcoming international hockey tournament. It is also in the west, so there isn’t as much of a disruption in the travel schedule.

It may be too early to get all worked up over this. After all, there is no guarantee the Ice Edge group will be successful in gaining control of the Phoenix franchise. After that, the National Hockey League must still give its approval.

The plan hopes to energize the Phoenix franchise by linking it with a hockey-mad Canadian city that doesn’t have NHL territorial rights issues and wouldn’t be considered a threat by the Phoenix fans who are justifiably concerned about the loss of their team.

While it would be a great thing for Halifax to have NHL regular season hockey, there’s nothing new about it. Halifax was the site of several neutral site games when the NHL was experimenting with that several years ago. There is little doubt Halifax would sell out the games played here and it is assumed that Ice Edge would also ask the city or the province or both to provide a subsidy to bring the Coyote games here. In fact, Saskatoon and Halifax could be being played off against each other in an effort to extract the best deal for Ice Edge.

On the other hand, linking up with a place like Phoenix may open up new opportunities for Nova Scotia. For example, it will draw some attention from die-hard hockey fans from Arizona to Nova Scotia. It might even encourage some to come here to attend the games and vice versa as sun-seeking Nova Scotians travel to Arizona to cheer on their "home team."

Depending on when the games would be played, it would be one way to energize the city in the midst of a long Maritime winter. Even limited exposure to a professional sports franchise suddenly makes Halifax a little more attractive for talented professionals who may be considering relocating here.

Even if the deal with the Ice Edge and Coyotes doesn’t work out, it is an intriguing idea, which other struggling franchises could consider.

The Florida Panthers, for example, are holding training camp in Nova Scotia this fall; it isn’t that big a leap to play a few of their regular season games in Halifax. If not the Panthers, what about Halifax working out a deal with Tampa or Atlanta or Nashville?

Once it has its foot in the door, Halifax could work on eventually winning its own NHL franchise.



All the more reason to get a new 15,000+ arena built down in the Cogswell street interchange.

[q12]

Another article from today's Globe and Mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1233050/

[spaustin]

Poor Roger Taylor is getting a tad carried away. An actual NHL team here just isn't feasible. We don't have the population. Every other NHL team is located in metropolitian areas of at least about 1.5 million. We're well well short of that. Also, we don't have a stadium or the corporate base to buy luxury boxes and tickets to support a real NHL franchise. It's a very fanciful notion. A troubled team from afar stopping in now and then is about all we can hope for. Going for a CFL team would be a much more realistic proposition.

[Takeo]

What that Cogswell remark part of the article... or a comment? I really hope that doesn't happen... replacing one impenetrable monolith with another. But we've been over that argument before.

I agree... I was with Roger until the end... when he mentioned getting our own franchise.

[q12]

Originally Posted by spaustin

Poor Roger Taylor is getting a tad carried away. An actual NHL team here just isn't feasible. We don't have the population. Every other NHL team is located in metropolitian areas of at least about 1.5 million. We're well well short of that. Also, we don't have a stadium or the corporate base to buy luxury boxes and tickets to support a real NHL franchise. It's a very fanciful notion. A troubled team from afar stopping in now and then is about all we can hope for. Going for a CFL team would be a much more realistic proposition.

I agree that it is unlikely, however the popularity of the NHL and the CFL are two different things in Canada. It's like comparing the NFL to the NHL in the states but the opposite. Sooner or later Hamilton will get a team, then Winnipeg, and probably Quebec City.

We represent the largest city out of 4 provinces without a NHL franchise, thats 2.4 million Atlantic Canadians who are pro-hockey deprived. It's not impossible to imagine a team in Halifax maybe in 10 years or more when our metro population is approaching 500,000. Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa are around 1.1 million, not 1.5 million. And if and when Winnipeg gets a team they are only 750,000.

[spaustin]

I concede on Edmonton, but if you count Gatineau, the Ottawa area is about 1.3. It is true that hockey is a different market in the US compared to Canada. Edmonton struggles to make a go with their population base. Calgary is a little more secure because of the city's status as a corporate hub for oil and gas. The reality has been, Quebec City and Winnipeg as demonstrations, that teams in markets with less than a million have failed in the modern NHL. Apart from Edmonton and Calgary, there really aren't any teams anywhere, Canada or the US, in the less than 1.5 market.

What's it mean for Halifax? We're a regional centre with no large corporate base, our population isn't overly wealthy and we're well short of being anywhere close to having the raw numbers to make a go of it. Counting the rest of Atlantic Canada isn't really useful. People may drive in for an NHL game from Saint John, Moncton or PEI now and then, but it's not going to be regular thing. It is several hours after all. Hamilton could get a team, but they're sitting in a region composed of millions. They're in a completely different category from Quebec City, Winnipeg or us. Quebec City or Winnipeg are possible dark horse candidates, but I don't think even they will get a team anytime soon. The current league leadership has consistently shown zero interest in Canada and both cities, like us, are regional centres with small populations. Halifax is way, way down the list. Heck I would be less surprised at having the NHL expand into Europe then have them expand here! I'm all for dreaming, but I don't see an NHL franchise being located here as even remotely likely.

[terrynorthend]

I think the NHL would have to undergo a major re-organization before we could see a team anywhere in Atlantic Canada. Perhaps if a new Commissioner, probably only if he were Canadian at that, came along in the next couple of decades, and Halifax grows a bit, and a smaller market strategy was put in place..and... bleah, its sounding more and more like a pipe dream as I type

[worldlyhaligonian]

This Roger Taylor guy is on something...

I think the 5 games concept would work, especially seeing these concerts this summer.

[phrenic]

I think the five games would go over really well here, especially if most of the Coyote's opponents were Canadians teams, as is being suggested.

I would even argue that we could do 10 or 15. But a permanent team just wouldn't work for another 10-20 years. We'd have to have the lowest paid team in the league with corporate subsidies to cover travel costs.

But I suppose the idea is that if we sell out five games, maybe the year after that we'll get more, and more and so on.

[JHikka]

None of this is going to happen. Just to let you guys know.

[phrenic]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

None of this is going to happen. Just to let you guys know.

Well not with that attitude.

But yeah, the chances are probably fairly remote. I'd rather see Balsillie move the team to a permanent home anyway.

[JHikka]

Attitudes don't matter. The NHL isn't going to be letting go of any of their franchises.

[phrenic]

Originally Posted by GregHickman

Attitudes don't matter. The NHL isn't going to be letting go of any of their franchises.

It was a joke.

And yeah, Bettman has got his unholy death grip on the Coyotes.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by phrenic

It was a joke.

And yeah, Bettman has got his unholy death grip on the Coyotes.

I understand.

And it's not Bettman, it's the Board of Governors. Bettman makes no superficial decisions himself, and thus gets a terrible reputation for it. Any decision like the sale of a franchise has to be put through the BoG.

[phrenic]

Originally Posted by phrenic

It was a joke.

And yeah, the NHL Board of Governors have got their unholy death grip on the Coyotes. Bettman is being kind of a douche about it too.

Fixed.