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Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

cestuneblague — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 13:42:00 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 08/21/2021 17:42

Well you gotta remember Miami, to be blunt, is one of the worst cities for professional sports. I mean only the Heat have ever managed to draw crowds, and really only started being among the tops in attendance after Lebron's arrival. For what the Panthers do pull in to their arena is pretty good when grading on the Southern Florida curve, and yeah I guess they were bad for so long and it'll be interesting to see what they pull now that they're inching closer to contention (obviously after COVID restrictions ease). I mean i think there is some appeal to try and expand the NHL to non-traditional markets- and they have succeeded in a few like Tampa and Nashville (eventually), and Vegas has been solid even as one of the most transplant-heavy market probably because they were the inaugural sports franchise for the city - but at the end of the day they have to know where the bread is buttered and Canada as well as the cold-weather states near the canadian border in the US is always going to be where most of the ratings, attendance, merchandise etc is sold. So it just makes sense if there is any future re-location to try and have as big a footprint up north as possible.

And well it actually looks like the Coyotes are almost out the door in Glendale, as their lease is not going to be renewed next year. I guess they do want to keep the team in the western conference, but for the love of god don't bring them to Houston, if they are staying out west Kansas City is so much more of a hockey town with a good talent pipeline (and, yes, a cold-weather area) even if it's a smaller media market I think it would probably do even better when it comes to fan interest and ticket sales... and I think an Avalanche-Mavericks? rivalry would be far more intense than the Stars-Areo. Obviously I second Juno in that I would love to see the Nordiques be ressurected, but it's probably not going to happen with the Coyotes unfortunately.

Anyhoo, yeah this offseason has been interesting though I think a lot of the best teams are kind of just resting on their laurels a bit. I think the Kraken have done a good job using their cap space after a perhaps intentionally underwhelming expansion draft, though are probably headed on a much slower and steadier path to contention than the Golden Knights. The Islanders I wish have done a bit more because they're really close, and the Canadiens frankly have a lot of trust that needs to be earned back after that draft night fiasco. Though I'm definitely hoping for an exciting Caufield breakout this season.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

junodog4 — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 12:20:53 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 08/21/2021 16:20

Necharsian wrote:

NHL teams usually catch on, even in warmer places, when the team is good. Tampa, Carolina, Nashville, (Vegas), etc. are doing fine now because they've had at least some success/really great teams. Even Florida isn't doing terribly in terms of attendance, and if the team can maintain the good thing they've got going there's no reason to think they can't be tampa2. Arizona has basically never been good and looks like they are going the Atlanta route of relocating, but I'm pretty convinced that if those teams' management didn't blow it for 20 years they'd also be fine.

I'd love to see the Coyotes move to Quebec. Apart from that, the league is set.

I love the Oilers management �'� . Nurse is a good D man, but 9 million? Adds to the list of self-inflicted wounds (Reinhart for Barzal, Larsson for Hall, turning Eberle into Spooner, Koskinen and Kassian contracts, etc...) I feel so bad for McDavid and Oilers fans (not really the fans... they still insufferably bask in past glories like Canadiens fans). Oilers management is wasting a generational talent. It's a bigger crime than the Flames mediocrity - they're not wasting a golden opportunity.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

Necharsian — Wed, 4 Aug 2021 16:15:49 GMT

Author: Necharsian

Posted: 08/04/2021 20:15

NHL teams usually catch on, even in warmer places, when the team is good. Tampa, Carolina, Nashville, (Vegas), etc. are doing fine now because they've had at least some success/really great teams. Even Florida isn't doing terribly in terms of attendance, and if the team can maintain the good thing they've got going there's no reason to think they can't be tampa2. Arizona has basically never been good and looks like they are going the Atlanta route of relocating, but I'm pretty convinced that if those teams' management didn't blow it for 20 years they'd also be fine.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

cestuneblague — Mon, 2 Aug 2021 15:43:58 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 08/02/2021 19:43

I'm all for a Seattle finally having a hockey team, been a good three decades in the making, with the Sonics long gone it makes a ton of sense. There's plenty of talent so that's not an issue, and there's a lot more parity in the NHL then say the NBA (where I could see expansion being a problem because that would just be two more teams that have no shot at a title). That being said, I can humbly predict the Kraken won't pull a vegas their inagurual season, though I'm interested to see how free agency pans out considering they have a ton of cap space.

The problem with the NHL is that they've tried to expand it's appeal to the warm-weather states to mostly underwhelming results (Tampa Bay's playoff success has definitely helped, Nashville finally caught on, Phoenix is a disaster, Miami was never going to be a hockey city, Colombus is too much of a college town (Cincinatti would've been a better selection) and even with a Stanley Cup win and no professional sports competition the Hurricanes still can't get a lot of fans in seats), it just makes a lot more sense to bring hockey to the canadian markets like Quebec City and Hamilton, or another team in New England or perhaps Kansas City which is a very underrated and fruitful talent pipeline, as even with the limited market size they would have a lot less heavy lifting when it comes to attendance, merchandise, ratings etc. Will be interesting to see if there's any movement in the future but this will surely be the last expansion for a good long while.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

junodog4 — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 22:32:32 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 07/29/2021 02:32

Romanelli wrote:

Can't believe that the already paper thin NHL is expanding again. I'd have contracted first...

What makes you say that? Are teams struggling to find talent?

I'd say that's hardly the case at all. There are so many kids who can play now. Look at the youth who show up and push a vet out of a job.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

Necharsian — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 11:33:31 GMT

Author: Necharsian

Posted: 07/27/2021 15:33

Romanelli wrote:

Can't believe that the already paper thin NHL is expanding again. I'd have contracted first...

😐

The last expansion team has made the conference finals in 3 of its first 4 seasons..

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

Romanelli — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 17:29:16 GMT

Author: Romanelli

Posted: 07/26/2021 21:29

Can't believe that the already paper thin NHL is expanding again. I'd have contracted first...

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

Necharsian — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 12:32:54 GMT

Author: Necharsian

Posted: 07/26/2021 16:32

I'm going to guess that in 3-5 years we look back at that seth jones trade as one of the worst in nhl history

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

junodog4 — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 23:17:29 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 07/24/2021 03:17

Chicago grossly overpaid for Seth Jones (including a ridiculous contract).

Philly also overpaid for Ristolainen.

Seems D are worth a pretty penny.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

cestuneblague — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 20:30:05 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/24/2021 00:30

Not gonna lie the expansion draft was a little weird, left some valuable talent hanging, but also have a lot of financial flexibility so should go big on Free Agency- especially since teams are likely going to be stingier with the flat cap.

Interesting to see how the Draft plays out.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

cestuneblague — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 08:38:52 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/19/2021 12:38

Interesting to see who's available, seems like they could put together a halfway decent team. Fascinated to see Carey Price available, but then again that may be due to injury status. Looks like Giordano is exposed after all. Looks like the LIghtning protected more defenseman but are so deep in that area they had to expose quality players. Should be fun this week.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

cestuneblague — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 20:02:07 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/16/2021 00:02

junodog4 wrote:

Love a good expansion draft. It's a great shake-up.

Got any idea who the Flames might be protecting/exposing? I got some rumblings about Giordano being exposed, but that would be pretty creul.

I was excited to see Weber might be available, but of course because he has a likely long-term injury.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

Necharsian — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 16:12:58 GMT

Author: Necharsian

Posted: 07/15/2021 20:12

That Keith deal might be the funniest trade i've ever seen. Holland had all the leverage, no actual need to pull the trigger, and was filling a hole that didnt exist and still somehow managed to get pantsed

The most important offseason for the oil since 2015 and they may have pissed it all away before the draft lol

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

junodog4 — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 14:54:04 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 07/15/2021 18:54

Love a good expansion draft. It's a great shake-up.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

cestuneblague — Fri, 9 Jul 2021 17:00:31 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/09/2021 21:00

Well... that was far from the most riveting set of hockey games imaginable. Anyhoo, time to move on to the Expansion draft! See if the Kraken can get some decent pickups

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

cestuneblague — Tue, 6 Jul 2021 20:00:15 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 07/07/2021 00:00

Whew. Habs live to see another day. Time to pull off another Maple Leafs first round.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

cestuneblague — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 13:28:29 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 06/29/2021 17:28

Yeah I still don't really have a grasp of the nuances of hockey fandom yet, though I would figure the other reason Montreal would be controversial because of, cough, politics surronding anglo and francophone Canada, but I guess that's a loaded topic for another thread (I mean at least they aren't the Blackhawks). Though Juno I would expect you'd want the Flames 2004 cup loss avenged, n'est dit pas 😉

Edit: Merde, that game 1 was brutal

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

junodog4 — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 22:39:06 GMT

Author: junodog4

Posted: 06/29/2021 02:39

UofTBlues wrote:

cestuneblague wrote:

junodog4 wrote:

I'm torn. I actually like this Canadiens team...

...but I'm not looking forward to more fodder for the smug Mtl fans ("24 Stanley Cups, amirite"). Every city in Canada has them.

TB in 6. I like the idea of a mini-dynasty.

I would ask "Where's the Canadian Pride?!!!"... but I take it Oilers fans don't exactly root for the Flames when they're on a stanley cup run

Also, I found this funny people still care about the goings-on of one Celene Dion

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

We've got pride in Canada however some have provincial attitudes. You won't find many supporters of the Habs in Alberta.

It's nothing to do with 'provincial attitudes'. That's a bit of a sweeping generalization. If the Leafs had advanced, I would have been rooting for them. I would love to see Toronto go crazy with a Leafs championship - they've been long suffering.

I view Canadiens fans in the same boat as Celtics fans in basketball, Liverpool fans in soccer, and Yankees fans in baseball. There's a certain smugness with some of them, as they view their franchise as superior due to past glories.

...and there's loads of Leafs and Habs fans out here. Older generations in Western Canada had to pick between the Leafs and the Habs, as there were no NHL teams here until the 1970s. Also, we have loads of people who have moved here from elsewhere in Canada. I'd suggest that Flames or Oilers games have more Leafs or Canadiens fans in attendance when they play them than anywhere besides the ACC or Forum.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

UofTBlues — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 17:53:11 GMT

Author: UofTBlues

Posted: 06/26/2021 21:53

cestuneblague wrote:

junodog4 wrote:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

We've got pride in Canada however some have provincial attitudes. You won't find many supporters of the Habs in Alberta.

Re: NHL Megathread (2020-21 Season, Offseason, Trade Rumors)

cestuneblague — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 15:30:13 GMT

Author: cestuneblague

Posted: 06/26/2021 19:30

junodog4 wrote:

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.