NHL in Winnipeg

[necko]

I held off posting in this thread but I feel the need to state something that ought to be (but apparently isn't) obvious to everyone:

THE NHL IS NOT COMING BACK TO WINNIPEG.

EVER!!

It would be the smallest metropolitan market in the NHL. And if a relatively small population wasn't enough, it's a city of "can you get it for me wholesale" cheapskates who won't shell out $75 to sit in the seats that are the farthest from ice level other than to see the Leafs and Habs. And expecting them to pony up $200 or more to sit at ice level? Yeah, right.

If the NHL ever expands again (I can't imagine that happening for a decade or more at the minimum) or looks to shift franchises, markets like Seattle, Houston and even Kansas City are much more appealing than Winnipeg. Hell, they'd put another team in the greater NYC area before they'd have one here.

I actually know hardcore hockey fans who have never been to a Moose game because according to their twisted logic attending an AHL game would somehow be an admission that this is a minor league city. Well, wake up and smell the coffee, folks. This city is as minor league as it gets.

As an aside to other Winnipeggers, have any of you heard the ads that Ron Pollack is running in his quest to be mayor? This guy is crazier than a shithouse rat (and I already knew he was nuts going back to the cable show he used to have on Videon with his equally bizarre sister, Natalie). I almost wish he'd get elected (wouldn't anyone be better than Sam Katz?) just to see how he fulfills his pledge to bring the Jets back to Winnipeg.

Let me see If I have this right you are saying the NHL is not coming back to Winnipeg

 

[tao]

yo necko ... i agree with most of your sentiments regarding the fan base, except this ...

Its fan base that counts even in a lousey year the canucks still sell out lots and then theirs TV 3-4 million people watch them on any given night

pssst ... the grey cup draws about 3.8 million viewers canada wide ... i remember reading that the average viewership for the canucks on sportsnet is 225,000 to 300,000. the highest ever rated canuck broadcast on sportsnet was somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000 people.

anyway ... i never saw a hockey game growing up in socal, but since moving here i have become a puckhead and as long as i have the canucks to quench my jones for puck ... who cares about the winnipeg coyotes

 

[farmboy]

I wish more people woke up and realized that The MOOSE are the best, and only Hockey team we are ever going to have in this town, so instead of being knuckleheads..get out there and SUPPORT them.....don't worry about those lazy ass millionares who want us to pay $200 to watch them skate around. Pay $30 and see some pretty entertaining hockey from guys who are lucky to make $75000 a year, and bust there ass's off. Otherwise we will lose them to!
JETS ARE NEVER COMING BACK.....because we STILL CAN"T AFFORD their SALARIES!

 

[dr_pepper]

I would not consider Winnipegers cheap by any means. Winnipeger's are simply smart consumers who aren't swayed by what Tom and Sally are buying down the street or a couple provinces over in Alberta. I give them alot of credit not spending money just because.

 

[JustAGuy]

I would not consider Winnipegers cheap by any means. Winnipeger's are simply smart consumers who aren't swayed by what Tom and Sally are buying down the street or a couple provinces over in Alberta. I give them alot of credit not spending money just because.

Nice attempted spin on the cheapness of Winnipeggers, dr pepper. I have watched people here haggle to save a dime at the one and only garage sale I have ever attended or participated in. I have seen people here spend ten minutes of their time trying to save a half a buck on a Christmas tree (kind of illustrates the value they put on their own time, wouldn't you say?). When I worked in the retail clothing business, I actually saw people go through racks of blue jeans searching for a flaw so they could come up to the cashier and ask for half price. I could provide another twenty examples but these pretty much make my point. Winnipeggers are known across Canada as being the "get it for me wholesale" gang. You give them credit for not spending money "just because". I call them cheapskate asshole time wasters. One of us is right (hint: it isn't the guy naming himself after a soft drink).

 

[therealrex]

Its pretty simple math:

$45 million in salaries/40 games/15000 seats= $75 per seat average price

Yes the Jets used to average 12.5 to 13 thousand fans a year but at least a thousand seats in the old arena were less than 10 bucks each. Even the Oilers whose popularity is huge right now are only 2 or 3 seasons away from being in trouble again.

 

[aznboi9]

Its pretty simple math:

$45 million in salaries/40 games/15000 seats= $75 per seat average price

What about advertising and stuff like that? Wouldn't that help a bit?

 

[wolverine]

Even the Oilers whose popularity is huge right now are only 2 or 3 seasons away from being in trouble again.

How you figure that??

 

[therealrex]

If they don't capitalize on last years run and fail to make the playoffs for a few years they will be losing money again. The Oilers are one of those teams that can make a small profit in the good years but there just isn't enough revenue to carry them thru a bad run.

 

[therealrex]

What about advertising and stuff like that? Wouldn't that help a bit?

Sure it helps but $45 mil is just what you have to pay the players you still have all your other expenses to cover and things like TV and advertising just don't mean as much in a small market town.

 

[hornyitalian06]

The economy in Edmonton and Calgary a great right now. I think with economy so good in both cities , they can afford to support a NHL team for another 5 to 10 years. Again, it depends on the salaries of the great players and also the average hockey player.

 

[aznboi9]

Sure it helps but $45 mil is just what you have to pay the players you still have all your other expenses to cover and things like TV and advertising just don't mean as much in a small market town.

ah, good point

 

[hornyitalian06]

Winnipeg has a great AHL team, the Moose. The city should be proud of their team no matter what happens. Cities with NHL teams are struggling all over no matter their economy is like today.
In 10 to 20 years you will see new cities host NHL teams for the first time and some present NHL cities will no longer exist due to high/over expensive financial commitment of the city and fans in those areas.

 

[O-Shoes]

I held off posting in this thread but I feel the need to state something that ought to be (but apparently isn't) obvious to everyone:

THE NHL IS NOT COMING BACK TO WINNIPEG.

EVER!!

It would be the smallest metropolitan market in the NHL. And if a relatively small population wasn't enough, it's a city of "can you get it for me wholesale" cheapskates who won't shell out $75 to sit in the seats that are the farthest from ice level other than to see the Leafs and Habs. And expecting them to pony up $200 or more to sit at ice level? Yeah, right.

If the NHL ever expands again (I can't imagine that happening for a decade or more at the minimum) or looks to shift franchises, markets like Seattle, Houston and even Kansas City are much more appealing than Winnipeg. Hell, they'd put another team in the greater NYC area before they'd have one here.

I actually know hardcore hockey fans who have never been to a Moose game because according to their twisted logic attending an AHL game would somehow be an admission that this is a minor league city. Well, wake up and smell the coffee, folks. This city is as minor league as it gets.

As an aside to other Winnipeggers, have any of you heard the ads that Ron Pollack is running in his quest to be mayor? This guy is crazier than a shithouse rat (and I already knew he was nuts going back to the cable show he used to have on Videon with his equally bizarre sister, Natalie). I almost wish he'd get elected (wouldn't anyone be better than Sam Katz?) just to see how he fulfills his pledge to bring the Jets back to Winnipeg.

Wow. Hostile!

I guess it is conservative people like you that uphold Winnipeg's reputation. Why not strive to be a bigger and better city instead of trying to stay ahead of a city a 1/4 of the size like Regina...
The per capita NHL fan base in Winnipeg is much larger than cities like Atlanta, Nashville and Phoenix.
Strive for change, not the same old "poor us peggers" attittude...

For you hopeful fans that would like to have big time hockey back in the city.
Check out www.jetsowner.com

 

[dirtydan]

Its pretty simple math:

$45 million in salaries/40 games/15000 seats= $75 per seat average price

Yes the Jets used to average 12.5 to 13 thousand fans a year but at least a thousand seats in the old arena were less than 10 bucks each. Even the Oilers whose popularity is huge right now are only 2 or 3 seasons away from being in trouble again.

Moose owner Mark Chipman commented on CJOB that the only way for the NHL to be viable in Winnipeg would be to sellout every home game. Given that sellouts were and far in between when the Jets were in Winnipeg, that I think would be unlikely they would be if a team came back. And the fact is the crowds the Jets got during their years in Winnipeg wouldn't fill the new arena the city has now.

The fiasco back 1996 with proposal after proposal to keep the Jets in Winnipeg was an emotional drain on people. Be they for or against it back then, I think many of them are now against it because that rollercoaster ride.
It may take 10, 15, 20 years or so before a good size chunk of the population would rally behind getting another NHL team.

 

[hornyitalian06]

Winnipeg is a hockey town and majority the people there love to watch the Canadian sport called hockey. However, Winnipeg is a city that is comfortable right now with an AHL team called the Moose.