The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

The city of Winnipeg gets their NHL team back.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6610414

One less "southern team" - this is too bad...

I like having a team in some of these smaller markets personally.

It's Atlanta...they'll get another NHL franchise at some point.

I like having an NHL team in Winnipeg, and I'm sure the Winnipeggers do too. ;)

I hope they change the name.

The mayor of Atlanta made some cryptic comment like

we've got big things planned for professional sports in Atlanta - stay tuned!

I have no clue what he could have been talking about...

^^^ Talking out his as if you ask me. They had teams for all four major sports organizations and just lost one of them. A new hockey team isn't coming back, Atlanta isn't going to be able to support two teams in the other sports and a hockey team isn't coming back anytime soon.

The only thing I could consider as a big thing would be if they get another Super Bowl.

I found the quote...  From the Sun Sentinel...

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_hockey_panthers/2011/06/panthers-travel-gets-tougher-with-atlanta-moving-to-winnipeg.html

Its a Canadian sport and always will be. They deserve to have another team

Ever since I found out the Braves did not sell out playoff games, I have had zero respect for sports fans in Atlanta.

I remember back in the mid 90's when there was a big expansion of hockey in the south.  The Lightning, Sharks, Panthers, and Mighty Ducks were all formed.  Quebec relocated to Denver, and Winnepeg relocated to Phoenix.  I'm sure the Canadiens were pissed as hell that they lost two of their teams and are glad to have one back. 

On a personal note, have you fully recovered from the dive you took off your roof on NFL Draft night?

The Dolphins didn't sell out a playoff game with the Ravens about 10 years ago

^^^ Are you seriously comparing the two??

uh, yes! When it comes to poor sports city Miami is on par with Atlanta!

Atlanta is probably the worst sports city, but Miami isn't far behind. Lebron came there for the weather and models, not the sports fans.

This thread is about Atlanta losing a team.  Last time I checked, all Miami's teams were still in Miami. 

The thread evolved into Atlanta being a terrible sports city and what are other terrible sports city's.  ::)

And Miami has all of their sports teams....for now! The Panthers could bolt at any time. It's not like they are the hottest thing to hit South Florida popularity wise.  And I don't trust Stephen Ross as far as I could throw him. If the Fins stink for the next few years and nobody goes to games he could pack it up and leave and I wouldn't be shocked one bit! Especially if another city made him a sweet ass deal

So was the Atlanta Flames experiment...but they got another team after that one left in 1980.



(edited to clear the air of my branding brainfart)

^^^I think you mean the Flames? The Stars were in MN.

^^^ Ooops...yeah, I meant the Flames. My bad.

 ::) Opps, you win!

I will keep using them!  ;D

Not to mention the Miami Hurricanes even when they are good don't draw fly's to their games.

This is a blatant lie.

And has nothing to do with this thread.

^^^ I don't know if I would call it a lie but it may be since I don't think Miami has been all that good since they moved into Dolphin Stadium, but their attendance is lacking.

Being all that good is a relative term.  Hurricanes, Gators, and Seminoles fans expect their teams to contend for the national championship every year.  Anything less is a disappointment.  Getting 7 or 8 wins and a second tier bowl game every year (like Miami has done recently) would be acceptable at some schools, but not Miami.

Sun Life Stadium is too big for the Hurricanes, I think.  They used to sell out the Orange Bowl every game.  They thought, "let's get greedy, add more seats, and make more money"

They still sell A LOT of tickets, even though the stadium LOOKS emptier, because it is bigger.  The way he stated it is like it was a mid-day Marlins game, with 300 people in the stands...

Not that much bigger.  The Orange Bowl could seat up to 74,000.  Sun Life Stadium has a seating capacity of 75,000.

^^ I didn't think the OB was that high.  Is that including the miserable bleachers in the open end?

Also, Sun Life is farther from the UM campus.  Not that that's an excuse, but it is a factor.

Winnipeg seems pretty excited to get a hockey team back...they met their goal of selling 13,000 season tickets in a matter of minutes.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6625982 (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6625982)

I'm guessing it does include the bleachers, which would be expanded for bigger games.  Also, the Orange Bowl was not as cavernous or spacious.  The seats were VERY close to the field and would pack in the spectators, making crowd noise more of a factor. 

Maine - I think the original story said that the AHL team that is there now will be relocated - I think they said the stadium seats around 15K and they should be good at filling that

^^^ A winning team competitive in the playoffs would help with that though. The kicker is which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

I'm not sure...  I wonder if the outpouring of fan support would counteract that.  Hockey players tend to like to play where they get the support of the fans...

I wonder how many of the Winnipeg hockey fans followed their allegiance to Phoenix, and if so, if they're willing to drop that allegiance like a bad habit to root for the Winnipeg Thrashers.

I think I would still be a fan, only because I've followed the team for so long.  Although I'd have some bitterness to go along with it, there'd be no other option for me locally for hockey.  I can't say that I'd be AS into it as I am now...  Maybe more of a casual observer...

Then, after 10+ years of being a die-hard Seattle Panthers fan, would it be easy to just drop them and root for a new Miami franchise?  Not sure...

As a Seattle Sonics fan, I can tell you that my current favorite team is whoever is playing against the Oklahoma City Thunder.  And I can't see that changing anytime soon.

Do you think many Cleveland Browns fans rooted for the Ravens?

Doesn't Green Bay have the same problem?

And Buffalo

Ask anyone in St Louis if they still cheered for the football Cardinals after they left.  Even before the Rams moved here, very few people supported the Arizona Cardinals.

I haven't been on here for weeks and look at all the mess that I have to clean up (sigh)...

I would totally disagree with this. They have had 2 chances at it and despite making the playoffs (more consistently as the Flames rather than the 1 4-game sweep by the Rangers) have never won a playoff series in the existence of the Atlanta franchises. That plus bad/corrupt ownership will kill any team anywhere.

Atlanta wont get another team back and most of the people there didn't really care because they are caring about the other main sports teams there (plus the college football games and college sports that are in the area as well).

That is a short-sighted view. That is like saying "Vancouver should win the cup so it can be brought back to Canada. This is a complete mis-statement.

The Cup stays in the hockey hall of fame more than 250 days  every year North of the 49th parallel (that's Canada territory for those of you that dont have a globe handy).

"Basketball should stay in the US. "

Same view. Its played worldwide and there are many pro leagues in the world but from that point of view, the players outside of the us are wasting their time.

They are currently discussing that and so far the two big names that have been kicked around are the Jets (their original team name yet the Phoenix Coyotes have all the old Winnipeg retired jersys and other rafter memorabilia) and the Moose since the Manitoba Moose have been moved (from the AHL).

Jets would be the better and classic name to carry but I am not sure that the league will accept it without making some embarrasing statement about not allowing it.

Considering the other "Miami" teams are no longer in existence like the Miami Fusion (made the Finals and got beat, following year was destroyed and players were sent to the remaining MLS teams) and the Miami Manatees (a mery minor league franchise that didn't technically make it through the first season of the WHA2 and still made the Finals in that league as well). The Manatees situation was mostly due to no fans mostly due to no advertising for the team and the AAA for the Miami Heat is only a little further down the road and has a better parking situation that the Miami Arena (which was already imploded/destroyed).

BTW, the Panthers are not a "Miami" team although they originally were and initally had the team name "Miami Panthers" way before they started in the NHL (was a concept name). That was later changed to the Florida Panthers (which may be changed to something else provided that the team/ownership wants to tank the organization or not).

Mike, one thing that you are missing that most people do not know has political ties to the Florida government. I have not 100% confirmed this but there is a Florida lobbyist who is fighting tooth and nail to keep the team in florida and gets a couple of millions of dollars to do such a thing every year (I think it is about $5 million). I didn't get the guys name but he is one of the 5 highest grossing lobbyists in the state of florida. It would take a lot more than dismal sales and poor attendance to chase this team away.

This story is a little misleading to the fan(s) outside of the league. About half of the season tickets were sold before the clock started. Those tickets were exclusive to the season ticket holders of the Manitobe Moose (of the AHL) and they could get up to 8 seats per season ticket account. Realizing that the winters in Winnipeg are to the point that if hockey were the only thing functioning in the city, things would be normal; not to mention what else are you going to do in the winter when all the roads have frozen over other than be entertained.

Half of the remaining tickets that are available for the Winnipeg (insert team name/identity here)'s were bought by ticket corporations. Translation, ticket scalpers. Knowing that people in that area would sell their house to watch the Winnipeg team, they bought a lot of the remaining tickets to sell them later at an inflated rate.

Though the speed is still impressive, it is not all going directly to the fans and you do have to add 2 days of "pre-sale" tickets to that 4 minute time frame.

Players will first go to teams that they have a fan base that appreciates them. Look at Florida. Nathan Horton wanted to leave this team; now he is pretty much worshipped in Boston. Roberto Luongo wanted to leave this team (through his crazy agend demands); now he is pretty much worshipped in Vancouver (despite his playoff mental problems). Why would this be bad for the free agents? They want the fans to cheer for them and to be loud. They continuously say that and players really don't care what they have to do to get there.

Other than having to live near the arena (which may be an issue for those players who are not used to the winters in that area), I don't see any reason that this would chase free agents away.

Brian, you are assuming that a lot of fans (Winnipeg fans) put up with the move and though they didn't like it being moved, would still follow that team. My feeling is that once Winnipeg moved, many of these fans looked around the area and went to or watched teams more local to them. The aspect that it moved from the cold north to the burning desert really offends many of the Canadiens and groups (like True North and the 49th Parallel) were really offended that was a plausible option for relocation site(s).

People danced in the street when the True North buisness "accidently" leaked a story about the completed purchase of the Atlanta franchise 2 weeks before it was confirmed in an official press conference.

I'd think they wouldn't think twice about who they used to follow, they would follow the home team.

Hockey gets almost NO COVERAGE in the USA. Hell even ESPN which covers everything from softball to spelling bee's didn't want hockey because nobody watches it in this country. That isn't a knock on the sport, its fans or anyting of the sort. I enjoy hockey. But face facts, in the USA it gets lower ratings than poker, golf, and sometimes tennis. It's a canadian sport. The canadian fans love it to no end. They deserve to have another team up in canada. Want to grow hockey in North America, put it in city's where the fans actually give a s#it about it!! Like Canadian city's.

Incorrect.

ESPN originally carried hockey games and carried many games when the birth of ESPN2 arrived on cable tv. They primarily showed more western conference games but ESPN and ESPN2 showed hockey games on a weekly basis and was the main TV coverage of ALL of the NHL playoff games.

What happened is the NHL commisioner didnt like something in the ESPN contract and bailed out of it thinking that another network would be able to provide hockey coverage to those who do not have access to cable (or who don't go to sports bars to watch games). Now he feels that since NBC has agreed to spread out the message of the NHL that it will reach a wider audience and will provide more coverage including having tv coverage to every single playoff game starting next season so there will no longer be a coverage of 1 game when 4 others are potentially on. He feels that it was good enough considering that ESPN (from my understanding) only has ABC to do provide sports coverage. NBC is hoping that they can spread out the coverage over all of the NBC network affiliates (which has a lot of stations and some in multiple languages).

Considering all of the sports that ESPN has to try to cover they have to expand to ESPN 3, Classic, news, and U (I thought there were more but I can't think of any right now) to cover softball tournaments from college.

BTW, the spelling bee on ESPN is a joke (because it is not a SPORT) and it sort of screws with kids who can get that far. I remember seeiing it on season where the kids were being interviewed while the competiton was going on. Most of the time that I have seen some coverage, that kid ends up losing. ESPN really should not send in interviewers to mess with the kids since its hard on them enough to come up with the spelling of words we would pretty much not use in our lifetime. Put it back on ABC, I would have no problem with it, not on a sports channel.

Hockey ratings on NBC and VERSUS suck. Can't spin that. Bottom line is in the United States Hockey is a "niche" sport. With regional fan bases in a few city's that actually care. Once again, not a knock on the sport, I love the sport. But its reality.

It's a Canadian based sport and the league should have more teams in Canada because those fans care more about it!

ESPN wants any and all things sports and gave the NHL a crap deal because that is what the NHL deserves honestly, nobody watches in America and only a few care (in relative terms).