'Nucks IceMan

Written by: Larry “The Nucks IceMan” Johnson

The NHL has had some attendance problems for a number of years, heck let’s be honest here, since expansion into certain parts of the United States. These areas have had their chance and it’s obvious from attendance records, millions of dollars in losses, and business groups’ lack of support that the interest is just not there.

There’s no use in trying to cram a sport down the throats of fans that have no interest in supporting it. It serves no purpose then, for the NHL to continue operations in those areas. I did some research, with the help of http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance/ just to see what these figures actually looked like.

The following did not surprise me, because if you have have followed hockey for the past five years, you would have heard it discussed by the media on many occasions.

I picked five teams for relocation and realistically could have included several others, to evaluate their interest based on their attendance numbers. The loss of dollars would have been nice also, but lack of time dictated what I could muster up.

Since the 2005-06 season the NY Islanders have had the lowest average attendance with ranking numbers as follows: 30, 28, 30, 30, and 29.

In no particular order came the others, starting with Phoenix Coyotes – 22nd, 24^th, 29, 28 30; Atlanta Thrashers – 23, 21, 22, 29, 28; Nashville Predators – 25, 23, 27, 28, 26 and Florida Panthers – 19, 22, 25, 24, 25.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman should acknowledge the failure in these areas and move them to locations, whether it is in Canada or the United States, that could, and would support them.

Going into its second season, the NHL has been running the Phoenix Coyotes, who after losing several hundred million dollars since their move to Phoenix, filed for bankruptcy in 2009. The league bought the team for $140 million and has been looking for buyers that would keep the franchise in Phoenix, much to the chagrin of most knowledgeable hockey enthusiasts.

There has been no less than five would-be buyers that have walked away from the sale, with the most recent being Matthew Hulsizer. Mr. Hulsizer started to get cold feet and wanted a big discount on the $165-million (all U.S. currency)  the league wanted for the team.

To Hulsizer and all of the rest I would say, “Excellent business decision”.

In the meantime there are a number of Canadian cities that could support any one of those teams, starting with Hamilton, who already have Copps Coliseum Arena with a capacity of 17,383, currently owned by the City of Hamilton. Yes the arena needs additions and upgrades to it, but the population in that area could surely support another NHL team.

Winnipeg and Quebec City would be a couple of others, although they would have to have arenas built to NHL standards. But the love and the support are still strong there.

In the United States, the NHL would be wise to look at current AHL cities that have the surrounding population to support a team. And if it’s not there, then wait.

The other choice for the NHL would be through contraction, but I don’t think the NHLPA would support something like that. Hey, maybe the owners would finally get tired of subsidizing the weaker teams and put this on the agenda for the next CBA.

Say you contracted down by three teams from the present and relocated two others. Think how much more talent would be available to upgrade the rest of the weaker teams. Not only that, but the parity would be on par like no other sports league today.

In conclusion, Garry Bettman and the league need to step up and make some difficult decisions. If the NHL is going to be recognized and taken seriously as a top five sport, then it needs to get out of areas where the fans are not interested.

As always, you can also find me at @twitter.com/nucksiceman.com, @slapshot.com and @communities.canada.com/VANCOUVERSUN/blogs/fanattic/default.aspx

2005-05 Home Games   Total      –      Avg.     - %

2006-07     Home Games        Total     –       Avg. -           %

2007-08     Home Games     Total     – Avg. –  %

2008-09 Home Games       Total     – Avg. -    %

2009-10 Home Games     Total     –  Avg. –     %

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