:: View topic - Return of the Nordiques?

I look at Quebec City like I look at Buffalo - the economy and population gets bashed from all sides, but there's an underlying current of hockey fanatics that would support a team no matter what.

If that $400M arena gets approved, there is no doubt in my mind Quebec City gets a team.

small? yeah. but grand rapids pursued a team for a while.

ironyisadeadscene wrote:

small? yeah. but grand rapids pursued a team for a while.

Grand Rapids the city is small, but the Metro area has 750K people in it, plenty to support a hockey team, Quebec City has 450K in it, and the metro area has 750K people also.

They may be a smaller market, but that is in no way a small market.

I think the biggest issue would be Corporate support once again, how many corporations are in the city?

Quebec, not Grand Rapids.

Cities that deserve teams:
Quebec City
Winnipeg
Hartford
Cleveland
Seattle (I think they should try it.. it's close enough to the Canadian Border)
Salt Lake City
Portland, Oregon

Feel free to dispute any of these, or add to the list.

This project, valued at $18.3 million, is a two-story, multi-function sports facility centered around a four-rink ice skating/hockey complex. The center includes three NHL regulation rinks and an Olympic regulation rink for figure skating. There is spectator seating for 2,300 persons; an off-ice practice area; a second floor, 140-seat restaurant overlooking the rinks; a first floor food court; conditioning and aerobic rooms; concession and sports-related retail shops, and offices and conference rooms.

Author:	Gasoline [ Sat Jul 10, 2010 12:47 pm ]
Post subject:	Return of the Nordiques?
Interesting read. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=327048

Author:	DS37 [ Sat Jul 10, 2010 4:04 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
Interesting indeed The momentum in QC to bring a team back is huge right now. Immensely due to the new mayor, Régis Labeaume who's willing to spend a lot of money on entertainment and in a lot of areas to help get the city more well-known worldwide(Amphitheatre, NHL team, 2022 Olympics). He wants to modernize Quebec city and he's extremely different from your typical politician. And honestly, what would bring Quebec more on the map than a hockey team? Trust me, Quebec city is a true hockey town that has deserved for a long time. I can't wait for it to happen, because I really think that the excitement right now is too high to be stopped. The day a team comes back in Québec will be one of the happiest moment of my life.

Author:	mechaphil [ Sat Jul 10, 2010 4:30 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
I look at Quebec City like I look at Buffalo - the economy and population gets bashed from all sides, but there's an underlying current of hockey fanatics that would support a team no matter what. If that $400M arena gets approved, there is no doubt in my mind Quebec City gets a team.

Author:	DS37 [ Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:20 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
mechaphil wrote: I look at Quebec City like I look at Buffalo - the economy and population gets bashed from all sides, but there's an underlying current of hockey fanatics that would support a team no matter what. If that $400M arena gets approved, there is no doubt in my mind Quebec City gets a team. Exactly, a very small population compared to other NHL cities, but the % of hockey fans is incredibly higher than these other cities. I mean, hockey is everything here. Also, a lot of ex-Nordiques-fans-turned-Habs-fans will come back to support them, but it will create so much separation and rivalry between friends and family! The big difference with previous projects to bring a team back is that Bettman seems to have finally understood that hockey should return to Canada (and not in south USA ) and he's listening to our offers. The other difference is that the new mayor is willing to finance and support a team by building a new rink, which was really needed anyway. I'm very positive.

Author:	Vanek_Fanatic_26 [ Sun Jul 11, 2010 2:01 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
Cities that deserve teams: Quebec City Winnipeg Hartford Cleveland Seattle (I think they should try it.. it's close enough to the Canadian Border) Salt Lake City Portland, Oregon Feel free to dispute any of these, or add to the list.

http://www.sabresjunkie.com/forum/

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Author:	mechaphil [ Sun Jul 11, 2010 2:30 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
Hartford will probably never host another team again. Also, there are financial reasons that Portland doesn't have a team. But otherwise, I like your list. Especially Seattle - instant rivalry with the Canucks, I'd imagine.

Author:	Skyline_BNR34 [ Sun Jul 11, 2010 6:16 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
Some of those cities won't ever get a team again or get a team. And for the most part, only a few teams are viable to be moved if they can be moved, because if the owner doesn't want the southern team to move it won't, especially if the team is going in the right direction and doing decent enough with their play. As much as Nashville, Atlanta, and Phoenix are doing bad financially, do the owners of those teams want to move the teams, because the NHL can't move a team because the NHL doesn't own them, plus do the other owners want to agree to it, even though they'd be stupid to not move a team to Northern America, who knows what would happen? Certain teams should move, others should stay where they are. And bringing in more teams is not an option, and the only team that is closest to moving is Phoenix.

Author:	Tvan [ Sun Jul 11, 2010 11:06 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
I tried to watch the newest video (why not canada pt 6) and I got a popup saying "Canada Only"! Horrible! It's...countryism!

Author:	ironyisadeadscene [ Tue Jul 13, 2010 11:58 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
small? yeah. but grand rapids pursued a team for a while.

Author:	Skyline_BNR34 [ Thu Jul 15, 2010 6:30 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
ironyisadeadscene wrote: small? yeah. but grand rapids pursued a team for a while. Grand Rapids the city is small, but the Metro area has 750K people in it, plenty to support a hockey team, Quebec City has 450K in it, and the metro area has 750K people also. They may be a smaller market, but that is in no way a small market. I think the biggest issue would be Corporate support once again, how many corporations are in the city? Quebec, not Grand Rapids.

Author:	ironyisadeadscene [ Thu Jul 15, 2010 10:53 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
Skyline_BNR34 wrote: ironyisadeadscene wrote: small? yeah. but grand rapids pursued a team for a while. Grand Rapids the city is small, but the Metro area has 750K people in it, plenty to support a hockey team, Quebec City has 450K in it, and the metro area has 750K people also. They may be a smaller market, but that is in no way a small market. I think the biggest issue would be Corporate support once again, how many corporations are in the city? Quebec, not Grand Rapids. grand rapids metro is like 1.3 million. grand rapids has amway. amway is one of the biggest corporations in north america. (the revised number is 750,000 but thats because the lake michigan lakeshore metro is now its own metro area, despite being so close. that was a big deal when i moved there, because they went from being in the GR metro to its own.)

Author:	Maestro [ Thu Jul 15, 2010 11:25 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
Vanek_Fanatic_26 wrote: Cities that deserve teams: Quebec City Winnipeg Hartford Cleveland Seattle (I think they should try it.. it's close enough to the Canadian Border) Salt Lake City Portland, Oregon Feel free to dispute any of these, or add to the list. I don't know what would make Cleveland or Salt Lake City a great "hockey" town or even deserving hockey town. Portland does great for WHL and is one of the best NBA crowds so they may work well, however, i agree with you about Seattle. They lost their NBA team so they may be in open arms to add a NHL team plus their close to Canada which would be clutch. Another city i would like to see have a team is Houston. Massive city with a brand new arena.

Author:	ironyisadeadscene [ Fri Jul 16, 2010 12:52 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
look, i dont care if a team moves to timbuktu, if it has support, and works, im all for it. if the coyotes were selling out, or selling well, id be all for it. dallas is an example of a southern team that has worked. im cool with the stars. atlanta is not going to stick it out for the long haul, and as ive said, i think the two florida teams should combine. off topic, but last night, my brother in law played where the panthers practice. such a weird rink. its brand new (OLYMPIC SIZED ICE TOO!) and it has seamless glass, and two rows of seats all the way around, except the ends, which, above the two rows, have huge decks that seat several hundred people. it was weird. behind the nets!

Author:	Skyline_BNR34 [ Fri Jul 16, 2010 1:51 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
The place where the Hurricanes practice is a dump basically. I've been there a few times and it's probably one of the oldest rinks in Raleigh, why the Hurricanes don't have something nicer I don't even know, there are plenty of rinks nicer then that to practice at, The Iceplex is a great facility and is an olympic sized rink also.

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Author:	mechaphil [ Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:07 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
The Sabres practice at the Amherst Pepsi Center. It's got three NHL-sized ice surfaces and one IIHF-sized ice surface. I've never been, but I hear it's nice. From the site that designed and built it: Quote: This project, valued at $18.3 million, is a two-story, multi-function sports facility centered around a four-rink ice skating/hockey complex. The center includes three NHL regulation rinks and an Olympic regulation rink for figure skating. There is spectator seating for 2,300 persons; an off-ice practice area; a second floor, 140-seat restaurant overlooking the rinks; a first floor food court; conditioning and aerobic rooms; concession and sports-related retail shops, and offices and conference rooms.

Author:	Skyline_BNR34 [ Fri Jul 16, 2010 2:12 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Return of the Nordiques?
I'll have the get a picture of the ice surface next time I go to the RecZone. It's a dump, but they might be in the works of building their own anyways, I don't know?