tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8950036247778728553.post6622635748104268210..comments2023-07-23T10:50:50.656-04:00Comments on Winter of (dis)Content: A few questions about this whole team in Ontario thingEternal Pessimisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17121586401142752670noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8950036247778728553.post-30354353648771302492009-05-06T18:50:00.000-04:002009-05-06T18:50:00.000-04:001. When Balsillie tried to buy the Predators, he ...1. When Balsillie tried to buy the Predators, he was actually selling Hamilton Predators tickets through Ticketmaster until Bettman put the kibosh on it all. Plus, I think Hamilton's the only city up there that has a suitable arena.<br /><br />2. I'm not sure how that works, so I won't guess.<br /><br />3. I don't see why the city couldn't handle both if Philadelphia can handle the Flyers and the Phantoms with the Hershey Bears and W-B/S Baby Pens within reasonable driving distance.<br /><br />4. Ah, that's the biggest problem. Unless you move a team, Atlanta, NYI, or Florida being most likely, you'll get stuck with another team like Columbus, Detroit, or Nashville that has to travel crazy distances for a lot of their schedule. That's not just a fatigue problem but a monetary one as well. Of course, it hasn't seemed to hurt Detroit any, and God knows it's not because they're filling up the arena every night.<br /><br />5. I'm guessing he's tired of seeing Torontonians fill up what's left of the Sabres' arena every night because they can't get/afford tickets to Leafs games. I can understand that. At the same time, that might turn Buffalo into the next Islanders--the red-headed stepchild of the market area.<br /><br />6. Gretzky is a terrible coach and shouldn't be behind the bench anymore.<br /><br />Bonus: Yeah, probably. Unfortunately, there's never a <I>good</I> way to contract teams, for a lot of reasons. The biggest sticking point would be the NHLPA, who would never let it happen because they'd basically be cutting 23 jobs per team that gets contracted, pushing guys into the AHL, and those guys would displace people as well who'd end up in the ECHL or worse. Plus, they're backed into a corner with the salary cap. Guys who are third liners now might be marginal NHL'ers in a 26 team league, the sort of guy who gets a lot of frequent flyer miles traveling between the AHL city and the NHL city. Are they still going to get paid third-liner type money? Because they're certainly going to try to get it. If they're under contract, the team won't have a choice other than to pay it or buy them out, and neither option is good.Justinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00527850321812906680noreply@blogger.com