[The Darkest Canuck]

Bettman is a complete douche, and when hell freezes over, Satan will use his head as a puck in a game of shinny.

[j-monster]

Interesting.........

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not really sure what i think of this. I like Tortrella half the time and I absolutely despise him the other half.............could be the kick Toronto needs though

Hmmm... Tortorella as Leaf coach... if nothing else, he'd make things interesting. He has entertaining blow-ups often enough in a market that is only OK at best in Tampa... imagine the meltdowns he'd have in the cauldron of Toronto? Now that's entertainment! hock:

[j-monster]

Ron Wilson is toast... Sharks fans everywhere say "Good riddance!"

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=237579&l...Story_main

[ryan93]

After hearing the cocky comments he made last week about his record being the best in the business, about how much the Sharks have accomplished with him behind the bench, etc. etc....i have to say i was rather pleased to hear on HNIC tonight that he was canned

[opiated]

wouldn't surprise me if Wilson ends up behind the Nucks bench before Christmas

[j-monster]

wouldn't surprise me if Wilson ends up behind the Nucks bench before Christmas

Better there than behind the Leafs bench...

[opiated]

wouldn't surprise me if Wilson ends up behind the Nucks bench before Christmas

Better there than behind the Leafs bench...

hey..i didn't say i liked it

[tigerthelion]

The Moose was on my little island today with his good friend, Stanley.

[kleh]

The Moose was on my little island today with his good friend, Stanley.

yeah pretty nutz, my friends used to trade cards w/ him
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[grimes]

The latest evidence in favour of expansion/relocation to Canada: NHL revenue statistics for this season are out, and the 6 Canadian teams contributed nearly one-third of total league revenue. Full story here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Hockey/article/433906">http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Hockey/article/433906</a><!-- m -->

Here's the list of the top ten teams by ticket revenue per game (in USD):
Toronto - $1.9m
Montreal - $1.7m
Vancouver - $1.4m
Calgary - $1.3m
New York (Rangers) - $1.3m
Ottawa - $1.2m
Edmonton - $1.2m
Minnesota - $1.1m
Colorado - $1m
Detroit - $1m

[tigerthelion]

The latest evidence in favour of expansion/relocation to Canada: NHL revenue statistics for this season are out, and the 6 Canadian teams contributed nearly one-third of total league revenue. Full story here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Hockey/article/433906">http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Hockey/article/433906</a><!-- m -->

Here's the list of the top ten teams by ticket revenue per game (in USD):
Toronto - $1.9m
Montreal - $1.7m
Vancouver - $1.4m
Calgary - $1.3m
New York (Rangers) - $1.3m
Ottawa - $1.2m
Edmonton - $1.2m
Minnesota - $1.1m
Colorado - $1m
Detroit - $1m

Good find. Which Canadian city do you think should get a team? Winnipeg had a team and couldn't keep it. Halifax? Could they support an NHL franchise? Hamilton?

[grimes]

Southern Ontario is the obvious fit in terms of population, we could easily support another franchise here. If the Leafs' territorial rights issue can be overcome, then Hamilton is probably the best choice. It's centrally located, and they already have a building (it would require serious renovation but it'd still be cheaper than starting from scratch). If not though, if Jim Balsillie wants to build an arena in his backyard in Kitchener-Waterloo I'd have no problem with it. The city is around 500,000 already and growing, and is close enough to draw fans from the west GTA (Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, etc), as well as Hamilton and London.

Otherwise I think going back to one or both of Winnipeg or Quebec could be feasible in today's marketplace. Winnipeg seems more likely since they now have a modern building. It is a little on the small side at around 15,000 seats, but even with that I don't think they'd have trouble doing better than some of the weaker American teams. Phoenix, for example, generated only $450,000 per game in ticket revenue this year. With 15,000 seats you'd only need an average ticket price of $30 to match that.

Halifax would be nice too but unfortunately I don't think it's big enough to fill an NHL building 41 nights a year.

[tth_fan]

Winnipeg could support a team in the "new" NHL (they're also filling the arena to watch the Moose play). That being said, they have to stop raising the salary cap every season; keep it stable for a while. Hamilton could too.
As for Quebec City, I don't think they could, nor do they want to. I read an article in Maclean's a few months ago that said the people are indifferent to a team coming back to the city. The new team would have to be ran billingually, and not solely in french, which might upset them also. Plus, they can travel a few hours to watch the Habs. Winnipeg doesn't have that luxury.

[emperor penguin]

London's another place that could easily support a franchise.

[grimes]

wouldn't surprise me if Wilson ends up behind the Nucks bench before Christmas

Better there than behind the Leafs bench...

Apparently Cliff Fletcher doesn't agree with you:
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I thought the reason they fired Maurice was so that the new GM would have a clean slate and be able to hire his own guy :nooooo