Quote:
Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen
This is the NHL for decades.
Quebec City refused to fund a new arena. They left.
Hartford refused to fund a new arena. They left.
Winnipeg refused to fund a new arena. They left.
St. Louis agreed to fund a new arena only after they nearly moved to Saskatoon. They stayed.
Buffalo's rumour of relocating after the bankruptcy were huge, but as the arena was publicly funded (and clauses in the agreement preventing relocation that may have been tested by the bankruptcy), the NHL went out of it's way to keep the team in Buffalo.
Pittsburgh agreed to fund a new arena. They stayed.
Nashville funded a new arena. They stayed, despite active attempts to move it being thwarted by the NHL.
Phoenix (Glendale) funded a new arena. They stayed, despite a bankruptcy saga that cost a small fortune. At least until the time being.
Carolina's next up. Publicly funed arena. Despite bleeding money and on the market, it's been stated that any decision to buy the Hurricanes would require a multi-year commitment to stay.
It's a pretty clear message by the NHL. If you pay (or help to pay) for an NHL arena, it will go out of its way to keep the team there. If you don't, well tough luck if they move.
Atlanta's the only real team that goes against the narrative in recent times.
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Atlanta is the only team that relocated in recent times. The examples of Hartford, QC, and Winnipeg are from 20-25 years ago when there was a big push to move teams to southern USA. That didn't exactly go as planned so now teams are generally looking back north (Winnipeg, Seattle, Quebec, etc.).
The NYI just approved a privately funded arena. Is the NHL going to push them out now??