The Ongoing Coyotes Sale Thread

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

You would think the GI would be on this like a cat on spilled milk as this $25M, sure looks like a gift to me.

I have to agree. Goldwater may simply have not been paying much attention last year, but if the city were asked to guarantee losses again this year, they'll probably be all over it.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

You would think the GI would be on this like a cat on spilled milk as this $25M, sure looks like a gift to me.

for all everyone is jumping on the GI I think they held off on complaining about the first 25 mill or so as it did make sense to find a buyer for the team, it is the prospect of paying for the team in perpetuaty they object to.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Wolven

Well, now you are just proposing a "chicken or the egg" question. In order to love a team and pay to watch them play the team has to be a winner but how do you get enough money to make a team a winner when they are consistently losing money and relying on Vancouver fans to cry about how they have to pay for the Coyotes to play.

I guess the NHL could try something like force Crosby to be traded to the Coyotes.

Realistically though, I think you have to start up with the grass roots program just so you can have a reasonable base of fans to start the team with. 2000 fans just doesn't cut it and I'm sure most of them are Canadians that are snowbirding down to Phoenix.

As long as the Coyotes keep making the playoffs and try avoiding the Red Wings in the future perhaps, they will keep growing the fanbase if they get the news that it's going to be sticking around still. They're in a similar situation as the Preds are. A good coach that can make use of a team that doesn't have a salary cap budget. As long as they can keep yield minimum results of being competitive, they'll build support slowly but surely.

[Phanuthier]

Question: If the arena being in the middle of no where, why doesn't the team just move into Pheonix or Scottsdale or somewhere useful?

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Question: If the arena being in the middle of no where, why doesn't the team just move into Pheonix or Scottsdale or somewhere useful?

I'm not sure the league would be ok with a team that plays on rollar skates in the local safeway car park.

[Jordan!]

Originally Posted by calgaryred

Edmonton fans staying away in the 90's was more to do with fans rebelling against an owner, then poor play.

and bankruptcy is forgotten? wtf kind of double standard is that?? Unreal

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Joborule

Oilers fanbase has been established over a period of 30 years and show signs of 'progress' in the future. How about you look at you very own Calgary Flames prior to the cup run? Fans don't come out to cheer for a team that just loses year in year out for a proloung period of time with nothing to look forward to in the near future. Unless your the Leafs or Habs, your days of sellouts and huge fan support are over if you were like the Flames during the Young Gunz era.

The thing is with Calgary and Edmonton, after Gary signed the labour deal in 94, these cities had no hope of being contenders, so the fans lost interest. Phoenix has never been in that position, their fans are just apathetic whether they win or lose or have hope for a future.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by troutman

I will do what I want. Taylor has sources inside True North. Do you?

His reporting on this topic has been far more reliable than anyone out of Toronto.

Scott Taylor does not have sources inside True North. Some things he's said have been clearly guesses as he is clearly out of the loop. I'm always interested to see what he has to say, though, so appreciate the posts. It's kind of like watching a train wreck.

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by Joborule

As long as the Coyotes keep making the playoffs and try avoiding the Red Wings in the future perhaps, they will keep growing the fanbase if they get the news that it's going to be sticking around still. They're in a similar situation as the Preds are. A good coach that can make use of a team that doesn't have a salary cap budget. As long as they can keep yield minimum results of being competitive, they'll build support slowly but surely.

Right, so it has taken how long and how much money loss for the Coyotes to get to the point where maybe if they can keep things going for another 5 years of competitive low-budget hockey they will finally build a fan base...

From when the Coyotes landed in 1996 to now (2011) they have made the playoffs 7 out of 14 seasons. Sure, they haven't won a round yet but after 15 years and who knows how many hundreds of millions of dollars in losses you'd have to think that a grass roots program might be more effective than trying to brute force hockey into the Phoenix market.

[afc wimbledon]

Its doesn't matter a damn if the team losses money forever, either in Phoenix or Winnipeg as long as some rich idiot wants to foot the bill.

Thus far only an idiot in Winnipeg has stepped foward to actually buy the team with their own money.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Joborule

Phoenix has ALWAYS been in the downs, except maybe one year in the late 90s if I recall? They're now just getting into the playoffs when the franchise future is up in so much limbo. If the most news I hear about the Yotes is 'are they going or are they not', I'm not going to care to much about the club if I didn't have much of an interest in them in the first place during the regular season. That goes for a great percentage of the market down there.

The Coyotes need to get this resolved and show that they are sticking around for the time being so then the fanbase down there can showcase support to a winning club that isn't going to leave in a matter of months.

Oilers fanbase has been established over a period of 30 years and show signs of 'progress' in the future. How about you look at you very own Calgary Flames prior to the cup run? Fans don't come out to cheer for a team that just loses year in year out for a proloung period of time with nothing to look forward to in the near future. Unless your the Leafs or Habs, your days of sellouts and huge fan support are over if you were like the Flames during the Young Gunz era.

In our worst years of the young gun era Flames attendance for the most part was over 16,000 per year paid.

The Oilers during their protest years were at a high of 14k, and a low of 12k.

You can say that the fans don't come out and thats fine, but for the most part the Flames were still selling tickets. The Oilers weren't doing that.

I'm interested in seeing what the season ticket renewal numbers are going to be like in Edmonton with two years in last place.

[woob]

Originally Posted by Joborule

As long as the Coyotes keep making the playoffs and try avoiding the Red Wings in the future perhaps, they will keep growing the fanbase if they get the news that it's going to be sticking around still. They're in a similar situation as the Preds are. A good coach that can make use of a team that doesn't have a salary cap budget. As long as they can keep yield minimum results of being competitive, they'll build support slowly but surely.

Seriously? You don't think the oh, what, 15 years they've had already might be an indication that hockey isn't for that market? Sure, not all of those 15 years have been as good as the last couple, performance wise. But, if you can't build a fan base in 15 years, another 5-10 isn't going to help, in my opinion.

[getbak]

Bryz confirms what people have speculated: He'd rather go play in Russia than move to Winnipeg http://www.calgarysun.com/2011/04/21...about-winnipeg

"You don't want to go to Winnipeg, right?" Bryzgalov said after the Coyotes lost to Detroit, Wednesday night. "Not many people live there, not many Russian people there. Plus it's cold. There's no excitement except the hockey. No park, no entertaining for the families, for the kids. It's going to be tough life for your family."

The 30-year-old Russian's knowledge of Winnipeg comes from a visit or two when he was with Cincinnati in the AHL.

"I've been there for just once, maybe twice, when I play in minors. It was really cold," Bryzgalov said. "I used the tunnels between the buildings to get to the arena. Because it was minus 40-something. Real cold."

And if he's going to put up with that, he'd rather be back home.

So if the Coyotes move to Winnipeg, Bryzgalov says chances are he wouldn't listen to a contract offer from the new owners.

"Probably not. I better go to somewhere in Russia, KHL, to be honest. Because KHL is Russian people, it's family, friends. Even as a cold place, I can speak to people in Russian language."

[Machiavelli]

Meh... he won't be missed.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Machiavelli

Meh... he won't be missed.

Detroit will miss him! they missed him 6 times last night.

[Muta]

Wow, what a baby Bryz is. It's obvious playing in the NHL, the highest level of competition, isn't important to him. It seems that weather and entertainment has done him in. What a wuss.

And what's with his Russian comment? Mabe Winnipeg doesn't have many Russian people, but I highly doubt Phoenix, Arizona is a metropolis rivaling Moscow for who has the most comrades in their city.

Yikes.

[MissTeeks]

At least he admitted he was the problem in that series:

"Goalies have it two ways: to be a hero, to be a goat," Bryzgalov said. "I'm a goat."

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by getbak

Bryz confirms what people have speculated: He'd rather go play in Russia than move to Winnipeg http://www.calgarysun.com/2011/04/21...about-winnipeg

That is overly dramatic. I'm pretty sure that in 5 minutes on google I now know more about the Russian community in Winnipeg than Bryzgalov does. It looks like Winnipeg even has a Russian school.

Not that it really matters. I'm sure there is an up and coming goaltender, perhaps in the Canucks system, who would put up with playing in Winnipeg (again) if it meant being a starter in the NHL.

[edn88]

The reality is someone will play in Winterpeg - it will just be harder for them. They are going to get a lot of draft picks eventually and those guys would rather play in Winnipeg in the $how than in Tuscaloosa USA in the AHL. And there will be some Free Agents that will be able to get paid to go up there as well.

If I had a choice to play in the NHL or the KHL, I would rather play in Winnipeg than Russia. Maybe they can get all of the Manitoba kids to stick around and play - kind of what Sutter was doing with the Flames roster (whether it worked well or not).

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Wolven

That is overly dramatic. I'm pretty sure that in 5 minutes on google I now know more about the Russian community in Winnipeg than Bryzgalov does. It looks like Winnipeg even has a Russian school.

Not that it really matters. I'm sure there is an up and coming goaltender, perhaps in the Canucks system, who would put up with playing in Winnipeg (again) if it meant being a starter in the NHL.

I would say about a third of the KHL teams play in just as cold, even smaller dumps than Winnipeg, I suppose being in a crap hole that is home is different from a foriegn crap hole, but I would chose the Peg over Amur or Novokuznetsk anyday