[News] Group led by Anson Carter asks NHL to bring an expansion team to Atlanta

[sss1]

Originally Posted by Locke

I mean...once you read "Group led by Anson Carter..." you don't really need to keep going to know that whatever that group's goals are...they are going to fail at them. Hard.

Why is that?

[Eb0la11]

Alpharetta is a very rich area and just north of buckhead which is even more rich. This is just outside the ring road. Highway 400 cuts right through it which is 10 lanes in some sections. Alpharetta is also far removed from downtown Atlanta where there is more poverty. People would feel safer going to a game in Alpharetta instead of Atlanta. I live about 30 mins from this proposed area. I’d definitely get a ten game pack at minimum.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

The one thing that they may have going for them would be with new expansion rules the teams are actually starting from a place of not being completely awful. The Thrashers never won a playoff game and only had three seasons where they were over 500.

I understand that their history is mostly that of a Canadian feeder market but that was a new fan base that was given next to nothing to cheer about for a decade. If they were a competitive team to start with would it be different?

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

The one thing that they may have going for them would be with new expansion rules the teams are actually starting from a place of not being completely awful. The Thrashers never won a playoff game and only had three seasons where they were over 500.

I understand that their history is mostly that of a Canadian feeder market but that was a new fan base that was given next to nothing to cheer about for a decade. If they were a competitive team to start with would it be different?

I agree with you. I think for the most part that the viability of the market is a lesser concern (albeit not totally insignificant). It's really about owners having $1 Billion to spend and an arena deal situation that makes it lucrative for them.

The NBA seems to do OK in lots of smaller markets. Sacramento, OKC, Memphis, even San Antonio which is big but little corporate base.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by D as in David

Or, as it turns out, having the other poster on ignore.

Lol I’m honoured but I don’t even know you. Meh.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Flames1217

Quebec City has all three and they still won't allow a team to go there lol.

Quebec City would be one of the smallest markets in the league, on par with Winnipeg. It brings little to the table in terms of value for TV viewership, I'm not sure there is enough corporate support for a team there (?) and it would arguably be one of the toughest places to attract players to play therefore making it a challenge to ice a competitive team. I would rank it above Atlanta but behind places like Houston, SLC, or even Kansas City in terms of attractiveness for an expansion/relocation.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Quebec City would be one of the smallest markets in the league, on par with Winnipeg. It brings little to the table in terms of value for TV viewership, I'm not sure there is enough corporate support for a team there (?) and it would arguably be one of the toughest places to attract players to play therefore making it a challenge to ice a competitive team. I would rank it above Atlanta but behind places like Houston, SLC, or even Kansas City in terms of attractiveness for an expansion/relocation.

Nor am I convinced there is an ownership group in QC willing to fork over $1B USD.

[Jordan!]

I think at this point. Atlanta will be getting a team. No doubt about it.

Massive media market

Can people also give up on Quebec? Why in gods green earth would the NHL want to go there?? It adds literally zero to the league in terms of growth. Sure, fill some seats for a few years in a small Canadian market.. I guess but that doesn't matter in 2024 and beyond.

SLC
Kansas City
Atlanta
Milwuakee

are all well ahead of Quebec City

[Locke]

Originally Posted by sss1

Why is that?

Because he has a long and storied history of poor decisions and has no Business background that I'm aware of.

His only qualifications for this role appear to be: "He was hockey player once."

Originally Posted by Jordan!

I think at this point. Atlanta will be getting a team. No doubt about it.

Massive media market

Can people also give up on Quebec? Why in gods green earth would the NHL want to go there?? It adds literally zero to the league in terms of growth. Sure, fill some seats for a few years in a small Canadian market.. I guess but that doesn't matter in 2024 and beyond.

SLC
Kansas City
Atlanta
Milwuakee

are all well ahead of Quebec City

You are absolutely correct, and, without trying to be too cynical, Georgia and Atlanta in particular are growing at a huge rate.

Once they started offering HUGE tax breaks and incentives for filming they effectively became 'Hollywood East.'

If they pursue that same strategy here? With that popularity, with that population and with that business foundation that moved to Georgia for those tax breaks?

It could be a gigantic market.

[Joborule]

The NHL definitely will give Atlanta another shot a team. The market is too great there for them to give up on.

Same with Phoenix. For both of these cities, there detriment ultimately has come down to not strong enough ownership. What ever unfolds for Arizona in the near future, the NHL will want to ensure that a team is there down the road.

[Gemnoble]

Originally Posted by Jordan!

I think at this point. Atlanta will be getting a team. No doubt about it.

Massive media market

Can people also give up on Quebec? Why in gods green earth would the NHL want to go there?? It adds literally zero to the league in terms of growth. Sure, fill some seats for a few years in a small Canadian market.. I guess but that doesn't matter in 2024 and beyond.

SLC
Kansas City
Atlanta
Milwuakee

are all well ahead of Quebec City

Does Atlanta really deserve a third team before Quebec gets its second though?

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Gemnoble

Does Atlanta really deserve a third team before Quebec gets its second though?

The only place that deserves teams are the ones that will growth the viewership numbers and revenue for the league. That's what the NHL is concerned with.

Quebec has been ready for about a decade or longer now? But the NHL hasn't given any sense of interest of wanting to move there, and went to two new markets instead. Quebec to the league seems to be a last resort option if a team needs to move instantly, and there isn't an available location ready.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by PaperBagger'14

Lol I’m honoured but I don’t even know you. Meh.

I make pretty liberal use of ignore so, yeah, meh.

[butterfly]

Why would Atlanta want a team with this horrific LTIR/playoffs issue unresolved?

Kidding, kidding 😜

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by butterfly

Why would Atlanta want a team with this horrific LTIR/playoffs issue unresolved?

Kidding, kidding 😜

So they can outsmart every other team by winning the Stanley Cup with an ECHL goalie who makes five dollars a year.

Kidding, kidding.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

So they can outsmart every other team by winning the Stanley Cup with an ECHL goalie who makes five dollars a year.

Kidding, kidding.

Not every team can get a legend like Darcy Kuemper or Adin Hill and expect to compete. Be kind.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by butterfly

Not every team can get a legend like Darcy Kuemper or Adin Hill and expect to compete. Be kind.

Kuemper played 11 games in the ECHL after he was drafted. Hill played 5 games in the ECHL after he was drafted. A lot of goalies take that path when they first break in as pros, but they don't stay there long and they are not identified as prospects because of their ECHL time.

You still haven't explained who these NHL-calibre goalies are that are just kicking around the ECHL waiting to be signed.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Kuemper played 11 games in the ECHL after he was drafted. Hill played 5 games in the ECHL after he was drafted. A lot of goalies take that path when they first break in as pros, but they don't stay there long and they are not identified as prospects because of their ECHL time.

You still haven't explained who these NHL-calibre goalies are that are just kicking around the ECHL waiting to be signed.

You can find them all over the European leagues, AHL, and ECHL. They’re waiting for a chance at league minimum NHL salary. Do you think it’s just an accident that there isn’t a single one projected to go in the top 2 rounds of the draft?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by butterfly

You can find them all over the European leagues, AHL, and ECHL. They’re waiting for a chance at league minimum NHL salary. Do you think it’s just an accident that there isn’t a single one projected to go in the top 2 rounds of the draft?

They go low because it’s too hard to project goalies at that age and because they take too long to get into the NHL (fans are impatient for draft picks ito hit their team). Not because there are no good goalies or that they all are about the same.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

They go low because it’s too hard to project goalies at that age and because they take too long to get into the NHL (fans are impatient for draft picks ito hit their team). Not because there are no good goalies or that they all are about the same.

Oh, okay. So at age 17 it is too difficult to project goalies. Could that be because…they have a higher variance of outcome than F and D?