Cynthia’s Thoughts: Hockey Hype in Hamilton
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Loading ...May 22, 2009 by Admin
Filed under Opinion, Weekly Columns
They have Facebook groups, websites and petitions. They’re on Twitter. Lots of people want the NHL to go to Hamilton. Things have grown since word got out that RIM co-CEO, Jim Balsillie wanted to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes and bring it there. This of course, isn’t the first time someone’s tried to bring a team there. In the mid 1990s, when Winnipeg was being moved to Phoenix, there were talks of moving the team to Hamilton instead of Phoenix. A few years ago, Mr. Balsillie had also put in an offer to purchase the Nashville Predators.
It seems that this time around, the hype is bigger. Perhaps it’s the increase in social networking sites. The last time Hamilton came up as a possible city for NHL relocation was in 2007. While social networking sites existed at that time – Facebook had only been available to non-students for a short while and Twitter was pretty much non-existent – it wasn’t as wide-spread, and people were mostly using it to keep up with long-lost friends. The media weren’t reporting on the number of Facebook groups started, nor did they even mention websites. Not this time. There are more than 10 groups and fan pages under the name “Make it Seven” (makeitseven.ca is the official website Jim Balsillie and his people set up to bring this seventh NHL team to southern Ontario) alone. Who knows how many other pages and groups existed out there.
While there are those who really want another team in Hamilton, we must also look at the naysayers. The reality is that neither Toronto nor Buffalo want a team smack in the middle of their territories. Some have suggested other cities, including Kitchener-Waterloo, which is a little out of territory. However, outside of southern Ontario, who has heard of Waterloo? Even the biggest Blackberry users won’t necessarily be able to tell you. In addition, Hamilton is a more logical choice, because they already have a bigger arena, while Waterloo does not. But the main thing here are the territorial rights and money. Toronto, especially is worried that they’ll lose a lot of it – Leafs tickets are among the most expensive. And then all that aside, we cannot overlook the fact that NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman believes that the team should stay in Phoenix.
I’m not the world’s biggest hockey fan, but I think the experiment of having hockey in non-hockey cities is over. I never understood why so many teams were moved to warm climates to begin with. Many of these cities know very little about hockey. I can sort of understand teams in Florida – there are a lot of snowbirds down there in the winter, but Atlanta? Nashville? Even though Phoenix has its share of snowbirds, it’s not nearly enough to get a decent fanbase. Honestly, they need to realize that just because one builds it, doesn’t mean that people will come. The Coyotes was originally supposed to go to Minnesota, but that fell through. Crazy, no?
A decision on whether the Balsillie can move the team to Hamilton will be made soon. But before anything can happen, they just have to figure out whether Jerry Moyes, the current owner of the Coyotes really owns the team or if it is under NHL control because of the bankruptcy proceeding.
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