Ran across a great Wiki page with the history of NHL franchises.

Fact.
Only one NHL franchise in the last 30 years has moved without the team being sold within two years, either way, of that move — Minnesota North Stars
Fact.
Of the last four NHL teams to relocate, three of them were in markets the NHL never wanted in the first place – Quebec City, Hartford and Winnipeg. The moves of the three former WHA cities coincide with NHL owners getting their man in place for the Commissioner’s job. Gary Bettman started in February, 1993. Coincidence or orchestrated move? Considering how the NHL Board of Governors has reacted to Jim Balsillie and the Phoenix Coyotes, it makes you wonder.

From what can we draw about these facts?
1.) In the last 30 years, NHL franchises haven’t relocated cities unless the team is sold.
2.) The NHL is now in markets IT WANTS TO BE IN rather than markets it was forced to be in.

How does this relate to KC?
1.) If you ever hear anyone say that a current NHL franchise owner may be interested in keeping his franchise and just moving cities, you can safely draw the conclusion that this is pure speculation and has no basis in fact. The precedent in the NHL is set.
2.) Unless your market was a former WHA market, then you can feel comfortable your NHL team will be around for awhile. You absolutely cannot discount this in any way. It is absolutely key to this whole “Kansas City may get an NHL franchise” spin. Bettman has the 30 markets HE orchestrated. He will not waiver from proving they were all a good choice.
3.) If an NHL team is sold, KC can stay tuned for two years. If the owner hasn’t made a move in those first two years, then he isn’t going to make a move.

Here is the link for you to do your own research
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_organizational_changes_in_the_NHL

(yes, I know Wiki isn’t a bastion of accurate information, but this page does have all the facts/timelines correct)

The Boots Del Biaggio era in the NHL is official over.

Predators owners complete purchase

Del Biaggio is currenlty in federal prison for, among other things, cutting and pasting his name onto someone else’s financial statements to inflate his personal wealth to the NHL. Yes, he cut and pasted his name to other people’s financial statements and thought he could get away with it. Pathological…

In case you have a short memory, William “Boots”, “cut and paste”, Del Biaggio was the chosen owner for an NHL franchise at Sprint Center. AEG said they had a deal with “cut and paste”. When “cut and paste” purchased an NHL team, he would locate it in Kansas City in the Sprint Center.

Sam Mellinger in a Kansas City Star column gave AEG a pass on this one saying it wasn’t their fault that Del Biaggio was a criminal-in-waiting. True.

However, as I said before, it is absolutely AEG’s responsibility to make sure that if they deal with speculative ownership group like this, they had better fully vet that owner. I would think a global company like AEG would be more careful about with whom they enter into business agreements. And, the last thing Kansas City needs is another ownership group like the one at Kauffman Stadium. What we need is more ownership groups like On Goal LLC.

Last year at this time, I was reading media reports and blogs that had the silly speculation that the New York Islanders might relocate to Kansas City simply because the Islanders came to KC for a game with the AEG-owned LA Kings. Of course, the Islanders also played a preseason game in Saskatoon (which sold out), but no one speculated that the Islanders might end up in the Saskatchewan city. Now, the Islanders situation still seems unstable, however, more and more, the rumors are about the Islanders moving to Brooklyn or Queens than to the Central time zone.

This year, as far as NHL to KC chatter, there is nothing.

There is, however, a very cool hockey event coming to KC.

The Independence Events Center is hosting a College Hockey Kickoff weekend with SMU, Metropolitan State College of Denver, KU and MU playing a round robin on October 1, 2 and 3. Now, this is “club” hockey and not NCAA Division 1, like they have in Omaha, still, for the hockey fan, this is a great thing. TICKETS ARE ONLY $5 and parking is always free at the IEC (and, yes, I think they’ll serve beer).

It’s a decent weekend to have this event. The Chiefs, MU and KSU have byes. The Royals’ season will have wrapped. KU is on the road. The one big event will be NASCAR weekend at the Speedway.

HOCKEY FANS — SUPPORT THIS EVENT!!

I really hope this college event gets a nice crowd. This is the kind of grass roots hockey events we need in KC. The Mavericks have been a, much better than I expected, addition. I, of course, would love to see the AHL, but with the CHL and IHL merging, the quality of play may get even better.

Despite a dismal turnout for the NY Islanders – LA Kings preseason game last season and potential offers from Queens and Brooklyn, it seems Charles Wang is still considering KC as the future home of his NHL franchise.

It seems the plan for The Lighthouse project on Long Island is dying. Therefore, speculation about KC as a possible home will increase.

Before you start believing spin or unsubstantiated comments from NHL21, please click the link to KCTV5′s story and the related interview.
Report: NY Islanders Keeping KC As Backup Plan

If anyone has contacts for this story, KCTV5′s Michael Coleman does. He used to be a sports anchor for News12.

Coleman interviewed AOL Fanhouse’s Chris Botta, who used to work for the Islanders.

Basically, Botta said the Islanders will not be the NHL franchise that plays in the Sprint Center.

The Islanders will probably play in Queens or the new building for the New Jersey Nyets (though I heard it’s not built for hockey) rather than in Nassau County, but KC talk will start again.

Moving an NHL franchise to a different market without the sale of the franchise is virtually unprecedented in the NHL. Only once in the last nearly 30 years has that happened. Norm Green moved the North Stars to Dallas. All other NHL franchise relocations were within two years of the sale of the franchise.

Personally, I’m extremely skeptical an NHL owner would move a franchise from the largest market in North America to a medium-sized market. The peripheral revenue (TV/radio rights, merchandise sales, etc) would be lower and travel expenses would increase a great deal. It just doesn’t make sense.

Atlanta Spirit, the group that owns the Atlanta Thrashers, say the franchise is not relocating.

Atlanta was mentioned as an NHL franchise that may relocate to Kansas City. Of course, they were mentioned with no substantiation whatsoever. Someone just threw their name out there.

Atlanta Spirit says it has no plans to move teams

Remember, I’ve mentioned this several times on this blog, Atlanta Spirit also operates the Phillips Arena. Ownership groups who also operate the arena in which the team plays would be very hesitant to move to an arena in which they will not control all (or most of) the arena revenue. Sprint Center is operated by AEG and will not be operated by an ownership group interested in moving to KC.

This point seems to never, ever get mentioned by those who say an NHL (or NBA) franchise may come to KC.

Just a little FYI.

Did you know that Rockhurst High School recently captured their fourth Missouri lacrosse championship?

While all the talk in Kansas City sports is negative (Big XII dissolving, no NBA or NHL team), there are few people with any forethought, any out-of-the-box thinking, any focus on what is growing.

We focus on the failures, while not celebrating the victories — we have a locally-owned professional sports franchise that is not only building their own stadium, but bringing in Manchester United, one of the most well-known sports brand names IN THE WORLD.

We are still one of the few markets with NASCAR and are consistently among the most well-attended IRL races.

On top of that, we have two high schools on the Missouri side who are bringing new a relatively new sport to our youth and playing it at an EXTREMELY high level. There is also a new, growing youth league. (despite the fact there are high school athletic directors who say ridiculous things like “we don’t want lacrosse because it will hurt baseball,” ugh, way to put the kids’ interests first).

Rockhurst and Pembroke Hill are consistently sending teams to the semi-finals of the Missouri State Lacrosse Tournament. Last season, Pembroke won the Division II Championship. This year, they lost a tight game to the eventual champions.

You would think someone with AEG or the Kansas City Sports Commission would say, “you know, I think this lacrosse thing is beginning to take off. Rockhurst and Pembroke are successful, there is an imporoving Northland team and there are five, soon to be six, and possibly seven varsity teams on the Kansas side. Maybe we could bring in an NLL team or host a NCAA preseason tournament at Arrowhead or the new Wizards stadium, like they did at the Meadowlands. We could bring in the Midwestern schools (Denver, Notre Dame, Air Force) and one team from the East and grow this thing.”

Nah…too progressive.

As Kansas City teeters on the brink of having a (relatively) new arena without an NHL team, an NBA team, and, potentially, no Big XII for whom to host a tournament, there is an interesting article in the Toronto Globe and Mail that says an announcement is coming within the next couple of weeks about a return of the Quebec Nordiques.

Quebec NHL dream nears reality

“Once we have the arena, it will automatically attract a franchise. That’s a fundamental element,” Sam Hamad, the Minister responsible for the Quebec City region, said Friday. “If we clearly express our intention that we want a franchise, the team can play in the old Coliseum until the new arena is built.”

Anyone heard that before?
The difference between Quebec City saying it and Kansas City saying it is that Quebec has an owner in place, ready to go. When I read that Quebecor was behind it I didn’t think it was so farfetched. Comcast, a similar US company, already owns a franchise in the league. Quebecor owns newspapers, publishing companies, cable companies and, here’s the clincher, is in the process of starting a “all-sports television network.”

Ahhh, there it is. Bettman wants to partner with Quebecor and the way to do that is to bring them into the league with their own franchise. He’s done it before. Anyone remember that Disney was the original owners of The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim?

An article in the Vancouver Sun says the team must be successful on the ice to be successful in Quebec City.
Winning teams the key to success if NHL returns to Quebec City, Winnipeg, experts say

Probably not at first. I would think a Canadian team would have a much longer honeymoon period that a team in a new US city.

With a stronger Canadian dollar, a salary cap on player salaries, a new economic model that makes franchises viable in smaller markets as well as a new arena in Winnipeg and one in the works in Quebec City, sports columnist Howard Bloom believes the winning conditions are coming together.

“I have no doubt whatsoever, that within the next three to five years, or the next five to 10 years you’ll see the NHL back in Quebec City and Winnipeg,” said Bloom, publisher of sportsbusinessnews.com, an industry website.

Could it happen in the next week or so?

According to the USA Today, last night was a winner both leagues.
NBA, NHL come up Sunday night ratings winners

On a night when the NHL and NBA went head-to-head at 7 p.m. Sunday night, the NBA was the clear winner over the NHL in the Kansas City overnight ratings.

From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., the ratings were
NBC – KSHB, Ch. 41 — .8 rating
ABC – KMBC, Ch. 9 — 8.3 rating
CBS – KCTV, Ch. 5 — 4.5 rating
FOX – WDAF, Ch. 4 — 3.5 rating

The KMBC ratings for the NBA game were lower than the national ratings, which was 9.0.
The KSHB ratings for the NHL game were lower than the national ratings, which was 4.0.

What about the rest of the country.

NBA over NHL in Minneapolis, 6.5 to 3.8
And, I found the Top 10 NHL ratings in the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Buffalo was #3. No surprise there, but why does West Palm keep showing up on this list. Is NBC the only network affiliate they have in that market?

Well, for the masses, the NBA is more popular than the NHL. This, we already know. Hockey is a regional sport, despite what Gary Bettman keeps telling us. Basketball is an American sport. James Naismith, a Canadian, invented it in the US. Even coached it in our backyard.

The NBA game featured two of the most storied franchises in all of the NBA — the Lakers and Celtics (featuring KU’s Paul Pierce).

Would the ratings be different in KC if the Stanley Cup finals were between the St. Louis Blues and, say, the New York Rangers and the NBA finals were between the Charlotte Bobcats and the Golden State Warriors. Probably.

Does this mean Kansas City should have an NBA team before an NHL team? No. It all depends on AN OWNER!!!

If an owner existed who wanted to purchase an NBA team and move them to KC, then it KC should have an NBA team. Like Clay Bennett did for OKC.

If an owner existed who wanted to purchase an NHL team and move them to KC, then it should be NHL. Like Boots…ah, never mind.

One of the quotes people in Philly used to say was, “there are 20,000 hockey fans in Philadelphia and they are all at the Wachovia Center.” That’s probably not that far from the truth. As a hockey fan, I’m fine with that. It’s a regional sport. A great sport and one that will never, ever have higher ratings than the NBA.

According to a story in the Des Moines Register, Paul McGannon of NHL21 says that if Kansas City gets an NHL team, then the AHL affiliate should be in Des Moines.

I could have sworn last year at the Mavericks press conference he said Independence would be the home of the KC NHL team’s affiliate, like in Toronto and (erroneously) Philadelphia. No, wait…he did. There is even a link on that post that shows the video where he says just that…”there are cities in the NHL who have their affiliates right in the city” (there’s one by the way).

Which one is it? Des Moines or Independence?

Perhaps he meant Des Moines as the AHL team and the Mavericks with a working agreement with Des Moines. If that is the case, then why mention Toronto and (erroneously) Philadelphia. I don’t know…I’m so confused.

And this NHL team…if we’re talking about it then there must be an owner, right?

Plus, the AHL is, therefore, going to expand to 31 franchises to get a team in Des Moines? Because the way that I see it, there isn’t an AHL franchise available for Des Moines. All 30 franchises are now active. Sure, there has been some movement — Albany to Charlotte, Lowell to Albany and the former dormant franchise to Oklahoma City, but, for right now, the AHL is full.

The phantom owner of the Kansas City team would have to also purchase a phantom AHL franchise and move the phantom AHL franchise from their current market.

“McGannon, who has been leading the effort for five years to get an NHL franchise in Kansas City, met Friday with a group of Des Moines-area businessmen with interest in bringing minor league hockey back to the city.The link between Kansas City and Des Moines is pretty strong when it comes to the Chiefs and the Royals,” Paul McGannon, president of NHL21, said. “There is no reason why that link wouldn’t work with NHL and AHL hockey. After all, it’s just only three hours by car.”

So, for the sake of the Des Moines “businessmen” let’s total up this equation.

On the day of Game Five of a GREAT Stanley Cup series, it’s time to look at a couple of reports about how the games are doing in the ratings in KC.

First, Kansas City has been mentioned in a couple of articles relating to the improved ratings for Game 1 and 2 of this year’s Stanley Cup.

In the USA Today, the article by sports television writer Michael Hiestand praises the Stanley Cup Playoff game on Memorial Day weekend for topping, what is traditionally, a racing weekend (except in my house…it’s a lacrosse weekend). The article, NBC’s Stanley Cup Final tops NASCAR, Indy 500 on TV , also says

NBC is also helped by having big-market teams. Cup Final games are averaging 21% of Chicago households and 15.9% of Philadelphia households.

Absolutely. Big market teams, one of them from the Original Six, with large, potentially nation-wide audiences.

Another blog post passes on the spin from the NHL.
NHL Chimes in On NBC Ratings

Three non-NHL markets have shown triple digit rating increases for the first two games of the Final led by Seattle, which has seen a remarkable 213 percent rise. Kansas City (+140%) and Memphis (+120) have also earned substantial gains.

Sure, up 140% sounds great. What if you look at the actual numbers?

Well, they really aren’t very impressive. Game 1 drew a 1.7 rating and 3 share and Game 2 drew a .7/1.4. A 1.7 rating means that of all households in the DMA, 1.7 percent of them were watching the game. Of all televisions in the DMA that were on three percent of them were watching the game.

Eh. So, I guess up 140% is a great thing. I guess. To be honest, there was just so much room for growth that being up 140% doesn’t impress me. St. Louis drew a 3.2 for the Stanley Cup. Until KC’s ratings get up around 2.5, I wouldn’t be too excited. I know the local sales guys are 41 probably aren’t.

Ratings are much, much higher in non-NHL markets Orlando and Las Vegas. Does that mean that those two metros should be on the list if a new owner chooses to relocate an NHL franchise after he purchases it? Of course not.