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.

Some guy named Stephen Rollins says he’s interested in buying Atlanta Thrashers. He’s a Hollywood movie producer or something like that.
/Filmmaker-Stephen Rollins has interest in buying Thrashers

He also says be played for the Blades.

WTF? WTF? (that’s a who and a what)

His rather unimpressive IMDB resume is here. Doesn’t look like the kind of resume of a guy who can foot the bill for an NHL franchise. In that bio it says,

In 1993, Stephen began his ventures in professional hockey, skating with the Atlanta Knights and Kansas City Blades of the International Hockey League.

I call BS

Now, I wasn’t a Blades season ticket holder, but I went to a lot of Blades games, I listened to Bob Kaser when they were on the road and I played drop-in with several guys (well, I watched them skate around me) in the Summers. I don’t remember a Stephen Rollins at all…and I remember guys who got cups of coffee like Forrest Gore and Marty Standish.

Blades all-time roster — nothing
1992-1993 Blades — nothing (but didn’t you love Mikhail Kravets?)
1993-1994 Blades — nothing (David Bruce was great that year….remember how Steve Garrett would say, David Baaaa-ruuuuuuce)

I don’t doubt that this guy loves hockey, may want to buy the Thrashers and, who knows, he may have the bankroll. But, he definitely did NOT play for the Blades (unless someone can prove me wrong…like maybe he was invited to camp…once).

Sam Mellinger from the KC Star pulls back the curtain — there is no local ownership group for an NHL team to relocate to Kansas City, not even our beloved George Brett.

More to this post later…

Lack of local investors would make it difficult for KC to get an NBA or NHL team

You know, we’ve heard over and over again that Kansas City can support a NHL team. We’ve heard it from AEG and we’ve heard it from NHL21.

I do not doubt that our city and our wonderful arena are a passable fit for a NHL team. There are hockey fans here. They’re quiet, they don’t have a lot of opportunities to be visible, but they are here. I see them all the time at local rinks, the preseason games and hanging around “other” sports since we don’t have a NHL team to galvanize us.

The question is — Is Kansas City really any better than the other medium-sized NHL markets that are struggling? Are we really a better market than Columbus or Nashville or Miami or Atlanta (wait, of course we’re a better sports market than Atlanta, the city with possibly the worst fair-weather fans in the country…).

Think about it. Would a franchise generate a bunch of revenue with a cable TV deal, like the Avs have with Altitude? No. Which radio station would carry the games? 810WHB is the 400 lb. gorilla, they carry K-State hoops in the winter. 610 is the 200 lb. and growing gorilla, they carry one of the top 5 college basketball programs in the country in the winter. It’s not going to be either one of those stations.

And, finally, if St. Louis is struggling because they don’t have New York/Toronto-priced tickets, would any owner REALLY see KC as a desirable market?

The only way for the Blues to seriously come out ahead is to bankroll at the gate. The problem is the Blues can’t compete with major NHL markets when it comes to ticket prices. It becomes a struggle to generate the necessary revenue to obtain optimum financial health, playing a few rounds in the playoffs can go a long way for an organization.

A high ranking Blues official recently put it this way, “We had to raise ticket prices just so we could breathe.”

Perhaps my shtick is getting just as old as NHL21′s, but an AHL team brings great hockey without these headaches…

I recently heard Paul McGannon from NHL21 on some sports show from a guy’s garage. I only heard part of it because, well, the Pens-Habs were on and I’ve heard his shtick…over and over and over again…for years.

But, I did hear the guys ask McGannon about a current NHL owner moving is team to KC. Let me set something straight.

NO CURRENT OWNER IS GOING TO MOVE A TEAM FROM HIS CURRENT MARKET TO KC!!! It just won’t happen. There is no precedent of this happening in the NHL…ever

(well, OK, except Norm Green moving the Stars, but he was moving to a top 10 TV market)

Now, the NHL is selling a team, but are they a motivated seller.
Why is NHL so eager to sell Coyotes?

Think about this. Let’s say you make, I don’t know, $50K.

And, someone says to you, I’ll pay you $50K for next year and your salary is not contingent on performance. Plus, if after that year you don’t like it here, you can leave.

Would you be motivated to do your job? Perhaps. But, not nearly as much as you would be if you were fully vested in the process. If you knew you could make $60K if you worked real hard, you probably would.

Bizarre. I’m just not sure why the City of Glendale, who is negotiating a lease with potential owners of the Coyotes has basically told the NHL, “We don’t care what you do, sell the team, keep operating them or continue this auction into next year, we’ll support you, even financially. You could have zero sales people on the streets hocking tickets, you could have Joe Leisure on ads for tickets, we don’t care, we’ll still give you money to cover your losses.”

If you follow this NHL ownership/Gary Bettman-cartel league very closely it is just bizarre.

Here a good one:
Orange jumpsuit DelBiaggio gets a free pass to own an NHL team whenever he’s ready.
CEO of RIM, you can’t play with us.

Oh well, the playoffs have been exciting…

The rumor going around is that Winnipeg is the top relocation choice should the Coyotes deal with Phoenix fall apart. Mark Chipman’s True North group would purchase the Coyotes backed by Canadian billionaire David Thomsen.

Let’s compare Winnipeg and Kansas City.
Arena — Winnipeg — yes (though an admittedly small one) Kansas City — yes
Fans — Winnipeg — yes (hockey mad) Kansas City — yes (though maybe not as many as our Canadian friends)
Owner — Winnipeg — yes (True North/Thomsen) Kansas city — NOPE.

The last one is probably the most important. There is no owner that wants to put a team in Kansas City. Period. A franchise must have an owner.

This column from the Winnipeg Free Press is interesting. Despite Winnipeg’s overwhelming advantage as the possible relocation site for the Coyotes, there are still whispers about our city (or are these whispers just around to keep AEG happy).

Bend it like Bettman

Bettman did say that if all efforts to keep the Coyotes in Glendale fall through that the city where the franchise originated should get the first shot.

Ok, so let’s say that happens and the Coyotes move back to ‘Peg.

What happens to the Manitoba Moose? True North owns the Moose.

I have an idea. How about if Chipman keeps the Moose, eventually transferring the Moose’s affiliation from the Canucks to the Winnipeg franchise and moves the team to a city with a ready-to-occupy arena, Kansas City?

The “Jets” would have an affiliate in the same time zone — 760 miles away.

The Coyotes relocating back to Winnipeg seems to be a real possibility. The fact that the Moose are owned by True North is also a fact.

The scenario above seems to be far-fetched because AEG is completely uninterested in the AHL, despite the fact it would bring at least 250,000 people to the P&L district during hockey season.

But, it would make for an interesting division in the AHL (perhaps we could call it the Big XII division)
Kansas City
Oklahoma City
San Antonio
Texas (Austin)
Houston

According to a column in The Hockey News, Phillip Anschutz is considering an auction of the LA Kings, which means that AEG would be partially out of the hockey business (they still own the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs, ECHL’s Reading Royals and two teams in the German League).

What does this mean for Sprint Center?

Not sure, but it sure does make for a tough sales pitch.

AEG: “Buy a NHL team. Put it in our building in Kansas City.”

Buyer: “Is that a good investment?”

AEG, “Of course, the NHL is a great league with loads of potential.”

Buyer, “Really? In the 32nd largest TV market in the country? Didn’t you own a team in the second largest market and then got out of the league? And, what are you wearing?”

AEG, “Hmm, what do you know. I apparently have no clothes.”

Look, I’ve read some far-fetched crap in The Hockey News before, especially from Ken Campbell, so who knows if any of it is true. This one seems WAY out there. I’m just having a little fun with it and putting the column out there in case you didn’t see it.

Years after discovering the emperor has no clothes, The Kansas City Star has written a column about the incredibly slim chances of Kansas City ever landing an anchor tenant at Sprint Center.

Oklahoma City steals KC’s thunder as Sprint Center still searches for a pro team
READ THIS COLUMN!!!

Sam Mellinger lays it all on the line. This column stuns me, considering someone at The Star wrote it. It is well-research, it is accurate, it has a great hook, it doesn’t have a quote from NHL21…it’s really, really good. Not since The Pitch did a column about four years ago has one been written so objectively with just the right amount of cynicism to get to the truth about a NHL team coming to Sprint Center. I don’t think Sam Mellinger will be granted any press passes to games at Staples Center any time soon.

Leiweke and Sprint Center general manager and senior vice president Brenda Tinnen did not return messages for this story — they’re sensitive about the topic

Curious that AEG didn’t have any comment. Perhaps they knew that Mellinger wouldn’t reprint their typical spin and weren’t happy.

One curious part of this article is that Mellinger seems to imply that the only person to come forward as a potential owner for a NHL team in Kansas City, Boots DelBiaggio, being fitted for an orange jump suit was out of AEG control. I suppose Boots cutting and pasting his name to someone else’s financial statement (yes, he really did that) was out of AEG’s control, however they are 100% responsible to make sure they are doing business with someone reputable and it is 100% their responsibility to “recruit” an owner with whom KC residents can be proud. There are rumors floating around the blog world that Phillip Anschutz gave Boots a huge loan so that he could become part of Nashville’s ownership group and also AEG’s mole within the Nashville organization. Boots would have, essentially, been working from the inside to set it up so that the Predators had to move to KC. Not sure I can believe that — still, how could a company like AEG get so snowed by someone like Boots?

Look, nobody is saying Sprint Center was a bad idea. It’s a great attraction for our city. But, the campaign to get the hotel and rental car tax passed was built on a completely false pretense — that Kansas City can attract a NHL or NBA team. I’m just a hockey fan (albeit an extremely avid one) and I knew it wasn’t true then and it isn’t true now.

At the time the Penguins were vulnerable, however Gary Bettman has proved time and again that he is going to protect the 30 markets he created and would have protected Pittsburgh, too.

An AHL team would provide more than 200,000 people to downtown for at least 41 dates, but AEG doesn’t seem interested in bringing the second best league in the world to KC — a city that already has three major league sports franchises and a NASCAR track (potentially two Sprint Cup races). The NHL or NBA is too much. AEG could bring an AHL team to KC by the 2011 season…they won’t.

The seemingly strained relationship between Cordish and AEG probably doesn’t help. Remember, Cordish called Sprint Center “a disaster”. Bringing an AHL team to Sprint Center would help Cordish, it wouldn’t necessarily help AEG. There is bad behavior all around between Cordish’s greed and AEG false promises.

Bottom line – support what we have. Go to Sprint Center concerts, go to the Ice Breaker tournament in 2012, go to Mavs games and support our ONLY LOCALLY-OWNED MAJOR LEAGUE FRANCHISE — the Wizards and completely forget about this “anchor tenant” business because it’s not going to happen for awhile.