Luc on NHL to KC “It’s not us, it’s you, Kansas City”.

Posted on August 30, 2011 by blogger

Quite a bit of buzz about the NHL, Sprint Center and the chances of a team coming to Kansas City. Probably the most significant story appeared in the Kansas City Star. It’s a Q&A between NHL Hall of Famer/AEG exec Luc Robitaille and the Star’s Randy Covitz. Before I get into breaking down the story that appeared in the Star, I’d just like to say I loved Lucky Luc as an NHL player. Except for the two years he wasted playing for the Red Wings, I absolutely loved following his career.

As an exec for AEG, he obviously is very good at citing the company line. The bottom line to this Q&A:

“It’s not about us (AEG). It’s about you Kansas City. You get your own owner, you may get a team.” I’m not sure this is what the city expected when they gave AEG the exclusive responsibility to find an anchor tenant for Sprint Center.

It’s interesting how the tone of Covitz’ stories have changed over the years. Years ago, Covitz wrote pieces that polished AEG’s golden calf. I wrote blog post after blog post that Covitz was basically taking AEG’s word an NHL (or NBA) team would come to Sprint Center as fact. There was very little research into the history of NHL franchise moves and, it seems, little real reporting being done. It generally went like this — interview someone from AEG/print story. Now, years later Covitz seems to be asking the tough questions he should have been asking BEFORE the hotel/motel/rental car tax vote or before ground was broken on the Sprint Center. Of course, like dealing with a difficult person, still not good enough for me… ;)

Q&A with hockey great Luc Robitaille
First, Robitaille thinks a one-time, one-hit, every other year preseason game is generating interest for an NHL team in Kansas City. It’s not.

People are guaranteed to see some really high-end players, and we have to make sure people come to the game to make a statement to everyone.”

Maybe Covitz could have asked “Really, because there is no precedent attendance at exhibition games has any bearing on which markets get an NHL franchise. Hamilton sells out their game every year and no team. So does Saskatoon. Raleigh or any location in North Carolina never did and they have a team. San Jose never did, either.”

Robitaille is citing the company line because, well, it makes AEG money if people show up.

Q. How surprised or disappointed are you that Sprint Center is still without an anchor tenant?

A. “I’m not sure I can say surprised or disappointed. It’s reality. It’s really hard to make a move

Now, I don’t want to be too hard on Robitaille. This NHL to Kansas City thing is really low on his priority list, but when I read this I thought.

What? It’s really hard to make a move? These words were NEVER uttered before the hotel/motel/rental car tax. See what I mean by how the tenor has changed? Like I’ve always said, the “promise” (or near promise) of an NHL team was just campaign spin to get the vote passed because you can’t get a vote passed with “you’ll get really great concerts” or, as stated this week, “we’ll try, but it’s really hard to make a move.”

Obviously, the team that was ready to move without really people knowing … was Atlanta (to Winnipeg)

Without anyone knowing? Where has this guy been? It’s been clear the Atlanta franchise was in trouble from the time Steve Belkin’s lawsuit started back in 2005. See blog post from five years ago.

They (AEG) got the Kings to come back (for a preseason game).

Ok. I’ll admit. This is a good thing. But, can we please have Anze Kopitar and Jack Johnson show up this time?

Q. How are you doing on sales for the Pittsburgh game?

A. “Doing real well, We have over 10,000 tickets sold. … We expect to sell out the game. We expect nothing (less). We expect people to come to the game and make this building alive …”

Um, yeah. See my comment above. It’s not about showing Kansas City can support a team. It’s about AEG “doing really well” and meeting their own expectations.

Now, here’s where I get really frustrated.
I’m sorry. You cannot grow a potential fan base by having a one-time, one-shot, every other year, NHL season of ONE GAME in which the tickets include a gift certificate so you can stuff your face with Buffalo chicken logs, taquitos, potato rollers and a 44 oz Rooster Booster. I don’t believe it generates anymore interest in the NHL than Glee Live! increases the chances of us getting better Broadway Across America shows.

You know what does? Growing the sport at a grassroots level Get more rinks. Get more kids playing. More kids playing even increases the number of adults playing. You know what markets have the largest USA Hockey-registered adult leagues? Three of the top five are: San Jose, Columbus and Dallas. Not exactly hockey hot beds.

What do these markets know that no one seems to be able to grasp in Kansas City? Hockey is a sport in which you have to have a close personal tie in order to be a loyal, dedicated fan. That doesn’t mean you have to grow up on a frozen pond in International Falls. It means you have to get involved in the sport to truly love it. Adult hockey fans who didn’t grow up in hockey markets generally get involved because little Connor wanted to try hockey. Or, little Connor’s best friend was playing and he wanted to play, too. You, of course, always have the transplants from Minnesota, Michigan, Chicago or Canada who grew up with the sport. But, you can’t build a strong fan base in a non-traditional hockey market, like Kansas City, on transplants alone.

I’m not negative. It’s nice we have an NHL exhibition game in 2011 (and the NCAA Ice Breaker tournament in 2012). I simply think it is not a sound strategy to expect to grow a fan base or prove a market worthy with a single, weeknight exhibition game.

San Jose, Dallas and Columbus seem to have it figured out. San Jose has an adult league with 4,500+ adult players. I bet those 4,500 names are the “Glengarry leads” for any Sharks AE.

Where would Kansas City get their “Glengarry leads”? From the dwindling number of kids and adults playing the game and potentially losing interest? And, it’s not just Johnson County that has suffered. I talked to a parent last Spring who drove from Platte City to Overland Park just so his junior high age son could play the game (he did not return to hockey this fall, by the way).

Get more kids involved, their parents will get involved. Their parents will then buy tickets and may even influence their place of business to get involved in some way.

GRASSROOTS GROWTH

Here’s a great story about the Missouri Mavericks fantasy camp. The Mavericks are doing a great job growing the sport in the Missouri-side suburbs of Independence, Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs. Kudos to them. The game is fading quickly in Johnson County.

If AEG REALLY wanted to prove that Kansas City is a great hockey market, they would build us something similar to their own Toyota Center (or something similar but smaller). They won’t. Because they aren’t dedicated to growing the NHL fan base at a grass roots level. If they did partner to build a rink, you think they’d sell more tickets to an exhibition game? Bet they would.

Is this a self-serving criticism on my part? Partially, yes. I do occasionally play ice hockey. It’s also partially a criticism based on the fact that I feel a great deal of empathy for those kids who had to give up hockey because there are so few indoor rinks now.

Kansas City has four sheets of indoor ice and one of those sheets is inside the arena at the Independence Events Center, so it isn’t always available.

Which NHL market has just four indoor rinks in their metropolitan area?

But someone locally needs to step up and get involved and say, ‘I need this for Kansas City.’ ”

Oh, Kansas City “needs someone locally to step up”, but not for a $150M plus relocation fee franchise.

What Kansas City “NEEDS” is a place for our kids to learn to skate, to play the game and then fall in love with hockey like so many of us did.

I don’t love hockey because my parents took me to a Flyers game and three or four Sabres games a year. It certainly didn’t hurt to be able to watch Gare and Martin and Perrault and Korab. I love the sport because my little suburb had it’s own rink in the winter and the suburb a few miles away had one where I could play in the Summer. Learning to skate and understand the game made me love it.

I like to watch and attend Sporting KC games, but I never played soccer so I will never have that level of understanding of the game and inherent love.

Who knows? One of those kids could be the Matthew Hulsizer of Kansas City and really want to be involved in hockey because they played as a kid. They aren’t going to fall in love with the sport by going to one preseason game.

As far as getting excited about the Islanders?
Read this before you get all a twitter.

Posted in Missouri Mavericks, NHL | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Penguins are coming to KC — some have been here before

Posted on August 27, 2011 by blogger

We’re one month away from the NHL season in Kansas City — which may always last one game.

It’s important to point out that some members of Pittsburgh’s traveling party have been here before, but never to Sprint Center.

Pittsburgh Head Coach Dan Bylsma played more than 200 games in the old International Hockey League from 1994 – 2000. Bylsma played several games against the Blades in Kemper Arena. This was the heyday for the Kansas City Blades — the best professional hockey team to call Kansas City home and will be for a long, long time.

Bylsma was a tough player for the Phoenix Roadrunners and Long Beach Ice Dogs. He played on the 1999-2000 Ice Dogs team that came to Kansas City with a young Nikolai Khabibulin in goal. I remember Khabibulin being fantastic that night. KC’s coach that year was Paul MacLean, who is now the head coach of the Ottawa Senators. It was also the year that fan favorite Dody Wood led the league in PIMs.

Bylsma isn’t the only Penguin making a return to KC. Assistant Coach Todd Reirden also played in the ‘I’ with the Chicago Wolves, San Antonio Dragons and Fort Wayne Komets.

Who knew back than that two guys, one on the ice and one on the bench that night, would go on to put their names on the Stanley Cup as a head coach and an assistant coach.

Unfortunately, I don’t think we hockey fans in Kansas City knew, back then, how good we had it when the Blades and professional hockey one level below the NHL made Kansas City home.

Now, perhaps you thought I was going to mention how Mario Lemeuix has been here before looking at KC as a possible home for the Penguins.

Yes, he’s been here before, but only for a nice dinner.

Mario Lemieux says the Penguins never were serious about leaving Pittsburgh.

Mario Lemieux says the Penguins never were serious about leaving Pittsburgh.

“It wasn’t a possibility,” Lemieux said during a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for Pittsburgh’s $290 million hockey arena.

“We had to do a few things to put pressure on the city and the state, but our goal was to remain here in Pittsburgh all the way. Those trips to Kansas City and Vegas and other cities was just to go and have a nice dinner, and come back.

Posted in Kansas City Blades, NHL | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Islanders aren’t coming to Kansas City and neither is Sidney Crosby

Posted on August 24, 2011 by blogger

It doesn’t look good for Sidney Crosby’s return to the ice. Crosby has post concussion syndrome and it doesn’t look like he’ll play the first REGULAR season game, much less an exhibition in the Midwest.

Sidney Crosby speaks; agent says he’ll play ‘when symptom free’

So, if you see Crosby’s image on a billboard, print or banner ad, ignore it. He’s not coming. But, buy tickets anyway. NOT because Kansas City needs to “prove” itself as an NHL market. There is no precedent of an NHL game “proving” a market is ready. If there was, Saskatoon, who sells out preseason games EVERY YEAR, would have an NHL team. No, buy tickets because it will be fun to see mostly AHL level hockey (and there’s nothing wrong AHL level hockey).

As for the Islanders moving to KC, ignore that, too.

A couple of weeks ago the good people of Nassau County in New York state voted referendum vote for a new arena for the New York Islanders. Basically saying, “No, no public money for your private business when we’re already hurting.”

And, of course, a day before the Kansas City Star almost got it right…almost. You see, they have to keep this silly story of the Islanders coming to Kansas City afloat. Otherwise, they don’t have a very good hook for their stories about the preseason game next month.

talking-points-islanders-vote

OK, it’s highly unlikely that the New York Islanders would ever move to Kansas City, but stranger things have happened.

Should voters shoot down the arena, it could open the door to the team one day moving to the Sprint Center.

That’s the hope for hockey fans here, at least. Of course, the Islanders’ lease doesn’t expire until 2015, so even if the Islanders chose Kansas City as a new home, it could be a while before that comes to fruition. But if the team does move here, there is one current player who will be on the ice at the Sprint Center: goalie Rick DiPietro. You may recall that he signed that ridiculous 15-year contract in 2006.”

Aha, making fun of Rick DiP’s contract. Isn’t that funny? Nevermind the fact that the Islanders, with Taveres and Neiderreiter and Grabner and Hamonic, have an impressive core of young players — beyond Rick DiP.

Look, I guess saying that the door isn’t completely closed is fine. And, I guess, if you bring up the Islanders you have to make fun of the Rick DiP contract. Of course, you could make fun of the following 1st round picks: Petteri Nokelainen, Ryan O’Marra and Kristian Kudroc

Those first round picks are more damaging to the Islanders feeble attempts at success, but that reference would be too obscure.

You see, to accurately report what a huge longshot the Islanders moving to Kansas City would be, this needs to appear in the mainstream KC media,
“Kansas City has a NHL-ready arena, but an owner, like Charles Wang, wouldn’t control revenue from all events, which many NHL owners require. In addition, as reported in Forbes, the Islanders most lucrative asset is their cable television contract and they would receive significantly less money on a radio/tv/cable deal in Kansas City.”

Of course, no one brought up the meager cable deals an NHL team in Kansas City would draw back when AEG said we could have one. Pish-posh, details…

FORBES: Brooklyn Islanders May be Closer to Reality

the Islanders inked an extension with Cablevision all the way through the 2030-31 season, for rights fees that escalate from roughly $14 million a year initially to a reported $36 million by the last year of the deal. The contract is the Islanders’ most valuable asset, one they’re unlikely to duplicate in another market.

Somewhere between $14M and $36M per year until 2030-31? Look the Islanders couldn’t get a 10-year cable deal for $15M in this market.

No wonder the Islanders are considering moving to the Atlantic Yards arena in Brooklyn.

  • Brooklyn is still “on the Island”.
  • Brooklyn is still within their lucrative cable TV market.
  • A Brooklyn arena will have easy access to mass transit (I know, Mass transit is a factor completely lost on Kansas Citians…we’re more concerned about how far away the parking garages are…sad)
  • No debt service, capital expenditures or potential property taxes
  • Even though the building only seats 14,000, they will still, most likely, sell more tickets and at a higher price point than they do now at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

    • Islanders average ticket price at NVMC = $51.46 and average attendance of 11,059
    If they raise ticket prices 10% to play in Brooklyn and play to 90% capacity in that building, they still grow their gross by 25%

    Of course, our local media could probably put these Islanders rumors completely to rest by having a contact within AECOM, you know, our local sports architecture firm designing the Barclays Center at Atlantic Yards, would could inform them of future plans for the arena. Nah, that would require real reporting.

    Posted in NHL | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

    Puck Daddy weighs with “KC’s chances of NHL take a hit” — still a great sports market

    Posted on July 27, 2011 by blogger

    I’m humbled to get a mention in what I consider absolute must reading for every hockey fan —

    Sean Leahy from Puck Daddy weighed in with this post:

    I think Sean does a pretty good job of setting the stage for what is going on here in KC. Much, much better than our local journalists (except Sam Mellinger) have ever done.

    However, I want to take this post in another direction. If you are reading this in Canada or Detroit or Minneapolis or some other hockey market, chances are pretty good we have a better sports market, per capita, than you do.

    Because there will be both NHL and NBA preseason games in Kansas City, we will get criticized in the coming month or so for passing a hotel/motel/car rental tax based on the ruse that we would get an NHL or NBA team. One comment on Puck Daddy called us “idiots”. There will be more uninformed comments like, “Why would you build a new arena without a professional sports franchise?” Or, “how silly of them to believe they would get a team?”

    The first comment is silly. Why? Because we needed the arena. The problem was the “promise” of the franchise was 100% disingenuous on AEG’s part. Former Mayer Kay Barnes had to get her arena approved, even said she was going to steamroll it through and she needed a hook. AEG was her willing dance partner and gave her the carrot she needed to dangle in front of those in the KC metro who had to vote on the hotel/motel/car rental tax. Remember, half of those “Kansas Citians” didn’t vote to pass it because they either live in the Missouri suburbs outside the KC Metro or they live in Johnson (where a lot of $$ is) or Wyandotte Counties on the Kansas side.

    The second one…has some legitimacy.

    I want to make sure the professional sports landscape in Kansas City is properly characterized. See my example below.

    Kansas City, the 31st television market and a population of about 1.8M has:

    NFL franchise
    MLB franchise
    TWO NASCAR races
    MLS franchise

    Do you know which other metropolitan areas have that specific combination of football, baseball, soccer and NASCAR?
    Philadelphia, Dallas and Chicago.
    Los Angeles with the race in Fontana and Boston with the race in Loudon, NH and the Bay Area with an NHL team in San Jose and race in Sonoma can be added to that list. I guess NYC could be added, too because it’s not that far to Pocono Raceway.

    Pretty good company I would say.

    So, look at it again. Is Kansas City’s professional sports landscape so embarrassing now? (aside from the Royals being the worst franchise in professional baseball now that the Pirates are showing signs of success)

    Absolutely not. Mix in road trips to Lawrence, Manhattan and Columbia for NCAA football and basketball and we’ve got great sports options. A lot of big metro areas (like Philadelphia or Boston) can’t relate because they aren’t as into college sports as we are.

    As for hockey, yeah, we’re a bit lacking. If UMKC would jettison their unsuccessful and utterly pointless basketball program and start a Division I hockey program, or if we could get an AHL hockey team (the second best hockey league in the world) we’d have, arguably, the best sports landscape of any medium-sized American city. Don’t get me wrong, I like the Central Hockey League team, but it’s just not as good as AHL hockey. It would also help if someone locally had the wherewithal to build us a couple more rinks so we can get some grassroots growth for the sport. The real idiots in Kansas City are the folks who shut down a two-sheet ice facility to convert it to an indoor soccer/futsal/spoiled-teenage-athlete-with-parents-desperate-for-a-college-scholarship training facility…like we needed another one of those. THAT, my friends, IS THE THING THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN A REAL HOCKEY MARKET. On a recent night when there were more than 20 old farts playing shinny at one of the rinks, when it was 90+ degrees even after the sun when down, the “new” futsal facility sat, virtually, empty.

    So point your fingers from afar at Sprint Center and it’s lack of an anchor tenant. We’ll continue live here and enjoy what we have. Because, unless you are in a top 10 US market or Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver, it’s probably better than what you have.

    Who has egg on their face now? The Kansas City taxpayer/sports fan or those that flapped their gums about promises they knew they couldn’t keep?

    Posted in AHL, Missouri Mavericks, NHL | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

    Ignore the spin about NHL game coming to Sprint Center

    Posted on July 18, 2011 by blogger

    Kansas City has an NHL exhibition game this year.

    As noted in the Kansas City Star,

    “With the recent announcement of an NHL preseason game, this is one more year when the Sprint Center will be host to exhibitions for both sports.

    Or, to put a bit more cynically (though honestly), this is one more year when the suits at AEG can pretend there is still a realistic chance of backing up their bravado that helped convince voters to fund the $276 million building.

    …though lately the main suit hasn’t spoken about the subject…

    I’d like to point out two very important things so that you read them here first:

    1.) You will see printed and you will hear sports radio guys say that the Pittsburgh Penguins nearly moved to Kansas City. That’s total BS. Even Mario Lemeiux said so.

    Mario Lemieux says the Penguins never were serious about leaving Pittsburgh.

    “It wasn’t a possibility,” Lemieux said during a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for Pittsburgh’s $290 million hockey arena.

    “We had to do a few things to put pressure on the city and the state, but our goal was to remain here in Pittsburgh all the way. Those trips to Kansas City and Vegas and other cities was just to go and have a nice dinner, and come back.

    The Penguins were never coming to KC, so please don’t mention it. If you hear or read it, it’s printed or said by an uninformed, lazy journalist that’s trying to make a good story.

    2.) A preseason game usually brings up quotes like, “Can Kansas City support an NHL team? We’ll find out with the preseason game?”

    Which, again, is a bunch of hooey. I don’t think Columbus, Raleigh, Tampa, Atlanta or Anaheim ever sold out a preseason game before they were awarded franchises. Saskatoon, Hamilton and Halifax sell out preseason games, does that mean they are getting teams?

    Or

    “Kansas City sports fans have to show up at this game, if they want to someday have an NHL team?”

    More hooey. This is a marketing ploy by those who are promoting the games to shame you into buying tickets. They WANT you to buy tickets. Hell, so do I. A great crowd in the building will make for a better atmosphere during the game and before and after the game in the P&L (which is usually stone, cold dead on most Tuesday nights..in part, because we don’t have an NHL or NBA franchise playing in Sprint Center.)

    By the way, you can get four lower level tickets PLUS a $20 gift card to QuickTrip for $100. A similar deal was offered for the Kings-Blues game a few years back. It was cheaper and for upper level tickets. You know what happened? You got it. The upper level was packed. The lower level was scattered. Good move to make the deal for lower level tickets.

    Go to the NHL exhibition game. Have fun. Please. Go. Learn who Kyle Clifford and Mark Letestu are so that you can follow their careers for years to come.

    Just don’t believe that this game has anything at all to do with Kansas City getting an NHL franchise.

    Posted in NHL | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

    NHL & NBA come to KC so AEG can continue to “pretend”

    Posted on June 21, 2011 by blogger

    Sam Mellinger, “The Boy Who Kicked a Hornet’s Nest” writes a terrific column about the Sprint Center, the hope of an NBA or NHL franchise (there is none) and why we need to simply temper the discussion.

    NBA, NHL exhibitions at the Sprint Center aren’t progress

    “Or, to put a bit more cynically (though honestly), this is one more year when the suits at AEG can pretend there is still a realistic chance of backing up their bravado that helped convince voters to fund the $276 million building”

    I know that Mellinger has been working on this column for at least the last three weeks, triggered by the NHL flying right over KC for Winnipeg. Winnipeg, a much smaller city with an arena that is barely passable by NHL standards. The difference is Winnipeg had a very wealthy, passionate hockey fan backing their attempt to get a franchise (Mark Chipman) who was bankrolled by an even wealthier and equally as passionate hockey fan (David Thomsen). Thomsen’s portion of the announcement press conference was impressive because you could see his love for Canada and it’s national pastime.

    Nothing like that exists for either an NHL or NBA franchise (and I don’t want to hear any nonsense about reclusive English Premier League team owners who happened to live the state for a short period of time and now make their home overseas).

    And, this is where I disagree with part of Mellinger’s column. He says

    An NHL franchise is moving from Atlanta to Winnipeg because of the kind of just-add-ice entrenched fan base we don’t have here.

    While I understand Mellinger has to finesse his words so that they fit into a certain number of column inches, this is too simplistic of an explanation.

    Atlanta moved to Winnipeg because the Manitoba city had all three elements necessary to lure a franchise from another market. A building, an ownership group and a solid relationship with Commissioner-for-life Gary Bettman. Also, Atlanta had, quite possibly, the worst, most dysfunctional ownership group in the history of the NHL. Atlanta Spirit wanted DESPERATELY to get out of the hockey business (which, actually, is good for hockey). Quebec has two of those elements and lacks a building. Seattle may or may not have the ownership group. Hamiton, Ontario had the building and owner (Jim Balsillie), but said owner has a terrible relationship with the Commisioner-for-life.

    Mellinger is shaking AEG’s cage like no other columnist has ever done in KC. Gutsy. I know Mellinger took quite a bit of heat the last time he pulled the curtain back from the great and powerful AEG. And, he still decided to go there again. What I find interesting is that he paints a truthful albeit bleak picture of our chance to get an NBA or NHL franchise. Then, sprinkles the column with “hey, you saps have it pretty good with KC’s other sports attractions and AEG still gets to make money, which is really what they care about, so I guess we all win”

    The one element that seems to be missing is that the P&L district is failing and the city is financially propping it up because there isn’t enough traffic — traffic a NHL or NBA franchise would provide. However, AEG has no stake in P&L and, again, making money by booking rent-paying dates (a NHL or NBA franchise, most likely, wouldn’t pay rent.)

    Why had Glendale forked over so much money to the NHL to retain the franchise in the Phoenix suburb? Because they know they can still make money ON THE ARENA if the NHL team leaves. What they also know is that the area around the Jobing.com Arena will fail miserably without those 41+ dates (a few more since the Coyotes look to be pretty good next year, too.)

    Sprint Center is a great thing for our city. P&L is great (only during the Big XII tournament and the occasional NCAA tournament). Livestrong Sporting Park is a great thing for our city. I agree with Mellinger that we should appreciate all these things. A sentiment echoed by controversial Kansas City business owner Craig Glazer.

    I’m not interested much in soccer – I can barely spell it – but that new stadium is gorgeous – one of the best in the nation. The fact that our city has NASCAR, ARROWHEAD, THE NEW AND IMPROVED ROYALS STADIUM, several nice casinos, a new ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT CENTER (PERFORMING ARTS) the rebuilt Union Station.

    Just enjoy the exhibition games (and in a couple of years, the IceBreaker Tournament) and cut out the bluster.
    (oh, and focus on something tangible, like getting us more ice rinks in order to grow grass roots hockey rather than shrink it, as it has in the last year).

    Posted in NHL | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

    Closing door on NHL in Kansas City may be official — at least we get a practice game

    Posted on May 31, 2011 by blogger

    Today, the NHL may have officially closed the door on having a franchise in Kansas City.

    Every market that currently wants an NHL franchise and doesn’t have one localized the story.

    A reporter in Quebec asked Gary Bettman about if the move to Winnipeg bodes well for Quebec. Bettman made a VERY telling statement. Quebec fans cheer Winnipeg, hoping to be next

    He [Bettman] has consistently sought to downplay expectations of relocation to Canada — and he did it again Tuesday.

    Bettman noted that in the case of the Phoenix Coyotes, he didn’t appreciate relocation rumours swirling over the team as it was preparing for the playoffs.

    “I get extremely cranky and unhappy with raising expectations that shouldn’t be raised,” Bettman said.

    Quebec has an owner and is working on new building.

    Pierre Karl Peladeau has a financial agreement with the municipality to become the manager of the eventual arena, and he is expected to be a main contender in any bid to lure a team from the U.S.

    Hamilton also reacted to Winnipeg getting an NHL franchise in a passable arena — something Hamilton also has. The thing is that Winnipeg went about it the right way. Their owner played Bettman’s game. Hamilton’s owner, Jim Balisillie, has not.
    Hamilton hopes Winnipeg ‘a sign of good things to come’

    Hamilton city councilor Terry Whitehead said:

    I think it’s clear, in the NHL’s own reports, that having a team in Southern Ontario – specifically in Hamilton – would become one of the most lucrative clubs in the NHL. And the reality is that it cannot be ignored. I guarantee Hamilton would bring more money into the NHL coffers than Winnipeg, for example, just because of the sheer market here.”

    Then, we get to Kansas City’s reaction. We did receive some good news today. The NHL will hold a practice game in Sprint Center between the Pittsburgh Penguins and AEG-owned LA Kings. The game will be Tuesday, September 27 and I expect the attendance to be much, much better than the Islanders-Kings game a couple of years ago.
    Atlanta Thrashers will move to Winnipeg; KC to host exhibition game

    Let’s break down the story posted Tuesday afternoon.

    The Penguins flirted with Kansas City as a possible new home before the 17,297-seat Sprint Center was completed in October 2007.

    No, sorry, they didn’t and Mario Lemieux admitted as much. But, nice research Covitz.

    Mario Lemieux says the Penguins never were serious about leaving Pittsburgh.

    “It wasn’t a possibility,” Lemieux said during a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for Pittsburgh’s $290 million hockey arena.

    AEG has nothing to say.

    AEG President Tim Leiweke, a member of the NHL’s executive committee, has declined requests to comment in the last few weeks regarding whether his company was even interested in bringing an anchor tenant to the Sprint Center, which is one of the busiest concert and family-show venues in the country.

    Can’t wait to find out if the Kings vote for or against the Thrashers relocation.

    While no local ownership has emerged for either an NHL or NBA franchise for Kansas City, there are five-to-six groups in North America looking to invest in existing teams on the market such as Dallas, Columbus and St. Louis.

    One of those “groups” is, most likely, Vancouver businessman Tom Gaglardi. If you follow the English Premier League, you know how complicated purchasing Tom Hicks former professional sports franchise holdings can be. A bankruptcy court will be involved.

    Regardless, there is absolutely no chance the Stars or the Blues, for that matter, relocate. None. Zero. No chance.

    There is no evidence that the Blue Jackets are for sale and, as Gary Bettman said, any speculation or raising expectations, which is done, a little, in Covitz’ story, makes Gary Bettman “cranky”.

    A couple of things are apparent when you listen to Gary Bettman in a press conference. First, he is smarter than you and everyone else in the room. Not in an Enron-”Smartest Guys in the Room”-type deal where the guys were actually just greedy morons looking out for themselves, but in a “I have all the information, have thought of every scenario, decided how this is going to play out and you can’t trick me into giving you the answer” kind of way. The other thing that is apparent is that Bettman has a HUGE ego.

    Columbus fans are, kind of, supporting a terrible franchise. The Blue Jackets are, possibly next to the Thrashers, the worst run franchise in the NHL. Even the Islanders look like they are making a turnaround.

    Imagine if the Royals, under David Glass’ lack of success, moved to Charlotte. Would it be our fault? Heck no, Kansas City has done a pretty good job of supporting a perennial loser. I’d say better than should be expected. My next door neighbor is 31 and has never really seen a winner at I-70 and I-435.

    The NHL practice game is encouraging because it finally brings us a team that Kansas City fans can get excited about — not the Islanders or Predators.

    Now, don’t get too excited.

    It’s possible Sid the Kid won’t make the trip. In the past, NHL stars like Jack Johnson and Anze Kopitar haven’t played in these practice games. Plus, if you recall, Crosby suffered two concussions in January that limited his season to just 41 games (in which he scored an impressive 66 points).
    He’s going to be re-evaluated this week. Evgeny Malkin should be recovered from his knee surgery and the Penguins’ Jordan Staal and Kris Letang are unique talents.

    The good news is that both the Kings and the Penguins have young, exciting playoff-caliber teams and even have some guys you may not have heard of who, most likely, will play in this game — Jonathan Bernier, Brayden Schenn, Andrei Loktionov, Dustin Jeffrey, Eric Tangradi and Simon Depres. You may have seen Despres play in the Memorial Cup on NHL Network. No? Hmm. I may be the only person in Kansas City that watched the Memorial Cup…

    Nice to have a little good news mixed with the bad news.

    As one local sportscaster said to me, “Yup, the NHL would work in Kansas City if the season were one game long…”

    Posted in NHL | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

    Worst hockey season in Kansas City in 35 years ends with an inexcusable snub for Winnipeg

    Posted on May 30, 2011 by blogger

    What is easily the worst hockey season in 35 years (Scouts moved in 1976) may come to a close as early as tomorrow when the announcement may be made that Kansas City has been passed over as the “next” NHL city for Winnipeg, Manitoba — a city of 640,000 people with an arena that seats 15,000 fans. We, Kansas City, were told we would be next. Problem is the little city in Manitoba knew they needed all pieces of the puzzle — a reputable owner and a passable arena.

    Why is this the worst hockey season in 35 years?

    The penultimate nail was hammered in the coffin of the NHL portion of the “NHL or NBA promise”, 40% of the indoor ice rinks in Kansas City shut down this year and two of the major youth hockey organizations continue to bicker in a ridiculous ego-driven struggle of immature hockey parents.

    How did we get to this point?

    Well, Ice Midwest closing its ice facility had nothing to do with the amount of support for hockey in Kansas City. By its own marketing campaigns, Ice Midwest had more than 400,000 people go through its facility. The ice rinks were shut down by a general manager who cared much more about whether his wife had a place to teach boot camp classes to Johnson County housewives than where kids could learn to play and enjoy ice hockey and figure skating.

    The NHL franchise situation is much more complicated.
    As Kansas City columnist Barbara Shelly pointed out in a recent article for the Sacremento Bee, then Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes was going to steamroll anyone that got in the way of her plan to build a new, downtown arena – the Sprint Center.

    “The mayor at the time, Kay Barnes, coined the “naysayers” label, and she made it clear what she thought of us.
    “Get out of the way,” she instructed, as she announced in 2002 that a year-long study had affirmed the need for a new arena. “We’ve had enough of you.”

    I was not one of those naysayers. What I objected to was the tactic that Mayor Barnes took.
    What was that tactic?
    In 2003, after she had already won re-election, she went out and got a powerful partner for her arena plan – AEG and former Kansas Citian Tim Lieweke.

    AEG saw an opportunity to penetrate a market in which they formally had no presence. But, AEG was just a corporate name and Lieweke just a familiar name. What they needed was a great hook.

    Lieweke came up with, sort of, a promise that an NBA or NHL team would be the anchor tenant for the arena. He did this even though Lieweke knew full well that NHL franchises RARELY relocate and when they do it is within two years of a sale. He also knew that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is EXTREMELY opposed to franchise relocation. Yet, Lieweke knew he could dupe them rubes in Kansas City. It will be interesting to see how the LA Kings vote when the Thrashers relocation comes before NHL Board of Governors.

    At the time, the Pittsburgh Penguins played in the oldest and arguable the worst hockey arena in the NHL and, possibly, the history of the NHL. They played in the old Pittsburgh Civic Arena (“The Igloo”), which was actually built as a concert hall for the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. Heck, when Pittsburgh was awarded an NHL franchise in the late ’60s, the Civic Arena only met the minimum attendance requirement for an NHL arena by eight seats.

    Pittsburgh, like Kansas City, HAD to have a new arena. The owners of the Pittsburgh franchise did what they SHOULD have done. They used Kansas City, and our potential new arena, as leverage to get a new arena built in Pittsburgh. Mario Lemeiux even admitted there was no chance the franchise would relocate.

    “Mario Lemieux says the Penguins never were serious about leaving Pittsburgh.
    “It wasn’t a possibility,” Lemieux said during a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for Pittsburgh’s $290 million hockey arena.
    “We had to do a few things to put pressure on the city and the state, but our goal was to remain here in Pittsburgh all the way. Those trips to Kansas City and Vegas and other cities was just to go and have a nice dinner, and come back.”

    I hope he had Jack’s Stack or Oklahoma Joe’s or, maybe, Garozzo’s.

    Later, AEG said they entered into an agreement with William “Boots” Del Biaggio. Well, slick ol’ Boots is now wearing an orange jump suit somewhere. In one of his columns, Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star said that Boots’ problems were no fault of AEG’s and I agree. However, it is, and was, AEG’s responsibility to find an owner for this silly “NBA or NHL team” and is responsible for properly vetting out who this owner is. The fact AEG wiffed on Boots so badly is egg on their face.

    Since then, talk of an NHL or NBA team has dwindled. Oh, every once and awhile something comes up like the Hornets leaving New Orleans and sports talkers in Kansas City giggle and guffaw about Chris Paul playing games in Sprint Center.

    There is one glaring, gaping hole to a franchise ever coming to Kansas City.

    There is no owner willing to take the risk of having an NBA or NHL team in Kansas City when the profitability of a franchise, in either league, in a medium-sized city like Kansas City is tenuous at best.

    Here’s the thing, now that Gary Bettman has admitted failure in Atlanta and FINALLY got the monkey of Atlanta Spirit LLC off his back, a terrible ownership group that now admits they were never passionate about hockey, there is absolutely no way that Bettman relocates another franchise for at least another five years.

    No, the Islanders, Blue Jackets or Panthers are not going to relocate. The Lightning have extremely strong ownership with Jeffrey Vinik. The Coyotes situation seems to be shoring up. And, if anyone mentions the Dallas Stars or St. Louis Blues, both for sale, as potential relocation candidates they are full of hot gas.

    I’ve written this stuff for years.

    The Sprint Center is a success. It’s a great arena.
    The adjacent Power & Light District is not and needs the 550,000 extra people that a NHL or NBA franchise would provide (gross, not net, since a franchise would tie up some dates now used for concerts, etc.).

    Kansas City COULD be an NHL city. We could support a franchise just fine – at least as well as Raleigh or Nashville or Columbus.

    Kansas City WON’T be an NHL city because there is no owner for a franchise.
    Quebec City has an owner and a building, potentially, in the works.
    Seattle may be entering the mix if what Bill Daly says has any truth – that there is a potential ownership group in Seattle – yet no suitable arena.

    What we really need is someone to repair the grassroots Kansas City hockey community by building a new place for Kansas City’s youth hockey community to learn and play the game — not the continued farcical pipedream of an NHL team.

    If a tree drops in the forest and there is no one to hear – or the NHL has completely passed over Kansas City with no interest from the Kansas City media – does it make a sound?

    Posted in NHL | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

    How will KC media react to Thrashers move?

    Posted on May 30, 2011 by blogger

    The Atlanta Thrashers sale and subsequent move to Winnipeg could be announced as early as tomorrow. All media reports point to the announcement coming BEFORE the Stanley Cup begins Wednesday.

    http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Atlanta/2011/05/30/18212121.html?cid=rsssportsslam%21%20hockey

    With the announcement of the NHL passing by AEG’s “promise”, and relocating to much-smaller Winnipeg, how will the Kansas City media react?

    Will they react with complete indifference because no one in the KC media is a passionate hockey fan? Will they react with relief so they don’t have to learn what a forecheck or a left-wing lock is… won’t have to learn the difference between Evander Kane and Patrick Kane? (both great young players, but a 19-year old Evander Kane put Matt Cooke in his place.)

    Or, will at least one of them hold AEG accountable for this missed opportunity?

    My guess is that even though the Royals are below .500, again, the Thrashers sale won’t even be a topic of conversation…

    Posted in NHL | Leave a comment

    Thrashers fly right over KC to Manitoba

    Posted on May 20, 2011 by blogger

    The NHL media is all abuzz about the Atlanta Thrashers leaving the Peach State for Manitoba and their new home in Winnipeg.

    True North, the group who owns the Manitoba Moose, has taken every step, lightly and respectfully, to become an NHL ownership group and it looks like their patience will pay off.

    Here’s more from the Pitch and if you go to PuckDaddy there are several more stories.

    An NHL team is on the move… but not to Kansas City

    They’re partying in Winnipeg and holding out hope in Atlanta

    This isn’t even a fight between Winnipeg and Kansas City. Why not? We’re completely unarmed. There is no ownership group in KC trying to buy an NHL team. There is in Winnipeg (and, by the way, there’s one in Quebec City, too).

    You see…in the history of the NHL, franchises don’t really move because the barn is there first. Oh, they have (Rockies to NJ, North Stars to Dallas). Generally, they move to a market FIRST, then the arena comes. The Nordiques became the Avs, played in McNichols, THEN got a new building. The Jets moved to Phoenix, became the ‘yotes, played in America West where you couldn’t see one of the goals from some of the seats and then moved to Glendale. Heck the Hurricanes played in Greensboro first!

    These points are generally lost on the KC media because, well, it seems to me they don’t bother to even look it up…

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