Hey Sam, jet down to NYC and get in Gary's face
Randy Turner | Winnipeg Free Press
Wonder if Sam Katz has been to New York lately?
Maybe took a stroll down the Avenue of the Americas to meet some little guy in his office on the 12th floor, overlooking downtown Manhattan.
Just curious, because that's exactly what the mayor of Hartford, Eddie Perez, did this week, with a posse of the city's business leaders in tow. And they all headed to Gotham to make a pitch to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
"The meeting was to make sure we put Hartford on his radar screen as a city that is bullish about bringing hockey back to Hartford," Perez told the Toronto Star. "We have a great fan base left over from the Hartford Whaler days, and I have a challenge as a mayor to figure out what to do with an aging civic centre, which has outlived its purpose."
Meanwhile, over in Kansas City, city officials announced Thursday that the Los Angeles Kings and the New York Islanders will play an exhibition game in September in the spanking new $276 million (18,500-seat) Sprint Center, which opened its shiny doors last year.
"I'm excited, I think it's great," Paul McGannon, head of a local organization trying to help bring an NHL team to Kansas City, gushed in the Kansas City Star. "New York has three teams. If they don't want to build a new rink in Long Island, we'll take their team."
That's right, Islanders owner Charles Wang wants out of the ancient Nassau Mausoleum (nee Coliseum), where the Isles are dead last in attendance in the NHL. Geez, that's like being the worst actor in a Paulie Shore movie.
Yet, my, what an amazing coincidence that Wang would agree to meet the Kings in Kansas City, yes?
A third news item, out of Vancouver, has the Great One admitting the obvious: That the Phoenix Coyotes are desperately searching for investors in a team that may lose -- and how they manage this, we don't know -- up to $45 million this season, according to The Globe and Mail.
Hands up, anyone interested? The club is only a gazillion dollars in debt, already signed away all revenue to cover loans and currently requires NHL welfare to stay afloat.
Of course, these are not unrelated developments. The folks in Kansas City have a state-of-the-art, empty building. They smell blood, and they intend to pounce on the first NHL carcass that hits the ground. Of note, however, this is not the first NHL exhibition game in the Sprint Center. Last year the Kings played the St. Louis Blues and the "announced crowd" was just over 11,000. Ahem.
The good mayor of Hartford, on the other hand, doesn't have a new arena, but obviously knows a potential fire sale when he sees one. Whether or not the people of Connecticut want to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on an arena in the midst of an economic maelstrom -- without any guarantee of a team if they do (Hello, Hamilton) -- is another matter entirely.
But you can see what's happening here. It's clear to the circling predators that more than one NHL team won't make it through the financial crisis -- unless they're bankrolled by profitable franchises indefinitely. But that's probably not going to happen.
Why? Because we're pretty convinced all the leaks about the Coyotes' fiscal woes are coming directly from anonymous NHL governors who don't want to continue forking over between $5 million and $12 million annually to prop up the likes of the Nashville Predators, Coyotes and Florida Panthers. This information is of much concern in southern Ontario, where the notion of an NHL franchise in the Hamilton area is not only intriguing, but gaining traction with each league cheque cashed by the one of the poorer sisters.
Where does Winnipeg fit in? Good question. The city has a new, but modestly-sized arena, a fan base, but no clear money man and uncertain corporate support. Still, that might be more attractive than Hartford (no arena, some fan base) or Kansas City (owner, arena, no fan base). Hamilton has an arena, a fan base and corporate support up the ying-yang. The only problem is the prospective owner, Jim Balsillie, who in the eyes of Bettman is a cross between Hannibal Lecter and Richard Simmons. (That means not only will he kill you and eat your liver, he'll do it in the most annoying way possible.)
It's not like Mark Chipman and the folks at the MTS Centre have been sitting on their hands. They've expressed their interest to the NHL, made a pitch to Bettman and the league governors, and have patiently been waiting for the phone to ring.
It's just that it's fast getting to the point where those aren't phones ringing in the NHL any more. They are alarm bells going off in Phoenix and Long Island, and they can be heard from Hartford to Kansas City.
So what do you say, Sam?
No one's saying this city can afford an NHL team. No one's talking about using public money to get one, either. It has to work financially or forget it. But we hear New York is lovely this time of year. Your exposed skin doesn't even freeze in 30 seconds.
Besides, we hear that Bettman guy is just adorable. Sweet as pecan pie. Maybe give him a call. Tell him to put the guy from Hartford on hold.
randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca
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