Prospects update
With the conclusion of all the junior league seasons, we’re starting to hear more about team prospects and signings. I am not an expert at all in this area so I will just refer you to people who know more about this topic than me.
For Detroit Red Wings’ prospects, the ultimate website is Red Wings Central. Their most recent article discusses prospect forward Darren Helm, who plays for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, and mentions some prospects that could be lost if they aren’t signed by this week.
The 20-year-old [Helm], known for his blazing speed, grit and two-way skills, signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Red Wings in September and is expected to play in the American Hockey League next season.
Helm was the lone Detroit Red Wings prospect still active this season, thus concluding Red Wings Central’s weekly updates.
* The Red Wings could lose the rights to 10 prospects on Friday: Christofer Lofberg, Mattias Ritola, Johan Ryno, Jeff May, Juho Mielonen, Bretton Stamler, Andreas Sundin, Stefan Blom, Tomas Kollar and Mikael Johansson.
Ryno is the most likely to get sign, followed by Ritola, May and Stamler.
Helm’s team lost to the Vancouver Giants in the Memorial Cup finals, 3-1. Helm scored the only goal for the Tigers in that game.
Helm, who missed a Memorial Cup-world junior championship double, said the Tigers did more this season than most people thought, including beating the Giants in an epic WHL final that ended in double overtime.
“We’ve had a great season,” said Helm, a 2005 pick of the Detroit Red Wings. “It shows a lot of the character we have in that room (but Sunday) was one game and we couldn’t pull it off.”
James Mirtle was at the tournament as a member of the media and had this to say about Helm after their loss.
Helm, on the other hand, was composed in comparison, steely eyed and quiet as he fielded the largest group of reporters. The Detroit Red Wings’ prospect had had a terrific year, both during the season, at the world juniors and in the playoffs, but that was obviously of little consolation under the circumstances. He’s certainly not a big guy — listed at 6 feet, 180 pounds — but he plays big and was the best Medicine Hat skater on this night.
Helm is another late-round steal for the Wings, drafted in the fifth-round in 2005 the year before he exploded for 41 goals, and said he was planning on playing in that organization next season — whether it was in the NHL, AHL or wherever. He turned 20 in January and could return to the Hat as an overager, but that doesn’t seem likely.
Dave @ Gorilla Crouch did such a good job of rounding up info and scouting reports on the prospects the Wings could lose that I’m not going to even try. Check out his blog for all the information and links!
Whalers hold championship banquet
The Plymouth Whalers celebrated their 2007 OHL Championship in Livonia last night with the entire team, staff, family, and even fans (for $30). The team handed out 15 awards with some players receiving multiple awards. For example, Tom Sestito was named Fan Favorite by the Whale Watchers (the booster club) and he also received MVP for the regular season.
The entire team (aside from Jeremy Smith who is at the NHL Combine). Sorry for the crappy photo, but my digital camera isn’t so great.
REGULAR SEASON MOST VALUABLE PLAYER – Tom Sestito – A draft choice of the National Hockey League’s Columbus Blue Jackets (and who has been signed), Sestito led Plymouth with 42 goals and added 22 assists for 64 points in 60 games.
REGULAR SEASON LEADING SCORER – Evan Brophey – A Chicago Blackhawks draft who recently signed with the ‘Hawks, Brophey scored 36 goals with 71 assists for 107 points while playing in all 68 regular season games.
DEFENSEMAN of the YEAR, HUMANITARIAN of the YEAR – Steve Ward – A veteran defenseman played in exactly 200 games over three seasons for Plymouth and was an integral part of the team’s success. Ward was also very active in the team’s Community Relations efforts in the area and was nominated for the Ontario Hockey League’s Dan Snyder Humanitarian Award.
ROOKIE of the YEAR – Michal Neuvirth – A draft choice of the Washington Capitals, Neuvirth led the league with a 2.32 goals against average and .932 save percentage and shared the OHL’s Dave Pinkney Award with fellow goaltenderJeremy Smith for the OHL’s best team defense.
LABATT BLUE COLLAR PLAYER of the YEAR – Jared Boll – Signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Boll scored 28 goals with 27 assists for 55 points and 198 PIMs this season. Plymouth fans love Boll’s grit, work ethic and never-say-die attitude on the ice.
UNSUNG PLAYER of the YEAR – Zack Shepley – A stay-at-home defenseman was often paired with Brett Bellemore to form an effective duo against all the top scoring lines in the OHL.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER of the YEAR – Brett Bellemore – A healthy scratch through the first month of the season, Bellemore played so well he never left the lineup, eventually leading the OHL and Canadian Hockey League during the regular season with a +48 plus/minus rating.
ACADEMIC PLAYER of the YEAR – AJ Jenks – Jenks’ intelligent play on the ice carried over into the classroom.
ALICE IAFRATE AWARD as OVERAGE PLAYERS of the YEAR (tie) – Voted by the Whalers’ Off-Ice Officials, Ward and Boll share the award. The last time two overages shared the Alice Iafrate Award? Nate Kiser and Chad LaRose were co-winners in 2003.
PLAYOFF LEADING SCORER and MOST VALUABLE PLAYER – James Neal – Signed by the Dallas Stars, Neal led the Whalers in the 2007 playoffs with 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points in 20 games, then led the Memorial Cup with five goals and an assist in five games. Neal was voted to the OHL’s First All-Star team.
Some of their acceptance “speeches” were pretty funny. Head coach (and OHL Coach of the Year) Mike Vellucci and assistant head coach Todd Watson both gave heartfelt thanks to the players, members within the organization, and to their family.
I look forward to following the seven players who signed with their NHL teams as they go on to the next level. I never had a reason to watch the Blackhawks or Blue Jackets when the Wings weren’t playing them, but once Brophey, Boll, and Sestito make those teams I’ll definitely have to watch.
I learned a lot during my year as a game night intern for the Whalers and I look forward to going to some of their games next year as a fan for a change!
Crosby named captain
19-year-old Sidney Crosby has been named captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins to become the youngest ever NHL captain. Assuming he stays with the Penguins for his career and has the longevity of Steve Yzerman’s career (hypothetically), he could break Yzerman’s record for longest serving captain. Obviously, that’s a long ways off but that’s the first thing that popped into my head.
“I don’t think it will be that much different than last year. The ‘C’ adds a little bit, but it’s just a letter,” defenseman Ryan Whitney said. “He’s been a leader and will continue to be. This shows the rest of the league that he has completely arrived.”
…
“What more an example of leadership do you need?” Whitney said. “I’ve never seen somebody with such a passion for hockey.”
…
“It’s weird. I don’t think I really expected anything to go a certain way,” Crosby said earlier this month. “It’s only going to be my third year.”
The team hasn’t had a captain since Mario Lemieux retired in 2006.
Crosby has shown he can handle the pressure of being a team leader even at a young age in comparison to the rest of the league so I don’t have anything against this move. It’s still crazy to me to see a 19-year-old as the captain of an NHL team. Admittedly, the Penguins probably have one of the younger teams in the league, but still.
Messier as Assistant GM?
Mark Messier would like to become the New York Rangers’ new assistant GM. Don Maloney, the previous asst. GM, left to work for the Phoenix Coyotes as the GM. NYR has not talked to Messier about the position so this is all just Messier talking so far. I don’t think Messier as an assistant GM would be a good idea at all. You certainly didn’t see Yzerman jump from retired player to assistant GM. Instead, he’s learning the ropes and the business side of things. Messier should try to do that instead of go after the assistant GM spot already.
“Until two days ago, there was no opening. So it’s kind of hard to talk about,” Messier said Wednesday during an interview with The Associated Press. “The Rangers have been a big part of my life for all the obvious reasons.
“It’s kind of where I’ve decided to live, and all that kind of stuff, so it’s obviously something that is very attractive.”
…
He had plans to head to La Quinta on Tuesday to play golf with Sather, who served as coach and GM when Messier won five championships in Edmonton, but decided to cancel the trip once Maloney took the job with the Coyotes.
“When all this broke, I thought, ‘You know what? It’s better for me to not go out there since everyone will assume that’s what I’m going there for,”‘ Messier said. “I don’t know what the time requirements are for that job to be filled. I haven’t talked to anybody about it.”
In other Messier related news, Chris Chelios has been given the Mark Messier Leader of the Year award. I don’t know if Cheli would be the best pick based on the first two qualifications, but it sounds like he has given a lot through his charity which definitely qualifies him for the third description. I’m not saying Cheli isn’t deserving of this award at all as he definitely picked it up for the Wings in the playoffs when we lost two of our top four defensemen.
The honour is given to a player who demonstrates outstanding performance, vast leadership skills and dedicated humanitarian efforts.
The 45-year-old Chelios recorded 11 assists in 71 games this season and added a goal and six assists in the playoffs as the Red Wings advanced to the Western Conference final.
Since 1992, his Cheli’s Children’s Foundation has donated more than US$2-million to youth charities throughout Chicago and Detroit. Cold-FX, the award’s sponsor, will donate US$25,000 to the charity of Chelios’ choice.
The NHL is involved in the selection of potential recipients of the award but the final decision was made by Messier, who retired following the 2002-03 season.
Jeremiah @ a new Wings’ blog, All Things Red Wings, recently put up a nice post about the past couple of seasons and the rollercoaster it has been for Chris Chelios between playing hockey, stabbings at his restaurant in Detroit, and the lawsuit against the NHLPA.
This incident was the culmination of a rollercoaster year for one of the greatest defenseman to play the game. It also shouldn’t distract or taint the wonderful season Chris Chelios had for the Detroit Red Wings in the regular season and the playoffs. His value to the Red Wings and his strong play this season, along with leading the charge against the corrupted NHLPA, didn’t go unnoticed. Chelios was named the recipient of the Mark Messier Leader of the Year Award for his outstanding performance as a player, his vast leadership skills and his dedicated humanitarian efforts.
“I don’t have many regrets about my hockey career, but one might be never having had the opportunity to play with Chris Chelios,” Messier said. “I have always admired his commitment and dedication to the game, and I have never heard a negative word spoken about him, which is a true testament to his character. In addition to his ability to lead his teammates both on and off the ice, he is an incredible ambassador for the game of hockey and a wonderful role model - totally committed to his community and giving back to those in need.”
At the end of the day, Chris Chelios is just a person. Remove the professional athlete label and you still have a human being. The experiences, the tragedy, the triumphs, the vindication and the disappointment that Chelios endured this past season is difficult to deal with no matter what profession you hold in life. In one season, he went through a tremendous range of emotions–a rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows.
2007 State of the Blog
Like other bloggers, the summer is a time to reflect on the past season and examine my blog. I’ll spend some time looking at what did and didn’t work so BTJ can improve for the upcoming season. There won’t be any drastic changes, but I do hope to make some minor improvements to BTJ. I’m listing these now because my writing them publicly, I’ll hopefully be more likely to actually do them according to ProBlogger.
- Post a photo/video of the week
- Use photos and videos more often with my posts
- Include more coverage of other Detroit sports
- Post daily (during my school year, I really struggle at this one)
- Write about NHL business more often
- Discuss other NHL news in more detail
Goals
- Get more readers
- Generate more discussion among my current readers
- Respond to my comments and emails quicker
BTJ readership has doubled over the past year. I’ve had some wonderful opportunities over the past year including going on NPR and SportsTalk Cleveland. I’ve met some amazing people and even have a new mentor in an ESPN magazine senior writer. I’ve been able to do an email interview with Bill Daly for an English paper. According to JP @ Japer’s Rink, BTJ has improved from #18 (Nov. ‘06) to #10 (April ‘07) in Technorati ranking for hockey blogs.
I hope BTJ continues to grow over the next year and that I’ll be fortunate enough to participate in other new opportunities. I want to thank every reader for visiting and every blogger for linking to BTJ. I start my first paid job in over a year (due to my bad knee) this week so I want to thank the BTJ advertisers for providing me with just enough spending money to be a broke college student and be able to afford to attend a few Wings’ games.
I don’t expect BTJ to reach the popularity of some bloggers who do it as their job (or part of it) since I’m a full time college student who also works 10-20 hours per week for an unpaid internship. I do dream of BTJ becoming a fraction of what Kukla’s Korner, Mirtle, and Off Wing Opinion have become. Those three blogs have been an inspiration to me and my work with BTJ as they can discuss league wide issues, have readers that leave comments, and are seen as the sources in the hockey blogosphere.
I hope that readers will come to BTJ for useful and relevant news and commentary regarding the Wings and the NHL. I hope you find posts that you want to read that are rich in content, information, and intelligent opinion. I hope you find me to be one of the best female hockey bloggers in terms of tackling issues and news. I hope you find me to be a knowledgeable fan and that I can break some existing stereotypes about female sport fans and bloggers.
Unlike the past two years when I was stuck with my dorm cable which did not carry Versus and prevented me from getting Center Ice, I will be living in an apartment for the upcoming school year. As such, I am working this summer to save up money for groceries, gas, and cable bills for next year. I will finally be able to watch games other than just the Wings and will be able to better discuss other players and teams including news that may come up as I will have Center Ice and Versus. This is a step in the right direction. If I get any new advertisers, I plan on putting that money towards my cable bills.
If you ever have an idea for BTJ, a comment on what you do or don’t like, or even constructive criticism, please send me an email because I only want to make BTJ a better blog!
MI scholar athlete
The Detroit Free Press published a huge section with a scholar athlete from pretty much every Michigan high school. My brother, who attends Detroit Country Day School (like I did), was named scholar athlete from his school. This is big accomplishment because everyone at DCDS is required to play at least one sport. Plus, DCDS is known for its strong academics and athletics so to be named the top scholar athlete at DCDS is really quite a feat. Congrats Josh!
BIRMINGHAM DETROIT COUNTRY DAY
Who: Josh Hammond.
Parents: Michael and Kathy Hammond.
GPA: 4.0.
Academic: Case Western Reserve scholarship; Cum Laude Society.
Athletic: Best defensive player, all-district, all-region, and third-team all-state soccer; Plymouth Kicks third place for state cup.
College: Michigan.
Bettman comments on ticket prices
Thanks to Paul @ Kukla’s Korner for posting a transcript of Gary Bettman’s press conference before the SCF Game #1. One of the many questions he was asked was in regards to ticket prices, specifically those in Detroit.
Q. Gary, one of the things during the labor situation was I remember you saying that with the new economic system, teams would be able to charge less for ticket prices. I don’t think we’re seeing that. Getting a lot of emails from people, from Detroit and other playoffs, people here in Anaheim buying playoff tickets saying they couldn’t afford it. The amounts of money they were being asked to advance were crazy. We didn’t see any sell-outs in Detroit at any home games this spring. Where are the lower ticket prices?
COMMISSIONER BETTMAN: Actually that’s a fair question, but a little off the mark. Detroit is having its own economic problems. If you see what’s happening with the other teams in Detroit, they’re either empty seats or heavy discounting. If you go back and check our ticket prices from four years ago and you look at our ticket prices now, on average, we’re actually a tad below where we were four years ago.
In that same period of time, the other sport ticket prices on average have gone up between 15 and 25 percent. What I said around the time of the work stoppage was the pressure on ticket prices would ameliorate somewhat. There wouldn’t be as much inflationary pressure. I think we’ve been true to that considering the fact that our prices are about, if not a little bit less than, they were four years ago.
Nothing in this world holds price to what it was three, four, five years ago. Just look at gasoline prices. But with respect to our ticket prices, relative, particularly to the other sports, we have not been on an inflationary track.
Sens in 6
This will be very brief, but I wanted to put my prediction for the SCF out there before the first game.
Sens in 6.
Go Sens!
Flames equipment sale
I heard about the Calgary Flames’ equipment sale on June 2nd (from 8am-2pm) and decided to see what kind of things they’d be selling and for how much. I was pretty surprised by the pricing…
The three top items according to cost…
1) Gretzky autographed jersey for $1,000
2) Yzerman autographed jersey for $800
3) Jamie McLennan goalie pads for $750
First off, I find it interesting that at a Flames’ equipment sale they are selling non-Flames jerseys. Sure Gretzky and Yzerman are popular and well-respected retired hockey players, but still I’m surprised. A jersey autographed by the entire team was only $499.99. How is Yzerman’s jersey worth more than one signed by an entire NHL team? Secondly, how much do goalie pads typically run? $750 seems to be a lot of money for the backup goalie’s pads. Especially for a goalie who embarassed a lot of Flames’ fans with his slash on Johan Franzen during the playoffs. But I’ve never played hockey so I honestly have no idea how expensive goalie pads are so maybe it’s a completely reasonable price…
Balsillie to buy the Predators
Earlier this past week, Craig Leipold announced that he signed a letter of intent to sell his team, the Nashville Predators, to Jim Balsillie. Leopold has owned the team since it was introduced to Nashville nine seasons ago. Balsillie is believed to want to move the team to his hometown area, Kitchener-Waterloo in Ontario. He is co-CEO of Research in Motion, which created the Blackberry. Balsillie grew up watching and playing hockey and still plays competitively today. The sale has not been finalized yet as it has to be approved by the league, but it is believed that this sale will go through.
It’s interesting to me that the sale would be for $220 million, which is $86 million greater than the $134 million value projected by Forbes earlier this year.
The Nashville Predators are one of the most subsidized teams in hockey. The city of Nashville covers any operating deficits at Gaylord Entertainment Center while the Predators, who operate the arena, keep most of the revenue (the city also paid for $25 million of the team’s $80 million expansion fee). Also, the NHL gave the team about $10 million from the league’s revenue-sharing pool last season. To his credit, Predators owner Craig Leipold used most of the proceeds to boost his team’s payroll by signing free agents Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont.
By overpaying for a team that’s losing money left and right, why would he want to keep the team in Nashville?
Balsillie almost purchased the Pittsburgh Penguins this year, but had to drop out when when the league was going to make it hard for him to move the team.
Balsillie’s $175 million deal to buy the Penguins unravelled when commissioner Gary Bettman attached a list of conditions to the sale, including, it is believed, one that he not move the club until every possible avenue was exhausted.
That condition likely wouldn’t be needed this time, given Leipold’s many failed efforts at wooing the local corporate community. While the NHL doesn’t want teams moved, Nashville hasn’t shown that it will support the Predators long term.
How could Balsillie move the team from Nashville?
Well, there is an exit clause in the Predators’ contract with the arena lease that if the team does not average 14,000 fans or greater, the Preds can leave Nashville after the 2007-2008 season. The city can choose to pay the team and make up for attendance if it is short of the 14,000. This year, the Preds average 13,800 fans so they aren’t that far off. But will some fans return this year if they know the team could leave the following season?
“I think he’s going to give it a chance,” said Craig Leipold, who agreed to sell the team for $220 million. “He’s going to be required to give it a chance. The NHL would not permit him just to pick up this team and move it without the NHL believing he did what he could to make it work here.”
Even if the Predators choose to exercise an exit clause in their contract with Metro next month, the team could still be held to its lease here — either by paid attendance averaging 14,000 next season or if Metro makes up the revenue difference if the team falls short of 14,000. Under either of those scenarios, the Predators would stay in Nashville.
The business community also could increase its support of the team, making the Predators profitable and improving their chances of staying in Nashville. …
The Predators came close to the 14,000 mark last season, averaging over 13,800 fans in paid attendance.
“If the fans support the team and (improve to) a 14,000 paid attendance level, we’ll have hockey here for a long time,” Leipold said. “That’s not that hard to do. Twenty of the 30 franchises are over 14,000. The average of the league is 15,500. That threshold is pretty low.”
If I was Balsillie and I wanted to move my team as soon as possible to my hometown, I would not invest much in the Nashville team. The franchise has a lot of players who are UFAs this year and you may see the team reducing its payroll in order to cut costs. If Nashville already struggles to draw in fans with a top team, how do you think attendance would be with a mediocre roster? I certainly would not want to be a Nashville fan right about now. It has to suck.
What do I, as a Wings’ fan, think of this move?
I love it. If the Preds are moved to Kitchener, the team would now be the closest one in the Central Division to the Detroit Red Wings. I went to my first Wings’ road game last year in Chicago and loved it. I plan on going to a couple road games next year (potentially Columbus and an East Coast team) with a friend. I know I wouldn’t be able to go to a Predators’ road game because I have classes and it’s too far by car. A closer city in Kitchener would definitely be better.
Here’s the time it takes to get to the other Central teams by car according to MapQuest:
Detroit to Kitchener, ONT = 3 hours, 18 minutes
Detroit to Columbus, OH = 3 hours, 24 minutes
Detroit to Chicago, IL = 4 hours, 28 minutes
Detroit to St. Louis, MO = 8 hours, 38 minutes
Detroit to Nashville, TN = 8 hours, 36 minutes
Kitchener is less than 100km away from Toronto. The Maple Leafs recently announced that they will be raising ticket prices by 5% this year. The team hasn’t won the Cup in 40 years, yet continues to sell out. Demand for tickets is so great that the team can afford to raise ticket prices despite failing to make the playoffs this season.
This area of Canada is so completely hockey crazy that they are willing to pay these high-ticket prices. I think adding another NHL team to compete with Toronto’s market would be great for the area. I have no doubt the team would sell out and be successful. Plus, you may see the Maple Leafs’ ticket prices level off when a competitive team appears nearby.
I do feel bad for Predators’ fans who’ve devoted a lot of time and money towards a team that will most likely move away. There are slightly less than 14,000 fans who regularly attend every game and they are the ones who will obviously lose in this sale. It has to be frustrating to them to watch a great hockey team consistently struggle in ticket sales despite being only one of two professional sports teams in the city. The other team is the Tennessee Titans (NFL).
An editorial by in The City Paper believes this sale will hurt the city of Nashville in terms of perception as a big league city:
Once the Predators’ troubles became widely known, it was incumbent on Metro government’s economic development infrastructure, Purcell’s office and business leadership in this city to help preserve Nashville’s good name by stepping in to help the team. The forces that drive this city should have realized that Nashville’s national reputation as well as a major catalyst for tourism and commerce downtown was in danger.
It would appear that realization was not made.
There are no solutions to be offered that might cure Nashville or the Predators’ woes in this situation. It is likely Nashville is about to lose one of its two major professional sports teams. City leaders in government and business need to take a long hard look in the mirror. For all of the talk about Nashville’s forward progress, this is likely a huge step back.
Unfortunately, corporations just aren’t supporting the Predators to the extent that they need to remain a economically viable franchise. When the franchise was first introduced to Nashville in 1998-1999, the team had 8,500 corporate season tickets. This past season? Less than 3,000. The corporate support definitely suffered when the Titans arrived in the Predators’ second season. Due to the NFL’s popularity in America, there tends to be a bigger draw to football games than hockey.
Why is Leipold selling the team?
According to a statement made by Leiopold in an email to Predators’ season ticket holders, the team has been losing lots of money for quite some time. Over the past ten years (nine seasons), the franchise has lost $70 million. In the last two seasons alone, the team has lost $27 million in real cash (not sure what that means).
While individual fan support has always been strong, we’ve worked aggressively to increase our local business support since Season Four. We’ve tried a variety of approaches with minimal success. Our records show today that corporate support for the Nashville Predators makes up about 35% of our season ticket base. The average in other markets is around 60%. During our first two years, approximately 4,000 businesses owned season tickets. Today, only 1,800 businesses have season tickets.
Leipold tried to make it work here in Nashville. His team provided a good product on the ice and an affordable product on top of that. Plus, the Preds only had one other professional sports team to compete against in their market. Unfortunately, the team was losing money hand over fist despite receiving the most money from the NHL’s revenue sharing program.
Leipold also pointed out that the losses came despite the Preds having garnered more in NHL revenue sharing dollars than any other team in the league and that over the last five seasons (all of them somewhere between reasonably successful and outstanding on the ice) the franchise lost a combined $60 million. In that time, no one has stepped up to buy an always-for-sale minority interest in the team (the losses therefore all going to Leipold). In addition, the corporate community, the bulk of which rolled over and panted like Pavlovian dogs when the National Football League relocated the pirated Houston franchise there, never embraced the team or moved in any meaningful way to help sell the sport there.
As a result, the franchise had a lower than NHL average attendance despite having a better-than-average team and a lower-than-average ticket prices. Couple that with a lack of community and media support and it was a ticket to fiscal disaster.
Most chilling to other U.S. and even some small Canadian markets is Leipold’s contention that he couldn’t make money even under the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement. He was kind in the way he stated it, but it will still echo as a withering blast to the agreement he helped forge via a season-long lockout in 2004-05.
That column then goes to talk about other small to mid-market NHL teams and their struggles financially when the league’s salary cap is rising and they aren’t receiving much from the national TV deal. It definitely makes you worry about the future of some of the teams in this league.
If Nashville can’t float, who can?
When looking at the mid-markets for NHL teams, one would think Nashville would have the best shot at making it. Why?
1) The Predators receive the most money out of any NHL team from the revenue sharing program. The franchise received $14 million after the 2005-2006 season. Even with this income, the organization is still losing money hand over fist. They lost $15 million during this past season.
And in 2008-09, the Predators must average 14,000 in paid attendance or they will miss out on 50 percent of the money available to them from the NHL’s revenue sharing plan. The Predators received more than $10 million in revenue sharing from the NHL at the end of the 2005-06 season, invaluable capital to a team unable to sell more than 13,000 tickets in a gate driven sports league.
2) The city of Nashville worked very hard to bring an NHL team to the city and continues to be very generous in that regard. Leipold had to pay the NHL $80 million to pay for a new league franchise. The city paid $25 million of the total cost. As if that wasn’t enough, the city absorbs any operating losses that result from the arena.
3) Leipold wanted to see his team succeed and has made going to games affordable. His average ticket price is $40.78 according to the Team Marketing Report with the league average at $43.13. They spent $50 million to market their team, but still can’t get 14,000 people to every game.
4) The salary cap looks like it will only continue to rise. That will make it even harder for teams already financially struggling to continue to compete, as they may have to restrict their payroll due to economic restraints. The Wings are very fortunate to be in a great hockey city with an owner who is willing to spend a lot to win. Unfortunately, not all owners can do that and many run a team like they would any other business and you definitely don’t want to lose $15 million in one year.
The outcome of Nashville’s situation certainly doesn’t bode well for other teams in non-traditional markets.
Reactions from the Blogosphere
Dave @ Gorilla Crouch offers up his own opinion on the potential sale:
So there goes the best “rival†in the Central Division. Craig Leopold, owner of the Nashville Predators, announced that he is selling his franchise to Jim Balsillie. Balsillie, you may recall, was the guy who was the front-runner to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins but eventually pulled his offer, probably due to pressure from the league to keep the team in Pittsburgh. Balsillie was expected to move the franchise to Ontario.
So the thing to pay attention to is whether the league courts Balsillie or tries to find a potential owner who would keep the team in Nashville. I suspect this is a deal that has already received the league’s blessing -otherwise why would Balsillie even make the offer so soon after being rebuffed by the league? It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if the league told him to bow out of the Pittsburgh bidding and that he would get another franchise in fairly short order. It has been no secret that the Predators have struggled to gain support and that Leopold could have pulled the team out of the city as soon as the 2008-09 season if certain benchmarks weren’t reached.
Moving the franchise to Ontario makes perfect sense. For those who aren’t familiar with the geographic makeup of the province it is likely the biggest hotbed of hockey in North America. Within the province you have Toronto and Ottawa. But just beyond its borders you also have Detroit, Buffalo and - perhaps a stretch - Minneapolis. Legendary coach Herb Brooks said that Minnesotans think of themselves as southern Manitobans. But Manitoba doesn’t have any current NHL teams. Toronto is obviously the Notre Dame of the NHL - and they’ve had about as much playoff success lately. It is the media epicenter of the NHL. Ottawa, meanwhile, has been a very successful franchise over the past decade and has a chance to claim their first Stanley Cup since being reconstituted in the nation’s capital.
Well, I’m back at the helm after a few days at a conference in Las Vegas, but don’t even know where to begin. Obviously I need to recap my picks from the conference finals (both duds) and look ahead to the Stanley Cup Finals, but when I flipped the radio on during my drive to work and heard about the impending sale of the Nashville Predators to Jim Balsillie, well, that was quite a kick in the nuts. This guy has no intention of keeping the team in Nashville, and money to burn through buyout fees or costly lawsuits to get his way.
This just underscores how disappointing the Preds first-round playoff exit was. A couple more home games, and they would have surpassed the 14,000 average paid attendance mark, and kept the lease buyout option off the table. Now, we’re left with a deathwatch as a new owner takes the reins, undoubtedly makes some personnel changes that leave a diminished product on the ice, and loads up the moving trucks next summer for whatever market he can claim north of the border. Regardless of what the Canadian experts say, the hockey fan base is significant and growing here in Middle Tennessee, and today marks the beginning of a long, sad struggle. I was excited when I moved here 1.5 years ago to come back to a city with an NHL team, and I’m not at all happy about the prospect of losing that so quickly.
Let’s just say that it’s all smiles north of the border today.
Balsillie’s essentially acting out every Canadian’s boyhood dream with this buy, grabbing his very own professional hockey franchise and trying to transplant it into his backyard, whether that be Kitchener, Hamilton or the parking lot of his BlackBerries ‘R’ Us compound. And while the resident hockey fans in this part of the world have grown accustomed to their lot in life, namely being punted around by American television interests and the like, it’s always a good thing when the Maple Leaf strikes back. …
This is, I realize, heartbreaking business for the few mustard-blooded Nashville hockey enthusiasts who helped prop up the team — and I know they exist because there was always an earful in the comments section every time the market was dumped on here. But while the city is not the weakest home to an NHL club, it’s in the running for the title, and an owner who had been railing against the losses was surely a telling sign.
But the honest truth is that the league should never have ventured there in the first place, lest the franchise’s inevitable failure break the hearts of those who grew attached to what has become a pretty stellar team on the ice. Those pockets of fandom are now likely to atrophy into bitterness toward a ragtag league and its commissioner of false promises — not to mention the Canadian billionaire who stole their team away.
Just don’t expect any sympathy from the puck-rabid masses to the north, where they’ve seen their fair share of heartbreaking hockey exits.
As Paul McCann said, this throws everything into question. Could be awesome. Or he could immediately exercise the out clause the Predators have with the city (which honestly Leipold would have been dumb not to do himself) and start the wheels for the team to move. He has many times in the past expressed a desire to have another team in north, even another in the Toronto area (which could easily support an additional team).
FYI: the deadline for the team to notify the city of its intent to exercise the attendance-based out clause in their contract is June 19th (60 days after the end of the season). Even if they do exercise that clause, the city can always buy the extra tickets and prevent the move. The team would have to stay here. And honestly, given the sweet deal with the city that the team has, they would REALLY have to have a lot of money to throw away to move the team…which I guess Balsillie does…
On the other hand, this could be the boost the team needed. A Canadian (read: long-time, hardcore) hockey fan takes over the team to make it a quality product on the ice (which it has been) and off the ice (not so much lately). We could get new coaches after all (though he’d have to fire them since Leipold just resigned them) and he could invest major money in major players, which Leipold did some, but these pockets go much deeper.