I’ve never understood this sense of entitlement in Canadian hockey fans that Hamilton deserves an NHL team and that the NHL would be better off with a seventh franchise in Canada? Probably it’s that Canadians haven’t forgotten 1995 and 1996 when the Nordiques and Jets left town for what were supposed to be greener pastures and poaching a US franchise back would be coldly justifying. The way I see it, a relocation to Hamilton isn’t beneficial for the league whatsoever and the only way Hamilton might make it into the NHL is through expansion; without Jim Balsillie, who has angered the governers in the old-boys club.
Gary Bettman has drawn the ire of the Canadian hockey fan by repeatedly stiffing Jim Balsillie’s attempts to move a struggling US franchise north of the border. Not that I am an enormous Bettman sympathizer, but I do commend his decision as the NHL’s commissioner to consistently stand behind floundering franchises and try turning things around. Now before anyone thinks that I’ve forgotten about Winnipeg and Quebec, I haven’t; those franchises failed in their markets because they couldn’t raise enough capital to fund new arenas that would allow them to compete during hockey’s “Great Push Forward” of the late 90′s. Bettman stood behind storied franchises like Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Edmonton when attendance was lagging and relocation seemed imminent. Ottawa had the full support of the commish’ during their financial struggles at the turn of the decade. Now all three of these franchises are among the strongest in the NHL. Same goes for the Carolina Hurricanes. That franchise couldn’t draw flies their first few seasons after relocating from Hartford. But they’ve been to two Stanley Cup Finals this decade and won in 2006 and now the fans “get it”. This is the perfect model for Phoenix, Atlanta and Florida. Success on the ice is the most important factor in fan interest. Build it and they will come. (note the exception to this rule is that gong show down in Tampa Bay)
Having said why I think hockey could work in Phoenix, here is why having NHL hockey in Hamilton won’t be of any benefit to the league. The hockey market in Canada is economically saturated, particularly in southern Ontario. There is just no more money to be made in this Maple Leaf-Mad market. Hockey fans in Hamilton will continue to love hockey whether it’s Toronto or Hamilton or Buffalo they cheer for. If they don’t get a franchise, they’ll continue to buy Leafs or Sabres jerseys. They will still tune in every Saturday night to watch the Leafs on Hockey Night In Canada on CBC. The league’s governors realize that there is little growth to be had by relocating an existing NHL team to this region. Doing everything possible to make hockey work in the struggling sun-belt markets is a fantastic way to greatly increase revenues. And considering that many of these franchises have hit rock bottom (Phoenix declaring bankruptcy, Florida not being able to GIVE tickets away, etc.), even a slow growth with a few playoff appearances would bring the league much needed interest in the Deep South. Obviously there’d be more butts in the seats if the Coyotes or Thrashers were in Copps Coliseum, but the future of the league won’t driven by gate revenues.
It’s through television deals that the economic state of the NHL is going to sustain itself. Think of it this way, if the NHL loses a US franchise in one of it’s largest markets it will have lost leverage in trying to negotiate a large dollar deal that will maximize exposure in the US. Hockey was at its peak in popularity when it was expanding and was on ESPN and FOX. These networks had incentive to market it through SportsCenter updates and syndicated programming. If the NHL wants Americans to get interested in hockey, they need to scrap that band-aid of a Versus TV deal and get some real coverage on a major sports network.
Moving a team to Hamilton isn’t going to right the slowly sinking ship that is the NHL, it’d probably have the same effect as bringing on heavy cargo. It’s time for Canadian hockey fans to let go of their anger towards the NHL for stealing two of their beloved franchises and stop hanging their laurels on that little slice of Canadiana that declares that “it’s our game”.
