RedFX

Here's some irony. This is the first time I've heard this because I've been out of town. Where have I been? Kansas City. This story was never mentioned by the Kansas City press, so apparently theyre not over there is head-over-heels wanting an NHL team. I saw the arena and it's okay, but after seeing the city, I just don't see it as a hockey town. The Nashville area is much better. Del Biaggio said that he will keep the team in Nashville if he gets local support. He doesn't have to move the team and he doesn't have to put his team in Kansas City. He invested money in the Sprint Center to attract the Penguins when relocation talk heated up, so that's how he got exclusive rights. He's not hard-nosed about putting a team there, and he says he would keep the team in Nashville as long as he keeps getting support from the city. As of right now, the Balsillie deal is pretty much all but dead. He hasn't communicated with Leipold and he has pretty muched pissed off the board of directors. The Nashville-group is expected to present their offer sometime this week (rumored to be in the 125-150 million range). This is still all the talk down here, so if I here anything else, I'll post it.

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/phx070624.html I think he'd be a great addition. Only question is who we'd give up.

Funny, you said that so I checked the Spectator in Hamilton and found this. http://www.thespec.com/Sports/article/211561 I'm not even sure how to start correcting that piece of work. Scratch that, actually I can. Another reason hockey will fail in Hamilton. The economy is so bad, they can't even afford fact-checkers.

67% of last year's season tickets have already been renewed, which is a little above average normally at this time of year. Usually season ticket sales and renewals really start heating up towards the end of August/early September, when it gets closer. Incidentally, the OUR TEAM campaign is hosting a city-wide rally and ticket drive on July 19th. The Sommet Center and the surrounding Music Row area will be holding the all-day ticket drive in an attempt to local interest and ticket sales. This is not what Balsillie wanted to see. lol, I can just hear Leipold, "Oh, sure. NOW you come out and support the team!" I wasn't talking about the suites as much as those lower bowl/on-the-glass seats. But you are right, the suites do not count towards either attendance nor capacity.

I played some of pickup/pond hockey as a kid in Ann Arbor, but I didn't start playing organized hockey till I moved to Tennessee at age 11. I played three years of high school hockey and played AAA as a senior (coached by former NHLer Darren Turcotte). I played a year of college-club at UT, but it was too time-consuming. I still play alot of pickup games whenever I come home, but my organized-hockey years are over.

Probably the only reason we sell out anymore is the corporate seats, something the Preds don't have. Take away corporates and you have maybe 17-18,000 people a night going to the Joe. The point I was trying to make is I rarely see that lower bowl packed the way it used to be. Either that or I see it filling up at the end of the first, and it emptying out at the end of the second. A die hard fan in any city will see that Phoenix game, but those average fans aren't gonna want to spend money to see a no-name team.

The Sommet Center (formerly the GEC) seats just over 17,000. Let's put it this way. Why would you pay to see the last-place Coyotes when you can pay the same amount to see the Wings two days later. Speaking of the Wings, how packed is that lower bowl at the Joe during a Phoenix game?

The league must approve any relocation, and the reason Balsillie backed out of the Pittsburgh deal is because Bettman told him he can't move the team for seven years. Bettman is expected to tell him the same, broken lease or not. I think people are misunderstanding the attendance thing. Just because Nashville had a 13,800 average attendance doesn't mean the arena was only three-fifths full every night. They had 16 sellouts during the regular season and sold out all three playoff games. Whenever a division rival or a big name team like Colorado or Dallas comes to town, they usually bring in alot of fans. However, when a team like Los Angeles or Phoenix comes in, they bring in anywhere from 10,000 to 12,000. The stands are either jammed packed or empty, and because the arena is smaller than most, the sellouts can't really counter out those 10,000 fan games.

Money is not the issue for Balsillie. He just wants his team in Canada. The NHL has told him he probably won't be able to move the team, so he is starting to become a little more hesitant with the deal. The other group you mentioned has yet to come forward. They had talked to Leipold and had even started to collect money from various investors. But as of now, they have no formal offer.

Well it for sure won't be Kansas City. Will Del Baggio, who has exclusive rights to a Kansas City NHL Franchise, has said he is no longer interested in buying the team. Del Baggio had been competing with Balsillie for the team and even with the door open again, he will not make an offer.

Hell we would have won the division title even with a good Preds team.

Poile straight out said that Leipold no longer wishes to be the owner. He said he's just keeping the salary down to cut his losses. He probably won't have it for much longer, wether it be Balsillie or anyone else. You could kinda see the Vokoun trade coming. Mason really stepped it up last year and proved he is capable of the number #1 spot. He had the better GAA and Save percentage and is roughly 4 million a year cheaper. Add Vokoun's injury-ridden past and it became clear that his time was coming to and end. It was kind of an unspoken consensus that the playoffs would determine Vokoun's fate in Nashville. Another thing to throw in to this is the no-trade clause. Vokoun had to approve the trade, so it's pretty clear he knew either a.)he wouldn't be the number 1 next year, or b.)he had doubts about the longevity of the franchise. And I said this earlier, but Nashville still has alot more talent than people realize. Their top two lines are still in tact, as well as 4 of their top 5 defenseman. They won't have as much depth as they had the past two years, but they still have a team capable of beng a contender. Don't count these guys out just yet.

Kariya supposedly talked to Poile at the draft and has expressed his desire to stay in Nashville. Forsberg is still up in the air. Back in April, Poile said it is unlikely that he will stay. But last week, he was said to be one of their top targets. And supposedly he bought a house in the McKay's Mill area, so no clue what that's about. The Preds still have a lot more talent than people realize. They still keep seven of their top 12 scorers including their top line of Arnott, Dumont, and Sullivan. They don't have the same depth as they did the past two years, but they still have a playoff-caliber team.

Don't look into this much yet. Leipold just the NHL to stop consideration of the sale because Balsillie had put no money down for the sale yet. Balsillie's exclusive right to the offer sheet expired yesterday, which means Leipold can start negotiating with other people. But so far, those big names that have been rumored have yet to come forward. This is a group consisting of three Nashville lawyers that have expressed interest, but it is unlikely that they will come up with as much as Balsillie has.

Is it obvious that there trying to deter fans?

Will every team have the NHL logo on the neck?

1. Chicago-When you've been around for 80+ years and have three championships to show for it, you know something is up. Add a crazy owner into the mix and you got a franchise going nowhere. 2. Phoenix/Winnipeg-Little success in Winnipeg, started to look good in Phoenix, but wen't all downhill from there 3. Los Angeles-Again, around all those years with limited success. 4. Washington-Good teams now and then, keyword: now and then 5. Florida-started off with a bang (cup finals) but never put a good team on the ice after that

In your face, spam!

Okay, I'm a Wings fan first and foremost. I just live in Nashville and watch the Preds and would know how Hartnell plays. And no, I'm not comparing anything that's happened in the past. I'm simply illustrating the matter of perspective here. Knowing the perspective of the Preds fans and your response, you just proved my point. The point is, until you actually pay attention to the Preds, don't judge a player, and don't post random s*** like "kneeing people for the hell of it" until you know who your talking about.

Hey, alot of people in Nashville consider Draper a dirty player for his slash to the face of Timonen and subsequent suspension in 2000. Alot of people consider Holmstrom a dirty player for what he does, alot of people consider Maltby a dirty player for a violent slash on Nichol after the whistle last year. Personally, I wouldn't classify Hartnell as a dirty player. I think he's just a hard-nosed, gritty power forward, which is why I thought we should have picked him up because he's the exact player we need. Yeah, he rammed Legace, once. But to call him a dirty player, you'd have to call Cleary a dirty player for doing the same thing to Kiprusoff. That knee-to-knee hit (and Cheechoo even admitted this) was a result of Cheechoo trying to side-step the hit from Hartnell. I guess "dirty player" depends on your perspective. If your guy does it, it's good tough hockey. If the other team does it, its cheap. For instance, McCarty destroying Lemieux was well-deserved payback and good, old-time hockey. To Colorado, it was "a cheap-shot for the ages" (as so said the Denver Post). It's a matter of perspective. By the way, would you consider Steve Yzerman a classless player for getting three misconducts and an ejection for arguing with the refs in 2004? Also with the trade, both Hartnell and Timonen stated in the paper today that they wanted to resign with Nashville, but were never contacted by the team until after the trade. If this isn't an indication that they are dumping players to steer away fans, I don't know what is.

Someone tell me one specific time when Hartnell cheap-shotted someone.

Weren't they going to build it on Cass near Cass Tech? (Thought I read that somewhere)

Nope. Preds signed him long term 2 years back

Balsillie you shameless bastard.

From what I heard the Wings jersey will be exactly the same except with red piping on the side seams.