NHL Will Expand to Vegas

[pjgj13 30]

nhl.com reports that in an effort to stop the detroit/columbus controversy as to who gets to move east, and also to preserve the thriving detroit/colorado rivalry, the nhl will have expansion markets next season in portland, seatle, vegas, mexico city, honduras, salt lake city, nagano, and honolulu. this will effectively move detroit, columbus, dallas and colorado to the eastern conference. peace will be restored.

Actually Nagano is further east than any team in the NHL. Therefore the Wings / Aves rivalry will not exist except 2 out of every 3 years.

[sibiriak 84]

That's the point I try to make. Don't we have some sort of seniority because we've been in the league 80 years longer than them?

On the point of Detroit's dad beating up Columbus' dad, there's no fight. It's Columbus. They are a nothing town. They mean nothing to anybody that has any connection to Michigan, Ann Arbor, of the University of Michigan. (Hell, anyone who has a brain for that matter )

Someone is bitter that OSU beat them in football, basketball, and probably uker (sp?) too.

[Hank 0]

Detroit has every right in the world to be the first to move to the Eastern Conference but it will never happen.

Lets face it, oustide of Detroit there isn't a big name team in the West that can really draw. Maybe if Chicago wasn't such a joke or if Sidney Crosby got traded to a Western team. But until then, the NHL will pimp out Detroit to draw more fans in a conference that already has too many poor hockey markets.

[Barrie 900]

No doubt I'm in the minority here, but I like the Western Conference better. We have some good rivarlies against Colorado, Dallas, Nashville, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Chicago, St. Louis, San Jose, etc.. If we move East, it'll take years to re-establish meaningfull rivarlies. Some of our games against the East this year didn't come close to the hype.

What the League needs to do is go back to it's pre-lockout schedule.

Detroit has every right in the world to be the first to move to the Eastern Conference but it will never happen.

Lets face it, oustide of Detroit there isn't a big name team in the West that can really draw. Maybe if Chicago wasn't such a joke or if Sidney Crosby got traded to a Western team. But until then, the NHL will pimp out Detroit to draw more fans in a conference that already has too many poor hockey markets.

I'm not going to get into it again, but the League has said the Wings are to important to the West, and Jimmy D has agreed to it as well. We're staying West.

[Kp-Wings 3]

I'm not going to get into it again, but the League has said the Wings are to important to the West, and Jimmy D has agreed to it as well. We're staying West.

We're must be important to Nashville, since that's the only time they ever sell out.

[Jwo 7]

I am a hater on the spelling and grammar nuts

[eva unit zero 271]

Columbus

Latitude: 39 57 40N

Longitude: 082 59 56W

detroit

Latitude: 42 19 53N

Longitude: 083 02 45W

So Columbus is 2' 49'' to the East from Detroit. That's roughly 200 miles. Sothe westernmost suburb of Columbus is still to the East from the easternmost point in Detroit. Nice try. Come back when you have a better argument for moving East.

BTW, Atlanta is farther West than either Detroit or Columbus.

EDIT- Oops, got beat to the punch. Must learn to type faster

If Columbus were 200 miles East of Detroit, it would be Columbus, PA--about where Bethel Park, PA, is.

If one flew directly south of Detroit, one would fly over downtown Columbus. They're that close longitudinally.

Someone is bitter that OSU beat them in football, basketball, and probably uker (sp?) too.

It's Euchre...and someone from OSU could only beat someone frim Michigan if the OSU student were FROM Michigan.

[TheLegend19 1]

Someone is bitter that OSU beat them in football, basketball, and probably uker (sp?) too.

Maybe.

I'm just disgusted with OSU fans in general. And now, the one girl I want to date is transferring there in 7 weeks. I can't win.

[LIDDYGIBBY5 1]

The league does need to expand to non traditional markets. It will be difficult and nothing is fixed overnight. But if the NHL is going to get stronger, it is going to need more and new fans. Teams will struggle with attendence at first, but they will grow. It might take a decade or more, but if it makes the game and league better, I am all for it. Rome wasn't built in a day, my friends!

[metalwinger_13 0]

i think expanding right now is not good for the league. they should contract some teams or move them to a better market. teams like phoneix, and nashville need more fans and support and ill be happy to see them leave there old homes for a more hockey crazy towns of quebec, winnipeg, or even just fold. but during the lock out me and my dad got in a argument about expansion and even then i thought what would help the league is to shrink down so the talent pool is better, which in turn creates a better product to watch the sport, you could role 4 lines of great goal scoring and be more of a threat, like in the 80s.. just my two cents

[eva unit zero 271]

i think expanding right now is not good for the league. they should contract some teams or move them to a better market. teams like phoneix, and nashville need more fans and support and ill be happy to see them leave there old homes for a more hockey crazy towns of quebec, winnipeg, or even just fold. but during the lock out me and my dad got in a argument about expansion and even then i thought what would help the league is to shrink down so the talent pool is better, which in turn creates a better product to watch the sport, you could role 4 lines of great goal scoring and be more of a threat, like in the 80s.. just my two cents

WOW.

There was less talent on most teams in the 80s than there is on most teams now. The majority of teams in the 80s had difficulty rolling TWO skilled lines, let alone four. Pretty much every team in the league now has a solid top two lines.

Contraction is not a viable option. It would cost a ridiculous amount, and the resulting concentration of talent onthe remaining teams would mean that each team gets one, maybe two new players. Likely a player who would make a minimal impact, therefore not a significant improvement in the on-ice product.

As far as moving teams, Winnipeg failed to support the Jets. The Jets moved to Phoenix, and have consistently gotten BETTER support in Phoenix than they did in Winnipeg. Winnipeg is NOT an NHL market.

[Kp-Wings 3]

Eva, the Coyotes have been LOSING money this year. If this keeps up, contracting just might have to be an option in their case. Even the worst attendance teams like Chicago have at least brought in profit. Phoenix has been losing money, which is really a cause for concern.