Comments on: NHL working on sending Coyotes to Winnipeg?

By: John

John — Sat, 22 May 2010 13:16:05 +0000

The Moose would be a welcome back here in B.C., either with Victoria(who currently have ECHL), or even here at GM Place as there are lots of people who want to see the young pro-players in the Canucks farm system. Abbotsford would have made more sense, but we all know what happened there,lol. My wish for Winnipeg is for the NHL to go back soon, and the Moose find a really good home,that will be almost as good as Winnipeg is for the Ahl. A hard feat to live up to. Good job Winnipeg.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:05:33 +0000

Hockey can work in the south if the team performs well and management puts a consistent winner on the ice. The difference is a 25-30-6 team in phoenix or miami(depending on the away team) will probably draw about 12,000 with about only 8,000 in attendance. In winnipeg or hamilton that same mediocre team would probably sell out or at least draw 15,000 due to the love of the game and the die hard fans. Thats the difference. Denver has never experienced a bad team thats why hockey has worked there so well. The same cannot be said for atlanta,phoenix,florida(miami),nashville etc. I’m from the northeast and recently went to a tampa bay lightning game while in florida. They were playing the capitals. They announced attendance at 11,000 (probably about 5,000 in attendance) and half the arena was in Ovechkin t shirts.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:50:05 +0000

Corporate support in Winnipeg is much improved from 1996. Plus they have a new arena, which was what the problem was, not to mentions spiralling play salaries which are not capped. Canadian dollar is almost at par now too. Check the facts before forming opinions. Hockey does NOT belong in Phoenix, especially at a mere $25 for lower bowl seats. Stick to Football.

By: Ken Nambu

Ken Nambu — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:07:40 +0000

Yes, move the Jets back to Winnipeg, then the following year get the Whalers back in Hartford. Once we have the Nordiques back home, then the nightmare will finally be over.

By: Dirk

Dirk — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:55:08 +0000

Yes, but the Phoenix Coyotes’ jersey is one of the coolest looking jerseys, great color. And what happens to the Manitoba Moose? Do they go to AZ?

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:53:50 +0000

Well said Domi. The Coyotes were originally the Winnipeg Jets as most hockey fans will know. It would be a very good move and gesture by the NHL to move the team back there. The Jets meant so much to Winnipeg. It was a devastating loss when the team left for them. The team helped the city feel connection with the rest of Canada. Winnipeg is perhaps the most hockey mad city in the world and the game is very much part of the culture.
If this happens, I also feel for the few fans in Arizona, but they still have a lot of sports and entertainment options and I’m certain an AHL or ECHL team would be established there.

By: steve

steve — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:44:54 +0000

Moving teams to Canada (Canadian fans often cry their teams are moved south – but hey, they only had 2 teams of the ‘original 6′), may or may not make the teams financially stable (lets face it, Toronto is the only team with a license to print money) and certainly please fans in those cities (I’d love to see the Jets return). But, this will do nothing to grow the game in the U.S., which is the long term goal of the NHL.
Dallas had been a model franchise, growing the game in their area at an incredible rate. Other sun belt franchises should take note, but the bottom line is putting a fairly consistent winning team on the ice.

By: Domi

Domi — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:31:01 +0000

14 years ago a great injustice was done to the Sport of hockey and the proud people of Winnipeg. Gary Bettman wanted to expand the NHL into the fast growing southern US market. He did so at the expense of the hockey fans of Winnipeg. He moved their team (and heart of the city); the Winnipeg Jets, into a market which was indifferent to hockey at best; Phoenix Arizona.
Gary Bettman’s gamble was incredibly short sited. Not only have 5 different owner groups lost well over $300 million dollars during 14 years of losses, but the people of Winnipeg lost a piece of their heritage. Moving this team back to Winnipeg is the least the NHL could do to show they do care about the heritage of hockey, and not just market trends.
I feel for the few fans that Phoenix has developed over the 14 years. This should not be viewed as a US vs Canada thing. This should be viewed as the NHL doing what’s right and correcting a mistake from the past, by bringing the Winnipeg Jets back to Winnipeg. This would be a happy ending to a sad chapter in the NHL.

By: Jason K

Jason K — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:15:18 +0000

How would the Coyotes be more viable in Winnipeg than Phoenix? If management can build a consistently competitive team they wont have a problem putting butts in seats, and Phoenix seems like they would have more corporate sponsors available than Winnipeg (which is what I understand was the problem that led to the Jets moving in the first place) It’s unfortunate that fans in Winnipeg and Phoenix have to be caught up in all this, as a Hurricanes diehard I know what it’s like to hear that my team is a redheaded stepchild and needs to move back North, fortunately management in Raleigh has done a much better job building a fan base than any of the other teams in the South (save for the Ovechkins)