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The Chip ‘n’ Chase: NHL business is booming, the Panthers are the new Coyotes, #WhyImThankful, and more

Gary Bettman celebrates Rogers deal

This is a new thing we’re trying. Every Wednesday, we’ll publish a little back-and-forth we have via email. We’re calling it the Chip ‘n’ Chase. Yes, it’s a terrible name. Enjoy.

Jason Brough: Hey buddy, so I assume you’re enjoying all the big business news in the NHL this week. I only say that because I remember how much you enjoyed covering the lockout. All those fun terms, like “make-whole” and “variance” and “hill to die on” and “please leave me to die on this hill so I don’t have to write about this anymore.” Good times. Of course, unlike the many, many...many weeks the lockout lasted, this week was mostly fantastic news for the league. First there was Forbes saying the average franchise is worth $413 million, up a shocking 46% from a year ago. Then there was the new Canadian TV deal worth around $5 billion. Sure, the concussion lawsuit was a bit of a downer, but hey, it’s tough to throw a perfect game, right?

Mike Halford: I definitely don’t miss the lockout. Though I was always proud of our “Wingels is KooKoo for Finland” headline, a PHT classic that wouldn’t have been possible without the work stoppage. And while I’m still not super stoked about covering the business side of hockey, I have to admit some of the Forbes valuations were interesting. Like the Maple Leafs, who are apparently worth the equivalent of six Columbuses. I wonder if the Jackets used that as bulletin-board material prior to their 6-0 dismantling of Toronto on Monday. I can just hear Todd Richards: “Do you know what they’re saying about you? That you have a debt-value ratio of 43 percent! THAT YOU ONLY GENERATE 69 MILLION IN ANNUAL REVENUE!!!” Then they bust out of the dressing room like gladiators. Gotta be what happened. Fiscal analysis can be a real motivator.

JB: Having grown up in Vancouver, I found it pretty remarkable that Forbes ranked the Canucks No. 4 at $700 million, ahead of big-city American franchises like the Blackhawks, Bruins, Flyers and Red Wings. The first Canucks game I ever attended, way back in the ‘80s, there might’ve been 8,000 fans at the old Pacific Coliseum. Then, in the ‘90s, when the Nordiques left for Colorado and the Jets left for Phoenix, there were very real worries Vancouver could lost its team to an American city next. Add to the equation all the grunge music being played at the time, and the situation was downright depressing. Anyway, it’s amazing how dramatically things can change over a decade or two. Winnipeg’s already back in the league and I wrote yesterday that Quebec City seems like a slam dunk for expansion or relocation. Saskatoon next?

MH: I do love the idea of NHL road trips going through Saskatchewan (“You guys can stay at the motor lodge...or the motor lodge”), but I’m mostly holding out expansion hope for America’s No. 1 hipster enclave, Portland. You know how a bunch of players are growing bad moustaches for Movember? Well in Portland, it’s Movember 12 MONTHS OF THE YEAR. Seems like a good fit. As for relocation, I’ve noticed Florida has inherited the “team everybody’s picking to move” mantle from the Phoenix Coyotes. Granted, the Panthers have a lease with the county that runs through 2028 and the new owner has real-estate development plans in Sunrise, but...I mean, imagine being a Panthers fan. Can we really blame those poor fans for not showing up to games? Two years after making the playoffs for the first time in forever, your team goes into the season scouring for unsigned free agents and buyout casualties. Then it loses 13 of its first 16 games and fires the entire coaching staff. At what point do you just throw up your hands, say “THAT’S IT, I’M DONE” and, y’know, start doing the 1,349 other fun things you can do in South Florida while everyone up north is freezing?

Serenity Now
JB: I’ve never been to Sunrise, but in my mind it’s like Del Boca Vista from Seinfeld, so I actually imagine Panthers fans throwing up their hands and yelling, “SERENITY NOW!” ...before falling asleep in their seats. But yeah, it’s totally unfair to judge that market purely on current attendance. I’m not saying the NHL is right for Sunrise and/or wouldn’t do considerably better in a hockey-mad place like Quebec City, but I do feel the need to point out a team that had an average attendance of 12,727 in 2006-07. That would be your defending Stanley Cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks. BREAKING NEWS: Fans don’t like cheering for losers.

OK, so we need to take care of some corporate business now. It’s Thanksgiving on Thursday and NBC has a #WhyImThankful contest going on social media. So let me ask you this: why are you thankful?

MH: From a pure hockey perspective (ignoring things like “good health” and “my wife and child”), I’m thankful for the 48 hours immediately following Turkey Day. Did you know there are 23 games on Friday and Saturday? And that includes the Thanksgiving Showdown between the Rangers and Bruins on NBC! (Hey, if we’re gonna go corporate, we might as well go the whole nine.) I plan on dominating the couch over those two days. You can call me Lord Chesterfield-upon-Sofa.

Oh, and speaking of the Rangers, John Tortorella makes his return to MSG on Saturday when the Canucks take on the Blueshirts... who, stop me if you’ve heard this before, are struggling to score. In fact, the Rangers’ offense is worse under Alain Vigneault than it was under Torts, to the point where Vigneault suggested his team should start mentally preparing to win 2-1 hockey games.

JB: Meanwhile, in Vancouver, people are wondering if Torts has the Canucks playing too risky. Specifically, by having the defensemen aggressively pinching to keep the puck in the attacking zone, a tactic that’s resulted in more than a few odd-man rushes and pucks behind Roberto Luongo. For example:

For fans, I think it’s a good lesson in not taking the media’s black-and-white narrative hook, line and sinker. AV isn’t a run-and-gun coach -- he never was -- and Torts certainly isn’t terrified to take the odd chance. For the most part, coaches use the system they believe will result in the most wins, and that depends largely on the players they have in their lineup.

As for #WhyImThankful, well, I was thinking of saying I’m thankful for all the readers that visit PHT on a daily basis. But come on, that would be way too mushy. This is a hockey website. We can’t be seen as soft, or the readers will start taking liberties in the comments section. And then we’d have to hire John Scott as a moderator or something.

So I guess I’ll just say I’m thankful for kittens. Who are adorable.

Thanksgiving kittens

Nothing soft about that.