Should Canada get another NHL team, and if so, where?

Question

Citing "a secret NHL report detailing the ticket revenues of its 30 teams," a recent news report reveals that the six Canadian hockey teams account for "31 per cent of the $1.1 billion (U.S.) in league ticket revenue." Many are using this news to renew calls to have another NHL team in Canada.

What do you think? Should Canada have another NHL team, and if so, where should it be?

Self-important Canadian fans given fuel for more self-importance

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Self-important-Canadian-fans-given-fuel-for-more?urn=nhl,85226

Stanley Cup finalists like aging arenas

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-stanleycup-agingarenas&prov=ap&type=lgns

TV ratings on the rise: Hockey beats hoops in Motor City

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=ap-stanleycup-ratings&prov=ap&type=lgns

Latest NHL news and views

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl

Answer 1

I think that Canada should definitely get a new hockey team.  Our country doesn't have a lot of teams in hockey or in most other sports which is not right considering we produce very successful players but they have to go to American teams because we don't have very many teams.  Instead of letting American teams win games with our players we should create more Canadian teams and not just in hockey but other sports as well.  We have a strong Juniors mens hockey team and a strong  mens Olympic hockey team and we should have a team for them top play on in Canada.

Answer 2

There's reasons why Canada should have another team and why it shouldn't.  Omitting any reference to the quality of Canada's teams: fans have a such a huge hockey spirit; faith and dedication to their specific Canadian team is rarely altered.  We wouldn't want a new team starting and either gaining fans who have given up faith in their team or being rejected by commited Canadians.  

However, I still think business wise, it would be a success and this is coming from a life-long Leaf fan.   I would say somewhere out East would be pretty neat.

Answer 3

The answer is easy. Toronto has a larger number of hockey fans than the greater NewYork area, yet has just one hockey team as opposed to NewYork's three. A team in the North York area, near the 401 and would draw from literally MILLIONS of people from Oakville to Oshawa, north to Barrie. All could get to the arena within one hour.

I STILL think that Ontario could support yet another team in the west end (Hamilton or Kitchener/Waterloo). Can you imagine a division including Ottawa, Toronto, Toronto, Hamilton and maybe Buffalo.

Answer 4

s***w that! What we need to do in Canada is; take back "our" Stanley Cup, "withdraw" our six Canada hockey clubs from the NHL, and "FORM OUR OWN LEAGUE" !!! Another small market  hockey team for the broken down, past its shelf life, tired national hockey league? Why bother, what's the point? Return hockey to its place of birth and witness the re-birth of hockey on the planet. What we need to do is take a page from Russia and form our own Canadian Super League, with the Canadian Women included and everything.

Answer 5

Regina would be the best place to put a new team. I'm from hockey crazy Alberta, and we already have two teams that sell out almost every home game. Quebec city and Winnipeg had their chance and they failed. The Jets only became popular when they folded, and Quebec already has the Canadiens. (Plus, the Nordiques sucked anyways)

If there was a team in Saskatchewan, I would put a substantially large bet on them selling out every home game. The provine has a great minor league system that produces a lot of NHL players. And just like Alberta, the people of Saskatchewan are nuts about hockey.

Answer 6

The facts you read are misleading as the Canadian dollar has risen in proportion with the US dollar. It is forecasted that the Canadian dollar will not sustain that for a long period of time. The US economy may be in a downswing but will rebound faster than what it would take to get a team moved back to Canada.

Actually, the Salary Cap numbers have risen to the very fact that the Canadian dollar has risen and I have read that it is misleadin to think that the Salary Cap in the NHL will continue to make leaps like it has over the previous years based on the fact that the Canadian dollar will not continue with its inflated value against the US dollar.

Just some words for thought!

Answer 7

Saskatchewan should get another chance.

More hockey players come out of Saskatchewan than any other place. Who gives a c**p if its in Saskatoon or Regina, the Roughriders are in Regina and they have fans from Uranium City! So even if it was in Saskatoon, the fanbase would be an entire province! Just think of Saskatchewan as a 1000000+ City thats waaaaayyy to big! Don't just look at 1 single city, look at the area/province around it!

Answer 8

As long as Bettman is commissioner he'll work to keep the NHL from expanding back into Canada.  He's got no interest in the Canadian market right now, no matter how feasible it is...

Winnipeg and Quebec City both deserve teams, but they both failed in the past due to poor markets.

It's a tough call because Canada has few large cities... if you go by size alone, Hamilton, Ontario could possibly sustain a team - but then again, Winnipeg and Quebec City couldn't do so with a similar population...

Answer 9

THE GAME BELONGS IN CANADA.

CANADA IS A HOCKEY POWERHOUSE.

CLEAN UP THE GAME; FOCUS ON TEACHING THE SKILLS OF THE GAME, NOT THE VIOLENCE.

BRING THE GAME, PLAYERS AND THE CUP BACK TO CANADA.

THE MAJORITY OF PLAYERS IN THE NHL ARE CANADIAN.

WE SHOULD TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE SUPERIOR TALENT THAT WE FOSTER AND SUPPORT.

HOCKEY EXPANSION IN CANADA WOULD HELP INCREASE SOVEREIGNTY AWARENESS, AND FURTHER         UNIFY US AS ONE COUNTRY.

My Order of Choice Is (preferably all, and maybe more):

1. Nova Scotia (Halifax)

2. Newfoundland and Labrador (St. John's)

3. Nunavut (Iqaluit)

4. Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown)

5. Saskatchewan (Regina)

6. Québec (Québec City)

All of the cities are good choices.

Answer 10

Yes of course, Canada should have another NHL team. Think of the more revenue that would be generated. I think the most obvious place to have another team would be Winnipeg, Manitoba and if not there Hamilton, Ontario. It is Canada's national past time and I also think the game isn't as appreciated south of the border as it is here so why not bring another team in either a new franchise or an existing struggling US franchise to move north of the border. Canadians deserve more professional sports teams with no territorial restrictions like Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres put potential teams within  geographical locations. Toronto should not be allowed to squash hopes of an NHL team being granted to Hamilton, for there is more than 5 million people in Toronto, more than enough to fill the seats at te ACC night after night.

Answer 11

KITCHENER WATERLOO IS THE ONLY LOGICAL CHOICE! Winnipeg been there done that failed miserably, Quebec , been thre done that , failed miserably, Hamilton , great for a short stop until Kitchener builds a state of the art facility. If you build it in Kitchener it falls out of the Leafs jurisdiction. There are crazy fans here In Kitchener. And the amount of people in this area is huge! And Jim Ballssillie is from Waterloo NOT Hamilton. So why would he buy a team and move it permanently to a city he doesn't reside in? He won't. All of his board rooms are named after famous hockey players, So ya he wants it in his own back yard. Hamilton is just another pawn in all of this and frankly is such a disgusting and dirty city i would be embarrassed for the NHL if they moved a team there.

Answer 12

Hockey is a Canadian Heartbeat so the whole Country needs effective representation.  Winnepeg was a great hockey city.  Hamilton or another of the larger cities in Ontario could probably handle a team.  If Canadian blood runs true in Quebec, then Quebec city could raise up another great rival.  And to make the representation complete a team in the Maritimes perhaps with a main arena in the greater of Nova Scotia's or New Brunswick's capitols and an alternative arena in Newfoundland.  Of course I understand they need a sustainable enconomy, but maybe they already have one if shared.

Answer 13

Canada should definitely have another Hockey team. While people will claim that Winnipeg or Quebec city could currently support an NHL team, it is not realistic to suggest that they could do so for the long haul. (If the Canadian dollar returned to it's $0.60 status, the small markets teams would be devastated)

The only place for our next NHL team is Hamilton. The sooner the NHL pulls, or allows one of the southeast :weak sister" teams to move there, the better.

Answer 14

the most-likely locations for a new NHL team in canada are Winnipeg (having lost the Jets to become the Phoenix Coyotes), and perhaps Quebec City (having lost the Nordiques to become the Colorado Avalanche), but perhaps the most-likely of the canadian cities to get an NHL team would be Hamilton, Ontario. It already has Copps Colluseum (an NHL-grade arena), and is in a very-densely populated area. The Toronto market can easily accomodate a second (or third, if you include Buffalo) NHL team, and it would boost southern ontario cities like London.  As well, i'd say it's about time Halifax gets a team, to represent Atlantic Canada.

Answer 15

Yes Canada should have another NHL team and I feel it should go into one of the maritime cities, personally I'd say Halifax. The west has several teams, Ontario has a few, Quebec has one, it has already had two and for whatever reason it did not work in this day and age. People forget that the maritime provinces are small, that you can travel from Halifax to Moncton in about 3hours. People from all 3 provinces travel in and out of halifax daily. They would just as easily travel there for a NHL game. Halifax, at over 400, 000+ people, has a larger population base than Windsor, Ontario.

Answer 16

Why not add a team in the Martimes, now I know that they aren't as big of a market as the rest of the Canadian cities, but atleast we'd have a team coast to coast.  I know they'd probably fail, but it's better than hearing Winnipeg or Quebec where the fans obviously didn't truly appreciate the teams they had, till they realized they were actually leaving, then came out in numbers.  Pfft, to little to late.  And hey, if they don't expand, we can always send the Oilers over there, lol.

Answer 17

Hamilton would be great, but there is no way that the Maple Laffs would allow that to happen - it might s***w up their bottom line, especially because the Hamilton team would win the Stanley Cup before the Laffs.  

It would be too tough on Laffs management if they actually had to put a decent team on the ice to make money, instead of the mediocre team that they put in front of their zombie/lemming fans every season instead.

Answer 18

I think that Canada should have another NHL team.  We only have six teams, while the US has at least three times as many.  I think that it should be in Halifax, NS because we have the capability to host a major event such as the recent World Hockey Championships we co-hosted with Quebec City.  It proves that Halifax is capable of handling something like an NHL game.  I'm only saying that it should be in Halifax because I live there.

Answer 19

No, I think Canada should form it's own league.

We are presently supporting the NHL.

Why not form a league that is regionally represented, and impose a stipulation  that each team must have an import rule for regional representation of players from Canada.

Permit a few international imports on each team, and aggressively pursue the top juniors.

The time is right...the NHL has a cap on salaries for juniors, the Canadian teams are already supporting the teams from Dixie with the equalization formula, and the $ is even.

If the people from RIM really want to think outside the box.

Put your $250M down, find some playmates, and tell the southerners, where to go.

Where is Gary Davidson?

Answer 20

I say Winnipeg should get it as Ontario already has the Leafs and the Sens, and Quebec have the Habs. It would be nice to have the NHL have a team in every province like they have a team (or two) in every state. Winnipeg is a good choice because it is a most central major city location in Canada, and the NHL will be starting to fill in the huge no NHL team gap from Alberta to Ontario. For the future, the next team that should come to Cananda should go to  Regina, Saskatchewan.

Answer 21

Yes,we obviously represent the majority of the leagues income when you see that 6 teams give 33% revenues.We are the real fans,we know the game and appreciate it much more. The team should go where the people are,southwestern Ontario. Hamilton seems good,but, they need better parking at the present stadium.The league has been run by Americans that just run it like a business,teams in the south are struggling. Think about it ,hockey in the desert?When I have been in the south,the people there don't care or, in some cases don't even know hockey exists.

Answer 22

The most logical choice would be southern Ontario, in the Kitchner-Waterloo area.  The population growth is off the charts, and with Leafs tickets an overpriced pipe dream, a second team would make every sense.  

In the short run they would probably have to play at Copps, and then move into a purpose-built facility in K-W.

My point of contention is that there are more teams in the NY/NJ area (three) and the state of California (three) than in the province of Ontario (two).  

Winnipeg and Quebec City are not sustainable (Winnipeg being a romantic choice though), for Quebec City the tax situation is a huge non-starter.  

Adding a 7th Canadian team would also, in theory at least, make the next round of Canadian rights fee bidding interesting.  Would Global/CTV try to come in and bid for the CBC package given a second GTA franchise, and what of the cable package?

The wild card is that the Canadian teams have had a huge boost with the exchange rate, which was murder several years ago.  Obviously if we're back to 62 cent CDN this is a nonstarter.

The corollary is that the impact in the US would be negligible, at best as the big-market US teams are not relocation targets.  Plus, the free-to-air broadcaster pays zero upfront rights fees (NBC).

It's time for the NHL to realize that its "Southern Strategy" has been, at best, a mixed blessing.  Sure, teams like Dallas, San Jose, and (to a limited extent) Anaheim could be called successes, Atlanta, Florida, Nashville are all disasters (poor attendance, money losing, tv ratings are poor).  Carolina and Tampa, despite winning Cups, have very fickle fan bases.  Phoenix should be doing better.  Minnesota and Denver aren't southern but made sense and both teams have done well.

Answer 23

With the ticket revenue,combined with the national TV contract with the CBC, Canada probably contributes even more to the coffers of the NHL than the US teams.

The 6 Canadian teams should break away from the NHL and form their own league, adding Winnipeg, Quebec City, Mississauga and Hamilton, at the very least.

They could use CBC, TSN, etc. TV contracts to be self sufficient.

After a couple years they could allow the Red Wings and other good US based franchises to buy a new franchise and teams like the Bruins would not be allowed to join. A new team with different ownership from Boston can join along with Chicago and other quality cities.

It's time to take back pro hockey!!

Answer 24

Is the Pope Catholic?  Yes, we should have another NHL team in Canada, and it should be in Winnipeg.  The city is growing and vibrant. Winnipeg is not the city it was ten years ago and the NHL is not the league it was ten years ago.  Take a closer look at the demographics of Winnipeg vs. Hamilton and you will see that Winnipeg is on the upswing and can support a franchise.

Answer 25

I am thinking either in the Atlantic provinces (Halifax in NS) or in the Waterloo region in Ontario.  

The Atlantic provinces have no NHL, NBA, MLB or NFL/CFL franchises competing for fan dollars, but you have a lot of hockey fans in that area of the country, I think they would really support a NHL team in their part of the country.  

For the Waterloo region you have a lot of good size cities to draw fans from:  Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Cambridge, Guelph, Kitchener, Brantford, Burlington, Oakville not to mention even quite possibly people from Brampton, Mississauga and Toronto who can't get Maple Leaf tickets because no matter how horrible the team it still sells out every season.

Answer 26

There's no doubt in my mind that the NHL should seriously consider adding Canadian teams to the league, probably by moving existing franchises. Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Quebec City all have the fan base to support teams in the 21st century. Quebec needs a new facility. In my opinion, the league would be well served by moving, Nashville, Atlanta, and one of Florida and Tampa.

Answer 27

First of all, the report mentioned was made public, and was for the 2005-2006 season.  In 2006-2007 US ticket revenue increased and there was a further increase in 2007-08

Second of all.  Montreal and Toronto are the biggest providers of that ticket revenue.  The economies in those two cities, and the fans propensity towards the game have allowed them to have the highest ticket prices in the league.

No other cities in Canada have the economies to sustain the ticket revenues of Toronto and Montreal.

Again, one of the owners of the Winnipeg Jets tried to make a case for buying the Pittsburgh Penguins.  In order to make it viable, he needed $90 average tickets.  That is higher than Toronto's $88 and Montreal's $83.  Nobody in Winnipeg would pay $37 15 years ago, and nobody in Winnipeg will pay $90 today.

Answer 28

Absolutely!  I would love to see another Canadian team in the NHL. It would be great for the Canadian hockey fans as well as the NHL. If I had to choose a location, it would come down to Winnipeg, or Regina. Bring back the Jets!!

If another American  franchise were added in the NHL, then I would  love to see a hockey franchise in Seattle, one can only wonder why there isn't one there yet.

Answer 29

Mississauga or Toronto should get another team.  NYC can support multiple teams in the NHL and other sports.  Chicago, LA, SF bay area, Washington-Baltimore, can also support two baseball teams.  Clearly, the GTA could support another hockey team.  Regular fans can't afford to go see the Leafs' monopoly, and there's no incentive for management to put a good team on the ice as long as the ACC keeps selling out.  I suggested Mississauga as a million people live there, and it could create a good 416-905 rivalry.

Answer 30

Yes, I think that Canada should get a new NHL team. However I think a new team in Ontario would be redundant.  The Ottawa-Toronto rivalry is as strong as ever and a new team in, lets say Hamilton, would be too close to Toronto and too close to Buffalo.  If I were to suggest three places in order of preference where a new team should go, it would be Quebec City, Halifax, or Winnipeg.  Canadians love hockey, and we have the drive to support it.  The only caveat is the price of tickets.   The price for say, Toronto Maple Leafs tickets, is unbelievably high.  Lower the prices for the tickets, and you will see a true nation of hockey.

Answer 31

Of course Canada should have another team if not 4 or 5 more at least.  Winnipeg and Quebec City should never have lost their franchises to begin with.  However on another note I'm willing to bet you could sell more tickets with a franchise in Halifax then Atlanta.  Heck probably would sell more tickets in Charlottetown.    Winnipeg and Quebec should receive franchises again.  I would also argue to have a team in Saskatchewan and one more in Ontario.  Hamilton or Kitchener being the more populated locations.