[Newsbot]

Title: NHL eyes second team in Southern Ontario
Category: Sports
Posted By: snookums
Date: 2009-11-09 09:44:42
Canadian

[PENATRATOR]

So apparently tax payers paying for a BRAND NEW state of the art NHL arena, is financially more responsible than paying for renovations at Copps Colisium, so the NHL and it's owners can get richer? Did I read that correctly

[scarecrowe]

Deputy Willy Daly said; "the team would not be located in Hamilton because the city's Copps Coliseum “doesn't provide modern-day NHL economics.”

and if that means the taxpayer gets the bill, stuff your little game where the sun don't shine, 'pardner.

[PublicAnimalNo9]

PENATRATOR PENATRATOR:

So apparently tax payers paying for a BRAND NEW state of the art NHL arena, is financially more responsible than paying for renovations at Copps Colisium, so the NHL and it's owners can get richer? Did I read that correctly

Yes you did. The NHL will make more money by expanding the league further, as opposed to moving an already existing team here. Do you think Rattman et al give a shit if the taxpayers get stuck paying for an arena?

Personally, I'd rather pay for a new arena than when we had to pay for the Skydome. I didn't live anywhere near TO at that time and I freakin HATE baseball. IF I had to fork over some tax dollars so a bunch of foreigners can play one of THE most boring games ever invented, I have no issues with forking over tax dollars for CANADA'S game.

That being said, the powers that be in the NHL would be hard pressed to find a single complete brain cell between them.

[gonavy47]

These guys ARE brain-dead aren't they? They could have solved a financial drain,(Phoenix) and expanded into a financial surety,(Hamilton). The Copps facility would have been upgraded, and all the funding was covered by Hamilton and a consortium of business's interested in the move. Daly is totally full of shit. These clowns are afraid of Balsillie because he has a brain and the business acumen to make the venture work. Time to get rid of Bettman & Co. for the good of OUR game.

[BionicBunny]

It should be one province, one team. You used to have Ontarians united but now they're split down the middle with the leafs and the senators.

Mind you, I gave up NHL hockey after the last players' strike so this news really doesn't apply to me.

[Zipperfish]

scarecrowe scarecrowe:

Deputy Willy Daly said; "the team would not be located in Hamilton because the city's Copps Coliseum “doesn't provide modern-day NHL economics.”

And Glendale, Arizona does?

[Zipperfish]

BionicBunny BionicBunny:

Mind you, I gave up NHL hockey after the last players' strike so this news really doesn't apply to me.

Yup. The Vancouver Giants are great. You pay 20% of the price, you get to meet real families at the game (as opposed to a bunch of business types that managed to finagle corporate seats, which is mostly the crowd at a Canucks game). I do like the Canucks, but I don't define my self-worth based on their performance. People take it too damn seriously.

It's even more fun to get out an play sports, rather than watch them on TV anyways.

[bootlegga]

BionicBunny BionicBunny:

It should be one province, one team. You used to have Ontarians united but now they're split down the middle with the leafs and the senators.

Why?

There are several US states (California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania just off the top of my head) with two or even three teams. If there is support and interest, then the sky's the limit.

[snookums]

BionicBunny BionicBunny:

You used to have Ontarians united but now they're split down the middle with the leafs and the senators.

Mmmmm, really??? It might come as a shock, but not everyone that lived in Ontario before the Sens got on board was a Leafs fan, ESPECIALLY in Eastern Ontario. Montréal and Québec had HUGE followings. Even today, there are tons of Habs fans (those poor souls!) in Ontario.

As bootlegga said, if there's demand, the sky's the limit...

[OnTheIce]

PENATRATOR PENATRATOR:

So apparently tax payers paying for a BRAND NEW state of the art NHL arena, is financially more responsible than paying for renovations at Copps Colisium, so the NHL and it's owners can get richer? Did I read that correctly

Copps is a dump. Let's just get that out there.

The downtown core of Hamilton is a mess and a bad location when you try and jam 15+ thousand people into the arena.

Tax payers will be partially on the hook for the reno's in Hamilton so why not build a better arena in a better location using the same dollars?

[Lemmy]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

Copps is a dump. Let's just get that out there.

The downtown core of Hamilton is a mess and a bad location when you try and jam 15+ thousand people into the arena.

Tax payers will be partially on the hook for the reno's in Hamilton so why not build a better arena in a better location using the same dollars?

Balsillie's long-term plan was to put his team in K-W and tap into the higher income technology workers in the K-W-Cambridge-Guelph corridor. Copps was just a means to an end for Jimmy-boy. If the team were to go to K-W, the team could still draw fans from Hamilton, and it would be close for fans in London, Guelph, Peel Region, etc. K-W is a more central location, a stronger economy and likely draws more fans than Hamilton.