I'm gonna start this one off with some pros and cons and
break them down individually and attempt to debunk some long standing myths
about the city of Hartford and the Whalers.
Pros:
The Hartford New Haven market is the largest without a
professional team.
The XL Center in it's current state is still better than
Barclays Center
Attendance
Cons:
Taxes, taxes, taxes, and Connecticut's economy
New York, Boston, and New Jersey
Gary Bettman and the NHL
Okay,
let's get this train wreck a-rollin' by talking about the market. As I stated
above, the Hartford-New Haven market is the largest TV market without a
professional team. Not only that, but our market is larger than several in the
NHL including Buffalo and Raleigh to name a few... Speaking of markets, some
people have brought up that it wouldn't make any sense for the Islanders to
move from the massive NYC market to Hartford. I would like to take a moment to
remind those people that the Isles are NOT NYC's team. Don't try to tell me
that the Isles, the redheaded step child of the New York teams, commands more
than a fraction of the NYC market. No offense
to the Isles diehard fans but just like the Yankees, The Rags are New York's
team. The Mets and Isles have always sorta been that..."other" New
York team.
On the
subject of markets, let's covers one of the major cons: Boston, New York, and
New Jersey. One of the major hurdles for Hartford was, and will be their
location. There are a lot of Rags, Bruins, and Devils fans in Connecticut to
name a few and you'll be ramming a team into an "oversaturated" area.
The silver lining to all this though, is that they're all within reasonable driving
distance for out of state fans to follow their teams to away games in Hartford.
(Just like they used to in the 80's-90's)
On to
the XL Center. In it's current state, the XL Center is operating at a loss.
BUT, it's a hockey arena. The Barclay's Center is not and never will be, which
is why it's such a mess. Hartford wants an NHL team. The Barclay's Center
doesn't want the Islanders. They don't even want to fix the ice sheet,
which...is kind of important for a sport that's played on ice. Many of the
major complaints about the BC are obstructed views of the ice. A lot of reviews
talk about great prices, but if you don't already know, there's a good chance
you'll be paying to see a hockey game that you'll never actually see. I do have
to say, there were a lot of happy posts on two major subjects. A lot of fans
were very happy with the food selection and how clean the bathrooms were. Props
to you, BC. It warms my soul to know that I can go to a game, take a dump, and
have a less obstructed view of the ice from a CLEAN toilet. Even as an interim arena while the Isles
figure things out, the XL Center right now, today, is better for hockey than
the Barclay's center. By next season the XL Center will have a new and up to
date ice sheet, and as I'm typing this talks about renovations are in the works
for a new arena.
Now for
another MASSIVE hurdle...Connecticut's taxes and economy. Anyone that tells you
that there's nothing wrong with Connecticut's economy either doesn't live here,
or they live under a rock. Connecticut doesn't have a revenue problem,
Connecticut has a spending problem. What Connecticut really needs, is incentive
to bring an NHL team home and I'm talking more than just a shiny new arena and some
rabid fans. Both Connecticut and Hartford are going to have to cut a major deal
with whoever they want to potentially bring in besides just dangling an arena
in their face and hoping they bite. I do have to say, since I've started
following hockey more and more (starting in 2010) and delving deeper into my
home states beloved team, I've seen Hartford evolve. The city seems "brighter"
and friendlier. At one point, you couldn't make it to any door without being
panhandled or harassed to some extent. It's really hard for to explain how much
the city has improved, but you can really see it when you walk through the
streets at any given time. The price of this new arena is what's also killing
the chances. $250 million is not a small bill and it's going to cost the
taxpayers in the city a pretty penny. Taxpayers have already had to foot the
bill for a baseball stadium that was VERY late to the party and will most
likely not be willing to pay for another sports stadium. I'm not a businessman
so I'm not going to try and solve the state's money problems , but I think you
get my point.
Gary
Bettman...Gary isn't much of a hurdle or an obstacle...He's more of a speed
bump...As in he'd be fun to run over at high speeds and see how much air we
get. Gary and the NHL as a whole are much more interested in spitting on the
dumpster fires that are Arizona and Florida and claiming nothing is wrong than
he is in doing anything of use. Constantly denying that teams are moving or
going bankrupt when the ownership flat out says the opposite. Now, I totally
understand that he can't just run around screaming the sky is falling...but
come on. He acts as if he's not interested in Hartford and then gets seen
talking with the Governor and Malloy confirms it. I'm not sure how much say he
has in relocation, but I can guarantee he'll never allow an expansion team in
Hartford. Tinfoil hat time: I'm still not convinced that he didn't help push
the Whalers out of Hartford to go along with his odd fetish for putting teams
in terrible hockey markets. Okay, you can remove your tinfoil hats now, it's
safe.
Okay,
last but not least is attendance. Attendance is important. Yuuge. It doesn't matter if you're selling tickets,
it's how many butts you're putting in the seats every night. Now every mouth
breathing naysayers first argument is *insert sarcastic tone here*
"EEEHHH NO ONE EVER WENT TO THE GAMES ANYWAYS." You're stupid and you should apologize to
everyone for using up our precious air. Looking at the attendance in the NHL as
of today (02/12/17) the Whalers at their peak in 87-88 had a higher average
attendance per game than Carolina, Arizona, The Isles, and Florida do and the
Civic Center had a lower capacity. Attendance had little to do with the Whalers
relocation, although it was (supposedly) a factor. As I said in my open letter to Raleigh, it had
to do with piss poor management and
Karmanos wanting to move the team at all costs. Now, let's bring up the mouth
breathers second argument: "NO ONE GOES TO THE WOLFPACK GAMES SO WHY
SHOULD THEIR BE AN NHL TEAM?" Because no one likes the Wolfpack. Not even
the Rags fans like the Wolfpack. Relevance this is something that plagues minor
league sports as a whole. "Why go see them play when I can travel a little
ways and go so pros play?" Now I do have to say, the two years that The
Pack were The Whale, attendance spiked considerably and haven't reached average
highs like that again. Go figure, they lost a majority of the Whalers fans once
again. What The Pack lacks in attendance, The Huskies make up for it. A
majority of the diehard Whaler fans can be found at UCONN games supporting The
Huskies, because...well...They're not The Wolfpack.
So,
final thoughts. Although I'm positive that Hartford can and will support an NHL
team, I think that some serious changes need to be made before it can happen. I
DO feel, however, that the XL Center is a PERFECT short term fit for the Islanders
in it's current state. Long term? I'm not sure, it'll depend on the above
factors. Regardless, keep the faith and continue to Bleed Green.
