Watch the spin: PA boss likes two for T.O.

The Calgary Sun – PA boss likes two for T.O.:

All the half-empty buildings across the NHL aren’t hard to miss.

Funny how they chose to lead with that, ignoring that the League had the best average attendance in October ever.

Funny how the good data gets ignored, while the negatives get put in the lead.

Yes, there are cities where things are tougher. And there are cities where things have gotten better. Welcome to the reality of a large industry. Ten years ago, it was the canadian cities struggling, remember? These things cycle.

“There isn’t any question that Toronto could support a second team,” said Kelly, who was in Calgary yesterday. “They could support two more teams. That said, I think it’s a no-brainer for us to put another team in Southern Ontario. Whether we put it in Kitchener, Waterloo, Hamilton … there isn’t any doubt it would succeed. It would do famously well, and I don’t think it would impact the Leafs or the Buffalo Sabres.

“We have a building in Kansas City that’s … NHL ready. My view is the NHL would probably lean towards Kansas City first if it has to relocate a team, but I’m not a big fan of that idea. Kansas City has had a NHL team in the past — it didn’t work out real well. I would be much more in favour of a Canadian franchise if you were gonna move one.

The problem, of course, is that a team needs a building to relocate to. Kansas City has a building, and ownership willing to commit to a team, and active interest. And as to the “didn’t work our real well” part, well, heck. That was true of San Jose and the Seals, and pretty much the same timeframe. It’s a bit disingenuous to play that meme — even if it may well be true.

But the reality is that a team relocating needs a building, and on a shorter timeframe than an expansion team would, so relocation makes it a more complicated issue.

I happen to think a second team in Ontario makes a lot of sense; the Kitchener area seems the best option, but there’s no building. So what do you do? Put them in a sub-standard building in Hamilton until it gets built? Hope “someone” (read: balsillie *cough*) builds a building on spec and hopes a team fills it? That’s basically what Carolina did; it’s what the Sharks did for two years in the Cow Palace while the San Jose Arena got built. it’s a legitimate option, but it has its own problems.

Bottom line: you can’t relocate without a building. Kansas City has everything — except a team and a proven track record. The latter is something you simply have to evaluate and decide if the market can be made to work; Toronto/Ontario is a better market, but not if you are living in a 12,000 seat arena for five years getting a real building built.

“That said, we’d like to see all the franchises succeed. We are a bit concerned when we see drop-off in places like Atlanta, in places like Florida, Phoenix … I’ve been to those buildings — the people who follow the sport are passionate about it. We just need more of them.”

The two teams that worry me are the Islanders and the Thrashers. Laurie and I have been worried about the Island for a while because of the ownership financial ties to CA and those problems. More and more, it looks like that building won’t get built, and honestly, I’m just not convinced that’s a three team media market — it’s the #1 team on my “crisis waiting to happen” list. Atlanta simply hasn’t seemed to taken off, and I’m not sure what they can do to fix that.

There are challenges elsewhere, but none of them seem critical yet. we’ll see.

“I tell (the players), ‘Keep playing an exciting brand of hockey. Give people a reason to spend that discretionary income to come to the games,’” Kelly said. “That said, based upon the numbers I’ve seen, I think we’re going to be OK.”

More immediate for the players is the pressing issue of safety, especially with the number of concussion suffered because of hits to the head.

Kelly said the issue is “probably the top issue on our list for discussion next time the competition committee meets” but said the association is starting to take steps.

He said they’d like equipment manufacturers to reconsider how shoulder pads are constructed — mainly make them softer and improve helmet technology.

He added players are being shown video of hits and how to show more respect.

And that’s why I think Kelly is one of the best additions to the game in years. And it’s a lot of fun to watch him build an interested and committed player group, a strong partnership with the ownership groups so everyone is working to make the game better (and more lucrative) instead of fighting — while still making sure that the owners know they can’t NOT involve him and the PA in decisions.

(hat tip: kukla)

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