Why no team in Seattle?

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BingoTough
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Why no team in Seattle?

Post by BingoTough »

Ever since I was a young'un I thought Seattle would be a great rival for Vancouver, better even than Calgary / Edmonton. When the Grizzlies came to town I was hopeful but unfortunately basketball is crap and so I never cared. And then they left town.

Anyways, last night I was having a chat with an Sharks fan (in the UK no less), and we both wondered why Seattle doesn't have an NHL team, especially considering the Sonics have moved. Apart from the Seahawks, there's nothing during the winter months.

Thoughts? Does anybody have a clue as to why this never happened? Surely it's an easier sell for Basile than Hamilton. Billy Gates could buy up Nashville and we'd have the Seattle Vistas or something.

Here's hoping. :drink:
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by Cannie »

The reason that Seattle wasn't considered as a viable candidate during the last round of expansion 10 years ago is the same reason the Sonics moved: the lack of a revenue-generating modern arena. There was no competitive ownership group to spearhead the effort, and not a huge groundswell of public support to bring another pro sports team to Seattle, with the unquestioned devotion to the Mariners and Seahawks dominating the pro sports landscape.

However, things have changed. The Sonics have departed, the Seahawks and Mariners are in the throes of a down cycle, and the Washington Huskies are irrelevant for the first time in many decades. As you mention, there is now a void in the winter months, especially between late December and April, for the NHL to take advantage of. And, with the pending renovations at Key Arena to lure an NBA franchise back to town, the time is right for Seattle to promote its credentials to the NHL as a lucrative alternative to the Nashville, Florida, Carolina, Tampa Bay situations.

And, how awesome would it be, as Canucks fans, to have a natural pro sports rivalry with Seattle to compare with the old Sounders/Whitecaps battles in the 70s and 80s NASL days (don't count the Grizz/Sonics; that was never a legitimate fight).

Food for thought, bingotough, thanks for bringing up the topic.

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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by randymeeks »

Not a bad thought but do enough people in Seattle really care enough about hockey to make anyone with enough $$$ want to put a team there?

It would be great for the Canucks. Less travel, games in Seattle would probably be more of a home game than an away game for the Canucks. But do they care down there?
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by levelheaded »

As much as I'd love a rivalry team to be established in Seattle, the desire for a team just isn't there. Seattle is a baseball town through and through, and the Seahawks are followed pretty heavily as well. Noone there cares enough about other sports to want a new one there. The only thing that MIGHT work would be a relocated team like Atlanta or Nashville that would instantly do well to create some positive buzz for the team and hockey. A string of losing years would kill any interest in a team there. I have a couple friends in Seattle and the general consesus there is, why bother. Noone wants, it hockey is barely noticed and the few fans of the sport follow the Canucks. For whatever reason it (along with basketball) is wholly uninteresting to the average seattle sports fan.
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by JJpasadena »

Can I stir the conversation up just a little bit? I am a Washington State native, but grew up in the other Vancouver, the smaller Vancouver, WA right across the river from Portland, Oregon. I personally do not think that Seattle is a very big hockey town, and I wouldn't be very confident that the city would support an NHL team. Now Portland on the other hand! Now there's a city that would not only support an NHL team, but because of hockey fan base that is already there, Portland would make a fantastic rivalry for the Canucks players and fans!

Don't get me wrong, I love Seattle, it's a wonderful city which represents the spirit and pride of the Pacific Northwest. But it just doesn't seem like a hockey town while Portland just has that "feel" to it. I would also like to point out the type of support that the Portland Winter Hawks receive from their hometown! Portland knows hockey, they know what good hockey looks like, and they know what bad hockey looks like.

Despite the size of Portland, they only have one major professional sports team in the Trail Blazers, which doesn't make much sense to me. The T.V. market there is great when you take into consideration that the Portland Metro area also covers Vancouver, Washington which is the fourth largest (soon to be third) city in the state of Washington which is also the fifth largest city if you combine WA and OR. This is why the Blazers enjoy the support that they do, because they cover the #1 and #5 largest cities in the American Northwest.

Sorry for getting off-topic, but I figured there was some relevance. No matter what, I wish that the area would get another NHL team. It would be nice to see Vancouver have a rival literally right down the street! I will say this though, even if my hometown of Portland, Oregon gets an NHL team, there is no way in hell I'd leave my beloved 'Nucks!

Nice win tonight by the way!
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by Sid Dithers »

JJpasadena wrote:Can I stir the conversation up just a little bit? I am a Washington State native, but grew up in the other Vancouver, the smaller Vancouver, WA right across the river from Portland, Oregon. I personally do not think that Seattle is a very big hockey town, and I wouldn't be very confident that the city would support an NHL team. Now Portland on the other hand! Now there's a city that would not only support an NHL team, but because of hockey fan base that is already there, Portland would make a fantastic rivalry for the Canucks players and fans!

Don't get me wrong, I love Seattle, it's a wonderful city which represents the spirit and pride of the Pacific Northwest. But it just doesn't seem like a hockey town while Portland just has that "feel" to it. I would also like to point out the type of support that the Portland Winter Hawks receive from their hometown! Portland knows hockey, they know what good hockey looks like, and they know what bad hockey looks like.

Despite the size of Portland, they only have one major professional sports team in the Trail Blazers, which doesn't make much sense to me. The T.V. market there is great when you take into consideration that the Portland Metro area also covers Vancouver, Washington which is the fourth largest (soon to be third) city in the state of Washington which is also the fifth largest city if you combine WA and OR. This is why the Blazers enjoy the support that they do, because they cover the #1 and #5 largest cities in the American Northwest.

Sorry for getting off-topic, but I figured there was some relevance. No matter what, I wish that the area would get another NHL team. It would be nice to see Vancouver have a rival literally right down the street! I will say this though, even if my hometown of Portland, Oregon gets an NHL team, there is no way in hell I'd leave my beloved 'Nucks!

Nice win tonight by the way!
I agree. Portland is a much better hockey town than Seattle. Very knowledgeable fans compared to Seattle. And regarding a potential Seattle arena, with Safeco and Quest Fields, there's a lot of debt still out there on those two. The appetite to buck up one more time for a hockey arena is basically a non-starter. And forget about Gates, he has no interest in sports teams.
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BingoTough
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by BingoTough »

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It would definitely have to be a move from one of the South-East teams. I like the Portland idea too.

The biggest downer for me is this: moving a team from the eastern conference would call for a western conference team to swap conferences. Geographically this might be Detroit, which would suck mightily. I love seeing the Nucks play Detroit.
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by ClamRussel »

Portland & Seattle have always made more sense than abo 1/4 of the American franchises...but like Hamilton the NHL just refuses to look at them. Instead they keep pushing Kansas City.

I mean really, Columbus? Florida? Nashville? Anaheim? 3 teams is LA, 2 teams in Florida.....5 of the hottest cities in N.A. yet Seattle & Portland actually have people who understand and love hockey....yet like Winnipeg they never seem to be on the table.

Imagine the west coast with Anaheim, LA, San Jose, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Edmonton & Calgary. Now we're talkin!'
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by Fred »

JJpasadena

Isn't the Rose garden OK for hockey ? I've been a few times to the older rink next door, the coluseum ?? and the site lines were good but never been in the Rose Garden. Some areana's have to low a slope to provide good veiwing for hockey... the Tacoma Dome comes to mind
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by Sid Dithers »

ClamRussel wrote:Portland & Seattle have always made more sense than abo 1/4 of the American franchises...but like Hamilton the NHL just refuses to look at them. Instead they keep pushing Kansas City.

I mean really, Columbus? Florida? Nashville? Anaheim? 3 teams is LA, 2 teams in Florida.....5 of the hottest cities in N.A. yet Seattle & Portland actually have people who understand and love hockey....yet like Winnipeg they never seem to be on the table.
Bettman wasn't looking for good hockey cities, he was looking for continental coverage so that a national TV deal was more attainable. I'm just surprised he didn't slide a team into Honolulu.
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by Cornuck »

Speaking of Portland - I'll be at a Winter Hawks game tonight - so I can see firsthand what kind of Hockey town it is. :D
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by Cookie La Rue »

Cornuck wrote:Speaking of Portland - I'll be at a Winter Hawks game tonight - so I can see firsthand what kind of Hockey town it is. :D
:shock: Hey, be sure to make it to Oklahoma City 'til wednesday.... cheers. :mrgreen:
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by Hockey_roo »

Check This out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Metropolitans

WTF .... Who knew ?????


Love wikipedia
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by Jyrki21 »

ClamRussel wrote:Portland & Seattle have always made more sense than abo 1/4 of the American franchises...but like Hamilton the NHL just refuses to look at them. Instead they keep pushing Kansas City.
It's not the NHL's job to force franchises upon people, it just depends which investors approach them. To date, there have been no serious attempts by anyone in the Pacific Northwest to secure an NHL franchise, other than some speculation (which may have been pure rumors) about Paul Allen trying to put the Penguins in Portland. If Bill Gates built an arena in Redmond and drove up to the NHL head office with a wheelbarrow full of money, he'd probably have a team there within the week. But the interest obviously isn't there.
ClamRussel wrote:I mean really, Columbus? Florida? Nashville? Anaheim? 3 teams is LA, 2 teams in Florida.....
Why do so many Canadians hate on Columbus? It was a very astute location for a team. The fan support had been excellent up until very recently (which is a product of a hapless team -- same thing happened with the Grizzlies), it's a Rust Belt city (which is the NHL's core territory), the largest city in Ohio, and with 0 professional sports teams before the NHL came there. I think Canadians have this idea that it's a random spot comparable to Churchill, Manitoba. It's really not -- it's as sensible as Cleveland which, on the face of it, is a rational place for a team, and I doubt NHL fans would have complained if the team was 2 hours away.

I've also had the pleasure of seeing two games in Columbus, and the fans are great, the arena is great, and I hope the Blue Jackets start winning soon.
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Re: Why no team in Seattle?

Post by JJpasadena »

Fred wrote:JJpasadena

Isn't the Rose garden OK for hockey ? I've been a few times to the older rink next door, the coluseum ?? and the site lines were good but never been in the Rose Garden. Some areana's have to low a slope to provide good veiwing for hockey... the Tacoma Dome comes to mind
Hey Fred,

The Rose Garden has good angles for hockey, especially in three of it's four corners. By the way, I love the Memorial Coliseum (where the Winter Hawks play) with it's hardcore 1970s look and feel! It brings back memories of watching the Trail Blazers during the height of "Rip City" basketball with Clyde "the Glide" Drexler and Terry Porter. Sorry C.Corner for talking a little basketball...but it's old NBA...you know, when it was actually a quality league!?

I think I was a little unfair when I suggested that I didn't think Seattle would support an NHL team. I've lived in Seattle for a number of years and so naturally I am using those years to form my reasoning. But the more-and-more I think about it, as long as it is done right (and we all know that it's a lot easier said than done), then I actually think Seattlites would support the team. I should have worded my post differently and said something more in the direction of "I think Portland is a bigger hockey town than Seattle, and that the NHL would have more of a 'sure-thing' with putting a club in Portland."

This discussion is great because it highlights something in which I think most of North American sports fans probably don't realize and that is the hardcore loyalty of the Pacific Northwest* fan, namely those in the main three cities of Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland. I love it when people from the east come out to visit and decide to check out a sporting event and after it's over they walk away muttering to themselves, "Those fans are out-of-control!" Haha.

*I've been meaning to ask what is the proper name of the location of Vancouver to Canadians? Is it called the "Pacific-Southwest"? I know...probably a dumb question but I gotta ask
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