Hockey Thread (NHL)

[DA SWO]

Concur. It's a little perplexing - maybe frustrating? (for lack of a better word, because it's not like I lose sleep over this) - to see these towns, that aren't even hockey hubs (especially Vegas), have the pro level success they do when our pro teams continue to fail.

Who owns the club?

On a side note: VIVA LAS VEGAS!
VEGAS BABY!!!!!

 

[Blizzard]

Who owns the club?

Craig Leipold. He previously owned the Predators and was responsible for bringing the expansion team there but has owned the Wild for quite awhile now.

 

[Totentanz]

That we can support a hockey team in the desert with some of the highest ticket prices in the league should tell you how much we love our guys. Don't hate.



Read "Waaah!"

As much as a loathe the idea of a team from the desert (or where you can’t play hockey outside a *single* day of the year - looking at you Florida) winning, the way Vegas came out of the starting gate a few years back was truly impressive and indicative that they are a serious hockey org.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

the way Vegas came out of the starting gate a few years back was truly impressive and indicative that they are a serious hockey org.

I will preface by admitting this may be hangover from my NHL pity party, but the league change the rules after the Wild entered the organization, new franchises are literally set up for success to ensure they come out of the gates looking like a serious hockey team.

That said, and this is absolutely real, I get that rules have to be modified to incentivize billionaires to buy expansion teams, and I was admitted shocked to see how rabid the fan base in Vegas is. Super happy for them.

 

[Devildoc]

Hurricanes 1st in their division, 2nd in the league. They could go. All. The. Way.

This did not age well.

That we can support a hockey team in the desert with some of the highest ticket prices in the league should tell you how much we love our guys. Don't hate.

When the owner of the Whalers uprooted the team and moved to North Carolina everyone said they would die a fast death; hockey would not survive in the heart of ACC basketball. Not only survived but thrived. The Hurricanes are the most popular team of any sports pro or college in NC.

 

[Dame]

I will preface by admitting this may be hangover from my NHL pity party, but the league change the rules after the Wild entered the organization, new franchises are literally set up for success to ensure they come out of the gates looking like a serious hockey team.

That said, and this is absolutely real, I get that rules have to be modified to incentivize billionaires to buy expansion teams, and I was admitted shocked to see how rabid the fan base in Vegas is. Super happy for them.

Doesn't always work that way though. You can be handed everything and still not come together as a cohesive organization.

*Cough*Kraken*Cough*

 

[Dame]

Another non-believer converted.
Viva Hockey Vegas! Glitzy Golden Knights Seize Stanley Cup for a Shiny Sports Town

I came out to Vegas a year before the unveiling, visiting the low-key Golden Knights offices in nearby Summerlin. I remember snobbishly thinking: Hockey in Vegas? How is this possibly going to work?

Hockey was Orr & Gretzky, not Penn & Teller. Dinner and two tickets for the Knights and the Avalanche? I didn’t see it. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I really should stick to bikes and tennis.