
El Niño's NHL Thread
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BIGDAYSBR Aristocracy
- 02-17-10
- 48245
#6091Comment -
manny24SBR Posting Legend
- 10-22-07
- 20046
#6093Nino do you know who won this thread?
you did bruh
lets push this fukker to 2hunnit pages by times they drop the puck anywy cousinComment -
Vegas39BARRELED IN @ SBR!
- 09-22-11
- 30686
#6095Did you see Rocket
Kings vs Sharks as part of this seasons stadium seriesComment -
El NinoSBR Posting Legend
- 05-03-12
- 18426
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King MayanSBR Posting Legend
- 09-22-10
- 21326
#6104
Better than some putos wearing skirts and blowing bagpipes you ginger fukk!!!!!!!!!!'
GO KINGS GO!!!Comment -
manny24SBR Posting Legend
- 10-22-07
- 20046
#6107Comment -
Russian RocketSBR Aristocracy
- 09-02-12
- 43910
#6108
Ryan Reaves does not appreciate your (skin) tone, EA Sports
EA Sports prides itself on accuracy and realism in its sports video games, from the ratings of players to the “if it’s in the game, it’s in the game” graphics.
But Ryan Reaves of the St. Louis Blues found one facet of its NHL series lacking in its attention to detail.
Let’s just say it’s an off-color misstep:
(We’re assuming it’s NHL 14 he’s speaking about, unless he’s playing a pre-release version of NHL 15.)
Do not adjust your contrast settings. That’s what Reaves tweeted on Monday, showing a slight skin-tone variation between the IRL and video game versions of the Blues brawler.
Hey, times are tough all over. Maybe EA Sports ran out of budget space and defaulted to using the “Subban template” for all black NHL players.
<figure id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409024576538_1692" class="cover get-lbdata-from-dom go-to-slideshow-lightbox" data-orig-index="1">EA Sports has come under fire before for lack of facial accuracy, but that’s been through problems with its “game face” interface that puts users faces in the game. (See the great white guy beard issue for FIFA soccer.)</figure>
This one … well, this one’s a little more delicate. In the sense that they’ve apparently angered a man that can put his fist through the back of your head if properly motivated. Better hurry up with that expander pack …Comment -
Vegas39BARRELED IN @ SBR!
- 09-22-11
- 30686
#6109way to go EA sports
Comment -
El NinoSBR Posting Legend
- 05-03-12
- 18426
#6110Wakey wakey! Only 42 more days until the NHL season starts!
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Russian RocketSBR Aristocracy
- 09-02-12
- 43910
#6113I'm not sure I'm feeling this future Vegas NHL team...could potently be another disaster market like Atlanta, where no one knows anything about hockey.
Seattle on the other hand might be a great new market for NHL, while Toronto...do they really need a 2nd shitty team?
<header id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409154932551_917" class="header"> Four new NHL expansion teams? Vegas, Seattle, Toronto and Quebec by 2017: Report
</header> <figure id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409154932551_1460" class=" cover get-lbdata-from-dom go-to-slideshow-lightbox " data-id="43ceed90-2db6-11e4-bf7f-41ad140f65f2">
</figure>
There are few topics in the NHL that get people buzzing like expansion and relocation do. Drop some morsel of news in the dead of August, and it’s like tossing the last bite of a Shake Shack burger to a flock of pigeons in Central Park.
On Tuesday, Tony Gallagher and Howard Bloom chucked their meat and the flock went crazy. Gallagher said that NHL expansion to Las Vegas was a “done deal,” and then Bloom upped the ante by claiming that the NHL will add Vegas, Seattle, a second Toronto franchise and Quebec City by 2017, the 100th anniversary of the League.
Bill Daly of the NHL said the four-team expansion is "not in" the NHL's plans. Because what else is he supposed to say...
Gallagher of The Province wrote with finality that the NHL was coming to Las Vegas through expansion:
Sources close to the situation have indicated Las Vegas is a done deal, the only thing to be determined being which owner will be entitled to proclaim that he brought the first major league sports franchise to Sin City.
And given how dead set against a team in the gambling haven the commissioner was 10 years ago, this move into another player friendly state-tax-free zone represents a considerable about-face indeed.
You know, we started getting an inkling that Bettman had changed his tune on Las Vegas when he moved one of the league’s signature promotional events there in 2009, but yes, this is a considerable about-face indeed!
So, in summary, expansion to Las Vegas is a “done deal” except for the fact that there isn’t an ownership group that’s been approved by the Board of Governors; nor is there an expansion fee established for the market that would, in theory, determine who’s willing to buy-in (oooh, Vegas parlance!).
Look, we’re all in total squee-mode for a team in Vegas. Or really any declaration that expansion is going to happen. But the proliferation of this “done deal” report – by Tony Gallagher, no less – is the most Hockey August moment in the history of Hockey August.
For the love of Balsillie, he actually writes “the only thing to be determined” is the group actually owning the team. That’s like writing, “The Penguins are going to trade for a first-line winger. They just need to find a team that will trade them one.”
Is Vegas a done deal? Of course not.
Is it likely? Connecting the dots, one could draw that conclusion.
MGM Grand and AEG aren’t building a $375 million arena to house a Carrot Top repertoire. The NHL didn’t structure its realigned conferences with 16 in the East and 14 in the West to make things easier for Winnipeg. And with the NHL pulling in record revenue, attendance and ratings, the iron hasn’t been hotter to strike for expansion.
But as we’ve noted previously about Vegas: It’s unlike any other market in professional sports. There’s unrivaled competition for entertainment dollars. Many of the people who would attend the games as local fans are working while the games are being played. The largest target audience for the team would be the casinos who fill the considerable luxury box space in the new arena and tourists who pop in to see a game while in Sin City – or, perhaps, get comp’d for one.
It wouldn’t surprise us in the least to see the NHL dive into the market, despite those mysteries, just to be first ones in and because Bettman obviously believes an association with Vegas brings some level of prestige to the League.
But what about the other three teams?<figure id="yui_3_16_0_1_1409154932551_1650" class="cover get-lbdata-from-dom go-to-slideshow-lightbox" data-orig-index="1"></figure>
***Bloom, of Sports Business News, reported later on Tuesday that the NHL was going full-on expansiongasm by adding every city that it’s considering adding for the last several years. Four new franchises, none through relocation:
“NHL expansion – four teams added by 2017, Quebec City, Toronto, Seattle, and Las Vegas $1.4b in expansion fees”
If you’ve been following the Seattle angle, you know the situation: Chris Hansen – the billionaire, not the predator catcher – has an arena construction deal with the city that hangs on attracting an NBA team; the only hope for an NHL team there first is if Hansen has a change of heart, and Vancouver billionaire Victor Coleman is working with him to that end.
Then comes the real fight: Convincing a city council that has otherwise been apathetic to hockey to turn on the funding faucet for an NHL team’s arena.
Then there’s Quebec City, which will have an NHL-ready arena next year and has no shortage of financial powerhouses ready to step up for an expansion franchise. It’s also been the most public and hubristic bid for a team, otherwise known as the opposite of how Gary Bettman likes to operate.
Then there’s a second team in Toronto, which remains the best idea out of all of these options. Then again, what media conglomerates are left to own a team there? The Score app?
And what level of bribery to the Leafs would it take to even crack that market?
Bloom believes this will happen because the NHL won’t be able to keep itself from collecting that expansion franchise windfall, and that’s as solid a theory as any. It makes sense that the League would expand quickly before losing that expansion money to another relocation (/casts an eye at Florida and Arizona).
All of this makes sense from a timing perspective and, of course, because we understand the League’s avarice. There are still significant obstacles in a couple of these markets, but it’s not outrageous to think it could happen.
Which leaves us with the biggest decisions of all: The nicknames! Seattle Sasquatch, Las Vegas Craps, Quebec Nordiques (‘natch) and Toronto Rakes (the sworn enemy of Leafs)!Comment -
Vegas39BARRELED IN @ SBR!
- 09-22-11
- 30686
#6114Hey now we will draw better than Atlanta and that team in Phoenix.
Because we get people moving here from all over I do think a team can succeedComment -
Russian RocketSBR Aristocracy
- 09-02-12
- 43910
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Russian RocketSBR Aristocracy
- 09-02-12
- 43910
#6119
but hey who knows...maybe it will be the best thing that happened in Vegas sports marketComment -
Vegas39BARRELED IN @ SBR!
- 09-22-11
- 30686
#6120the pricing for the regular season games would be much higher though and it's not going to be just 2-3 games...and if you take into consideration how Vegas is constantly struggling in terms of the job market and overall economy goes, I just have a hard time believing right now, that they'll be able to sustain sellouts over a long period of time
but hey who knows...maybe it will be the best thing that happened in Vegas sports marketComment -
El NinoSBR Posting Legend
- 05-03-12
- 18426
#6121Doubt it. With a city made up of tourists and relocations it will be a mixture of Florida and Arizona. Arizona would do better if they didn't build the arena where all the illegals live. Does UNLV even draw crowds?Comment -
Vegas39BARRELED IN @ SBR!
- 09-22-11
- 30686
#6122
Basketball does well for themComment -
El NinoSBR Posting Legend
- 05-03-12
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Vegas39BARRELED IN @ SBR!
- 09-22-11
- 30686
#6124Comment
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