Houston Penguins?

I didn't know the Avs and Kings played exhibition games in Vegas for five years. People in Vegas, when I was out there earlier this year, told me it both teams had played last year and were scheduled to play this year.

Thanks for the info, though.

 

just some further info;

winnipeg's mts centre is built within a city block, and can't be expanded outwards. and expanding upwards would mean puttting in a new roof among other things, which aren't feasible.

the mts centre slightly changed seating in the lower bowl corners this season which changed capacity from 15,015 to 15,003.

the only growth in seating that the arena can accomodate is a row of 12 additional luxury boxes, which were in the original plans for possible future need, which would add roughly 264 seats. the maximum the mts centre could hold fully equipped is around 15,265. there is simply no room for any further seating.

it should be noted though, that every luxury box is sold, and at prices of between $ 35-50,000 apeiece. the corporate support is there for the ahl (moose) at the least. the question is whether these same companies would pay three times as much for an NHL tenant.

 

Funny how everyone grows so wistful for the cities that lost teams. Blame the owners all you want, but there's usually a reason why they left.

Hartford averaged fewer than 12,000 a game for 5 straight seasons before Karmanos decided to move them. The fans turned out for the "Save the Whale" season, but they weren't there before.

Winnipeg? They drew significantly better crowds in America West Arena, where fully 1/4 of the seats could only see one end of the ice.

Quebec has a pretty legit beef. Attendance was pretty good - but you can't argue with the fact that they're a much, much bigger draw in Denver.

 

Yes, and it's strange how that never happens in other sports. Remember how nobody in Brooklyn cared when the Dodgers left? :

 

When was the last time you heard someone suggesting a Major League team should move to Brooklyn to right some kind of moral wrong?

If I owned the Whalers and I was drawing 11,000 a game I'd get the hell out of Hartford too. Don't know that I would have picked North Carolina, but I wouldn't stay put.