radoran Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 If they put a team in Hamilton it would be a full arena. The Sabres would not be hurt at all.The people who might disagree with you own the Sabres.The org has been against a team in Hamilton through manh ownership changes. Buffalo gets a lot of support from the Niagara peninsula Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 @radoranHeck, Buffalo gets support from Toronto. I know several guys who drive down there fairly regularly to go to games...it's just so much cheaper than leaf games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 @radoranHeck, Buffalo gets support from Toronto. I know several guys who drive down there fairly regularly to go to games...it's just so much cheaper than leaf games.Well, and accessible. They get lesf fans fro tronno, habs fans from hamilton - but they do hwve "Sabres fans" on the peninsula as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 @radoran Ya, or just hockey fans who don't want to take out a 2nd mortgage for dinner, parking and a game at the ACC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Hamilton absolutely deserves a team. Toronto will fight it tooth and nail so i doubt it ever happens, Toronto being the big boy in the board room and all. Buffalo may not like it if Hamilton gets a team, but they are too small to matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 Hamilton absolutely deserves a team. Toronto will fight it tooth and nail so i doubt it ever happens, Toronto being the big boy in the board room and all. Buffalo may not like it if Hamilton gets a team, but they are too small to matter.The city perhaps, but the league offices are in NYC and the state Congressional delegation was very vocal during the whole "move Coyotes to Hamilton" mess. And vocal against the move.Buffalo is also one of the franchises that would need to agree.So they do kind of matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 The city perhaps, but the league offices are in NYC and the state Congressional delegation was very vocal during the whole "move Coyotes to Hamilton" mess. And vocal against the move. Buffalo is also one of the franchises that would need to agree. So they do kind of matter.What I mean by they don't matter is they are not one of the big players in the sport and if the larger market clubs lined up and told them this is how it is going to be, quite frankly i believe that Buffalo would acquiesce. Holy cow, I just wrote acquiesce and I don't have a red line under it so it means I spelled it right. How the hell did that happen? Okay, back on track. My opinion is that if the league decided to move to Hamilton and the LEAFS agreed, I truly do not see the Sabre organization being an impediment. I really believe they would go along with it if they were told it was the way it had to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 What do you think would happen if they put an NHL team in Buffalo ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 What do you think would happen if they put an NHL team in Buffalo ? They barely had anything with Ryan Miler there. Now, they literally have nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanflyer Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 The people who might disagree with you own the Sabres.The org has been against a team in Hamilton through manh ownership changes.Buffalo gets a lot of support from the Niagara peninsula I would disagree with that notion as well. Buffalo is a small market and currently rebuilding. If the team is flourishing, maybe not, but Hamilton is a hop skip and jump from Buffalo. A new team, new arena (I doubt they would play at copps coliseum, but could be wrong), would certainly entice those Buffalo fans that are across the border. The bigger thing is that Maple Leafs ownership would never let it happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 I would disagree with that notion as well. Buffalo is a small market and currently rebuilding. If the team is flourishing, maybe not, but Hamilton is a hop skip and jump from Buffalo. A new team, new arena (I doubt they would play at copps coliseum, but could be wrong), would certainly entice those Buffalo fans that are across the border. The bigger thing is that Maple Leafs ownership would never let it happen. See, I could actually see another team in Tronno proper before one in Hamilton. Canada's largest City deserves an NHL franchise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanflyer Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 See, I could actually see another team in Tronno proper before one in Hamilton. While I would agree with that, there is a reason why they are the top of Forbes valuation list. Call it monopoly or whatever you want. If three teams can make it within a 15 mile radius of each other (NYI, NYR, NJD), then why can not two teams make it in greater Toronto? I am a proponent of Hamilton. I like the city- its much like Philly and Buffalo in that its a blue collar city. I am a proponent of Seattle as well- mostly because I would like to see that corridor shrunken re: Ice hockey (to have three teams in Cali on the west coast and the next closest one being Van seems odd to me). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 While I would agree with that, there is a reason why they are the top of Forbes valuation list. Call it monopoly or whatever you want. If three teams can make it within a 15 mile radius of each other (NYI, NYR, NJD), then why can not two teams make it in greater Toronto? I am a proponent of Hamilton. I like the city- its much like Philly and Buffalo in that its a blue collar city. I am a proponent of Seattle as well- mostly because I would like to see that corridor shrunken re: Ice hockey (to have three teams in Cali on the west coast and the next closest one being Van seems odd to me). Tronno can support two teams. Absolutely. Never been to Hamilton. Don't know much about it. Obviously, I've driven past on the way to Tronno. But I do know that the Sabres ownership (prior to Pegula) was 100% opposed to a team in Hamilton and felt it would impact them adversely. There are only 1.5M people in the seven counties of WNY and even if you include Monroe, you're barely over 2M and you're a good 90 minutes from Buffalo. That's not bad for a weekender with the family, but in terms of being a 41 game STH, it's something else entirely. The Niagara Peninsula is just over the bridge (although if you take the Peace Bridge it might take longer than 90 minutes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanflyer Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 But I do know that the Sabres ownership (prior to Pegula) was 100% opposed to a team in Hamilton and felt it would impact them adversely. I do agree with that and do think it would- at least as long as they are putting a crap product on the ice. If hamilton can support a team, then all means, why not? I think Buffalo would be upset because they get a good contingency coming from Canada to Sabres games. I highly doubt you would see folks from Buffalo driving up to Hamilton to see them play. So the pinch is that the Sabres would lose their north of the border support. For me its meh. If you can't develop a strong enough fan base in your own community, then you lose. Rochester is less than an hour (easy) drive from buffalo. There are also the counties to the west / south. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 I do agree with that and do think it would- at least as long as they are putting a crap product on the ice. If hamilton can support a team, then all means, why not? I think Buffalo would be upset because they get a good contingency coming from Canada to Sabres games. I highly doubt you would see folks from Buffalo driving up to Hamilton to see them play. So the pinch is that the Sabres would lose their north of the border support. For me its meh. If you can't develop a strong enough fan base in your own community, then you lose. Rochester is less than an hour (easy) drive from buffalo. There are also the counties to the west / south. Right, but the Buffalo "community" is literally across a river from the Niagara Peninsula. It's like Camden is to Philadelphia (and Fort Erie not that different from Camden...). The Flyers obviously rely on South Jersey support. You can't really just go by a border (be it State or National) as a means of defining what a "community" is. And if there was a team looking to go into Atlantic City (for a very farfetched example) I can assure you the Flyers would be against it. There's a reason the Sabres have "O Canada" played before every game - and that's that they have a LOT of cross-border support. My first game was Atlanta/Buffalo and not only did they sing "O Canada", the entire building staff was wearing poppies for Remembrance Day. So, basically, you're not talking about them not having that support in this situation - you're talking about taking it away. BTW, I counted the South/West counties in the "Western New York" - and some of them are well over an hour from Buffalo. I worked at the Buffalo Philharmonic, so I'm well aware of the population and distances involved here as well as what the Buffalo "community" really is. And there really ain't that many people in Cattaragus or Chataqua... And Rochester is a good hour away from downtown Buffalo (Googlemaps has it 1h16m via Thruway downtown-to-downtown). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanflyer Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Right, but the Buffalo "community" is literally across a river from the Niagara Peninsula. It's like Camden is to Philadelphia (and Fort Erie not that different from Camden...). The Flyers obviously rely on South Jersey support. You can't really just go by a border (be it State or National) as a means of defining what a "community" is. And if there was a team looking to go into Atlantic City (for a very farfetched example) I can assure you the Flyers would be against it. There's a reason the Sabres have "O Canada" played before every game - and that's that they have a LOT of cross-border support. My first game was Atlanta/Buffalo and not only did they sing "O Canada", the entire building staff was wearing poppies for Remembrance Day. So, basically, you're not talking about them not having that support in this situation - you're talking about taking it away. You are smoking me on this debate and I am losing badly. The only crutch I have left is the NYR / NYI / NJD instance. And while I used Rochester as an example, it was kind of a poor example. While many / most there are Sabres fans, they would just soon as simply cruise downtown to see an Amerks game v. driving an hour to buffalo (particularly in the winter) (add in economics and all that). The other point I would say to try and help my splintered one crutch is that those north of the border follow the Sabres because they either have a disdain for the Maple leafs, economics or distance. You put a team in Hamilton, and I bet you a good percentage of the that north of the border loyalty to the Sabres goes northward to Hamilton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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