I went to see the Leafs in Buffalo, scalper tickets were $20. In Toronto you have to spend $200 to get a nosebleed seat.

I guess nobody wants to talk about this ? 2.7 seconds left in OT. Listen to that crowd, they are in Buffalo not TO.

Do we really need another hockey team added, it's so thinned out already. I had read that Phoenix can barely fill their rink. Do you think Seattle is going to be any better??

https://www.npr.org/2018/12/05/6736...nley-seattle-is-getting-its-own-nhl-team

Agree with you completely. The Florida Panthers have had terrible attendance for many years now.

The NHL might just be getting too big to sustain a quality product. The professional sports/entertainment industry is becoming heavily over saturated.

Let's wait and see how much of the bill the residents of Seattle will have to pay for the new sports "cathedral" this team will need.

Meanwhile Quebec get's left out once again. Maybe they can get baseball back.

They should have moved one of the bottom 4 or 5 teams, according to attendance.
NHL ATTENDANCE 2018

But the NHL wants the expansion fee. which is $500 mil I believe.

It was $500 million for Vegas. It jumped to $650 million for Seattle.

By contrast, the six teams that joined in '67, including my Flyers, paid $2 million each.

As for another team.... I'm all for it, as one more team will give each division an equal number of teams, eight. Beyond that though, I'd like to see the brakes set on expansion for a while. What needs to be done is relocating teams from weak markets. The push in to the 'sun belt' was initially successful, but as time has moved on some of these teams are failing to garner the local support they need. The Panthers, Hurricanes and Coyotes are three of the four lowest attendances in the league. The other one is the Islanders, and that's due to having a perennially underperforming team and a ridiculous arena arrangement. But they got rid of Garth Snow and are actually pretty good this year, even with Tavares a Greaf now. But they need a nice, new arena out on Long Island. Nassau is a pit and how many Islanders fans want to drive in to Brooklyn?

You had me until you said Greaf.

Sounds like Houston will be next, but that may be a relocation.

The Islanders have to build that new arena back out on the island to survive. The latest price was one Billion dollars (in best Dr. Evil voice). Who's going to pick up that check?

Leafs and my banged up Wings tonight. Might be a tough one to watch.

That attendance chart might be a bit off. For the last 5 years, the stands at Red Wing home games have been half empty. They actually put black covers over the empty red seats now so they don't stand out so much on TV. Ticket prices are way too high for a team that bad.

Well you were right about it being a tough one to watch. Sparks is brutal.

I don't know if I would put all the blame on Sparks. The Leafs didn't start playing until the third period. Maybe a case of taking a team too lightly. I was happily surprised though.

Sparks redeemed himself in the 3rd. Detroit deserved to win. Leafs fortunate to get a point.

Yes, a year or so ago they announced plans to build the new arena at the Belmont Park site. It was said at the time that the funds would be private, and as I recall it was the same mob that financed and built Citi Field. Not sure if it's still on, but I recall the announcement. IIRC it was 18,000 seats and about a billion to build (and would include other adjacent development)

Can I mention that while I hope Tom Wilson suffers no permanent injury from his concussion, I cannot find fault with how the wheel of Karma choose to spin.

Hitting is down so much, I think players don't expect it. But Tom Wilson should always have his head on a swivel.

The shine's come off the Sabres a bit since this thread was posted. I mean, the Flyers? Come on....

It's far better to always say your team sucks, even when they don't, as otherwise it's tempting fate. It happened here in a hockey thread in the playoffs last year. The team was on a roll, a fan posted how they would win the next series, and they got swept. Superstition is real in hockey. Karma too

The hockey jinx is real. LOL Sabres are still sitting good in the standings. If they make the playoff, that will be a good season if you ask me.

Sabres are one or two players away from being a Cup winner. Maybe a few tough guys to help get them deep in the playoffs (like a Reynolds). Come to think of it, the Leafs could use an enforcer too. As much as I hate Wilson's dirty hits, he was a key factor in the Caps winning it all last year.

I think the 'enforcer' is dead. In fact, if 'enforcers' were still on the bench, then Wilson would be on injury quite often. I don't feel Wilson is an 'enforcer'. He's just a dirty player who rationalizes dirty hits.

Milan Lucic is a dinosaur and one of the last enforcers. I don't think he's even actually necessary. McDavid, he's not a pipsqueak weakling, and the team as a group should look out for every player anyway. In 2018, if an NHL team has a player too preciously fragile to be on his own, he doesn't belong in the league.

If you look at one of the most effective and impressive NHL teams- the '70-71 Bruins- they didn't need an enforcer. Every one of them would defend himself or a team mate. One of their stars even tuned up an opposing player after the game in an elevator, if you want to talk about being 'tough'. Who cares they didn't win the Cup in this example. Montreal didn't beat them by beating them up, they won with goaltending heart and goals, like you're supposed to. And in this era, stick fights weren't unheard of. They didn't pay a John Ferguson to sit on the bench. Didn't need him.

Only "enforcers" that can skate make the NHL these days, and you can count them on one hand. They are not even the true definition of the original enforcers. You have to have speed, and some skill.
Truth is the game has changed dramatically, and not for the better in my opinion. They took out the 2 line pass, the game has become about speed and one touch passes. It can be entertaining, but I miss body checking. I miss where a hit didn't have to become a fight. You hit now, clean hits, you have to fight for some reason, and not good fights either. Not many guys can throw the knuckles anymore.
Truth be known, teams like the mentioned 70-71 Bruins were a group of tough guys that could play, but teams today would skate circles around them.