KCHH: Kansas City Hockey History has moved to KCHockeyHistory.com. The site has been refreshed and redesigned. It also now has a page for every player who has played professional hockey for a KC team. So, if you’re interested in knowing about the start of professional hockey in town you can look back at the Pla-Mors, or you can flash forward to today and find out about the Mavericks, and every other team in between (there’s been a few). Please, take a look at the site. I’m also looking to add more information about NHL Exhibition games and the ever-lasting saga of KC’s attempts to get back into the NHL.
Hockey Blog
Unaffiliated
Surely the Carolina Hurricanes are still stinging from their loss to the Florida Panthers, but I’m guessing they’re also concerned about the lack of an AHL affiliate for next season. After all, the future of their prospects should be on their mind. This all came about in April when the Chicago Wolves announced they wouldn’t be renewing the affiliation. It’s a topic I’ve been thinking about since.
During the 2022-23 season, all 32 teams had their own affiliate to send prospects. That way no team would have to send prospects to a team with another’s prospects. But, as the season neared the end, the Wolves announced they were going independent. The defending Calder Cup champions failed to qualify for the playoffs, and they believe that’s due to the Canes philosophy change. They had initially been focused on winning and developing players, but this season became all about development, according to Wolves GM Wendell Young.
So, with this, questions abound. What are the Canes going to do with prospects? How will the Wolves fare without an NHL affiliate? And will this benefit the Wolves?
First, Canes prospects. Where to? Before the affiliation, the Canes sent players to the Charlotte Checkers. While that makes geographical sense, the Checkers are now the affiliate for the Florida Panthers. In fact, the other 31 AHL teams are spoken for. I’d guess for next season Carolina will try to find a partner to share a team; or spread players through the league. Then, in the future look into purchasing an AHL team so they would be in total control. Many NHL teams own their affiliates and have placed them in geographically convenient places.
Second, I believe the Wolves will fare well as far as on-ice. In the team’s history (including IHL), they have won 5 league championships and 3 of those came during seasons where they were independent. As far as attendance, the team had their best average attendance in the IHL years as an independent (as high as 11,000, low as 8,600), but for the most part in the AHL their attendance has been consistent averaging between 7-8,000 as an affiliated team. As far as fan support, I believe the Wolves will do good, especially since they most likely will be putting every effort to put a good team on ice. But there’s another situation to be looked at. Finances. One reason the IHL had to cease operations was that with teams choosing to or being forced to go independent, the cost of operating rose. The KC Blades had difficulties when they were independent. The main reason for the difficulties was they had to cover all expenses. As the Sharks affiliate, the NHL team paid the coaching staff and most player salaries. As an independent, you have to cover all expenses.
Third, I believe the Wolves will benefit from this as far as the on-ice product goes. This will give them the opportunity to control their fate. They’ll be able to scout for the best players available. My guess is they will probably find a lot of players overseas that’d like to come to North America to play. They’ll also probably look at AHLers who are not currently under NHL contract. If the owners are willing to open the pocketbook to take this risk, I believe they can make it work in the suburbs of a city that’s also home to an NHL team. My only worry is they’ll have hurt their relationship with the AHL and NHL by deciding to go this route. It’s clear the AHL wants to be a feeder league for the NHL, and they want that to be the main purpose-developing future NHL stars.
Now, if I were the owner of a minor league team maybe looking to jump up in leagues, (say…the KC Mavericks) I’d be calling the Canes offering my team as a possible affiliate, if they could help with getting the franchise into the AHL. But that’s just me…
Kansas City Hockey News and Notes
A few interesting things have come up concerning Kansas City’s hockey history, as well as present with the Mavericks. While I had a bit of free time, I thought I’d take a few minutes to write about all the interesting KC hockey notes.
First off, a big congratulations to former Blade Pat Ferschweiler! Ferschweiler was one of the coaches behind the US win of the bronze medal in the World Juniors Tournament. It’s always great to be able to cheer on our former Blades in their current endeavors.
Another notable from this week is former Blades goaltender Geoff Sarjeant making The Hockey News power list at number 69. There is a video interview with Geoff conducted by the owner of THN Graeme Roustan that you can watch at: https://thehockeynews.com/money-and-power/geoff-sarjeant-in-conversation-with-graeme-roustan. Sarjeant is the associate Vice President of the Canadian Tire Corporation, a company that fits into the hockey world as a major retailer for hockey gear, as well as being the naming rights holder for the current home of the Ottawa Senators. Former Blade and current Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Kevin Sullivan also made the power list.
Former KC Pla-Mor and Mohawk Johnny Harms will be featured in a new eight card Upper Deck set celebrating Canadian Indigenous players. Other players featured in the NHL First People’s Rookie Card set are Ted Nolan, Jason Simon, Dan Frawley, Danny Hodgson, Victor Mercredi, Rocky Trottier, and Bill LeCaine. While the cards will not be widely available, they will be given away at events and tournaments celebrating Canada’s Indigenous people. Here’s a look at Harms and Lecaine’s cards.
And the final note for this week, tonight the KC Mavericks celebrate their affiliation with the Seattle Kraken by wearing special Kraken themed jerseys for tonight’s (January 14th) game. The jerseys are white featuring KC in the Kraken style of lettering. One shoulder patch is that of the Kraken, the other shoulder patch is of the AHL affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds. These are sweet jerseys that will be auctioned off during the game via the Dash Auction app.
Kansas City Not Ready For NHL: Always The Bride’s Maid, Never The Bride
After looking at the reasons why Kansas City should get an NHL team and looking at possible targets for relocation, let’s face reality. KC still isn’t NHL ready, or the NHL isn’t ready for KC.
The NHL doesn’t have plans for expansion. And it seems the league, especially Gary Bettman, has no appetite for relocation. Bettman has made the promise to the city of Tempe, Arizona that if they build a new arena for the Coyotes, they will get a 30-year commitment for the Coyotes to stay put (it’s odd how I haven’t heard ownership make that same comment). While the Senators are for sale, that’s contingent on the team staying put in Ottawa.
And about those other teams I focused on being possible targets for relocation. The Flames look like they’re closing in on a new deal with the city for an arena, plus they’re committed given that they relocated their AHL affiliate there. The Sharks look to have a little bit of a post-COVID bump in attendance (a little…not a lot). They’re also committing to rebuilding under new GM Mike Grier as everyone except Hertl is said to be available. They also are committed to their city, having just opened a new arena with the AHL affiliate. That leaves the Sabres. This team, while not great, seems to be improving slowly. They also look like they’ve had a bit of a bump in attendance, although I admit that’s going by games I’ve viewed on TV, I don’t have hard numbers to back that up. So, those teams I thought could possibly be movers now seem like they’re staying put.
Also, cities like Houston and Quebec City look more attractive to the NHL for any possible relocation or future expansion. There is someone in Houston interested in bringing a team to town. In Quebec City, there is the facility and proven support for an NHL team. Kansas City doesn’t seem to have any local person interested in bringing a team to town that has the financial capability to do it, and we are now on the clock with our NHL-caliber facility as it is now 15 years old (half way to talk of needing a new building). So, what’s next? Do we just give up on the NHL dream and stick with ECHL hockey? Well… My opinion is KC should be home to an AHL team. So, in my next blog, I’m going to talk about why an AHL team could work here
Reverse Retro II: History Never Repeats?
Adidas and the NHL launched their Reverse Retro 2.0 hockey jerseys on October 20, after a full day of online speculation following the terrible teasers that fans were given on the 19th. While a handful of jerseys had leaked and another handful had details leak, finally getting to see all 32 was amazing.
I do have to question the ad campaign of History Never Repeats, when clearly a handful of these jerseys are repeat designs of the Reverse Retro’s first campaign.
If you’re interested in purchasing the jerseys, I suggest preordering them from team stores, or checking the Adidas, NHL, or Cool Hockey websites when the jerseys officially drop on November 15. I know Tampa’s already sold out on their presale and has told people to come back to the website on November 7. I haven’t heard if other teams are sold out. Anyway, on with my rankings.
1-Los Angeles-The Kings take the crown in my book. They took the 80s yellow crown jersey and made it white. It’s always nice to see the gold and Forum blue (I know, it really is a ‘royal’ purple) on a Kings jersey. The Kings accomplished this RR just as they did the first one, they nailed it!
2-Buffalo-The “Goathead” is back, and it’s back big time. The Sabres had already announced the return of the black and red “goathead” as an alternate, so they doubled down with this RR, using their original and current team colors.
3-Dallas-The Stars honor their first season in the big D, using black and victory green with white and silver accents. The shoulder patches have the state of Texas image with a “D”. It’s a sharp look to the Stars jersey.
4-Winnipeg-The Jets remixed the original NHL Winnipeg 90’s logo in the team’s current colors. This white jersey looks amazing with light blue and navy logo and striping. A winner in my honest opinion.
5-Vancouver-The Canucks jersey was the first RR 2.0 I saw. It was leaked ages ago. It looked amazing then, and it’s still tops in my book. I like the Johnny Canuck character and he looks great on the navy jersey with the green and white stripes.
6-Toronto-The Leafs are one of the teams that have a hard task when it comes to reversing. There’s plenty of retro but reversing it with only two colors is a difficult task. They used grey last time and got criticized, so this design looks like they said, ‘Let’s stick with what we know.’ It goes back to a 60s Stanley Cup championship. In keeping with the retro vibe the names and numbers will be in felt.
7-Pittsburgh-The Penguins chose the popular 1993 RoboPenguin and put it on a black jersey. It was rejected for the ’93 RoboPenguin jersey Lemieux and Jagr wore back in the day, so now Crosby and the rest of today’s Pens get their own version of the RoboPenguin.
8-New Jersey-The Devils took their original design and added the franchise’s other original colors of yellow and blue (dating back to the KC Scouts and Colorado Rockies, although Adidas only mention the Rockies in the press release!). It’s a nice nod to the past, even if Devils fans object to Rangers colors.
9-Seattle-Despite the fact it’s difficult for a 2nd year team to go retro when they already used inspiration from a previous team for their look (the Metropolitans), Seattle still did it, so I’m told. It’s reported by some sources (but not Adidas) that they took their cue for the RR from the Seattle Ironmen. Either way, I like this jersey.
10-Boston-Another popular design returns with the Bruins “Pooh” bear. This jersey is the 1995 third jersey in white, rather than gold. The jersey originally was worn in the first NHL third jersey game, and was a hit with fans. This version picks up where the 90s left off. Thumbs up from me.
11-Edmonton-The Oilers bring back another early third design with Todd McFarlane’s gear logo. This time orange makes an appearance. The crest features a gear surrounding an orange oil drop with each bolt hub representing one of the team’s Stanley Cup championships. The design is classy and a winner.
12-Anaheim-The Ducks go back to the beginning of the team. They took the original Mighty Ducks logo and reversed it by using today’s colors to accent a white jersey base. Now, if we could just get Teemu Selanne, Paul Kariya, and Guy Hebert back on the ice for a team picture. What a look!
13-San Jose-The Sharks have thrown it back to the 1974 California Golden Seals with a Sharks wordmark in Seals font and colors. I originally thought that this was going to be tops, but looking back on other designs the Seals had, I’m disappointed. I feel the Sharks could’ve gone the route of designing a Shark logo similar to the non-wordmark Seals logos. But, the colors and font still put this in the top half.
14-Philadelphia-The Flyers honor the 1974 and 75 Stanley Cup wins by remixing the design in a white and black with orange accents. It’s a sharp look, that’ll look even better in the pre-game skates with those old Cooperall pants.
15-Washington-The “screaming eagle” returns, again. This design would probably be higher if we hadn’t gotten it with the last set of RRs. It’s still a great design, which I prefer in the red of the last retro. I think I’d have preferred a throwback to the Capitol with this color scheme, but it’s still a good looking jersey.
16-Vegas-The Golden Knights design is said to be an imaginary version of what their third jersey might have looked like in 1995. The cool font of the wordmark, inspired by vintage hotel signage on the strip, and the glow-in-the-dark stars incorporated in the crest made this one a top half surprise for me.
17-St. Louis-The Blues design comes from a prototype worn by owners a year before the team hit the ice. The reverse portion of the design is it’s yellow, instead of white or blue. This is the first time the team’s worn a yellow jersey. I love this design, having seen pictures of the original in the book Fabric of the Game: The Stories Behind the NHL’s Names, Logos, and Uniforms by Chris Creamer and Todd Radom before the RR release. Where the jersey drops down to the middle of the list is the color, I’m not a fan of yellow, which will come become apparent with where another yellow jersey ranks.
18-New York Rangers-The “Lady Liberty” returns, again. While I like the design, it seems overplayed. I also didn’t like that when they replaced navy from the last RR with blue, they kept navy in the mix with the outline and striping. I think I’d have rather just seen the blue. I also feel a jersey featuring the shield could’ve been a better option.
19-New York Islanders-We want fish sticks! The most tumultuous time in Isles history can be remembered once again. The Fisherman jersey’s back, and it looks pretty good. The nit-picks being that it’s missing a lot of the teal from the 1995 version. Also, where are the lighthouse patches? If RRs are done again, I’d like to see a lighthouse design for the Isles.
20-Minnesota-The Wild honor the 1978 North Stars with a jersey the Wild’s logo. This one, while beautiful, ranks this low because it’s another case of ‘Haven’t we seen this before?’ It seems pretty much like they just reversed the last RR. Question, will the Wild manage to swing a jersey ad buy from Subway?
21-Arizona-Can we say it’s a case of de ja vu all over again? That’s the reason this one featuring a new NHL jersey color (desert sienna) ranks so low. It’s a nice taken on the 1998 – 2003 third jersey, but we’ve seen it before…just in a different color.
22-Montreal-The Habs are another team that it’s tricky for them to reverse their design. They did an amazing job last time with the blue RR. This year’s version throws back to a 1979 jersey, but can anyone really tell what year the design is from? The reversal portion is the powder blue color said to be inspired by the city’s colors, but really is a nod to the Expos. Nothing against the classic design, but powder blue just doesn’t feel right for hockey. (Btw, I know I’m contradicting myself because I like the light blue on the Jets jersey, but it’s not a dominate color on the Jets.)
23-Carolina-The Hurricanes current road jersey gets remixed in red. It has two sets of hurricane warning flags on the shoulders. This one was disappointing to me. I’d heard they’d be doing a Hartford Whalers throwback in Canes colors. I think that would’ve been amazing, but I understand they’ve beat the Whalers design to death. I’m not sure what they should’ve done, but I feel like this design wasn’t it.
24-Calgary-The Flames use the 1995 “pedestal” jersey design, but in black. I’m not a big fan of the pedestal, but Calgary did accomplish the reverse part on the assignment. They also gave some fans something else they’d been wanting, but nothing beats the return of Blasty. Guess that’s why the Blasty RR will now be an alternate jersey for the team.
25-Florida-The Panthers went back to 1998 with their RR featuring a powder blue jersey that includes their current colors of navy, yellow, and red. The crest with the sun, palm tree and stick logo that was originally on the shoulder of the 98 jersey is cool, but the mix of colors doesn’t appeal to me.
26-Tampa Bay-Tampa brought back their 1997 storm third in white. The storm was in the first wave of 90s thirds. It features rain, sea, and lightning sublimated. It probably is the ugliest of the jerseys, but rates a bit higher because they gave fans what they want and fit the RR assignment.
27-Chicago-The Hawks reverse the black and red from the classic 1938 jersey. This RR features a wordmark inspired by the 2019 Winter Classic crest. This one is a yawn, but it one-ups the next one because it does have the team logo as a shoulder patch.
28-Detroit-The Wings use the 1991 NHL 75th Anniversary jersey as inspiration. This time they use black and red. The crest features a wordmark inspired by the 20s Cougars jersey. I feel like Chicago and Detroit had the same designer. No Winged Wheel on this jersey, that’s why it’s below the Hawks.
29-Ottawa-The Senators combined their 2006-07 jersey and 1997 third jersey. It’s just kind of meh… for me. There’s the swishing stripes to maybe create excitement, but Senators jerseys have never been terribly exciting.
30-Columbus-Another one that disappointed. For some reason, I thought they were going to do something with the cannon alternate. So, this reimagining of the original third in black body with navy stripes and stars on the sleeves was disappointing. I also don’t think the navy, light blue, and black gel that well together.
31-Colorado-The Champs come back with a RR that pays tribute to the state flag. While I know the crest is from the state flag, that circle inside the C always annoys me. I didn’t like the original version and I don’t like this one done in Colorado Rockies hockey colors. That’s just the way it is.
32-Nashville-The Predators have brought back the Mustard cat, but in yellow instead of the ugly mustard. Although, the yellow is not an improvement and really isn’t a reversal. The design was from the team’s first third jersey from 2001. It was ugly then, and it’s ugly now. It’d be much higher on my list if they had made it a navy jersey, a true reverse. The team knows fans want a navy jersey. They just ran an ad trying to unload more of their navy Smashville jerseys that even said so, a day after the release of another yellow jersey.
NHL Back in KC: Target #5: Buffalo Sabres
Now to our last team we’re looking at being vulnerable for a move, the Buffalo Sabres. You had to know this troubled franchise was going to be on the list. Despite not having any issues with their arena, this team has had major attendance issues, not to mention a lot of turmoil and turnovers with GMs, coaches, and players. Plus, there’s the drama that eventually became the Jack Eichel trade. Let’s look at Buffalo.
The Sabres came in the league 52 years ago. In that time, they’ve gone through 5 ownership periods. Seymour Knox III and Northrup Knox were the original owners. John Rigas took the team to near bankruptcy, a point where they almost missed payroll. The NHL had the team for a year. Tom Golisan and Larry Quinn purchased the franchise. Then, Terry and Kim Pegula became owners in 2011 by purchasing the Sabres for $189 million. They were proclaimed saviors at the time because they didn’t have the highest bid, but the higher bidder’s purchase was contingent on moving the team, while the Pegulas were committed to Buffalo.
The Pegulas purchase of the team initially sparked the Sabres. They ended up making the playoffs that season when they were not expected to. But since that 2011 purchase and playoffs, it’s been a playoff drought. The Sabres have gone 11 seasons without a post-season appearance.
Even without a playoff appearance in 9 seasons, the 2019-20 season saw average attendance at 17,167. But then came COVID, the continuing GM/coach carousel, and the Jack Eichel drama and last season’s average was 8,700, approximately 45% of capacity at Key Bank Arena (the worst in the league). Fans seem to be fed up with the franchise, the season ticket base is now at an estimated 6,500, 1/3 of what it was in the 2010s.
In 2020 one fan took to Craigslist to demonstrate frustration with the franchise. Jill Thompson, a fan of the team since the late 80’s, put an ad on the website “…looking for a wealthy owner who actually understands hockey.” But when asked about the Sabres and Pegulas during the 2022 All-Star break, commissioner Gary Bettman told the media he had faith in the Pegulas, and he believed they could revive the franchise.
Around a year ago, former NHL GM and coach Doug MacLean told Nick Kypreos on his podcast he’d heard a friend of John Tortetella’s was linked to purchasing the Sabres. While nothing materialized from that, it’s interesting to note Kypreos commented he’d heard the Pegulas had been looking to move on from the NHL. That would make sense with their ownership of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. A couple of other things that should be noted is that they run their sports teams from Boca Raton, Florida and Kim Pegula had health issues over the summer that lead her to be hospitalized in the ICU of a Boca Raton hospital. It could very well be that the 71-year-old Terry Pegula and his wife might be looking to lighten the load of their sports empire.
So, with only one playoff appearance right after the purchase and a 281-354-94 record since taking over, maybe it’s time for the Pegulas to move on. It seems like the team would be ripe for a for sale sign, as they do seem to be making some improvements on the ice. Could this be the time? Is there interest? Would there be a no move restriction? My bet is there are billionaires out there that’d love to own a sports franchise of any kind. I’d also bet given how the Pegulas purchased the team and the fact they own the Bills, a sale would contingent on the team staying in upstate New York.
Not Feeling Orange
A week or so ago I got a message from someone on Twitter asking me to write about the KC Mavericks. I’ll be honest and say I don’t know much about the team. So, I’m not sure my thoughts are going to mean much. I’ve done a little bit of research on them for my KC Hockey History website, but a lot of that is long ago and out of date.
In the 13 seasons the Mavericks have played in Independence, Mo., I’ve only attended one game. (Well, at least I know where they play, right? They don’t play in KC, folks!) I was the guest of a season ticket holder (who had tickets for one season only). It was a good presentation as far as the activities, but the game on ice didn’t impress me. The Mavericks were annihilated by the Fort Wayne Komets. The FORT WAYNE KOMETS! Of all the teams to get crushed by, why a former IHL franchise? And why the Komets!? As a Blades fan, losing to the Komets in that fashion left a bad taste.
I’ve seen a few games that were televised on channel 29 (?) in the past. The team played ok, but one game they wore these horrible comic book inspired jerseys (I think it was the Joker) that didn’t strike me as all that nice, and with the Mavericks being the home team, I couldn’t understand why they wore the “bad guy” jerseys instead of “good guy” jerseys…like Batman.
I’ve attempted to find and/or listen to radio and/or internet broadcasts of Mavericks games over the years, but I’ve never had any luck finding a Mavericks game broadcast by the Mavericks. I did listen to a portion of a game against Indy, but it was the Ice broadcast. Do the Mavericks have a regular radio home, or an internet broadcast home that I can listen to on my Amazon Fire tablet?
Recently I have seen negative comments on Twitter after the new look of Mac was introduced, and it wasn’t just about Mac. People haven’t been happy with the direction of the team the last few years. That’s something that can also be seen in the decline in average attendance figures, too. Another thing to note is the Mavericks have never won a championship title in the CHL or the ECHL. In the ECHL, they haven’t even played for the league championship at the end of the season. While they have their fair share of playoff appearances in both leagues, they’ve failed to qualify 5 times, 2 of those being in the last 2 seasons. It seems like there needs to be major changes made if this franchise doesn’t see an improvement on the ice and in the numbers in the stands this coming season.
NHL Back in KC: Target #4: San Jose Sharks
The fourth team we’ll be looking at is a headscratcher. They’ve always seemed to pack the building in the Bay, but the last few years have not been kind to attendance at Sharks games. You can blame the pandemic, you can blame poor play on the ice, and you can also blame…traffic? That’s one of the issues the Sharks brought up with their current home at SAP Center. During the 2021-22 season, the Sharks average attendance was 12,573 of capacity, which is 71.6% of their arena capacity. But if you watched their games on TV, it rivaled Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres games in number of empty seats. (Remember all attendance statistics are based on announced attendance, which usually is defined as tickets distributed—meaning it’s not necessarily the number of butts in seats.)
What’s this about traffic? Well, there’s a Google project that will be causing traffic headaches for downtown San Jose. So much so the Sharks had placed a few veiled threats about moving. In November 2020, they sent letters to fans about their issues with the project and the hassle it might cause. In April 2021, an email went out with their hints at not being happy about the project and the hassles they’d be facing as result of traffic reductions in front of the arena. But apparently, the city and team settled whatever the beef was with the project, although no details were released about how that happened.
Now, let’s talk about the SAP Center. The arena, originally known as San Jose Arena broke ground on June 28, 1990. It opened on September 7, 1993. The Sharks played their first two seasons at The Cow Palace in Daly City while waiting for the building to be finished. The Shark Tank, as it is affectionately known, is almost 30 years old putting. That puts it on the list of older NHL arenas. The Sharks continuously make updates to the building, the latest being a new video scoreboard set to debut this season.
The building did eventually get a naming rights owner becoming the Compaq Center of San Jose, eventually becoming the HP Pavilion. In 2013, SAP became the naming rights owner of the arena, which made a lot of sense since the co-founder of SAP Hasso Plattner was the Sharks owner since being a charter member of the local ownership who purchased the team from original owner George Gund III in 2002. Plattner is now the sole owner of the Sharks.
While Plattner seems to be committed to the Bay Area, having brought the AHL team to the city. The Sharks recently completed construction and opened a new arena dedicated to their AHL affiliate San Jose Barracuda team. They have also invested a lot of money in improvements to the SAP Center.
But with the drama that’s gone on with the team in the last year; the Evander Kane fiasco, Erik Karlsson not wanting to be part of a rebuild (which the team clearly needs), what happened with Doug Wilson, and that little bit of friction with the city over the Google project; could they think of a move or maybe a sale. The Sharks have signed a deal to keep the team at SAP until 2025, but what happens after that? What if attendance continues to flounder? What if they aren’t satisfied with the Google construction and the changes that it makes to the area? By 2025, they’ll have a clearer picture of what the area is going to be like…maybe change their view on sticking around.
NHL Back in Kansas City: Target #3: Ottawa Senators
The third team on the list of targets for a move is the Ottawa Senators. Their attendance numbers last season put them at the bottom of the league averaging 9,155 fans, which put them at 47.8% capacity. The Senators have been the center of scrutiny while being owned by Eugene Melynk. Upon his death in March, the team was left to his daughters. While in most cases this would stir up speculation, this seems to have had the opposite effect. Most of that can be contributed to the drama and antics swirling around Melnyk the last few years of his life, from rumors of employee abuse to threats to move the team to legal issues abound.
Let’s discuss the rocky history of the team. The modern-day version of the Senators was the idea of Bruce Firestone in 1988. After campaigning two years, he was awarded a franchise on December 6, 1990 to begin play for the 92-93 season. The team played in the Ottawa Civic Center, while they worked on the development of the new arena. During that process, that included getting rural land rezoned, Firestone had to bow out. Rod Bryden took over ownership in 1993.
After playing the first few seasons at the Civic Center, the Senators finally got to play in the new home on January 17, 1996. What was first known as The Palladium became the Corel Centre one month later. It’d later be named Scotiabank Place, then Canadian Tire Centre. The arena would plague the team with debt, as well as scrutiny for being so far from the city. The debt that Bryden incurred led to a bankruptcy filing on January 9, 2003.
In 2003, Canadian businessman and philanthropist Eugene Melnyk bought the team and arena. At the time, he was seen as the savior, vowing to keep the team in Ottawa. Things went good under his ownership, the team went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007. Then, things started to go bad. In 2017, he began threats to move the team if he didn’t see more support. In September 2018, he released a video with plans for a team rebuild, where he referred to the team as being “in the dumps”, which got him criticism. That saw the beginning of the push from fans for him to sell. He had no intention of selling. The 2018-19 season saw the franchise record for empty seats drop to a 22 year low, with the average attendance trending down since 2012-13. In 2019, the New York Post called the Senators the laughingstock of the NHL because of debt, lawsuits, and drama surrounding Melnyk. Part of the lawsuits and drama was tied to Melnyk’s desire to build a new arena Senators in a project known as LeBreton Flats. A project that fell apart for him when the relationship between him and John Ruddy turned sour.
Melnyk died March 28, 2022. Immediately questions arose about the future of the team. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told reporters team was left to Melnyk’s daughters, Anna and Olivia, saying it was “completely stable and functioning in the ordinary course.” May 4, 2022 saw a report there were parties interested in purchasing the team. One of those was Quebecor, which would be looking to purchase it to move to Quebec. The other was John Ruddy, who was previously a partner of Melnyk’s in the exploration of the LeBreton Flats project.
June 23, 2022 saw the announcement the Senators had won a bid to build a new arena at LeBreton Flats. Populous Design (KC company) has been named as the design team. With that, it seems almost certain the team’s future in Ottawa is secure and John Ruddy probably has the inside track on purchasing the team if it were to be sold anytime soon. But a dark horse could always come in and throw a monkey wrench into plans, it’s been known to happen.
NHL Back in Kansas City: Target #2: Calgary Flames
First off, I want to say I’m not going through the teams in any kind of order. And now on to the second team, it might be a shock to some, but the Calgary Flames are on the list. They only averaged 74.1% of capacity this past season (not sure if Canadian COVID regulations were taken into consideration for part of the 2021-22 season when calculating capacity). Of the teams I’m covering in this series, they had the highest percentage of capacity. But, even if the Flames are drawing well and putting a quality product on the ice, there are arena issues. They’ve been looking to get a new home built since 2017 and have had unsuccessful negotiations with the city. Deals have been struck on a couple of occasions, only to be backed out of. Could the Flames be looking for something better than what Calgary has to offer them?
Let’s start off with the history of the organization. The franchise was originally the Atlanta Flames. They started play in 1972, the team was quickly put in place to balance the NHL when they added the New York Islanders franchise to keep the WHA out of the brand-new Nassau Coliseum. The Flames were owned by a group that owned the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, led by real estate developer Tom Cousins. They played in Atlanta’s Omni Coliseum for eight seasons. Eventually Cousins was forced to sell the team to stave off bankruptcy. Former Edmonton Oilers owner Nelson Skalbania and a group of Calgary oil magnates purchased the team for $16 million. They announced on May 21, 1980, they would be moving the team to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This gave the province of Alberta two NHL teams.
Skalbania sold his interest in 1981. Since then, the Flames have been under complete local ownership. The first three seasons, the team played in the Stampede Corral before moving to the Saddledome in 1983. The Saddledome was not only built to be the home of the Flames, but also to host the 1988 Winter Olympics. The Scotiabank Saddledome is still the home of the Flames, having served in that capacity for almost 40 years. This makes it the second-oldest arena in the NHL after the New York Rangers’ Madison Square Garden. It has been renovated once in 1994. It underwent some repairs due to flooding in 2013.
The team has expressed interest in getting a new arena since 2017. That was when they gave their first proposal to the city, but they eventually threw in the towel. In 2019, the Flames and city had reached an agreement, but it fell apart in 2021. The official termination of that deal happened January 1, 2022. There’s reportedly a $10 million gap between the city and team. In May, it was reported that a group of Calgary businessman was working as a go-between with the city and team in hopes of facilitating a new deal, but nothing has been reported recently.
While it sounds like this team would be ripe for a move, it’s unlikely with the local ownership group the Flames currently have. Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation own the WHL Calgary Hitmen, Calgary Stampeders Lacrosse team, Calgary Roughnecks (CFL), and Calgary Wranglers (AHL affiliate of Flames). They also have managed the Saddledome since 1994. With the group’s major local ties, it seems unlikely they would move. Yet, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has told the media Calgary will not host any NHL events (i.e. Draft, All-Star Game, Awards) unless they get a new building. If ownership and city continue to bicker on building a new arena, it might be possible that ownership gets frustrated enough they decide to sell. Only time will tell what happens with the franchise, but you never know, five years of trying to get a deal done seems like an awful long time for no ground to have been broken, yet.
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