Hamilton Predators

Hey look, I found my blog! I was wondering where that went.

So anyway, the following topic is one which I've been following with great interest over the last few weeks, but I wasn't sure of what to say about it. I'm still not, but there's a post-shaped void in my blog that needs to be filled.

I'm sure by now, we've all heard the news that Jim Balsille (CEO of RIM and generally filthy rich) has almost finalized a deal to purchase the Nashville Predators... a team that is quite good, but is ripe for relocation because of poor attendance. Right now, barring a bunch of tickets being sold in Nashville (unlikely), it looks like a foregone conclusion that the team will move to Hamilton. Hamilton, a city that been baited with the prospect of having an NHL team many times before. This potential move has been discussed a great deal, especially on Prime Time Sports, which I listen to frequently. Most people think another NHL team in southern Ontario will thrive with a base of hockey fans and corporations that are basically shut out of being able to go see Toronto Maple Leaf games.

I'm here to tell you that it won't be the grand success that some are making it out to be.

Of course, I think a team will be able to operate and stay afloat, but it just won't be a smashing success... and I'll tell you why.

Let's go back to December when Balsille was about to purchase the Pittsburg Penguins, which eventually fell through, but the word on the street was the his intentions were to move the team to southern Ontario... initially, the speculation centreing around Hamilton. But then the speculation started to change, and since this guy's done a bunch of stuff in Waterloo (keeping RIM here, doing things with the university, etc), the new rumour was that he wanted to actually have a team somewhere in K-W. Personally, I thought, "Yeah right... it'd be cool, but no chance". Eventually, the Penguins deal fell through and that was that... until the Predators deal came along.

Since the Predators could easily be moved as their lease would be easy to get out of due to attendance, speculation was flying much more than before on the team being moved to S. Ontario. But this time, the bulk of the speculation focused on K-W. It's at this point I made my mistake... I bought into the rumours of a NHL team in town here in Waterloo, and I got excited about the prospect. Well, then the deal with Hamilton came to light and I thought, "I'm not going to switch allegiances for a team in Hamilton". And that's when it struck me, and this bring me back to my point about how a team in Southern Ontario won't be a huge success... If I won't switch loyalties to a team in Hamilton, what's to make someone who's not from K-W root for a team here if this was the final destination. The answer is... nothing. This area is full of hockey fans, but they already have their favorite teams, be it the Leafs, Red Wings, Canadiens, Sabres, Senators, or miscellaneous. The only core fans a new team here can hope to get are the ones in the actual city the team moves to.

So, Hamilton... have your NHL team... you'll do alright. But you can't count on hordes of fans coming from Waterloo Region, Brantford, London, Mississauga, etc.

Of course, maybe I'm just bitter that the impossible dream isn't going to become a reality.