Could the NHL be coming to Portland?
Word out of Toronto is the Phoenix Coyotes, despite having a brand new arena, are in a heap of trouble financially. It serves them right for building the thing in a cotton field in the middle of freaking nowhere. When I lived down there, the talk was they were going to build the new arena at the old Los Arcos Mall, which would have been ideal given it’s proximity to the money in the 480 area code. I can’t remember all the ins and outs of why the thing never got built. As I recall, they wanted to build an aquarium next door and, of course, condos. Ultimately it got torpedoed.
What does this mean for Portland? Well, the Winter Hawks have a new moneybags owner and, as Dwight pointed out a few months back, he may have his eye on bringing the NHL to town. It’s a pretty smart move. Come to town, get to know the local who’s who, and see if it’s feasible. Well, there may be no better time. If the ‘Yotes file bankruptcy, they’ll be out of their lease and free agents. Who’s to say someone can’t come in and swoop them up for a low nine-figure price.
The only obstacle, I would think, would be the price of oil. Gallacher’s wealth is mostly in energy and banking. It’s a lot easier to write that cheque when a barrel costs $140 US than it is when it’s only $35. And don’t get me started on the financial markets.
There are quite a few teams out there besides Phoenix that are in trouble, and it could turn into a race to see who relocates first. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find an NHL team dropping the puck in the Rose Quarter within 2 years.
Chris…
You’ve done a pretty good analysis, but left something out IMNSHO… The relative strengthening of CAD vs USD in the last few years. The original weakness of the “loon” was one of the things that made the Nords and the Jets unable to compete economically (for the recent hockey fans… Quebec city and Winnipeg, respectively). I think that both cities could be viable contenders for any NHL team that wants to move.
In addition, I think that there are many PDX-sized or larger cities in the USA that may well be ahead of PDX in line… some examples: Indianapolis (had a WHA team), and Kansas City (yes, I have a Scouts jersey !!!). I thought about Cleveland, but with 3 teams within a 4 hour drive, I left it off the list…
Not to mention that the nations 4th largest city (Houston) doesnt have a team, neither does San Antonio (which is about 3X PDX size). I dont know if those two TX cities have a rabid hockey demographic, but they could certainly pull numbers and put butts in seats.
At the end of the day, there are 5,000 or so real hockey nuts in PDX. We had many more than that in Atlanta when I was living there in 1980 and we lost the Flames anyway…
Cheers, Mike.. the Mayor of Widmer
PS: inviting all Hawks fans to Widmer Gasthaus on Interstate Ave. (100 yds north of Albina MAX station) for burgers and beer on Jan 11 at 3PM before the game with the ‘tips… We generally run about 10-15 people and all are welcome (we have a back room reserved). Email me at silencedogood@att.net if you can come so that I know to have enough seats… tnx…
I will do whatever I can to see PDX get a NHL franchise. I think it would pull even more people in than the MLS team being talked about now, and that even requires a new venue. The Rose Garden is NHL ready. If you are organizing anything let me know and I will try to help. I don’t have billions, but if I did, I’d do it myself!