Print
E-mail
Share
digg
Newsvine
Facebook
Stumble
Technorati
reddit
Fark
twitterNHL Awards:
NHL stars weigh in: Can hockey work in Las Vegas?
Players joke about home ice advantage but believe Vegas could be a legitimate NHL town
Thursday, June 18, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.
Foreseeable Future Franchise
In light of the award ceremony and players' meetings, NHL elite weigh in on whether a professional hockey could survive and thrive in Las Vegas.
And the Winner is...
One day before the NHL Awards, finalist and presenters talk about the award show moving to Las Vegas.
Hockey in Motion
NHL 2K10 cover model Alexander Ovechkin and Selke Trophy finalist Ryan Kesler helped warm-up Las Vegas to this week's award ceremony with a motion-capture session Tuesday in front of Caesars Palace.
Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane celebrates his goal against the Detroit Red Wings in the third period of Game 5 of the NHL Western Conference finals in Detroit, Wednesday, May 27, 2009. Kane, who will present the Calder trophy on Thursday night to the league's top rookie, is one of several NHL stars in town this week who believe a Las Vegas franchise could be a success.
More on the NHL Awards
Even though Las Vegas is not an NHL town, it appears that there's a running joke circulating among the league's players regarding America's playground as a potential home for a franchise.
"It's obviously a very alive city and everybody enjoys coming here," Calgary winger Jarome Iginla said. "There's been a lot of talk about it, and usually among the players it's pretty popular. Then there's always the joke -- I'm sure you've heard it a hundred times -- is that the home team would sure have a nice advantage, which would probably bear some truth.
"It's not just a joke. It might be difficult to be as focused, but it'd be fun. There's a lot to do here, great restaurants, and I'd be all for it."
The 30-year-old Iginla, who has scored 851 points in a stellar 12-year career to this point with the Flames, has a good deal of perspective at this point in his pro hockey career.
However, players both older and younger agree that a Las Vegas team would have a distinct home ice advantage.
"Obviously being in Vegas, you can be here for a weekend, I don't know about longer than a weekend," joked 24-year-old Vancouver Canucks center Ryan Kesler. "Their home record would be amazing. 41-0.
Going even younger, 20-year-old Chicago Blackhawks standout Patrick Kane has already seen the effect that a brief trip can have on NHL players.
This season, following a West coast road swing, Kane and his squad, which ultimately advanced to the Western Conference finals, spent a couple of days in Vegas to kick off a five-day hiatus before a homestand.
They stayed at the Bellagio, held a private practice at the Orleans Arena and, well, cut loose a bit.
"It was a lot of fun," Kane said. "I think there were a couple of learned lessons for some players throughout the trip, but that's all I'll say about that. It's Vegas, that's gonna happen."
Kane, who will be presenting the Calder Memorial Trophy at tonight's NHL postseason awards ceremony at the Palms to the league's top rookie, attended the presenters' reception in one of the hotel's swank suites Wednesday with his cousin.
Before coming to Vegas, he said the two went to see "The Hangover" in preparation. The wild comedy depicts, essentially, all that can go wrong in one night in Las Vegas. Even though part of it was far-fetched, nothing is impossible.
"I didn't know (Mike Tyson) had a house here, that's pretty cool," he said with a grin. "Yeah, we're gonna go steal his tiger a little later."
But in all seriousness, the players agree on one thing -- they think NHL hockey in Vegas can work.
"I think it'd do pretty good in Vegas," Kane continued. "From what I hear, I think they'd get a lot of fans, a lot of sponsors, and maybe it'd be a good place for the NHL, but you're probably asking the wrong guy when you ask me. Players would love to see a team in Vegas, but who knows about everyone else."
One of the bigger supporters in the 'everyone else' crowd for the NHL in Vegas was also on-hand Wednesday -- Palms President George Maloof.
Maloof disagreed that players misbehaving would be an issue should the league find a home in town.
"I think people get focused, and if you're competitive and want to win, it doesn't matter," he said. "I think that's overrated."
Instead, Maloof said he thinks the NHL could give Las Vegas -- go figure -- something it's missing.
"I think that it's a city that needs to have something more," he added. "We've always wanted something more, so I think it'd be great to have a franchise here. I think the community would really embrace it. I really believe that."
If the NHL came to Las Vegas, however, it would be building a fan base from the ground up. Not being a traditional stick-and-puck hotbed, it's not an area where kids are particularly raised as hockey fans and taught at an early age to support the game.
Kane can attest to the importance of grabbing hockey fans young, having grown up in Buffalo, N.Y.
"For me, growing up, I loved the Sabres -- I was a Sabres fan until I got drafted by the Blackhawks, that's how it worked for me," he said. "I love the Sabres. I went to maybe 25 home games a year. For young kids in Vegas, if they can go watch a team in Vegas, I'm sure they'll start loving hockey. It's like that in Chicago now, too. The team wasn't popular for years, and now the kids are starting to come back. Those are the fans you love -- the little kids who really look up to you. That's who you really want to impress and you really want to be a role model for them.
"If they could do that in Vegas, it'd be an amazing accomplishment. To say that they wouldn't get fans, I'd be lying to you. I think they'd sell out. Any kind of sports team here, I think it would excel for sure, but you always kinda wonder why there isn't really one here."
Sun reporter Ryan Greene can be reached at (702) 948-7844 or at ryan.greene@lasvegassun.com.
Discussion: 12 comments so far…
Post a comment
- Most Read
- Discussed
- Most E-mailed
- Three arrested in fatal shooting of Metro officer
- Franchione potential early candidate for UNLV football post
- Police: 3 arrested in officer’s death have gang ties
- Big fight headed for a New Frontier?
- Mayor: Morale not good among LV city employees
- Creditors want to expand probe of Station Casinos deal
- MGM Mirage (finally) makes George Strait show official
- Reserve Rebels didn’t have time to panic
- $60 million to stabilize neighborhoods buys five homes
- Hotels rein in risque advertising campaigns
Blogs
Elsewhere
Marquardt v. Sonnen scheduled for UFC 109
Bloggity, Bloggity, Bloggity
Will a fourth consecutive title by Jimmie Johnson be good or bad for NASCAR?
Top Chef: Las Vegas
The Jet Stream: And then there were four
Top Chef Episode 12: On keeping it simple
Miech Again
Chilly start for Chace, but Stanback says he'll warm up (1 Comment)
Elsewhere
Harvard Poker Pro: Texas Hold 'Em skills can help traders
Oscar De La Hoya wants to see Pacquiao/Mayweather
- Live chat
- Tuesday, noon PST
- Chat with Krista Creelman
- Problem Gambling Center executive director Krista Creelman will answer questions about gambling addiction from Las Vegas Sun readers from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. ... Submit question
Calendar »
- 21 Sat
- 22 Sun
- 23 Mon
- 24 Tue
- 25 Wed
-
UFC 106 at Mandalay Bay Events Center
Mandalay Bay Events Center | 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
-
The Four Tops at The Orleans Showroom
Orleans Hotel-Casino
-
Julio Iglesias at the Las Vegas Hilton
Las Vegas Hilton
-
The Four Tops at The Orleans Showroom
Orleans Hotel-Casino
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
What a pointless article. Of course these jocks are going to say it can work here. They like coming here. At least you interviewed Maloof, but waht else is going to say he's hosting the NHL awards this weekend. These jocks say they think it would sell out but when they are in town do they ever leave the strip to see who lives here? They don't ever see thye second Vegas unless they are being dealt cards by them or being served a $20 drink. They're jocks. You're not asking economists to draw up hockey plays.
My prediction: The Coyotes will move from Phoenix to Las Vegas.
The ECHL Wranglers, who have been here six years, barely get adequate fan support, despite an excellent organization and a championship-contending team every year. The NHL with its bloated ticket prices? No way.
----------------------------------
Opinions and Commentary on the Gaming Industry: www.TheBearGrowls.com
In answer to LVBear:
I for one, as a casual hockey fan, could care less if the Wranglers stay or go...........now if the LV area landed an NHL team, I'm going to go to games........NHL I would attend games.........Wranglers (minor league), I have been to one game ever. And i'm not alone in this thinking.
You can't compare the drawing power of a obscure minor league with that of one of the big 4 (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL) professional leagues.
Bertsos: You have a great point and I'm sure there are more of you out there. The question is are there 20,000 people who feel the same way to fork out a $1,000,000 in ticket prices per game for an entire hockey season in LAS VEGAS? PLUS, are there enough sponsors in this town to kick in millions and millions of dollars for ad boards. PLUS, are there enough companies that are doing well enough to plunk down $100,000 or more per year on luxury suites? PLUS, are there enough tourists who come to Vegas for a lot of reasons that pull themselves away from why they came to watch Las Vegas play Phoenix, as an example. Look around your town that is losing residents and residents are losing homes and see if you and yours have a combined one million dollars per game for NHL hockey. You may not care about the Wranglers but locals who can afford it do care. They draw well enough and did really well this year considering the economy -- just look at their sign boards they are supported because they are community based. Like I said before, of course jocks think it will work they have guaranteed contracts. Ask these jocks if they'll cover when it goes bad. Look around this town and ask if that kind money is laying around with those who share your preference and passion for NHL hockey.
Corky.......this is all based on a few years down the line when the economy recovers, that's the first step.
Secondly, right now, the LV area has NO location suitable for an NHL team. The Orleans arena is too small, the Thomas & Mack doesn't allow for a regulation sized rink, the Mandalay Bay & MGM Arena don't have the luxury boxes and amenities that an NHL arena would need.
So, before anything with the NHL or NBA can happen someone in the LV area needs to get an arena going. Oklahoma City already had their arena built and they landed the Seattle NBA franchise......Kansas City has a new arena sitting ready for a team also.
And one negative is the lack of Las Vegas area based corporate sponsorship, since aside of a couple of gaming companies, the LV area doesn't have much in the way of corporate entities (national type entities).
If anything happens it won't be during this economic climate, that's obvious........but the economy will recover (even if the GOP wants a depression), and LV will recover and start moving again........when that happens, then is the time to start this talk of a pro franchise in the LV area.
Bear do you even know what adequate fan support is in the ECHL? The Wranglers get well above average support by league standards. Oh by the way Bear, which radio or TV station can I follow the Wranglers on?
I grew up watching the American Hockey League Hershey (PA) Bears. I loved it. Minor league sports are great. Young, enthusiastic players. Low ticket prices. Big is not necessarily better.
It seems to me that the NBA would be the best major sports fit for LV. But who's going to foot the bill for a big time arena? Also, when will the major sports leagues publicly recognize that sports betting, legal and illegal, is a major driver of their product?
I think the Wranglers' fan base makes the NHL in Vegas promising. While 2,000 a game may not sound like a lot, it's a very loyal group that shows up to games. You would have to assume that number would only be expanded with the NHL brand name in town. Add in the idea that tourists will stumble into the arena each night, too -- especially from colder weather cities -- and it has some promise.
Jeremy Roenick hit it on the head last week in saying that the key will be marketing and playing to the city's strengths. He said he suggested to George Maloof that something as simple as blackjack tables in the concourses wouldn't be a bad idea. I think he's right.
My one question is how tough it would be for hockey to succeed in a city where kids don't generally grow up playing or following the sport. I think that's very underrated, and I'd think that a large focus in terms of marketing would have to be placed on it being a family atmosphere at the games, bringing in younger fans as regularly as possibly.
Ryan -- ummm the Wranglers average more than twice what you said in attendance. Weekends they kiss the 6,000 mark. And the Wrnaglers fan base gets a family into their games for the cost of one ticket to the NHL. Different demographic. Though I'm sure they'd watch the new NHL team on television and by a hat.
And Roenick's big suggeston was to put poker tables in the concourse. Hmmm. I'm gonna drop $60 just to enter a building to buy into a poker game? If I care enough about playing poker to attend a hockey game becasue of it, why the heck do I need to go to the hockey game to play poker? I won't even watch the game. Dumb dumb dumb.
If you have to count on those types of gimmicks to sell hockey, THEN THIS AIN'T A HOCKEY TOWN and won't be! The game has to work on its own.
You are right about family atomosphere, but again, the first step is a half-a-billion dollar stadium. The second step is getting thousands of families to drop A MONTHLY CAR PAYMENT to get the family the tickets.
It simply will not work no matter how much the Roenick's (and am a big fan of his) of the world want another reason to visit the playground.
In the meantime families can afford the Wranglers and they have already placed a number of players in the NHL. Embrace it and be hockey fans. Competitiion is competition and we have a team with our city on the sweater. This NHL discussion is moot.
I can't see putting in gambling tables and machines to attract people.........thats' just nuts.
Why go pay for a ticket, and parking and then go play black jack, when you could just go play BJ anywhere.
I do agree with the fact the Wranglers do have a solid little following, and there are probably people here in LV who moved from Detroit, Chicago, etc. who are used to seeing NHL caliber hockey and aren't too fired up about seeing the Wranglers.
Anyway, untill something happens with an Arena, all this is just speculative guessing on weather a team would work.
This city has to much to offer and it's all short term it's not a city that lacks anything there's know gain here. Las vegas has only one purpose and thats to be like no other city in the world. MLB. NFL. NBA. NHL. It's not something that we need to stay on top of are game. Las vegas is not a real city stop trying to make it into one we are fine just the way we are. Save the professional sports teams for the 9 to 5 citys that there people don't have that much to do after work or on the weekends. At least they will get better fan support due to a lack of choices compared to las vegas.