How is it that a team that since 2003 has seen its average attendance increase by almost 45 percent to finish second in the league last year...a team that is still averaging 99.3 percent of capacity this year in official attendance...a team that only two years ago stood atop the Eastern Conference in the regular season and reached the Conference finals...Monday, December 08, 2008
How?
How is it that a team that since 2003 has seen its average attendance increase by almost 45 percent to finish second in the league last year...a team that is still averaging 99.3 percent of capacity this year in official attendance...a team that only two years ago stood atop the Eastern Conference in the regular season and reached the Conference finals...
I was wondering how many paragraphs in that article until Balsillie's name popped up.
ReplyDeleteHopefully this is about his doomed quest to buy a team and not that the Sabres are looking to be sold.
I think the name of the kids' game should be changed to "Whack-a-Balsillie"
ReplyDeleteThe sad but simple truth is that the success (or lack thereof) of a team on the ice or in the stands has little to do with whether a team gets sold. Since NHL owners generally come from other industries, and many borrow huge sums to purchase the teams, any number of factors can force them into a position to sell.
ReplyDeleteI would think that if Balsillie were to somehow purchase the Sabres, he'd be hard-pressed to move them to Hamilton, considering that Buffalo is well-established as a hockey-mad market.
Being in a hockey-mad market didn't stop Norm Green from moving the North Stars.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin'.