[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by Johnho771

The newest NHL teams disputes the notion we would need a new arena. The Seattle Kraken are the newest team and have the oldest arena in the NHL. Yes a lot of money was invested into it, but it is not new.

The XL center in a way is an advantage. Look at Fenway Park, old, but known as "America's most beloved ball park." The XL center would be the NHL's third oldest arena. It has charm, it has history, it is "the house that Howe built."

The XL does need money and upgrades, but need not be replaced.

Seattle and Hartford are night and days apart. You can't compare them
I saw the Lakers play in the Seattle arena back in the 90's. It's a great building, even back then. It went through a 600M total reno to get an NHL team, not a 100M haircut and shampoo job.

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by BHW2436

Respectfully, I strongly disagree with your entire post. The only thing you said correctly was that the Kraken are the newest NHL team.

Fenway and Wrigley both have the charm and historical appeal. Fenway is a novelty that is cool to go to, no doubt, but most people I know in Boston don’t love the actual experience of small seats and cramped areas.

The Kraken have the oldest stadium on essentially a technicality. You’re right, they didn’t bulldoze it and start over BUT they put $1.15 Billion, with a B, into it. You can call it the oldest all you want, but that’s basically a rebuild for a stadium that holds less than 20,000 people. Let me repeat that, $1.15 Billion.

You honestly think XL has charm? I’ve literally never heard that said before. Charm is Wrigley and Fenway. Not XL.

I think you're incorrectly assuming $1.15 billion in public funds. The Seattle project was entirely privately funded. I don't know if we would get that lucky but as I said in my other post, Lamont is a super rich guy with super rich friends. It's not inconceivable.

[BHW2436]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

I think you're incorrectly assuming $1.15 billion in public funds. The Seattle project was entirely privately funded. I don't know if we would get that lucky but as I said in my other post, Lamont is a super rich guy with super rich friends. It's not inconceivable.

I’m not assuming anything. I’m saying it cost $1.15B to properly renovate an existing building and area to get it “NHL ready”.

The point in the previous posters comment was “see you don’t need brand new, you can renovate, it was just done” and my point is, for $1B+ you might as well call it a brand new stadium.

If you gut an entire house down to studs, replace everything…sure it’s not technically a new house, but practically speaking, it is

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Johnho771

The newest NHL teams disputes the notion we would need a new arena. The Seattle Kraken are the newest team and have the oldest arena in the NHL. Yes a lot of money was invested into it, but it is not new.

The XL center in a way is an advantage. Look at Fenway Park, old, but known as "America's most beloved ball park." The XL center would be the NHL's third oldest arena. It has charm, it has history, it is "the house that Howe built."

The XL does need money and upgrades, but need not be replaced.

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

You're opening up a Pandora's box and Jay will say let's get back to the topic but......we know Hartford's population numbers are very misleading. It's 17 square miles. Many, many other cities annexed their inner suburbs but NIMBYism prevents any sort of regionalism around here. So the city is tiny and impoverished.

I’m not sure why you think that was off topic and why I’d say anything but you are right. The population of the City of Hartford has little bearing on any of this. The fact that metropolitan Hartford has 1.2 million people is far more important.

That said you have to give the naysayers here credit, they never waiver in their negativity and insistence things won’t happen. The fact is they don’t know but won’t admit it.

As noted the fact is the State has expressed its interest and is ready to do what’s needed. After years of pinching Pennie’s, the State certainly can afford to do it. There’s a group of investors wanting to bring major league hockey back to Hartford. There’s still a strong interest in a team that left decades ago. All this means something whether the naysayers agree or not.

Is this a certainty? No.

Is this “pie in the sky”? Maybe, maybe not.

Is it an impossibility? No. It remains to be seen what will happen. Jay

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I’m not sure why you think that was off topic and why I’d say anything but you are right. The population of the City of Hartford has little bearing on any of this. The fact that metropolitan Hartford has 1.2 million people is far more important.

That said you have to give the naysayers here credit, they never waiver in their negativity and insistence things won’t happen. The fact is they don’t know but won’t admit it.

As noted the fact is the State has expressed its interest and is ready to do what’s needed. After years of pinching Pennie’s, the State certainly can afford to do it. There’s a group of investors wanting to bring major league hockey back to Hartford. There’s still a strong interest in a team that left decades ago. All this means something whether the naysayers agree or not.

Is this a certainty? No.

Is this “pie in the sky”? Maybe, maybe not.

Is it an impossibility? No. It remains to be seen what will happen. Jay

There's no negativity here, it's reality, you know damn well my unbridled passion and admiration for CT. I think deep down you know Hartford is not a Big 4 city as well, and frankly, I don't think it needs one to be great. It already is, with or without a Big 4.
THe Savannah Bananas are coming to Dunkin Field in August. I'm sure REO Speedwagon has a date planned on the calendar somewhere in the state this summer. CT is tailor made to host final farewell tours

[BHW2436]

Jay,
You love CT and are very optimistic, nothing wrong with that

“Wanting” something isn’t the same as “likely getting” something. It’s not being a naysayer or being negative to be realistic. Is it impossible? No, I guess not, Winning Powerball isn’t either, you’re saying there’s a chance

This is somewhat similar to when Amazon was considering HQ2 locations. I think CT submitted for Stamford and Hartford. Of course CT “had interest”, that’s the right thing to publicly do and say. There was ZERO chance CT would have actually gotten it. Sorry, that’s hyperbole, I suppose they had “some chance”.

If the Red Sox said tomorrow they were moving the team, there would probably be 100+ USA cities raising their hand, Hartford included, doesn’t mean anything.

Hartford had hockey, CT residents didn’t care. It happened, had your chance, it’s over.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by BHW2436

Respectfully, I strongly disagree with your entire post. The only thing you said correctly was that the Kraken are the newest NHL team.

Fenway and Wrigley both have the charm and historical appeal. Fenway is a novelty that is cool to go to, no doubt, but most people I know in Boston don’t love the actual experience of small seats and cramped areas.

The Kraken have the oldest stadium on essentially a technicality. You’re right, they didn’t bulldoze it and start over BUT they put $1.15 Billion, with a B, into it. You can call it the oldest all you want, but that’s basically a rebuild for a stadium that holds less than 20,000 people. Let me repeat that, $1.15 Billion.

You honestly think XL has charm? I’ve literally never heard that said before. Charm is Wrigley and Fenway. Not XL.

I wonder why they did not build new, since they spent the same amount of money anyway.

$100 million in renovation is tinkering around money on an arena in 2023. It is keep it upright money.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by Connecticut203

So true. You would need to build a new arena. Furthermore, we forget one important aspect: the cities. Look at the cities these hockey teams are in. There is something to be said about having a Pro team in your city center. Most cities in professional sports are vibrant Urban centers, with large populations. I'm only talking city proper here, not Metropolitan stats.

Winnipeg 778K
Tampa 387K
Buffalo 276K
Raleigh 469K

Just a small sample. But Raleigh 469K vs 125K for Hartford is not even close. There may be a metro of 1.2 million in the Hartford area, but Hartford NEEDS to be the draw in that market. Hartford needs to be everything to everybody there, especially since its between Boston and NY. Population does matter, especially if you want to attract Major stars and want them to stay. there has got to be a reason. It's all about happening urban centers now. CT doesn't have a city that is close to 200K and the cities are small, which hurts it in attracting a major franchise. I would love for a pro team to come here, but besides a new arena, the city of Hartford itself needs to build itself back up alot.

Correct that population does matter. Use this link and the link inside titled "CAPS ACS" to see just how many people reside within a given radius of downtown Hartford. 06103 should work for a zip. Hartford has more people residing within a two hour drive radius than any city in the country expect Philly. I posted figures about this in another thread and the population density of the region can easily support a team or two. TV market size is larger than many that have pro teams.

https://mcdc.missouri.edu/applications/caps.html

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by Johnho771

The newest NHL teams disputes the notion we would need a new arena. The Seattle Kraken are the newest team and have the oldest arena in the NHL. Yes a lot of money was invested into it, but it is not new.

The XL center in a way is an advantage. Look at Fenway Park, old, but known as "America's most beloved ball park." The XL center would be the NHL's third oldest arena. It has charm, it has history, it is "the house that Howe built."

The XL does need money and upgrades, but need not be replaced.

Not sure I would call it the "House that Howe Built" since he was at the tail end of his career though he could still play quite capably during his last seasons while with the Whalers. Perhaps the "House that Tom Webster Built" would be more appropriate. :-)

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by BHW2436

Jay,
You love CT and are very optimistic, nothing wrong with that

“Wanting” something isn’t the same as “likely getting” something. It’s not being a naysayer or being negative to be realistic. Is it impossible? No, I guess not, Winning Powerball isn’t either, you’re saying there’s a chance

This is somewhat similar to when Amazon was considering HQ2 locations. I think CT submitted for Stamford and Hartford. Of course CT “had interest”, that’s the right thing to publicly do and say. There was ZERO chance CT would have actually gotten it. Sorry, that’s hyperbole, I suppose they had “some chance”.

If the Red Sox said tomorrow they were moving the team, there would probably be 100+ USA cities raising their hand, Hartford included, doesn’t mean anything.

Hartford had hockey, CT residents didn’t care. It happened, had your chance, it’s over.

Few people seem to recall the deep recession that hit the state in 1989 and lasted several years. I recall it well. I remember reading the unemployment rate in Bridgeport pushed 20 percent and Hartford was not far behind. It drove me to Minneapolis-St. Paul in 1990 to obtain employment because the job market was non existent in CT for several years. And it was during those years that attendance did suffer for the Whalers and people could not attend games due to a lack of disposable income. That certainly was a contributing factor to the team leaving the city.

BTW. It has been decades since the Whalers played and left the area. A lot has changed since that time and thinking that the conditions that led to the Whalers becoming the Failures from the past should not be considered relevant in this day and age.