Brawndo

No, those were only two names that Friedman specifically mentioned.

Some highlights from the 32 Thoughts Podcast regarding the Sabres. Teams calling the Sabres have been told no on Jiri Kulich and Alex Tuch. Marek was talking about owners having favorite players, Pegula loving Zemgus was brought up

No he has not.

As mentioned above, Harrington doesn’t exactly have sources in the Sabres Front Office, compared to Lance Lysowski. He is working off the assumption that Pegula doesn’t want to pay Granato 3.8 million over two seasons not to coach. I still believe that Matt Ellis and Mike Bales survive any assist coach purge

Sabres AGM Jason Karmanos has been at the past two Bruins Games

Missed last night and will miss tonight’s game as well

3-1

This might not be a penalty

2-1

Okie

I have a feeling Ellis survives any purge of the coaching staff, being a Pegula Favorite has its advantages

Sigh

And there is NFW Pegula is going to agree salary retention for three seasons

Power and Clifton with some nice clears

Per Lance Lysowski, the Sabres are not shopping Him.

Friedman mentioned in 32 Thoughts that Phoenix Suns Owner Mat Ishbia maybe a possibility to buy the Coyotes and keep them in Phoenix. The Footprint Center where the Suns play and the Coyotes first started would be the home arena. It does require 20 million in upgrades to its ice maintenance facilities however. Ishbia has said in the past the Coyotes would not be a co tenant unless he owned them.

As long as there are groups willing to pay north of one billion dollars in expansion fees, there will be revenue. Seattle and Vegas have been a boon for HRR with sellouts, increasing sponsorship and merchandise since they came into league. Sports Franchises are increasing exponentially in value, The Senators sold for 950 million, with the possible exception of the Coyotes, other franchises will sell for more. Per Tim Graham, there are brokers who represent people who are hungry to buy franchises, there is demand. The NHL depends on attendance more than any other league, it will never be in the same tier as the other leagues in terms of television deals. The leagues total TV revenue per season is actually closer to one billion when the 433 million from the Sportsnet Deal is added onto the 625 million from ESPN/TNT. Putting teams in Houston and Atlanta would mean the NHL is in the Top 15 Areas in terms of the population in the US. Getting this done has the potential to dramatically increase the value of the next US TV Deal, especially in light of the new streaming package which will allow ESPN and TNT to be purchased together. The money will be there for expansion.

That pesky non relocation clause will get in the way. Besides Buffalo was a great hockey market until Pegula took over, the NHL knows how bad he is and wouldn’t let him move this franchise another market. Arizona is a unique situation with no arena in place and even if they move the NHL will probably put an expansion team back in Phoenix under a new ownership group within 5-10 years. The league wants its expansion fees, so any relocation fee will probably be equal to that cost. Couple that with franchises selling for close to a billion dollars that adds up quickly. The NHL knows it’s the only one of the major leagues with less than 30 teams in the United States and that Vegas and Seattle are huge revenue streams for the league. They are going to try and replicate that in Atlanta and at least 2-3 other markets. This will be preferred over relocation.

Just gonna post this article for no particular reason https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/sports/2019/10/20/tua-tagovailoa-tightrope-procedure-ankle-return-recovery-surgery-alabama-football/4047971002/

@Doohickie Actually an NHL Franchise would use Delta Arena until a permanent home would be built. It hosts a NHL Preseason Game every year in Salt Lake City. Here is an article about the interest https://www.kuer.org/sports-recreation/2024-01-24/utah-jazz-owners-say-they-are-ready-right-now-for-an-nhl-team-in-salt-lake-city