The NHL In Kansas City

Kansas City Name & Jersey Concepts at Puck Drawn

2012-02-04T20:08:00.003-06:00

In the absence of any real news regarding the NHL in KC, here are five concepts for what an NHL team here might look like as part of a Puck Drawn contest:

You can vote for your favorite at Puck Drawn.

Penguins vs. Kings Links III

2011-09-28T23:58:00.001-05:00

• PucKChaser: "Patient" KC hockey fans sell out Sprint Center preseason game

• Just discovered another hockey in KC blog, The Lost City of Bettman. Here are their thoughts on the game: Kings vs. Penguins in Perspective, Plus Pictures!!!

• Pitch: After awesome NHL exhibition game, fans shouldn't hold their breath for a team to move into Sprint Center

Penguins vs. Kings Links II

2011-09-28T15:43:00.001-05:00

• Dennis Dodd: We've been duped here in Kansas City

• Greg Wyshynski captures my feelings about KC/AEG talking about only getting a team on their terms: "So, like, never then."

• Houses of the Hockey: Would NHL Hockey In Kansas City Work?

• Pro Hockey Talk: Relocation audition time? Kings-Penguins game in Kansas City sold out

Penguins vs. Kings Links

2011-09-28T12:23:00.000-05:00

• LA Kings Insider: The View From Kansas City, Postgame notes, boxscore

• Sam Mellinger: AEG would like to take back what it said about landing the NHL or NBA in KC, but won't say it

• Mayor's Manor: Is Kansas City more of a hockey town than Los Angeles?

• KCTV5: Fans flock to NHL game at Sprint Center

• KMBC: Fans Pack Sprint Center For NHL Exhibition

Penguins vs. Kings Review

2011-09-27T23:56:00.000-05:00

Just a great night at the Sprint Center thanks to a good game and a large, electric crowd. It turns out the Penguins are huge in Kansas City—who knew? Must be the residual effects of Lemieux and Crosby? I had no rooting interest either way, and just wanted a good game. I got one.

The Penguins were flat footed for the entire first period. The Kings carried the play but only came away with a 1-0 lead. The Penguins showed up in a big way halfway through the game, and dominated the rest of the night. Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier did well to hold them to two goals, and the Kings managed to bang in a late one to send the game into OT. The 4-on-4 had fantastic flow and back and forth chances, but neither team could put the other away, leading to an eight round shootout. I am generally not a big fan of the shootout (deciding a hard-fought team game based on a few plays by individuals doesn't make a lot of sense), but in the preseason, it was right at home and a blast to see live.

This game felt totally different than the previous two games at the Sprint Center, and it had everything to with the crowd. Tonight, Kansas City was an NHL town.

Evgeni Malkin on Twitter

Links:

Star: Hockey Fans Pack Sprint Center, but there's no urgency to land a local team

Penguins official in-game blog

Photos

LA Kings Insider game blog

The Royal Half game preview

Penguins vs. Kings Notes

2011-09-27T14:09:00.000-05:00

A couple of blogs to keep an eye on regarding tonight's game: LA Kings Insider and Penguins Report.

Goalies Jonathan Bernier and Marc-Andre Fleury are slated to play the full game.

Pens Lineup, Now With 100% More Malkin

2011-09-27T08:29:00.000-05:00

LA Kings Insider has the probable Penguins lineup, featuring some big names:

F:
10-Mark Letestu; 11-Jordan Staal; 12-Richard Park; 14-Chris Kunitz; 18-James Neal; 25-Eric Tangradi; 27-Craig Adams; 28-Nick Johnson; 33-Steve MacIntyre; 46-Joe Vitale; 48-Tyler Kennedy; 71-Evgeni Malkin

D:
2-Matt Niskanen; 5-Deryk Engelland; 6-Ben Lovejoy; 7-Paul Martin; 37-Brian Strait; 70-Joseph Morrow; 78-Scott Harrington

G:
29-Marc-Andre Fleury; 39-Brad Thiessen

Randy Covitz at the Star takes a look at the game and the sellout. Paul McGannon gives credit to the Mavericks and Wichita Thunder, "as well as clubs in Lincoln and Omaha...and Des Moines...in helping sell out the arena."

Sounds like the pregame ceremony may just be a formal announcement of the 2012 NCAA Ice Breaker tournament taking place in KC.

Exciting news from Evgeni Malkin's Twitter feed last night, translated from Russian: "I read the opposite word toilet, now I am afraid to sit on it!!!"

Penguins vs. Kings

2011-09-26T19:09:00.000-05:00

Sorry for neglecting this space. My blogging focus has shifted to my other sports love, baseball in Kansas City (here and here).

After a two-year hiatus, the NHL is returning to Kansas City for another preseason game tomorrow, September 27, the third such game at the Sprint Center.

Shockingly, it was announced today that the game has sold out. The previous two crowds were both disappointments: 11,603 and 9,972 were the announced crowds in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Somehow they have already sold 17,500 tickets for tomorrow's game. I don't know how to explain it, other than the Penguins being a marquee team and perhaps better marketing and promotion by AEG. The Blackhawks and Blues played here in 2003 at Kemper Arena and drew over 17,000, so perhaps the market is elastic depending on the name recognition of the teams involved. Another potential factor for increased interest and ticket sales could be the return of professional hockey to the area with the CHL Missouri Mavericks in 2009. The Mavericks have drawn quite well, no doubt converting quite a few new hockey fans.

I have argued in the past that the attendance at these games is not a great measuring stick for KC's viability as an NHL town, so I won't try to spin the sellout any other way. But it is certainly interesting, and something KC hockey fans can at least be excited about.

The press release announcing the sell-out also mentions that there will be a pre-game ceremony at 6:40. This is only a guess, but it could be to honor Kevin Gray, long-time president of the KC Sports Commission who passed away recently.

The LA Kings Insider blog has the probable Kings lineup for the game:

F:
Dustin Penner - Mike Richards - Hunter

Dwight King - Jarret Stoll - Dustin Brown
Jordan Nolan - Andrei Loktionov - Justin Williams
Kyle Clifford - Trevor Lewis - Ethan Moreau

Rob Scuderi - Jack Johnson
Alec Martinez - Matt Greene
Davis Drewiske - Slava Voynov

Jonathan Bernier - Jonathan Quick

Scouts In Color

2011-01-31T20:08:00.000-06:00

Color photos of the Scouts are a rare treat. Just came across these on eBay. Enjoy.

Gary Croteau

Wilf Paiement

Michel Plasse

Randy Rota

"City of Various Pro Levels"

2010-09-06T13:23:00.000-05:00

Teebz at Hockey Blog In Canada has a post up about pro hockey's history in KC from the Scouts to the Outlaws.

Islanders Shmilanders

2010-07-16T18:19:00.001-05:00

Charles Wang's Lighthouse Project appears dead, which has lead to more baseless but predictable mentions of KC as a potential landing spot for the Islanders. To me there is zero link between the Islanders and KC at the moment, but it's made enough noise on the intertubes I figured I'd toss up some links.

It's true Wang was mentioning KC as a bargaining ploy a year ago, but to his credit, he hasn't brought up KC once since the preseason game last September that I'm aware of. (Perhaps he wasn't pleased that we didn't play along with a big turnout for the game.) Wang bought the Islanders because he loves Long Island, not because he loved hockey. By his own admission, he didn't know much about hockey when he bought the team. I can see him selling the team, but I can't see him moving the team out of the NYC area. Oh, and the Isles' lease at their current arena doesn't expire until 2015.

Linkage:
Report: NY Islanders Keeping KC As A Backup Plan (the interview with Chris Botta on that page is worth a listen)
Kansas City Reportedly Remains An Option For The NHL's NY Islanders
Is Kansas City a Plan B if NY Islanders' Lighthouse Project falls through?

KC Still In Mix For Islanders? Doubtful

Why Not KC For The NHL?

Kansas City Concepts at Hockey Jersey Concepts

2010-07-10T22:57:00.000-05:00

Blogger Ryan over at Hockey Jersey Concepts has posted concepts both for an update of Scouts uniforms and for a hypothetical team, the Kansas City Express.

Scouts (click for more images):

Express (click for more images):

Artwork by Mark Penxa featuring Denis Herron

2010-04-27T20:58:00.003-05:00

Had to share this great piece of art by Mark Penxa featuring Denis Herron in Scouts garb. There's lots more of Penxa's work to see here at his site.

Sam Mellinger of the Star Paints a Bleak Picture

2010-04-18T14:25:00.003-05:00

Sam Mellinger of the Star has a depressingly realistic look at the chances for KC gaining an NBA or NHL team anytime soon. A couple of lines that stood out to me:

"...Anschutz Entertainment Group is set to lose exclusive negotiating rights on landing a team."

AEG apparently had a three year window with exclusive negotiating rights. But what does that mean - Who else would be negotiating?

And regarding the Penguins:

"Revisionist history says Kansas City was just used as leverage, but decision-makers with the Penguins had begun planning on what the franchise would look like in Kansas City."

Doesn't matter either way, but interesting.

Eddie Bush of Your 1938-39 Kansas City Greyhounds

2010-04-13T11:09:00.003-05:00

All my best stuff is stolen from Puck Daddy or Uni Watch...

This gem comes from a link on Uni Watch. Jake Doyle has posted photos from a scrapbook that features all sorts of great hockey coverage and photos from 1938-39. I couldn't believe my eyes when I came across a shot of Scouts coach Eddie Bush in a Kansas City Greyhounds uniform. I knew Bush had played briefly for the Greyhounds, but wouldn't have expected to see a photo from his 25 game stint in KC 81 years ago. The Greyhounds were the American Hockey Association affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings. Bush had a long and winding minor league career, and two cups of coffee with the Red Wings, including eight games in 1938-39, probably soon after this photo was taken. He was back for 18 regular season games with the Red Wings in 1941-42, plus an eleven game run in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Wings lost in the seventh game of the finals to Toronto. Bush, a defenseman, scored 7 points in his eleven playoff games, good for fourth best on the Red Wings. Scouts GM Sid Abel was Bush's teammate in Detroit, which probably was the basis for a relationship that led to Abel choosing Bush as the Scouts new coach after Bep Guidolin stepped down in January, 1976. It turned out to be Bush's only shot at coaching in the NHL after the Scouts went a woeful 1-23-8 after his hiring.

KSHB-TV Reports Three Dates Being Held For Preseason Game, McGannon Interview

2010-04-04T08:32:00.004-05:00

According to KSHB-TV, Friday, September 24, Friday, October 1 and Saturday, October 2 are being held open at Sprint Center for a possible NHL preseason game this year.

The same article also says Paul McGannon is "optimistic that an NHL team could relocate to the metro as soon as next season." That guy certainly doesn't lack for optimism! You can watch KSHB's ten minute interview with McGannon here.

Where There's Smoke, There's Smoke

2010-04-02T09:38:00.003-05:00

Plenty of chatter with no actual substance going on:

Mike Sunnucks of the Phoenix Business Journal contributed a piece to the Kansas City Business Journal with the earth-shattering news that the NHL wants to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix, but if they can't, Kansas City has an arena. Seriously though, it is news if he's correct that the NHL is determined to not run the Coyotes next season, even if it means new ownership would move the team. However, this doesn't mean anything for Kansas City unless there is a secret ownership group waiting in the wings.

The Star chimes in with a story about how an NBA preseason game has been announced for the Sprint Center this fall, but no NHL game as yet. Author Randy Covitz speculates that AEG may not want to schedule a preseason game in KC in case they can get their own team in place for next season.

Tony's Kansas City blog shows hockey ignorance by bemoaning the thought of the Coyotes moving to KC since they're "horrible;" the Coyotes are having a Cinderella season, sitting at 47-25-6 and having clinched a playoff spot. Even if they were horrible, beggars can't be choosers, Tony.

Derek Zona of From The Rink Takes a Look at Potential NHL Markets

2010-03-30T20:43:00.002-05:00

Here's a new column on the website From The Rink comparing the following cities as potential NHL markets: Cincinnati, Halifax, Hamilton, Hartford, Houston, Kansas City, Quebec, Seattle and Winnipeg. Author Derek Zona says, "Kansas City is the only city on the continent with an NHL-ready arena."

Ken Campbell of The Hockey News Says KC Making "Serious Push" For Predators

2010-03-25T00:01:00.003-05:00

In spite of what a couple hockey writers have said recently about KC falling off the radar, Ken Campbell at The Hockey News brings us up again in a recent column. The relevant passage:

The Nashville Predators have reached an agreement with the Metro Sports Authority to keep the team in Nashville for at least another two seasons, but the deal has yet to be signed and there are rumblings Kansas City is making a serious push for the Predators to relocate there.

Los Angeles Kings governor Tim Leiweke is also the CEO of AEG, the company that owns the Sprint Center in Kansas City, a building that is ready-made for hockey and seeking a tenant. There are those who maintain it is only a matter of time before one of the NHL’s struggling franchises relocates to Kansas City.

A little contradictory to say a new deal has been reached in Nashville but KC is pushing hard.

Don Cherry: Kansas City is a Graveyard For Hockey

2010-03-21T21:48:00.002-05:00

Crazy Don Cherry chimes in on where he feels the NHL should expand/relocate on the March 20th broadcast of Hockey Night In Canada. Hint: Not KC. (Cherry was coach of the Bruins in the mid-'70s, so he came to Kemper a few times to meet the Scouts.)

Scouts Off-Ice Notes: March, 1976

2010-03-20T22:57:00.002-05:00

Way more detail than you need about the Scouts slowly falling apart:

• The season ticket drive to save the Scouts “officially launched (March 1^st) by Mayor Charles B. Wheeler, Jr., at a breakfast for business and civic leaders at the Plaza Inn…The turnout…was smaller than expected, but several firms pledged to double their season ticket orders and now solicitations will continue on an individual basis.” –Joe McGuff, 3/2 Star

• “I will agree that from the standpoint of sales, promotions and educating the public to the game the Scouts overall have been less than efficient.” –Joe McGuff, 3/2 Star

• On March 10 ^th came word that the NHL had done an about face and would loan the Scouts money after all. The league loaned $300,000 and the Scouts ownership group scraped together another $100,000 in order to allow the Scouts to finish the season. “The total appearances of the league are best served by the arrangement,” said NHL president Clarence Campbell, meaning they didn’t want to suffer the embarrassment of a team folding mid-season. (3/10 Times)

• By March 11 ^th, it was already apparent the ticket drive was a mess. Scouts president Edwin Thompson was under the impression that Henry Bloch, president of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, was in charge of the drive. Bloch was not. It turned out no one was running the ticket drive. Joe McGuff wrote, “…the members of the Scouts organization cannot expect someone else to do all of their work while they watch. The drive will not run itself and since the Scouts have the most to gain from it they had better start worrying about such things as having a chairman.” (3/11 Star)

• Lots of good info in Joe McGuff’s March 23 ^rd “Sporting Comment:” “Edwin Thompson…has said that the present owners cannot operate beyond April 15 without a season ticket sale of 8,000. Yesterday Mayor Charles B. Wheeler, Jr., called on the National Hockey League to clarify the status of the franchise and made it clear that the business community is not going to make a substantial dollar commitment unless there are assurances of stability in the ownership situation. In brief, Thompson says he cannot continue without a major sale of season tickets, the mayor is saying the tickets cannot be sold for a team that may or may not be here. The ticket drive started slowly and has come to a standstill…The Scouts and the business community are blaming each other for the failure of the drive…it is apparent that if the franchise is to be saved for Kansas City new ownership must be developed…The Scouts still owe the league $4,250,000 for the franchise and when the interest is added the figure exceeds $5 million. They owe the St. Louis Blues $800,000 for territorial rights. The Scouts recently borrowed $300,000 from the league, they are not current on the rent at Kemper Arena and they have other debts…the crowd of 16,219 last Saturday was significant. All tickets were priced at $2 so management did not make a profit from the promotion, but the size of the crowd shows that there is a strong base of hockey interest. If the public has no interest a promoter can give away his product and no one will come.”

• On March 24 ^th the Times published the below look at Scouts fans.

• March 27^th brought the first mention of Denver as a potential landing spot for the Scouts. “We have also been contacted by representatives from Cleveland and Miami, Florida,” said Edwin Thompson. (3/27 Times)

• The NBA Kansas City Kings were continually mentioned as a potential buyer that would keep the team in KC: “Of all the parties involved, only the Kings have made an offer, though the Scouts insist it is not a formal legalized bid. In any case, the Kings reportedly are willing to assume the Scouts’ liabilities, approximately $7 million, as the purchase price.” –Steve Marantz, 3/30 Star

• “Denver must be considered the strongest out-of-town contender. The Denver interest is headed by Carl Scheer, president and general manager of the Denver Nuggets basketball team…The likelihood of the Scouts leaving Kansas City increased dramatically when Scheer entered the picture.” –Steve Marantz, 3/30 Star

• The below columns ran on March 31^st following the last Scouts home game the night before. Thompson says the previous report that the Kings had made an offer to assume the Scouts debt was incorrect, and that the Scouts had made an offer to the Kings to sell for $5.5 million but hadn’t heard back. He also says, “What’s happened to us is very simple. Salaries have gone up 180 percent (since first applying for a team in 1971), and instead of averaging 9,000 or 10,000 persons a game we’re averaging 6,000 a game.”

Kansas City No Longer Being Considered says Steve Thompson of Bleacher Report

2010-03-20T20:32:00.003-05:00

Here's another hockey writer saying Kansas City has left the picture in regards to gaining an NHL franchise. The focus of the article is Winnipeg and Canada in general, but author Steve Thompson has come up with what he believes are Gary Bettman and the NHL's four conditions for gaining a franchise:

1. Adequate fan support
2. A proper NHL-size arena
3. Credible investor(s)
4. No territorial conflicts

Thompson writes because of the first condition—fan support—Kansas City is no longer being considered. I asked Steve in the comments where he came up with the conditions; he responded here and said, in part, "Kansas City built a proper NHL arena (18,000+) and there was speculation that the Islanders would move there. The Islanders played a pre-season game there and drew under 10,000. Since then there has been no talk about Kansas City getting a team. The bad fan support turned off the NHL."

So that makes two recent columns stating that no one's talking about Kansas City anymore (see my previous post). Even if that's the case, the only mentions of the NHL coming to Kansas City come in the form of speculation from the media and fans, not from the NHL. Bettman's company line all along has been that they will protect current markets and expansion is not imminent. Nothing has changed in that regard.

Still Kickin'

2010-03-16T06:54:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the long dry spell, sports fans. I lost the memory stick on which scans from the Kansas City Times and Star were stored, so I haven't been able to get to Scouts notes. I began the tedious process of combing microfilm for the SECOND time in order to wrap up the off-ice notes for the end of the '75-'76 season and the sale and transfer of the team. Still have more to look through at the library though, so it might be a ways off. Also, I've been spending free time delving into Kansas City baseball history over at my new blog. As for coverage of the potential for a new NHL team in KC, I'm just not all that interested in passing along rumors and speculation, and that's all there is at the moment.

I will direct you to this column from the Winnipeg Free Press. The author, Randy Turner, is admittedly bitter about Winnipeg losing their team and the NHL's practice of moving into "non-traditional" markets in the US, and his tone is off-putting. But here is the relevant passage from the column:

...it's obvious to anyone listening to what you can't hear that the NHL's Great American Experiment is dead. Do you notice that no one ever mentions Kansas City or Las Vegas as possible relocation sites anymore? Just a few months ago, all you ever heard was that those two cities were one-two on the NHL's list. Now? Not a peep. And Kansas City is still sitting there with a brand-new arena, dying for a team.

And you're more likely to read a story about Quebec City's preparation to return to the NHL than Las Vegas.

Of course, putting teams in Las Vegas or Kansas City was a pipe dream to begin with, but that never stopped the league from floating the idea or pundits from repeating the possibility, without taking into account the millions of dollars flushed down the toilet in places like Tampa, Phoenix, Nashville and Atlanta.

I really haven't noticed a drop-off in rumors about KC. I still see "peeps" on my "Kansas City NHL" Google news alert. But all the smoke with no fire is getting old.

Rivermen Staying In Peoria

2010-01-24T07:03:00.003-06:00

Not that there was ever any reason to think they were coming to Kansas City, but the St. Louis Blues’ AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, are officially remaining in Peoria for the next five seasons. There is no evidence I’m aware of that AEG/Sprint Center made any attempts to lure the Rivermen to Kansas City. Blues blogger Andy Strickland claims “Kansas City and the Sprint Center were very hopeful the Rivermen would have eventually landed in K.C.,” but I have no idea where he’s getting that. Peoria Journal Star reporter Dave Eminian says, “They envy you, Peoria, in places like Des Moines, Iowa, Omaha, Neb., and Kansas City.” Eminian also writes that the Blues “check(ed) around for other options” before agreeing to extend their time in Peoria, but gives no specifics. In an email to me, Eminian wrote: “Kansas City’s venue is too new, too big and too costly to operate a minor-league team in. Sprint Center wants an NHL team.” If there was any lingering hope that AEG might pursue the AHL for Kansas City, the apparent lack of interest in the Blues affiliate puts that to rest. Are we too big for the AHL and too small for the NHL?

Scouts Uni Watch Membership Card

2010-01-17T12:40:00.005-06:00

Uni Watch, one of my favorite websites, ran a Christmas-time raffle for various prizes. I was the lucky winner of a Uni Watch membership, which carries the awesome responsibility of choosing a jersey design, name and number to be featured on the back of the membership card. (You can see a gallery of card designs here.) The decision was actually an easy one for me - a Scouts jersey of course. Specifically, a #11 home jersey, a la my DIY project (that Uni Watch prez Paul Lukas featured on ESPN.com). She’s a beaut:

Greg “Puck Daddy” Wyshynski Supports NHL in KC

2010-01-15T08:07:00.003-06:00

Four respected hockey bloggers took part in what host site Crash The Crease called the “Internet Hockey Summit” recently. The last topic covered was potential NHL expansion and relocation. Greg Wyshynski (the 99th most influential person in hockey, don’t ya know) of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy was the only one to mention Kansas City. Unlike most hockey scribes, Wyshynski “would like to see a team in Kansas City” (by way of expansion).

Scouts & Capitals Tour of Japan, April 1976

2010-01-05T20:24:00.009-06:00

If you're interested in the Scouts, you may know that they ended their final season with a then-record 27 game winless streak. So what would you say if I told you the Scouts won the last game they ever played?

Turns out the Scouts weren't quite done at the conclusion of the '75-'76 regular season: They had a four-game exhibition tour to play with the Washington Capitals in Japan in mid-April. It was the first time the NHL had gone to Japan, and the curious Japanese onlookers were treated to the two newest and worst teams in the league. In 2008, Guy Charron told NHL.com, "Basically, the two teams they selected...had to be pretty well out of the playoffs by a certain time."

The Scouts dropped the first three games (the first two played in Sapporo, the third in Tokyo). That means the team actually managed to run the winless streak up to an unofficial 30 games before winning the final game, played in Tokyo, 4-2. The players were awarded with watches for their victory. Here are summaries for games 2, 3 and 4:

Related article: "Capitals, Scouts Received Rare Shot at April Hockey"

Sports Illustrated’s Allan Muir Sees Expansion To KC Within The Next Five Years

2009-12-18T21:21:00.002-06:00

Allan Muir of Sports Illustrated has a recent column answering reader mail. In one answer, he “pretty much guarantee(s) (expansion is) going to happen,” and probably within five years. Muir’s “best bets” for expansion are Toronto/Southwestern Ontario and Kansas City.

As Muir says earlier in the same answer, Gary Bettman has made it clear that he will fight tooth and nail to prevent teams from relocating.* So in spite of the existence of several teams on shaky footing, the prospects for Kansas City (or anywhere else) gaining a relocated team in the at-all near future seem slim at best. And I’m not as optimistic as Muir is for our chances at an expansion team. But it is always nice to read that someone in the know thinks we still have a real shot.

*Say what you want about Bettman defending his current markets so staunchly, but I sure wish the league would have been willing back in 1976 to go to bat for Kansas City to allow us more time to develop as an NHL market. As I’ve reported before, the league would have even allowed the Scouts to fold in the middle of a season if it came to that. Maybe we still have the Scouts if the league would have been willing to help in the slightest.

Oilers’ AHL Affiliate Reportedly To Oklahoma City...Where Is KC?

2009-12-15T21:05:00.008-06:00

According to NewsOK.com, Oklahoma City is close to officially becoming the home of the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL affiliate next season. I have to ask again: Why is Kansas City seemingly not even in the conversation for an AHL team? Oklahoma City is roughly 61% of the size of Kansas City. As I’ve written here before, (according to my rudimentary research) only three current AHL markets are bigger than Kansas City. And unlike the NHL, there seems to actually be teams for the taking—if only AEG were interested.

Most notably, the St. Louis Blues affiliate could be available, with the Peoria Rivermen’s current lease set to expire after the current season. On October 1st, the Peoria Journal Star even claimed that there are “rumblings” about the Rivermen moving to Kansas City in 2010. But a November 9th column said negotiations are ongoing to keep the Rivermen in Peoria, and that “a multi-year deal is expected.” Kansas City may not be a hockey hotbed, but something tells me we could do better than Peoria’s 4,000 fans a game. I’m not sure there could be a better fit for hockey in Kansas City than the Blues top farm team.

It is possible that AEG and the Sprint Center are looking into the AHL for Kansas City. But it’s hard to imagine that they are...surely the press would catch wind of it, and aside from the vague “rumblings” mentioned above, there seems to be zero evidence of it, and plenty of statements that they are specifically targeting the NHL.

Perhaps they would view an AHL team in the Sprint Center as a failure, given that the goal has always been the NHL. But isn’t a complete lack of a sports tenant the real failure? Do they think an AHL team would block the way for an NHL team? Seems to me the AHL could actually help the cause by growing the base of hockey fans. Doesn’t Kansas City deserve to at least be in the conversation?

Scouts On-Ice Notes: March—April, 1976

2009-12-09T10:12:00.007-06:00

There was a lot going on with the Scouts off the ice late in the ’75-’76 season, so I’m going to split up my notes with this (mostly) on-ice report and an off-ice report later.

• “Scouts Booster Club dinner Sunday at Crown Center was a big success. Boosters presented (Wilf) Paiement with a pair of fur-trimmed bluejeans to go with his fur coat” (which he had been awarded for his hat trick earlier in the year). (3/3/76 Star)

• How far apart where the lowly Scouts and the mighty Flyers? When Flyer captain Bobby Clarke was asked how his team psyched themselves up for their game against the Scouts on March 7th, he responded, “You don’t really. You get bored. We had lots of shots but we weren’t really pushing that hard. Most of the time we were pushing the puck around.” (3/8/76 Times) The Scouts got 23 shots off in the game; the Flyers had 22 after one period.

• On March 16th, the Scouts hosted the Black Hawks. Guy Charron netted his 27th goal of the year, surpassing the team mark of 26 that Wilf Paiement and Simon Nolet had set the previous season. But the Scouts dropped the game 3-6, which was their 16th straight game without a victory, tying the team record. Unfortunately for the Scouts, the only end to this winless stretch would be the end of the season, 11 games later. Scout Robin Burns turned into an insane poet after the Black Hawks game: “An entanglement of troubles. A spontaneous nurturing of the fruits of disappointment. A demented departure from the reality of hockey.” (3/17 Times)

• Ordinarily, a stretch like that would prompt roster moves of some sort in an attempt to shake things up. But according to an article in the September, 1976 issue of Kansas City magazine, team president Edwin Thompson “refused to allow any player moves as the team went winless in the last 27 games of its history because it would have cost money to pay the moving expenses of young players being called up from the minors.”

• On March 20th, all tickets were priced at $2 for a game against the Seals at Kemper. 16,219 fans showed up, easily the biggest crowd to see a Scouts home game. Kansas City was up 2-0 after two periods, but of course couldn’t hold on, and the big crowd had to settle for a 2-2 tie.

• Two nights later, the Scouts visited the Capitals. This was a prime chance to stop the winless streak. Things were looking good as the Scouts jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second, and lead 5-2 heading into the third. This being the ’75-’76 Scouts, they allowed 3 third period goals and ended up with a 5-5 tie. “Jesus Christ and the disciples couldn’t help this team,” Steve Durbano said after the game. “This team stinks.” (3/24 Times) After the season was over, goalie Denis Herron pointed to this game as the nadir of an extremely low season. It was the last point the Scouts would ever earn.

• After the 21st straight game without a win on March 24th, Randy Rota said, “You wake up in the morning and think that this is the day it breaks. Only it never does. Pretty soon you stop thinking that. Pretty soon you start losing your personal pride.” And Dave Hudson: “You think if you keep after it, it’s gotta break. Only there’s not much time left now.” (3/25 Star) To add injury to insult, Denis Herron got his head stepped on while allowing a goal that night, and was knocked out.

• The Scouts had the misfortune of playing the Canadiens on March 27th, and for the second straight year, Guy Lafleur scored his 50th goal against Herron and the Scouts in Montreal. For good measure, he added number 51 later in the game as the Habs breezed to an 8-2 victory.

• On March 28th, the Scouts lost to the New York Rangers and a young goalie named Doug Soetaert making his third NHL start. After his playing days, Soetart would go on to spend one year as coach and ten years as GM of the IHL Kansas City Blades.

• The last home game in Scouts history came on March 30th against the Los Angeles Kings. Before the game, Herron was named as team MVP, as voted on by his teammates. “Gary Bergman was named top defenseman, Guy Charron was cited for being named the top star of the game most often during the season and Gary Croteau was honored for his dedication, hard work and leadership both on and off the ice.” (3/31 Star) In the game, the Scouts exploded for six goals in the first two periods and had a 6-5 lead heading into the final frame…but once again couldn’t hold, and lost 6-8. The Scouts much too brief run at Kemper Arena went out with a bang, as the 14 goals added up to the highest scoring game in Kemper history. 7,123 fans witnessed the end of the Scouts in Kansas City. Gary Croteau scored the last Scouts goal in Kansas City, while King Tom Williams potted the last goal overall.

• The miserable band of Scouts still had three road games to play. Earlier in the season, the Capitals had set a new mark in NHL futility by going winless in a record 25 straight games. The loss to the Kings at home was number 24 in a row without a win for the Scouts. The Scouts tied the record with a loss in Chicago on March 31st, then made it their own with losses in Los Angeles and Vancouver on April 3rd and 4th to stretch it to an impressive 27. Who knows how long they could have gone had the season not come to a merciful end. (The Colorado Rockies snapped the franchise’s streak by winning their first ever game.) Craig Patrick netted the final goal in Scouts history.

• Herron tried to make some sense of the team’s collapse over the final half of the season: “We change the coach and we change the system from top to bottom. We played tight hockey, man-for-man, with Bep. With Bush we’re more open now. We can’t play open, because nobody scores.” (4/5 Star) Gary Bergman allowed that the off-ice issues hurt their performance on the ice: “Sure, it takes your mind off hockey. Between the talk about the team moving and all the trouble in the front office…that’s been more of the topic of conversation with the players than trying to figure out what’s wrong with the team.” (4/5 Star) Injury trouble didn’t help, especially Wilf Paiement missing the last six weeks of the season. The record 27 games without a win stood until the ’80-’81 Winnipeg Jets took the Scouts off the hook by running up a 30 game streak.

• The Scouts record over March and two games in April was 0-15-2 (.059). The seven home games had an average announced attendance of 8,286.

Numbers From 1975-76

2009-12-05T21:25:00.008-06:00

Wilf Paiement

Here are some numbers from the Scouts second season (sourced from Hockey-Reference.com). Numbers in parentheses are league rank, out of 18 teams:

Record: 12-56-12, .225 (17)
Home record: 8-24-8, .300
Road record: 4-32-4, .150

Goals for: 190 (18)
Goals against: 351 (17)

Goals per game: 2.38
Goals against per game: 4.39

Power play goals for: 46 (18)
Power play percentage: 13.07% (18)

Power play goals against: 80 (14)
Penalty kill percentage: 72.88% (18)

Short-handed goals for: 2 (T-16)
Short-handed goals against: 17 (18)
(Special teams went from being a small bright spot in ’74-’75 to a disaster in ’75-’76.)

PIM: 984 (12)
(Huge increase from 744 the previous year.)

Times shut-out: 5
Shut-outs: 0

(The Scouts were shut-out 17 times in their history, and never shut-out an opponent.)

Team leaders:

Goals
27 Guy Charron
21 Wilf Paiement
19 Gary Croteau

Assists
44 Guy Charron
33 Gary Bergman
22 Wilf Paiement

Points
71 Guy Charron
43 Wilf Paiement
38 Gary Bergman

Points-per-game:
.910 Guy Charron
.754 Wilf Paiement

.615 Chuck Arnason

PIM:
209 Steve Durbano
121 Wilf Paiement
112 Richard Lemieux

(Durbano only spent 37 games as a Scout, which means he averaged a mind-boggling 5.65 PIM/game)

Games played:
80 Craig Patrick
79 Gary Croteau
78 Guy Charron & Robin Burns

Wang Exploring All Options...In The New York Area

2009-12-01T21:53:00.002-06:00

Things sure have been quiet on the Islanders front ever since owner Charles Wang claimed he'd be "exploring all options" as of October 3rd. Chris Botta of the Islanders Point Blank blog has an informative post today however. The pertinent quote:

"Although Wang is flattered by the interest from other communities, he has little desire to move the team away from Nassau County — so much so that he has yet to rigorously pursue his options.

And finally, know this:
Brooklyn is very much in play.
Queens is very much in play, although it’s a close second to Brooklyn now.
Suffolk is not a serious option.
The Islanders will not leave the New York metropolitan area during this generation or the next one."

8,218: Scouts Final Attendance Numbers

2009-11-30T22:15:00.007-06:00

1974-75 season: 8,529 (64% of league average (13,224))
1975-76 season: 7,907 (63% of league average (12,644))

Overall average: 8,218 (64% of league average (12,934))

Happy Holidays From The Scouts

2009-11-26T06:59:00.000-06:00

Randy Rota...small but mighty

2009-11-04T20:33:00.001-06:00

The Best Scouts Photo

2009-11-03T07:30:00.004-06:00

Scouts action photos are few and far between, at least in comparison to the media overload that we’re accustomed to now. (Although somewhere in a Kansas City Star storage room there has to be a treasure trove of shots...) So coming across this beauty recently was a treat:

The Bruin in the middle is of course Bobby Orr. Peter McDuffe is recognizable as the Scouts goalie, which means the picture had to have been taken on October 27, 1974. McDuffe was with the Scouts for the duration of the ’74-’75 season only, and the Scouts played in Boston just twice that year. In the other game, Denis Herron manned the Scouts net (pulling off an unlikely 3-2 win). The October 27th game from the picture was just the eighth Scouts regular season game, and came at the end of the eight-game road trip to kick off the franchise, meaning they still hadn’t played a home game or enjoyed a win. The exhausted Scouts lost that night 2-8, and finally got to head to Kansas City afterwards. The two Scouts defensemen pictured are Mike Baumgartner (on the left) and Jim McElmury. The two Minnesotans have the unenviable task of trying to contain Orr’s Bruins. The puck denting the twine tells the story of how that worked out.

Scouts Notes: February 1976

2009-10-25T23:55:00.002-05:00

• The Scouts started February, 1976 with three days off, which served as a chance for them to get to know their new head coach, Eddie Bush, a little better. Joe McGuff had this introduction in the February 2^nd Star:

• On the 4^th appeared the last article in which team president Ed Thompson tried to put a happy face on the shaky status of the Scouts. He claimed that “we (the team ownership group) knew it would be five years before we had the attendance we needed. This year is less than what we hoped for. But the partners are still enthused and so am I.” (2/4/76 Star) Thompson was either lying or something radically changed in the following week.

• On the ice, the month opened at home against the Blues on the 4^th. 5,938 came out on poster night to see the two Missouri clubs skate to a 3-3 tie. It was the second straight tie for the Scouts, after having lost their previous 14.

• It was announced on the 6^th that forward Henry Boucha had finally signed with the Scouts. It was well known that Boucha had been trying to get out of his contract with the WHA St. Paul Fighting Saints, and that the Scouts had acquired his NHL rights from the North Stars in November ’74.

Boucha had a fairly short but colorful career. A Chippewa Native American from Warroad, Minnesota, he spent much of 1969—72 playing on the United States National and Olympic teams, most notably at the 1972 Olympics. He had six points in six Olympic games on the way to earning a silver medal. Boucha put up big numbers throughout his tenure with the U.S. team, and earned induction in the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995. Boucha went on to play for the Red Wings and North Stars between ’72—’75. In January of ’75, Boucha was on the receiving end of one of the uglier incidents in NHL history. Michael Smith describes it thusly in his essay “What Is Sports Violence?” in the book Sports Ethics:

“…an altercation occurred between David Forbes of the Boston Bruins and Henry Boucha of the Minnesota North Stars. Both players were sent to the penalty box, where Forbes repeatedly threatened Boucha verbally. As they left the box at the expiration of the penalties…Forbes skated up behind Boucha and struck him with the butt end of his stick just above the right eye. Boucha fell to the ice stunned and bleeding (with a badly damaged eye, it turned out). Forbes jumped on him, punched him in the back of the head, then grabbing him by the hair, proceeded to pound his head into the ice.”

Boucha’s eyesight never fully recovered. He managed to comeback with the Fighting Saints and Scouts in ’75-‘76, but retired after just nine games with the Colorado Rockies in 1976. He received an undisclosed settlement in a lawsuit he brought against Forbes, the Bruins and the NHL. Boucha is one of the more recognizable players in NHL history thanks to the bright headbands he wore on the ice.

• On the 7^th, Boucha made his debut as the Scouts hosted the Capitals. As poorly as the season had gone for the Scouts, they still had over twice as many wins as the Caps at this point (11 to 5). So this was a good opportunity to snap their 16 game winless streak, and the Scouts took advantage, downing the Caps 5-1. Boucha chipped in with an assist (though Star writer Steve Marantz said “his play otherwise generally reflected his 10-day layoff” 2/8/76 Star).

Things were looking up a bit, as this was the third straight game without a loss. With 27 games remaining on the season and no strong implication that the Scouts wouldn’t be returning to Kansas City the next season, Scouts players and fans had no way to expect or know that this would be the last victory in Scouts history.

• The truth about how dire the Scouts situation was started to become public on the 10^th with a Joe McGuff column, “Scouts Are Feeling Financial Pinch,” in which McGuff didn’t yet have specifics, but wrote, “a crisis has developed.” On the 12^th, the severity was coming into clearer focus in the below, highly recommended article from McGuff. It was announced by team president Thompson that 8,000 season tickets would have to be sold for the following season for the Scouts to continue to operate—a near-impossible number seeing as fewer than 4,000 were sold for ’75-’76.

• Edwin Thompson was not sole owner of the Scouts. In fact, he wasn’t even the majority owner. From a Steve Marantz column on the 12^th: “Most of the investors, who number approximately 30, are from the area…The largest single stockholder, however, is Murray Newman, an Omaha businessman, who holds about 24 per cent of the total issue.” As president of the club, Thompson became the face of Scouts ownership, while the others stayed largely anonymous and behind the scenes.

• In the immediate aftershocks of all the terrible financial news, the Scouts got back on the ice on the 12^th as hosts to the Islanders. How did Kansas City hockey fans respond to the threat of losing the Scouts? They stayed away in droves. Just 5,837 showed up to watch the Scouts tie the Islanders 2-2. Incredibly, it was their fourth straight game without a loss (1-0-3), despite being in the midst of their 1-35-8 finish. From Steve Marantz’s game summary: “Even as the Scouts make steady strides on the ice, it has become more apparent to everybody that the problem now lies elsewhere… The audience ranked among the smallest three this season. ‘It was a great game to watch,’ said Robin Burns, Scouts’ left wing. ‘But where was everybody?’”

• It’s partly laziness on my part and partly a tribute to the fine writing of McGuff that I’m just going to reprint a couple of his columns in full rather than try to summarize them for you. They deal with the crisis of survival facing the Scouts at the time, and he explains it much better than I could:

• This group of four letters to the editor from the February 22^nd Star provide a sample of what some Kansas Citians were thinking about the Scouts crisis:

• A McGuff column on the 26^th (“Scouts Are Now Scrambling Just For Survival”) contains a couple of interesting nuggets: The NBA Kansas City Kings, co-tenants of Kemper Arena, had expressed an interest in purchasing the Scouts. This quote drives home just how bad things had gotten for the Scouts: “Adding to the confusion surrounding the hockey operation are persistent reports that the team is so close to bankruptcy that it might not be able to continue beyond Monday, when the next player payroll comes due. The National Hockey League reportedly has an emergency plan to proceed with 17 teams should the Scouts be unable to finish their schedule.” Crikey!

• On the 27^th came a story in the Star that the Scouts were two months behind on payments to the city for Kemper Arena rental fees amounting to $65,000. The next morning’s Times revealed that the Scouts would indeed meet the next payday. Edwin Thompson said:

“The crisis certainly hasn’t changed. Our partners and myself are making the payroll as we have the last few, out of our pockets, certainly not from gate receipts. We are willing to do this as long as we see some hope, some light that the season ticket drive will get off to a successful start. So far we are encouraged by the Mayor and civic leaders who are participating in the drive and hopefully it will go along as planned. There isn’t anyone in Kansas City that is more enthusiastic and will give this franchise as much support as myself and the partners have and will continue to do so. As you know we have $5-million in this venture and this certainly isn’t the end. We want to know that somewhere along the line we have a chance to get even.”

In the same paper was an article stating the NHL would not be giving the Scouts any financial aid, even if it meant the Scouts couldn’t finish out the current season. “We have an emergency plan to finish the schedule in case Kansas City folds,” said president Clarence Campbell. The league had recently propped up the Pittsburgh Penguins financially, but Campbell said they didn’t “want to go through the same financial headaches” again. Kansas City was on its own.

• Back on the ice, the Scouts closed out the month with what were apparently three well-played games, particularly by goalie Denis Herron. The stretch consisted of a 3-1 loss to the Canadiens and ties with the Islanders and Sabres. The point against the Sabres was the only one the Scouts would ever gain from Buffalo in eight meetings. Herron seemed to slump a bit after returning from the kidney stone he suffered in January, but garnered immense praise from opposing players and the press for his play at the end of February.

• The Scouts ended the miserable month with a 1-6-5 (.292) record, and an average of 7,329 fans at the nine home games.

Wang Abandoning Light House?

2009-10-14T19:53:00.006-05:00

According to the Long Island Press, Islanders owner Charles Wang has quietly abandoned his Light House development plan that included a new home for the Islanders. Sean Leahy on Puck Daddy questions whether it might be just another political move in his attempt to get the project approved; seems to me if that were the case, Wang would be stating this publicly. But so far, Islanders brass has been completely mum.

I still would expect Wang to explore other Long Island-area options before considering selling or relocating the team.

Update: 19 hours after the story, Wang got around to denying it. Long Island Press stands by it.

Scouts ’74-’75 Media Guide

2009-10-10T20:17:00.008-05:00

I finally scored a ’74-’75 media guide/yearbook on eBay recently. They rarely show up, and the ones that I’ve seen have gone for ridiculous amounts ($30+), but I managed to get mine for $6. I’m glad I didn't overpay for it, because there’s not a lot to it. The Scouts had of course not yet played a game when the guide was put out, so there was not much to write about and no action photographs. (The photos in the ’75-’76 guide a make it a much more interesting artifact.)

The guide is mostly made up of head shots of front office staff and players, along with brief bios. A couple of highlights are the below letter from Scouts owner/president Edwin Thompson and his bio page.

And for whatever it’s worth, I learned that the Scouts’ Port Huron, Michigan training camps took place at The McMorran Arena, which is in use today as the home of the CHL Port Huron Hawks.

Not an especially exciting piece of Scouts history, but there is not exactly a wealth of Scouts relics to choose from. Just don’t pay too much for it.

Isles vs. Kings Quick Hits VI

2009-10-04T20:03:00.004-05:00

• Want to see the difference between crude and nuanced sports reporting? Compare and contrast Stan Fischler's take on the KC preseason game with Dominik's on Lighthouse Hockey:

Fischler: "With Kansas City proving itself a bust – a half-empty arena for an NHL exhibition – as a future NHL city, other towns must be considered."

Dominik: "Attending the preseason game in Kansas City was quite fun, opened my eyes to a few things, and cemented my impression that gauging a marginal market's readiness for pro hockey by counting its skeptical fanbase's attendance at a meaningless preseason game between two distant teams is, simply, fool's play...I thought just under 10,000 on a Tuesday night was hardly "a miserable failure." That's not to say I think K.C. should have a team -- just that if you're arguing against it, there are far better reasons than an exhibition game."

Be sure to check out Dominik's full post on his experience.

• Charles Wang's October 3rd deadline for a definite answer on his Lighthouse Project has come and gone with nothing decided. As promised, he says he'll be "exploring all options" now, meaning he will at least listen to anyone interested in buying or relocating the team.

Isles vs. Kings Quick Hits V

2009-09-24T22:00:00.003-05:00

• National Post: "Kansas City Shows No Interest In Hockey"

• Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: "Long Island or Kansas City? Give Me a Break, It's No Contest"

• J.J. From Kansas on Kukla's Korner Member Blog: "Kansas City Didn't Fail The Islanders"

• KSHB-TV: "Still In Search of an Anchor Tenant, Sprint Center Hosts NHL"

• FOX4 TV: "AEG CEO: Don't Expect Hockey In Kansas City Soon"

Kings Sean O'Donnel Suspended For Actions In KC Game

2009-09-23T21:51:00.002-05:00

In the second period last night, Sean O'Donnel of the Kings attacked Islander Matt Martin. I had no idea what preceded it, but something had obviously royally ticked off O'Donnel - he continued to attack Martin even after Martin was obviously hurt and had collapsed on the ice. Newsday suggested that Martin had high-sticked Drew Doughty to set off O'Donnel. The league didn't care for O'Donnel's goonery, and today slapped him with a suspension that ends after the Kings' first two regular season games.

Martin left the ice after the attack, but was back in the third period, and engaged in a long fight with Wayne Simmonds.

9,972 Just Got A Little Bigger

2009-09-23T21:15:00.003-05:00

If preseason attendance numbers are going to be used as the gauge, I guess you could make the argument that Kansas City made a stronger showing for the Islanders last night than Long Island did tonight. The official attendance for the Islanders only preseason game at home and the home debut of John Tavares is 8,256. Arthur Staple at Newsday puts the actual attendance at just 4,000. (Seems like the NHL could and should regulate a way for "announced" attendance to be tied to actual attendance.)

Or, if you want to make KC's 9,972 sound a little smaller, you could point out that the average attendance in the other five preseason games played last night was 13,926. (One of those games was also played in a non-NHL market: the Lightning and Coyotes played in front of 7,281 in Everett, Washington.)

In any event, things don't appear to be going well for Charles Wang getting his Lighthouse Project approved by his deadline of October 3rd. Sounds like this is about to get really ugly, with Wang talking to any and all courters...will be interesting to see if KC will be a player or not. I have no doubt AEG and NHL21 will try to get Wang's ear...but if there's no owner for KC, it might be a short conversation. Maybe he'll surprise me, but I can't imagine Wang being interested in remaining owner of the team in a new market outside of the NY area.

Isles vs. Kings Review

2009-09-23T11:30:00.006-05:00

The game: There was intensity to the action that rarely let up. The game was played as if it mattered; of course, for guys trying to make the team or make an impression, preseason games do matter. I could do without the many fights (though of course the crowd in general loved them), but the plethora of solid body checks was a thrill. Several of the goals were a result of pretty passing plays. The fans that bothered to show up where treated to what I love so much about hockey: the combination of skill and finesse with grit and physicality.

The Kings didn’t entirely dominate, but they certainly had the upper hand. LA sent a fairly strong group of players to the game, while the Islanders sent the B-squad. The most glaring difference was on special teams. The Kings took control of their power plays. When the Islanders went up a man, they could do little more than jump off-side, give up a shorty, or take a penalty themselves to put an end to their advantage. Wayne Simmonds, Teddy Purcell and Drew Doughty all stood out for the Kings, and not just because they were the goal scorers. It wasn’t as close as the 4-2 score indicates.

Kings netminder Jonathan Quick was good, but rarely tested. In net for the Isles was Nathan Lawson, after Dwayne Roloson took a shot in the neck during warmups. Lawson performed admirably considering he was left out to dry by his teammates for much of the night. He stood on his head during the 3^rd period (plus got a little help from the crossbar), keeping the Isles in a game they otherwise didn’t deserve to be in.

My experience: Once again, the Sprint Center sparkled, and screamed out to host hockey much more often than once a year. I arrived just in time to catch warmups, and moved down to the glass behind the end the Islanders were skating on to take some pictures and be reminded how huge NHL players are when you’re right next to them. I somehow completely missed Roloson getting hit in the neck. A puck flew up and landed in the netting just behind the glass in the corner to my left, where there are no stands. I saw a guy knock it down with a shovel and quickly asked him to toss it to me—he did! I was psyched to get a small piece of the NHL in Kansas City. My night was already made before the game even began. Did you know there’s an official “practice puck” that is apparently used for warmups? I didn’t.

The attendance: 9,972 is the official number. Three quarters of the upper deck were curtained off. The lower bowl had empty spots. I don’t think attendance numbers at preseason games between teams KC has no rooting interest in should be a major factor in gauging us as an NHL market, but there just aren’t many other ways to judge it, so it takes on a falsely inflated importance. And a crowd that didn’t hit five figures was a disappointment. It’s amusing how you can spin the number any way you want; the AP recap says “9,972 showed up Tuesday night, so Kansas City seems to be ready (for a team).” Long Island’s Newsday meanwhile reported that KC reacted to the game with “one huge, collective yawn.”

I think what we saw last night was the small core of hockey die-hards in KC. Unfortunately, I don’t know that a secondary, more casual group of fans exist to augment the die-hards. I would love for KC to get a chance to find out if a large enough group of new fans could be created and sustained if we had a home team. At the same time, I can’t help but point out that a moderately sized base of passionate hockey fans would be a great start for an AHL team.

But the question for now is, do we deserve the chance to find out if we could grow those fans with an NHL team of our own? I’m blinded by my desire to have a team, and probably can’t answer objectively. But if I were fabulously wealthy, I’m not sure I’d be willing to take that chance. KC hockey fans are left to hope someone who is fabulously wealthy feels differently.

Linkage:

Kansas City Star report

PucKChaser recap

Lighthouse Hockey recap

From Newsday:
Fans In Kansas City Show Little Interest In Isles
With Isles In KC, Big Game Is Lighthouse Hearing

Newsday reporter Jim Baumbach had some interesting Tweets from KC

Score sheet

Mayor's Manor draws some connections between LA & KC hockey

Isles vs. Kings Quick Hits IV

2009-09-22T14:38:00.005-05:00

(And in case my bosses see this, I am actually getting a little work done in between hitting "refresh" on hockey websites today!)

• From The Rink: Kansas City Faces The Preseason Test

• Kings.com preview (Had no idea that brothers faced each other in last year's game: D.J. King of the Blues and Dwight King of the Kings. There will be yet another brother matchup tonight, with Brett Westgarth of the Isles and Kevin Westgarth of the Kings.)

• Kings Game Notes (Unfortunately still can't find the Kings lineup for tonight...These notes do however finally break the tension and reveal that Megan Simmons will be singing the National Anthem.)

Isles vs. Kings Quick Hits III

2009-09-22T12:12:00.006-05:00

• Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski chimes in on tonight's game with his usual even-handedness and insight. But best of all, he calls my blog "rather interesting"!

• From Lighthouse Hockey: "Off To Kansas City For Islanders Hockey, Wee Wee"
Author Dominik enjoys my blog "for the perspective of those being tossed like pawns in the pro sports relocation game"!

• Islanders line-up for tonight, per Newsday:

Forwards: Jon Sim, Josh Bailey, Greg Moore, Tony Romano, Trent Hunter, Jesse Joensuu, Tim Jackman, Michael Haley, Matt Martin, Nate Thompson, Jeff Tambellini, Tyler Haskins

Defenseman: Andy Sutton, Jack Hillen, Freddy Meyer, Bruno Gervais, Brett Westgarth, Dustin Kohn

Goalies: Dwayne Roloson, Nathan Lawson

Isles vs. Kings Quick Hits II

2009-09-22T10:52:00.003-05:00

• Slightly altered story about the lack of Tavares from the Star: "Islanders Rookie Star Tavares Won't Be Coming To KC"

• Newsday: "Kansas City Morning Skate"

• Islanders.com game preview

Isles vs. Kings Quick Hits

2009-09-21T21:01:00.003-05:00

From Newsday: Big Day For Isles: Game In KC, Zoning Hearing For Wang

Kings official website: Camp Update

Well, Shit

2009-09-21T19:53:00.003-05:00

No Tavares.

On one hand, perhaps KC hockey fans should just be happy to get whatever we can as far as NHL action goes. But on the other hand, we're being used as a pawn by a fabulously rich owner in a political game that has nothing to do with us. So is it surprising that ticket sales are so weak that ticket prices have been slashed at the last minute?

Is sending Tavares - the one player with a little star power on either team - to KC so much to ask?

You can see why the Islanders are holding him out - thanks to some brilliant scheduling, the only Islanders home preseason game is the very night after the KC game. No way they're going to play him in back-to-back games, and the Islanders presumably would have suffered a backlash from their fans, who are already upset that the Isles are playing in KC at all, if they'd chosen the KC game over the Long Island game to play Tavares.

But isn't Wang's entire purpose for playing the game in KC to generate pressure on Long Island politicians? The not-so veiled veiled threat? Wouldn't placing the new face of the franchise smack dab in a supposed suitor city be the way to do that?

More Isles vs. Kings Notes

2009-09-20T09:12:00.004-05:00

• The Star’s Randy Covitz has this piece today: “Islanders Have More Than KC Game On Their Mind”

• I don’t like the implication in this Newsday story that Tavares won’t play on Tuesday. If it’s accurate that Tavares will play four preseason games total, and he played on the 16th, will be playing today (20th), and both games against the Devils (23rd & 29th)...that means he won’t be playing Tuesday night. I hope the article has that wrong. KC fans deserve to be thrown a frickin’ bone here.

• If you want to brush up on the Kings and Islanders, check out Puck Daddy’s season previews here (NY) and here (LA).

Islanders vs. Kings Game Preview

2009-09-19T19:59:00.008-05:00

New York Islanders vs. Los Angeles Kings

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 • 7:00
Sprint Center • Kansas City, Missouri

I can’t speak for the rest of the city, but I’m excited for what I believe will be the 87th NHL game played in Kansas City. The first 86 were made up of two Scouts preseason games, 80 Scouts regular season games, and four preseason games between 1998—2008. The Blues played in all four of the recent preseason games, which means Tuesday’s game will be the first played in Kansas City to not feature a team from Missouri. To make up for the lack of a regional team, I think AEG was banking on the Islanders appearance generating a buzz in KC. As far as I can tell, that hasn't happened. I think KC fans understand the Islanders are not on the brink of moving here, and that we’re being used as a bargaining ploy again. Not exactly inspiring stuff.

In spite of all the nonsense surrounding the game, I’ll just be soaking up the game itself, enjoying the unbeatable atmosphere of a live NHL game taking place in my home town.

The Sprint Center has cooked up this ad for the game. The Kings have posted an interview with assistant coach Jamie Kompon about the two Kings games in Kansas City. It sounds almost like an AEG promo for the Sprint Center:

John Tavares Watch: The much heralded Islanders rookie made his NHL debut on September 16th in Edmonton, but has sat out three of the Islanders’ first four preseason games. That means we’ll be seeing either his second or third game. He didn’t get a point in his first game, so perhaps KC fans will be treated to his first NHL point.

That’s all assuming he’ll play Tuesday night - something I fully expect, but I’ll breathe easier once he’s officially announced.

Here’s some video of Tavares in Islanders training camp:

And here is a rather ridiculous post from Newsday insinuating that the game has sold out. Don't think so - I still get tickets available on the 22nd row of the lower level.

Looking Back at the Sprint Center's First Hockey Game

2009-09-15T20:41:00.010-05:00

A week from the moment I’m writing this, I’ll be sitting in the Sprint Center taking in an NHL hockey game. I’m starting to get excited. Seems like a good time to take a look back at last year’s preseason game between the Blues and Kings.

Fair or not, the game was viewed by many as an “audition” or test of Kansas City’s potential to be a successful NHL market. If it was a test, the venue passed with flying colors. It was clear that watching hockey was in mind during the design of the building. There seems to be no debate that it would be a first-class NHL rink. That much was pretty well known, but it was still a thrill to see that promise fulfilled, if only for one brief night.

More scrutinized was the attendance figure. The crowd was strongly pro-Blues; I don’t know if that was a reflection of a decent Blues fanbase in Kansas City, or if a lot of fans made the trip from St. Louis. Probably a little of both. The announced attendance was 11,603. I’m still not sure if that’s a good number or a bad one - it all depends on how you want to spin it. The Associated Press recap unequivocally stated it was “good numbers for a preseason game.” I dug into attendance numbers from last year’s preseason, and the average attendance in 95 games not played in Kansas City was 14,517. In that regard, 11,603 is clearly not a good number. A factor that was pointed to as hurting attendance was the game being played on a Monday. In Puck Daddy’s comment on the game, Paul McGannon was quoted as saying, “If we have that game on a Friday or Saturday or even a Sunday afternoon, it’d be sold out.” Saying attendance was hurt by virtue of the game falling on a Monday seemed reasonable to me - at least until I noticed that there were seven other games played on the very same night that drew an average of 14,527.

But if you want to spin it in KC’s favor, here is some ammunition for you: the Kings played two games that night, with a split squad in Kansas City and another in Los Angeles. In LA, only 8,221 showed up. The Kings played a total of four preseason games at home, and averaged 10,255. The Blues played three at home, and averaged 11,986. So KC was right on par with the performance of the hometown fans. You could also point out that the Islanders drew under 4,000 for a couple of their preseason games.

Sitting in the rink that night, I remember wishing there was a lot more people. Looking back with some perspective, the attendance was...fine. I’m certainly not convinced that preseason games between out-of-town teams are worth much as a measuring stick of KC’s viability as a market, but there are few if any concrete ways to measure such a thing, so attendance takes on an inflated importance.

As for the game itself, I wasn’t sure what to expect - I'd never seen an NHL preseason game. I wasn’t sure if guys would be phoning it in or if there would be a bunch of young guys killing it trying to make an impression with their team’s suits. As I recall, the game started off at a torrid pace, and I was thrilled. But 8:20 into the game, the first penalty was called, and there were regular whistles the rest of the night as the teams piled up 20 combined penalties, and the game never could settle into a good flow or pace again.

Davis Drewiske earned the distinction of scoring the first goal in arena history soon after the second period was underway. Drewiske, on the penalty kill, got the puck high in the St. Louis zone, and flipped a quick shot/dump-in towards the net. Blues goalie Chris Mason seemed utterly surprised that Drewiske had taken the shot, and the puck fluttered past him. Mason definitely should have stopped it. Besides that one lapse, all four goaltenders were stellar. Jonathan Quick of the Kings foreshadowed the solid rookie year he was about to have (21-18, .914, 2.48), stopping all 19 shots he faced.

According to the Star, “Kings president Tim Leiweke was emphatic that one of the club’s phenoms, 19-year-old defenseman Drew Doughty...(would) make his pro debut in the Sprint Center.” I kept an eye on Doughty throughout the night, and came away impressed. He didn’t do anything especially eye-popping that I recall, but he seemed calm and in control for a kid playing his first NHL game. He carried the puck through the neutral zone and gained the blue line confidently several times. Another guy that I was happy to see was Ted Purcell of the Kings - I lived near Cedar Rapids, Iowa during the time Purcell played in the USHL for the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders and had seen him play many times there.

The Kings seemed to have the game in hand with a 2-0 lead late in the third period when Paul Kariya banged in a gift-wrapped rebound on the power play. (Appropriately, all three goals came on special teams.) This fired up the crowd, and the final minutes had a buzz as the Blues attempted to tie it up. I had no rooting interest in either team, but at this point I was rooting for overtime so that the game could be stretched out a bit more. The Kings held on.

After the game, I marvelled that my drive home would take all of 15 minutes. Every NHL game I’d gone to before was hundreds or thousands of miles away, and so involved a long and expensive trip there and back. I turned to my wife: “I could get used to this.”

Related reading:

Puck Daddy: The NHL’s Exhibition in Kansas City: Pass or Fail?
Puck Daddy: Scouting the NHL’s Chances For a Return To Kansas City
St. Louis Game Time: Blues Open At Kansas City
Associated Press: recap
Canadian Press: Kings Beat Blues In Kansas City (slightly lengthened version of AP story)
NHL.com: scroll down to Making a Statement
ESPN: box score

Scouts Notes: January 1976

2009-08-31T23:19:00.006-05:00

• January 1976 proved to be a tumultuous and tortuous time for the Scouts. In doing research on the first year and a half of the Scouts existence, I’ve been somewhat surprised by the number of bright spots. The losses were never far apart when the Scouts played, but a nice victory here or individual performance there seems to have kept things from getting too bleak. Throughout the ’74-’75 season, there was reason to think the Scouts could take a large step forward the next year, and in the first half of ’75-’76, it appeared the Scouts were taking that step. They even had the playoffs in their sights halfway through the year.

But the occasional good times disappeared for good in 1976. The Scouts entered a free-fall that would end with their demise a few months later. Their captain was traded, their coach resigned amid controversy, and the losses piled up at a dizzying rate.

• Appropriately, the month started off with a couple of Scouts getting clubbed by the Philadelphia Flyers. Guy Charron received a seven-stitch gash above his eye and Craig Patrick a broken nose, both courtesy of high sticks from the Broad Street Bullies. “What we need is a couple of guys in here to do the same thing,” said coach Bep Guidolin. “It should be tit for tat. We ought to bring in a couple of butchers who can’t even skate.” (1/2/76 Times) There was a small bit of good news as Denis Dupere returned to the lineup in limited duty after separating his shoulder in practice the day after the first game of the season.

Fans were treated(?) to a Freddy Fender concert after the game.

• After dropping their fifth straight game on the 7^th, Bep said, “We can’t sit back and wait too long to make a move. And we better do it quick while we still got a shot at the playoffs. I can still hear people in the stands who are sticking with us.” (1/8/76 Times) Bep didn’t have to wait; Simon Nolet, the prize of the ’74 expansion draft, captain of the team from day one, and the previous season’s team MVP, was shipped to Pittsburgh the very next day. (C) Ed Gilbert, another original Scout, went with him, and in return the Scouts received (F) Chuck Arnason and (D) Steve Durbano. Durbano was one of the top enforcers in the game at the time. He was third in the league in PIMs at the time of the trade, and finished the year at the top of the list. Guidolin had one of the “butchers” he was asking for. Little good it did them however, as the Scouts went 1-29-8 (.128) after the trade.

Bep said Durbano would “fire up the whole team and a whole building full of people.” (1/9/76 Star) Management no doubt hoped that adding a goon to the roster would stimulate ticket sales.

Arnason and Durbano debuted with the Scouts on the 10 ^th against the Rangers. Both got their names on the score sheet by assisting on a Denis Dupere goal in an 8-4 loss.

• Guy Charron was named captain on the 12^th.

• GM Sid Abel wasn’t done trying to shake the Scouts out of their miserable play. On the 14^th, while in Detroit, Abel sent (RW) Buster Harvey to the Red Wings in exchange for (RW) Phil Roberto an hour before the game. Both players dressed that night, just not for the teams they were expecting in the morning. According to Star reporter Steve Marantz, “Aside from Roberto’s face the Scouts looked the same: Terrible. Goalie Denis Herron continued his swoon in the nets, allowing two short-handed goals and a couple other bad ones among the 30 shots he faced.” (1/15/76 Times)

• After the game against the Red Wings, a group of eight players or more missed Guidolin’s curfew. Guidolin apparently singled out (D) Larry Johnston, and slapped only him with a fine and one-game suspension, served in the next night’s game at home against the Maple Leafs. Seven players came forward in Johnston’s defense, protesting they had also missed curfew. All were fined. “The fines levied by Guidolin come with the Scouts locked in a 9-game losing streak, the longest in their 2-year history, and with several roster changes having been made in the last 10 days. The Scouts’ performance has become increasingly ragged and it was suggested by one departing player that they had become fearful and apprehensive about their security. Several players have indicated privately that communication between Guidolin and the team has deteriorated and that the players’ confidence in Bep has dwindled. ‘I have not lost control of the team,’ said Guidolin yesterday.” (1/20/76 Times)

“Guidolin’s ultimatum to Abel (on the 21^st) was either defenseman Larry Johnston be sent to Springfield of the American Hockey League or he would resign…Abel held a team meeting (on the 21^st) Guidolin did not attend and afterwards told Guidolin that Johnston would remain with the team. An hour later Guidolin informed Abel of his resignation.” –Steven Marantz (1/22/76 Times)

Joe McGuff did a great job summarizing events leading to Guidolin’s resignation:

• While the coaching mess was unfolding back in Kansas City, Wilf Paiement was the Scouts sole representative at the All-Star game in Philadelphia on the 20^th. Paiement said, “I think Guy (Charron) should have made it too. I gotta thank Guy and Craig (Patrick) too for being picked. The other guys have helped. I owe this to my teammates.” (1/17/76 Star) Wilf’s Campbell Conference fell to the Wales Conference 5-7. He does not show up on the score sheet, and the Star had no report on his appearance that I saw.

• Abel was forced to step behind the bench the very day that Guidolin resigned, as the Scouts hosted the Blues and ran their losing streak to ten. Abel didn’t feel too comfortable behind the bench, despite having coached 961 NHL games between 1954 and 1972. “‘I never did feel adjusted,’ he said. ‘I lost my voice. I was really afraid I’d have too many men on the ice or something. One time we didn’t have enough.’” (1/22/76 Times)

Abel was behind the bench for just two more games, both losses. The second game he coached was on the 23^rd in California, and is notable for being goalie Bill Oleschuk’s only game with the Scouts. Oleschuk managed to stop 48 of the Seals’ 52 shots but took the loss as the Scouts could only score once. Oleschuk would go on to play 54 more NHL games, all with the Colorado Rockies between 1977—80. Oleschuk got the start because #1 goalie Denis Herron was laid up in the hospital for a week with a kidney stone. (Did I mention this month didn’t go so well for the Scouts?) Bill McKenzie played all of the other games in Herron’s absence.

• After Abel’s final game as a coach, he said, “I kind of enjoyed myself tonight.” (1/26/76 Star) Nevertheless, new coach Eddie Bush stepped in on the 28^th in Minnesota. Bush had a 26-game NHL playing career between 1938—42 for the Red Wings; Abel was a Red Wing at the time as well. Bush had spent 25 games as a player with the Kansas City Greyhounds of the American Hockey Association in 1938-39. The bulk of Bush’s coaching experience was in the amateur Canadian junior OHA league. His 32 game stint with the Scouts would prove to be his only shot at coaching in the NHL, and he would only enjoy one win.

Of Bush’s first game in Minnesota, a 9-3 loss, Star reporter Steve Marantz wrote the Scouts “shortcomings have become almost second nature. The forwards backchecked sporadically, the defensemen mishandled the puck, and everyone was caught out of position.” (1/29/76 Star) The only Scouts footage that I have ever seen comes from Bush’s first game. Skip ahead to the four-minute mark to see the Scouts getting torn apart by the North Stars:

The Scouts dropped their 14^th straight in Pittsburgh the next night, far and away the longest losing streak in the Scouts short history. Simon Nolet and Ed Gilbert both tallied points for the Penguins that night.

• The Scouts returned for Bush’s KC debut on the 31^st, another game against the Penguins. The Scouts managed a tie, their only point on the month. Despite the losing streak, Tanya inspired a season-high turnout of 12,471 fans.

• The brutal month ended with a 0-13-1 (.036) record, and drew an average of 9,250 in the eight home games. The press had gotten no wind of it if owner Ed Thompson had begun searching for a way to get the rid of the team.

Scouts Notes: December 1975

2009-07-31T23:58:00.009-05:00

• December of ’75 saw the last of the border-line respectable hockey that the Scouts played before the unimaginable collapse in the second half. At the end of the month, their record stood at 11-22-4 (.338). They’d played 37 of the season’s 80 games, which put them on pace to win 12.8 more; instead they managed just one in the remaining 43 games. Unbelievable.

• Mike Baumgartner’s NHL career consisted of just 17 games, all with the Scouts early in the ’74-’75 season. On December 14, 1974, Baumgartner took a slap shot in the face. By early December of ’75, Baumgartner was forced to give up any hope of returning to hockey, and Ken Rudnick penned this piece for the Star:

• The month opened with what may have been the finest win in Scouts history, as they managed to beat the mighty Canadiens 6-5. Wilf Paiement recorded the only hat trick in team history. The Canadiens entered the day with a six game winning streak and an imposing 18-4-3 record. They would cap their season with a Stanley Cup while going 12-1 in the playoffs. Ken Dryden had been the goaltender for the six straight wins, and coach Scotty Bowman decided to rest him for what he must have thought would be an easy win at Kemper Arena. So Michel Larocque got the start for the Habs, and was blitzed for goals from Robin Burns, Craig Patrick and Paiement in the first eight minutes. The Canadiens managed to right the ship after that, but the damage was done, and the Scouts hung on for the win. The two wins the Scouts enjoyed in Boston rank right up there with this one, but the fact that this one came at home and with the bonus of Paiement’s hat trick make it arguably their finest night. Robin Burns thought so: “This has to be the biggest win we’ve had in our two years. For the players, fans, everybody.” (12/4/75 Star) Coach Bep Guidolin got a little excited on the bench: “I didn’t know how to change lines. It was like being high on something, it was like, well, I don’t know, like out of sight.” (12/5/75 Star)

• Defenseman Gary Bergman was the grizzled veteran of the ’75-’76 Scouts. Ken Rudnick had this piece in the December 11^th Times on Bergman fighting through one last year:

• On the 16^th, Rudnick had this to say about the Scouts’ netminding stalwart Denis Herron:

• After a 4-1 win against the Red Wings on the 19^th, the Scouts had an impressive 7-6-2 record at home for the year, but would manage only one more victory in the remaining 25 home dates.

• The sports editor at the Kansas City Star during the mid-’70s was Joe McGuff. He was an institution in the Kansas City sports scene, and his “Sporting Comment” column covered all aspects of KC sports. Here are three articles from McGuff that appeared in December ’75; the first focuses on Wilf Paiement after his hat trick, the second on Guy Charron’s stellar play, and the third is a wrap-up of Kansas City sports happenings in 1975. The last one doesn’t touch on the Scouts much, but is a good read for those interested in Kansas City sports history in general:

• On the 28^th, the Scouts visited one of their favorite foes, the California Golden Seals. The Scouts skated to a 3-1 victory. Here is what the standings looked like the next morning:

The top three teams in each division made the playoffs, and the Scouts where just one point behind third place St. Louis. They would end the season 36 points behind the Blues and a playoff berth. I have no idea what caused such a monumental collapse; hopefully I’ll have a better idea once I’ve read through the microfilm for the remainder of the season. (The Scouts relative success through the first half of the season seems to have rested on outstanding goaltending from Denis Herron and the scoring of a very small group of forwards. To hazard a guess, perhaps I’ll find that Herron’s play fell off slightly and the top forwards cooled off in the second half.)

• Alan Eagleson was the head of the NHLPA at the time, and made waves by proclaiming six NHL franchises were “shaky” in terms of viability. He named Kansas City, Washington, Minnesota, Atlanta, California and Detroit as the weak franchises, and proposed consolidating them to four teams. The Scouts were forced to refute the claim, though the front office by this time had to be pulling their hair out behind the scenes. “‘The Scouts are not shaky, definitely,’ said Ed Thompson, president of the Scouts. ‘Alan Eagleson should stick to his law business and stay out of things he knows little about.’…‘Sid Abel, Scouts general manager, was equally emphatic…‘There’s no worry as far as we’re concerned.’” (12/3/75 Times)

• The Scouts went 5-9-0 (.357) for the month, and drew an average of just 7,809 for the six home games.

Quick Links

2009-07-26T13:13:00.005-05:00

From the Hamilton Spectator:
“Speculation in NHL circles suggests league executives have been working to find prospective owners to buy and move the (Coyotes) to Kansas City, Las Vegas or even Winnipeg.

They want to block any move to Hamilton because relocating the Coyotes kills the promise of a huge expansion fee for a second team in southern Ontario.”
There doesn’t seem to be any evidence to support those statements, so I wouldn’t put much stock in them.
A long interview with Islanders owner Charles Wang in which Kansas City is brought up numerous times. Wang says he plans to be in KC for the preseason game September 22nd. He also repeatedly says that if the Lighthouse Project (which would include a new rink for the Isles) is not approved by October 3rd, all options will be open. Maybe the most interesting part of the conversation to me was when the host asks if Wang would be interested in owning a team that is located somewhere other than Long Island; I’ve always assumed he wouldn’t, but he indicates he may like to stay in the league even if the Islanders relocate. Of course, everything coming out of Wang’s mouth right now is calculated to put pressure on the powers that be to approve the Lighthouse Project.
Don’t forget to get your tickets to go hang out with Charles on September 22nd.

Scouts Notes: November 1975

2009-07-26T09:10:00.005-05:00

• November of ’75 got off to a rough start for the Scouts, getting shutout first in Toronto and then in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, they were not merely shutout, but completely blown out of the water by the score of 10-0 (an identical score to a game in Philadelphia the previous season). This ended a brutal five game losing streak in which the Scouts were shutout four times and outscored by a total of 25-2. The streak came to an end with a 3-2 home victory over the Golden Seals on the 5^th.

• After that game, the Scouts power-play stood at a dismal 3 for 63 (4.86%). It improved to 13.07% by the end of the season, but special teams were abysmal all year: they finished dead last in both power-play percentage and penalty-kill percentage (72.88%).

• After earning a tie against the Maple Leafs at home in their next game, the Scouts embarked on a seven game road trip. The American Royal rodeo kept them out of Kemper for 20 days. They earned three points in the seven games by virtue of a victory against the Rangers and a tie in St. Louis. The Rangers were in the midst of intense upheaval; stars Derek Sanderson, Gilles Villemure, Eddie Giacomin, Brad Park and Jean Ratelle had all recently been shipped out, and Phil Esposito was still brand new in town after a blockbuster trade with the Bruins. After the Scouts scored their sixth goal in their 6-4 victory, Rangers fans rained down chants of “Ed-die, Ed-die” in protest of the Rangers shipping their beloved goaltender Giacomin out of town. Rangers goaltender Dunc Wilson flipped them the bird.

• Guy Charron and Denis Herron seem to be the only Scouts who played decently early on in the season. Herron couldn’t get many victories, but he got a lot of credit from the press for impressive play and keeping the Scouts in games they otherwise didn’t deserve to be. Wilf Paiement started the year ice cold. He told the Star, “I’m not relaxed like I was last year. I can’t sleep.” He broke out if it towards the end of November (but then missed the last two months of the year with an injury).

• The team returned home on Thanksgiving, November 27^th, to host the Blues. The Scouts treated captain Simon Nolet to a 3-2 victory on his 34^th birthday, and fans were treated(?) to a performance by the Hudson Brothers after the game.

• The Scouts record for the month was 3-8-3 (.321), and attendance for the four home games averaged 8,167.

Playing With Attendance Numbers

2009-07-14T11:29:00.006-05:00

I finally came across some league-wide attendance numbers for the two seasons the Scouts played: The average attendance at an NHL game was 13,224 in 1974-’75 and 12,644 in’75-’76. This helps put the Scouts attendance of 8,529 in ’74-’75 in better perspective (I don’t have a number for ’75-’76 yet). That means the Scouts drew only 64% of the league average in their first year. That is the equivalent of drawing 11,261 fans per game in 2008-’09, or 2,512 fewer than the Islanders’ league-worst 13,773 average last season. Which sounds pretty bad. Because it is. But of course, countless conditions have changed in the last 30 years.

Perhaps most importantly, the KC metro population has grown from 1.4 million in 1976 to 2 million today, a 143% increase. That projects as an additional 3,667 butts in seats per game. Add that to the above 11,261 number, and you get an average of 14,928 per game. That would have ranked 28th in the NHL last season, ahead of Phoenix, Atlanta and the Islanders.

League-wide attendance increases over the last 30+ years are due in no small part to population increases in NHL towns, so it’s probably double-dipping to increase Scouts attendance numbers by both league attendance trends and KC population trends. Another potential factor is that the Scouts were competing for sports fans’ dollars with the NBA Kansas City Kings at the time, something a team of today wouldn’t have to contend with. For those and many other reasons, the above numbers are mostly useless to project what the reality would be if Kansas City were to gain an NHL franchise—I just thought they were interesting to play with.

In the end, how an NHL team would draw in Kansas City today doesn’t have a lot to do with how the Scouts, Blades or Outlaws drew, or how the Mavericks will draw. Attracting a respectable number of fans would rely primarily on how successful the team was on the ice (which is why an expansion franchise might be on shaky footing until/unless they start winning). Secondarily, it would take strong, patient ownership that was dedicated to a long-term goal of making the NHL stick in Kansas City. Thirdly, the team would have to be innovatively and aggressively marketed. The Scouts had none of those things going for them.

This chart shows just how brutal Scouts attendance was. I'm missing numbers from four games, but in the 36 games I do have, the Scouts only had an NHL average crowd twice in their entire first season. Almost makes you sympathetic towards owner Ed Thompson for bailing after two years.

The AHL Not In Kansas City

2009-07-02T22:21:00.004-05:00

My original intent for this blog was to focus solely on the past and future of the NHL in Kansas City. But the more I’ve thought about it since starting this blog, the more I think that the AHL would be a fantastic fit for Kansas City, and the more confused I get about why the AHL in KC is never even brought up as a possibility.

PucKChaser has already covered this, but it was announced that Oklahoma City is leaving the CHL, apparently to clear the way for the Edmonton Oilers’ AHL affiliate to begin play there in 2010.

Why does Kansas City not even gett a sniff from the Oilers, or other teams that have relocated recently? Like PucKChaser, I’m left to guess that AEG has no interest in putting AHL hockey in the Sprint Center. Which baffles me. I can certainly understand if their top priority is to go for the best, and get an NHL or NBA team. But I don’t think that goal is mutually exclusive with a secondary goal of landing an AHL team in the meantime. In fact, I would think an AHL team would help the cause.

KC has what would surely be one of the nicest arenas in the AHL, and a populace dying for sporting events to attend in it. And while KC would rank near the bottom in population as an NHL team, we would be the fourth largest US market in the A.

Here’s a look at AHL markets in the US, with Oklahoma City and KC thrown in (metropolitan populations have been used where possible):

Scouts Concepts, Potential Names

2009-06-28T20:58:00.004-05:00

That there is a Scouts “concept jersey” from yours truly (based on an old Bruins design). I’m a geek for the design aspect of sports. One of my favorite websites is Uni Watch, which obsesses over sports uniform minutiae. A couple of other good websites specific to hockey are Icethetics and PuckDrawn.
Scouts concepts have shown up quite a few times on Icethetics. PuckDrawn has a funny Islanders/Scouts logo mash-up. (PuckDrawn has plans for a series of concepts called “Totally Reebok” in which they’ll imagine what jerseys would look like today for various teams of the past, including the Scouts. I’ll point you that way when it’s posted.)

All of which is good fun, but there’s zero chance that a new NHL team in KC would be called the Scouts. It might be more interesting to hear ideas for potential team names and see ideas for logos and jerseys. My preference would be a name that would carry on the tradition of royalty/leadership related names (Monarchs, Royals, Chiefs, Kings, Scouts), but I don’t know exactly what. Presidents maybe? Emperors? Or bringing back the Monarchs name? There is an AHL Monarchs, so that might not be a possibility. I’m not sure how I’d feel about using that name—the Negro league baseball Monarchs have such an amazing story and history that the name is almost sacrosanct to me.

It’s just frivolous fun, and of course wildly premature, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Adam Proteau of The Hockey News: Coyotes Will Land In KC

2009-06-19T09:04:00.003-05:00

From The Hockey News columnist Adam Proteau: “If Relocating Coyotes Is In The Cards, Look To Kansas City”

Proteau predicts that the Coyotes will continue to hemorrhage money in Arizona for a few more years and move to KC. Bizarrely, Proteau calls KC “about as good as it gets” for an NHL market. Even those of us dying to see NHL hockey in KC realize there are plenty of reasonable doubts about how the NHL would fare here. But Proteau may be correct that AEG’s ties to the league and KC playing by league rules and wishes puts us first in line for a team.

Proteau gets some interesting quotes from an anonymous member of the NHL board of governors:

“You see the connections (Kansas City) has to the (NHL board of) governors – Anschutz, (AEG president and CEO Tim) Leiweke – and it’s hard not to see them influencing the process in K.C.’s favor. I think the Balsillie debacle has proven that if (the league is) bringing other teams or more teams back to Canada - and a bunch of other U.S.-based franchises don’t fall apart in the meanwhile - the NHL is going to demand huge expansion fees for anyone interested.

“Not so in Kansas City, though. There’s your classic market that the league would lower expectations for in order to keep team locations close to Gary’s overall blueprint for the product. And any league business venture that helps an existing board member’s interests is going to be looked at and embraced before any other.”

The Pitch Calls Out McGannon

2009-06-17T10:22:00.005-05:00

So the enthusiasm I displayed in my last post about Paul McGannon’s claim that there are 100 Kansas Citians just waiting to buy an NHL team is a little embarrassing. I didn’t really take it at face value—I think it just made me hope that there could be some rich dudes in KC at least discussing or considering such a thing.

Pitch reporter David Martin picked up on McGannon’s claim, and asked the pertinent question: “Who the hell is McGannon talking about?” He asked McGannon, and McGannon was happy to talk about the Kings-Islanders game coming up. From Martin’s piece:

But what about the company founders and CEOs who seemed (in McGannon’s telling to an out-of-town newspaper) to be chomping at the bit to capture an NHL franchise?
“I don’t know if they’re chomping at the bit,” McGannon says. “They’re waiting for further information on what opportunity would be available at the appropriate time, which we’ve been told is not now.”
There is a lot of passion for the NHL in the civic community, McGannon adds. “But they don’t want to reveal themselves.”

Curious that these enthusiastic hockey supporters want to stay anonymous. Seems if someone was actually interested in helping to bring a team here, they’d be front and center waving money around, don’t you think? Or submitting a bid on the Coyotes?

It’s hard to know what to make of Paul McGannon. I don’t doubt that his heart is in the right place, and that he truly is passionate about bringing a team here. But it seems one of his strategies is to say anything and everything to get attention for KC, truth be damned. My guess is that he’s highly optimistic and a dreamer. And there’s not necessarily anything wrong with that—it might be just what will be necessary if we’re ever to gain an NHL franchise.

100 Kansas Citians Willing To Buy Into NHL?

2009-06-04T22:13:00.004-05:00

It recently came out that the Columbus Blue Jackets have lost $80 million over the last seven years, and premature speculation about relocation immediately started up. It's really a non-story at this point, but buried in an article in a Columbus weekly is a bit of a bomb-shell from NHL21 honcho Paul McGannon: “(NHL21 membership includes) 100 civic leaders who, if asked, would participate if local ownership (of an NHL franchise) was requested.” Wha?! That's huge news if there are really 100 Kansas Citians willing to form an ownership consortium.

Scouts Notes: October 1975

2009-06-03T19:13:00.004-05:00

• After having to endure an eight-game road trip to start their inaugural season, the Scouts got to open the ’75-’76 season at home against the New York Islanders on October 8. And after waiting six games to earn their first point in ’74, the Scouts didn’t waste time in ’75 and tied the Islanders, who had made the Cup semifinals the year before, 1-1. From Ken Rudnick’s game wrap in the next day’s Times: “‘We checked well,’ said (coach) Bep (Guidolin). ‘We had a meeting this morning and our guys played just like we talked about. I told them we weren’t going to beat a good team like New York by five goals, so we had to check them tight.’” The Islanders thought they may have pulled out the win when J.P. Parise (father of Zach) put the puck in the net with 27 seconds left, but the ref immediately signaled Parise had batted the puck with a high-stick, and the goal was not allowed. “I didn’t know what happened,” said Guidolin. “I just saw the red light go on. Then the guys on the bench started yelling, so I started yelling.” Appropriately, Guy Charron had the goal for the Scouts. Numbers-wise, he was about the only thing going for the Scouts in ’75-’76 (78GP, 27G, 44A, 71P). Ed Gilbert became the Scouts “iron man” as the only player to appear in all 81 Scouts games to date.

• Islanders head coach Al Arbour had this take on the opener: “I think the Scouts are a vastly improved team. Defensemen like Gary Bergman, Larry Johnston and Jean-Guy Lagace have helped them. Last year they had a couple of forwards who had never played in the league. Now they have experience. Players like Denis Dupere and Craig Patrick will help them up front and Denis Herron is a good young goalie. I wasn’t pleased with the way we played…it could be that Kansas City just wouldn’t let us get going.” (10/9/75 Star)

• From Star reporter Joe McGuff: “The only disappointing aspect of opening night was the crowd of 6,819, but then it’s a little hard to be hockey-minded on an Indian summer night. If the Scouts are as much improved as they appear to be, selling hockey in Kansas City should become an easier job.” (10/9/75 Star) It’s flabbergasting that an opening night crowd could be so minuscule. Owner Ed Thompson had to be let down, but tried to put on a happy face: “I wasn’t disappointed because we expected it. You can usually tell by the advance sale. If we keep playing good hockey, things will pick up. I think at the end of the season our attendance will be better than last year.” (10/11/75 Star)

• The first bad break of the season came in practice the very next day after the opener when (G) Bill McKenzie and (F) Denis Dupere suffered a chance collision during a “standard skating drill” (10/11/75 Times). McKenzie escaped with some soreness, but Dupere’s collarbone had snapped. “I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years of hockey,” said Bep. Dupere was lost for the first half of the year, a major blow to the team. Dupere had set up Charron for the Scouts goal in the opener, and was penciled in to play on the top two lines. Mr. Dupere was kind enough to send a reply to an autograph request and letter from me, in which he wrote: “We couldn’t blame the fans for the poor support since we weren’t a very good team. I missed most of the season with a broken collarbone. On the bright side, me being a great baseball fan, I was lucky to meet George Brett and I am sure you know who I am talking about!”

• The club went 3-2 in their next five games to give them a surprising .583 start, but then dropped the last three contests of the month to finish October at 3-5-1 (.389).

• (C) Rich Lemieux and a 1977 2^nd round draft pick was traded to Atlanta for (RW) Buster Harvey on the 13^th.

• The Scouts obviously didn’t have much TV support in Kansas City: “Reiterating that there would be at least some Scouts games on television this season, Bob Wormington, general manager of KBMA-TV, said that no definite schedule has been set. ‘We should know something in a week or two,’ he said. ‘It depends on a couple of major advertisers.’ He indicated the bulk of the televised games would probably take place after the football season.” 10/14/75 Times

• New backup goaltender Bill McKenzie made his Scouts debut in Washington, D.C. on the 22^nd and managed a 4-2 win. Unfortunately for him and the Scouts, he went 0-16-1 the rest of the way.

• On the 23^rd, the Scouts met the Bruins in Boston, and stunned them 3-2. The two wins in Boston (one each season) were probably the biggest feathers in the Scouts cap. It helped that Bobby Orr was on the sidelines for this game due to knee surgery, but it still rates as a major upset.

• The average attendance for the five home games in October was just 7,755.

NHL In Kansas City Autographs

2009-05-29T23:16:00.003-05:00

If you’re interested, click on the links to check out scans from my autograph collection of Scouts and of players from last year’s inaugural hockey game at the Sprint Center.

(I just realized I spelled “inaugural” wrong on all of my Sprint Center cards. Nice.)

Scouts Notes: 1975-76 Preseason

2009-05-22T22:35:00.006-05:00

9/25/75 ad for preseason game

Yes, this is an entire post about a preseason from 34 years ago by a defunct team. I'll try to keep it short.

• First off, though, is the below recap of the prior season that Ken Rudnick wrote for the September 21, 1975 Star. The exact average home attendance from year one is revealed to be 8,529, which was second worst in the league to the California Golden Seals (who also played their last year in ’75-’76). Owner Ed Thompson is quoted as saying, “The first half of last year I don’t think we promoted enough. In the second half we probably promoted too much. This year we’re going to try and find a happy medium. If we do better than 9,000 or 10,000 for this entire season, we’d consider it successful.”

• On June 3rd was the amateur draft, in which the Scouts selected LW Barry Dean with the second overall pick. However, Dean ended up playing the ’75-’76 season for the WHA Phoenix Roadrunners. “Size was the determing factor in the Scouts selections. None of the nine players selected are under 6'0" and the lightest is 175 lbs. It left coach Bep Guidolin...grinning at the thought of taking a goon squad into Philadelphia next year, ready to wreak revenge” - Jay Greenberg, 6/4/75 Times. The Scouts didn’t feel much of an impact from the draft class however, as Don Cairns, Terry McDonald and Bill Oleschuk were the only players to appear in a Scouts uniform, and they combined to play just 16 games during the season.

• Off-season trades: “On June 18 Denis Dupere and Craig Patrick were acquired from St. Louis for Lynn Powis and a No. 2 draft choice. On Aug. 20 the Scouts obtained Gary Bergman, a veteran defenseman, and Bill McKenzie, a promising goalie, for Glen Burdon and Peter McDuffe, a goalie whose work had disappointed the Scouts.” - Joe McGuff, 10/7/75 Star (Craig Patrick , who played all 80 games in ’75-’76, is a member of the famed Patrick hockey family, and achieved success as assistant GM/coach of the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team and as an NHL GM, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a builder in 2001.)

• The Scouts returned to Port Huron, Michigan for training camp, and played a six game exhibition schedule, with games in London (Ontario), Port Huron, two in Kansas City, St. Louis and Ames (Iowa) of all places. The two home games drew announced crowds of 4,955 and 4,981. The Scouts fared well in the preseason, compiling a 3-1-2 record, prompting Jean-Guy Lagace to say, “We’re just going to be a lot better (than last year).”

• A “Face-Off” luncheon was held at Kemper on October 7th to kick off the season. About 800 people paid to attend.

• “Only eight players remain from the team that faced Toronto in the opener of the Scouts’ first season. They are Simon Nolet, Ed Gilbert, Dave Hudson, Robin Burns, Wilf Paiement, Richard Lemieux, Randy Rota and Gary Croteau.” - Joe McGuff, 10/7/75 Star

• Season two began at home on October 8th, a 1-1 tie with the Islanders. All interested parties must have been chagrinned when only 6,819 attended.

Winnipeg At The Top Of Bettman's List?

2009-05-18T20:17:00.004-05:00

According to this story, Gary Bettman wrote in an email that "if (the Coyotes) had to move, it should first be offered to Winnipeg."

Interview With Kevin Gray, President of KC Sports Commission

2009-05-16T14:06:00.002-05:00

Recently, the Kansas City Sports Commission And Foundation was nice enough to get in touch with me to announce their successful bid to host the 2012 NCAA Ice Breaker tournament, and also offered the opportunity to interview their president, Kevin Gray. Mr. Gray was kind enough to spend a while on the phone with me talking hockey in Kansas City. Here is our conversation:

First off, could you give an explanation of what it is that the Kansas City Sports Commission does?

Sure, I’d be happy to. Our mission, primarily, is to create and foster support for both amateur and professional sports. And then we talk a lot about the overall benefits of sports to the general public. When you think about trying to enhance economic development and quality of life for Kansas City, that’s really what we’re all about.

Are you guys an independent thing, or are you tied to the city at all, or…?

We’re an independent organization. If something’s good for the metropolitan area, we’re supportive.

How long have you been involved with the Commission, and what was your background before that?

We’re celebrating our 20^th year this year, we were reorganized in 1989. They had been around as a volunteer organization for a lot of years, since 1966, but decided to go to a full-time staff, and I was the first paid associate in 1989. We started out in a closet in Westport and then we went to the basement in the non-profit campus downtown. Now we’re in a historic building on 1308 Pennsylvania that houses 10 associates. 20 years later, we’re certainly feeling good about where we’re headed as a metropolitan area.

My background is, I worked for the Royals before this in marketing and broadcasting, worked for the old Big 8 Radio Network, a company called Learfield Communications, and then before that was in broadcasting.

OK, cool. Congrats to you guys on landing the 2012 NCAA Ice Breaker hockey tournament.

Thanks.

What do you think it was about Kansas City that got you guys the winning bid for 2012?

Well, certainly, we have a new facility that’s very, very important to our bid process. We’ve got a great entertainment package with the Power & Light District. We’ve got a commitment to the future as it relates to amateur hockey. So the whole package was impressive enough that they felt comfortable about choosing Kansas City. We feel real good about the package that we put together. We feel very confident about the future of hockey in this region.

Are you guys pursuing a Frozen Four tournament?

We’d very much like the Frozen Four. We bid on it once before and were unsuccessful with it, and like our chances this go around, because we’ve had 17 months of operation at the Sprint Center. We’ve hosted a Big XII championship, NCAA men’s basketball, we’ll have an event next year for the women’s regional, we’ve got the College Basketball Experience, and an NHL preseason game. We feel very good about where we’re headed from that standpoint. Earlier this year we were also awarded a Division I volleyball championship for 2010, so for us, everything’s on the table, and we want to be as aggressive as we can. The Frozen Four would be a very, very prestigious event that we have in our sights and are excited about in the future.

Can you talk about what the Commission’s role in trying to attract an NHL team to Kansas City is?

Historically, we’ve played a very significant role as it relates to both amateur and professional sports acquisition, and we’ll continue to support a variety of different efforts and initiatives. In this particular instance, it’s a little bit different because the city has entered into an agreement with Anschutz Entertainment Group with relation to the Sprint Center. So what’s unique about this is, number one, the city has an agreement with AEG, which has really authorized only them to solicit either the NHL or the NBA. So we are going to look to AEG for their guidance and support. We’ve been involved in an earlier meeting with Boots Del Biaggio, who was the owner that they were considering at the time for an NHL team. We met with Boots, and offered our pledge of support, and talked a lot about the community with him. We’re going to continue to do what we can to support AEG. We’ve got the right partner with AEG, because of their involvement with the NHL and NBA. They are very involved in both leagues, and as it relates to the NHL, I can’t think of another partner that could be as close to the situation as AEG.

At the end of the day, we have two pieces of the puzzle that are very important: One is we’ve got the arena, and that’s a huge piece. We have an arena that is successful, with all the inventory pre-sold. We also have a local civic group led by NHL21 which is a very enthusiastic group of hockey fans, and that’s really important. What we don’t have is local ownership. That’s what we have to rely on AEG for, finding those opportunities, both regionally and nationally. So having said all that, in a market this size, it’s going to be really important that we really nail it in terms of how we position ourselves, how we prepare ourselves. If AEG were to call us an hour from now and say, “OK, here’s what we need to do: boom, boom, boom, boom,” then we jump into full motion.

With the Penguins, I’ve had people say, “We were used.” We didn’t really look at it that way. We looked at it as: We know it’s a long shot. We know the city of Pittsburgh doesn’t want to lose their franchise. We know the NHL would prefer to keep the franchise there if possible. But we also knew two things, that the city of Pittsburgh was having a hard time figuring out their arena. They had been doing this for over ten years. So we knew that was problematic, and we knew we had an opportunity. But then the other issue was that this young team with Crosby was really good. That’s why we were so passionate for the Penguins. But I’m an optimist and really think that the future bodes well for the Sprint Center and the opportunities that might present themselves for professional sports down the road.

But it sounds like as far as you know, there aren’t any potential owners right now?

Well, no, not really. You’re talking about a lot of money in this economy, and that’s a challenge. We haven’t had a lot of local owners step up for any of our other sports. You’ve got David Glass outside the marketplace, you’ve got the Hunt family outside the marketplace, the France family with the Speedway outside the marketplace. We do have local ownership now with the Wizards, and those owners have deep pockets and have stepped up to support that franchise. But you’re talking about a little different game with the NHL: Pretty substantial investment and in a basically unproven market. I think it’s really important that we continue to support as best we can these NHL exhibition games, support the Frozen Four, support the Ice Breaker tournament. Those are the kinds of things that we need to be as supportive as we possibly can because those are what the league is going to continue to take notice of and say, “Hey, this city is really embracing ice hockey.”

It’s interesting that the CHL is coming to Independence. It will be fascinating to see how it does. I’ve met with that group and I am impressed with that group, and I am impressed with that arena. I think it certainly potentially could bode well for Kansas City if that’s successful. If that’s not successful, you would have three franchises, the Blades, the Outlaws, and in this case, whatever the name of the team will be in Independence, that weren’t successful. I can’t think that would be good for Kansas City as it relates to hockey. But I think if the CHL is successful, I think that could bode well for us.

Kind of along those lines, the preseason game coming up this September, between the Kings and Islanders, recently it came out that the game will be on a Tuesday night. Are you worried at all that that’s going to draw an especially small crowd that will maybe hurt our chances?

I think it’s important that we stay together as a metropolitan area to support events of this magnitude. Especially events where we’re trying to prove ourselves a little bit. I think it’s really important that we give as much notice and as much lead time as we possibly can, and as much energy behind the initiative as we possibly can. I think that’s vital. I think the fact that it’s a Tuesday, if I had my druthers, would I prefer a Friday or Saturday? You bet. But that would be easy. And we’re not going to be judged by weekend dates. We’re going to be judged, if we have an NHL team, by weeknights. We’re going to have to be able to support the franchise through thick and thin, which is going to mean Tuesdays and Thursdays and Mondays. I don’t think we can dwell on that issue, I think we’ve got to embrace it with all we can muster and support it as best we can. So if I had my druthers, would I prefer it? Yeah, I guess I would, but on the other hand, I think we’re excited to have the opportunity to host an NHL, professional hockey game here in Kansas City. That’s the most important thing, in my book.

It seems to me that the AHL never seems to come up in discussions about Kansas City. Do you ever hear anything about the AHL?

We looked at the AHL pretty closely at one point, before the Sprint Center was built. We looked at the AHL-affiliated opportunity with St. Louis. We thought, “Gosh, wouldn’t it be great…” I think at the time they were in Worcester. We looked at the opportunity to host that here in Kansas City, thinking maybe the Blues would play a couple matches here. We thought that might be a good opportunity to grow the marketplace. But we’ve kind of…because of the emergence of the Sprint Center, and AEG as a local partner and NHL21, we’ve kind of, at this point, looked beyond that. But I don’t think we should necessarily dismiss that as a possibility. It’s like AAA baseball, its high quality. The IHL at one point was a pretty doggone good league in terms of the quality of play, and I don’t think we should discard the AHL as an opportunity if that’s what was suggested to us by the league. In other words, “Prove yourself with the AHL.” I will say with the IHL, when the Blades were here, we were drawing pretty well. At one point, I believe we were averaging about 8,500, which is pretty good for minor league hockey at the time. So we felt pretty good about it. If we were told, look, the AHL makes sense right now, for a couple of years, and see what happens, I think we should embrace it and go with it. And a lot of it, the key is what affiliation you have with it.

Do you think AEG is interested in having an AHL team at the Sprint Center?

That’s a great question, I don’t know that I’ve ever really specifically sat down and talked to them about that. I don’t know. If AEG said, “This is an opportunity for us,” I think we’d need to take a long, hard look at it to see if that would make sense for us. We at one point even talked about, is there any way that we can convince the NHL, through AEG, to allow the Blues to play over here a couple of times a year? Now, I’m sure the folks in St. Louis wouldn’t like that, but boy, wouldn’t that be great, if they wanted to test the market, and have the Blues play over here once or twice or three times a year? Remember how the old Kings were here, when they had the old Kansas City-Omaha Kings? Could we play a couple matches over here annually with the Blues? So we’ve kind of thrown out some different, outside-the-box opportunities that might make some sense, which might be able to be attention grabbers for us to try to elevate the quest here, which is ultimately the opportunity to attract an NHL team. I think we’ve got to be as creative as we can with these kinds of issues, because we don’t have a Lamar Hunt standing in the wings to purchase a team. So I think we’ve got to be as creative and opportunistic as possible. We have to be open to the ideas and suggestions of people like you, who are hockey enthusiasts, who we need to listen to, and say, hey, look, here’s what people are telling us. Maybe there’s some (creative) ways we can do it or some (different) ways we can look at it.

If we could talk about NHL21 for a minute…I noticed that Paul McGannon of NHL21 is listed on the Sports Commission’s executive committee. Is NHL21 tied into the Commission, or are they separate entities?

If I could take Paul’s enthusiasm and bottle it, we’d have had an NHL team years ago. Paul is about as passionate and up-beat and enthusiastic as anybody I’ve ever met. He’s a Kansas Citian through-and-through, and he just loves the sport. So, yeah, Paul loves to talk about it at our meetings, so it’s good to have that kind of enthusiastic embrace of this sport that might be considered non-traditional in Kansas City. It’s always good to have people like that that can continue to sing the praises of professional hockey. Paul is very up-beat about the sport, needless to say.

What, specifically, do you know that Mr. McGannon and NHL21 have done as far as making efforts to bring a team here?

They’ve hosted a few games, we’ve helped them with those. That was one of the earliest strategies: Let’s make sure we, at a minimum, host an annual NHL preseason game. They certainly partnered with us on the Ice Breaker tournament and the Frozen Four and other ideas. I know his group would be very active in creating a group similar to the Royals Lancers and the Chiefs Red Coaters. We would need some sort of group that would embrace the sport and sell the sport here locally. I think Paul would, if he were told in a half hour, that this is what you need to do: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, he’d do it all and not ask any questions, because he’s that passionate about it. So I think you want NHL21 to be involved. Paul will go to the NHL draft; you wouldn’t believe the places he’d go. He drives over to St. Louis to watch a game. The other guy we have in Kansas City is Kenny Morrow, I think you remember that name. Kenny’s here and Paul talks to Ken a lot. Those two are always going back and forth to St. Louis. It’s good to have Kenny in the market. And there are a lot of former Blades that stayed here as well. So, that’s kind of interesting to see where people’s passions are. But NHL21, you want them involved. It’s a great group of people that are committed to bringing professional hockey here to Kansas City.

Certainly, we have a lot going on in this market. And there are challenges in this market: you have a state line going down the middle; you have sort of a divided city. But there are so many positive attributes about our community and so many positive developments as it relates to the Sprint Center and the entertainment district, so I’m very optimistic about what the future holds. I think having AEG at the table is as strong as it gets. We may not have the owner willing to put the money down, but when you have AEG, represented on the Board of Governers of the league, that’s pretty strong. Pretty strong. You’ve got to think they’ve got some inside information, right?

Yeah. As far as you know, Tim Leiweke wouldn’t be interested in actually leaving the Kings to join an ownership group here, would he?

Oh, you know, I’ve never talked to Tim about that, I don’t know. You know, he lived here at one point. I don’t know. I doubt it. And I don’t know how deep his pockets are. I guess I don’t know how well the Kings are doing, but I guess the Kings would always be a possibility, who knows! But I don’t know that to be true as a possibility with Tim. But he’s as close to the league as you possibly can get, so I think that’s a good one to have engaged in the process, no question. We’re very, very fortunate to have AEG here in Kansas City. Very fortunate.

I appreciate your time. It’s been nice talking to you.

Oh, I really enjoyed it. Please do keep in touch. And anything I can do to help you, or talk to you about, just call anytime.

Islanders vs. Kings Tickets To Go On Sale Wednesday

2009-05-16T12:38:00.004-05:00

Tickets to the September 22nd preseason game at the Sprint Center will go on sale this Wednesday morning at 10:00 central. According to the Star, ticket prices will be $10, $25, $50, $60, $75, and $150 for glass seats.

The NCAA In Kansas City

2009-05-08T15:47:00.002-05:00

It's a ways off, but some good news for hockey fans in Kansas City: The 2012 NCAA Ice Breaker Tournament will be held in the Sprint Center. The tournament is a "season-opening event involving teams from four NCAA Division I conferences."

Preseason Game To Be Played On A Tuesday

2009-05-08T15:16:00.005-05:00

The preseason tilt between the Kings and Islanders at the Sprint Center will be played on Tuesday, September 22nd this fall. This is bad news. I was already expecting a lackluster turnout due to the lackluster match-up, and wrote in January that "It’s going to be important to attendance for the game to be on a Friday or Saturday." Uh-oh.

The 22nd is the exact date last year's preseason game was played (which fell on a Monday). Blues fans seemed to make up a significant portion of the 11,603 in attendance that night. Something tells me Islanders fans won't be making the trip to KC to boost the attendance. If I'm AEG, I'm setting ticket prices at bargain levels for this game in the hopes of avoiding a completely embarrassing turnout.

Coyotes Hitting The Fan

2009-05-05T22:06:00.003-05:00

Major news out of Phoenix: the Coyotes have filed for bankruptcy, and the filing includes a proposed sale of the team to Jim Balsillie, who has made no secret that he wants a team in southern Ontario.

As always, Puck Daddy has it covered.

Coyotes Apparantly In Dire Straits...But What Does That Mean For KC?

2009-05-01T11:53:00.005-05:00

According to myriad reports, the Phoenix Coyotes are on their last legs and aren't long for this world. The NHL is propping them up financially to some extent; the league and team would have you believe there is minimal league involvement, others claim they are being run almost entirely by the league. It seems likely the Phoenix Coyotes will exist at least one more season, but after that, all bets are off. Relocation seems the most probable scenario, though contraction is another possibility (which I imagine would be followed closely by expansion).

So, what does it all mean for Kansas City? Hard to say. Kansas City gets an obligatory mention in many of the articles on the Coyotes. If the Coyotes are relocated in the near term, KC does have the advantage of the Sprint Center being ready to go. But the most important piece of the puzzle - ownership - seems to be being ignored. As far as I can tell, there is no person or group who has the money and the desire to bring a team to KC. Until that changes, there seems to be little hope for KC. (I'm hazy on how it could work for Leiweke/AEG to have an ownership stake in a KC team...but I've never heard any mention they would be willing to forgo their stake in the Kings in order to start a team in KC.)

Toronto/Southern Ontario, on the other hand, has a small army of wealthy people ready to start a second franchise in the area. While ownership would not be a barrier, there is not an arena, and the Maple Leafs reportedly would try to either block a second franchise or demand substantial "territorial fees."

For now, it seems that the Coyotes are unlikely to be moving here. But it might be that we're just a few crazy rich dudes away from it being a serious possibility.

Welcome to pucKChaser.com

2009-04-27T13:41:00.003-05:00

Thanks to an anonymous commenter, I’ve discovered another voice in the blogospherium writing about hockey in KC: pucKChaser. Looks like the site was started a couple of months ago and has offered some good commentary. I’m glad to find someone else writing about hockey in KC.

To welcome pucKChaser, I'm going to steal a few of their links that I missed out on recently:

“Why Is Kansas City Not In Line For The AHL?” an excellent question from the Topeka Capital-Journal

“Bettman A Buffoon If K.C. In His Plans” from a bitter, sarcastic Winnipeg Free Press

“NHL Power Play: The Cost Of Putting Fannies In Sprint Center Seats” from the Kansas City Star

Out Of Luck

2009-04-23T22:13:00.005-05:00

NHL commish Gary Bettman pretty much has to paint a picture of stability for his league, so take this with a grain of salt, but I still thought I’d pass on this article: “Bettman Says No Moves Or Expansion On The Horizon.”

Money quote: “Anyone who wants a franchise is really out of luck for the foreseeable future.”

“The Empty Arena” by Bruce Schoenfeld in The Atlantic magazine

2009-04-20T15:44:00.002-05:00

Here’s a link to the above article about Kansas City’s failure to secure an NHL or NBA team for the Sprint Center. There isn’t anything new to those of us that have been following the story, but is a good read nonetheless.

Bonus linkage: “Dying In The Desert” by James Mirtle on From The Rink examines the dire situation of the Phoenix Coyotes, and Kansas City gets a mention. (This article from Toronto-based The Globe & Mail goes into detail about the Coyotes’ woes.)

John Tavares (Probably) Headed To KC

2009-04-16T23:22:00.005-05:00

It won’t do anything to excite the vast majority of sports fans in Kansas City, but hockey diehards can look forward to seeing the next projected NHL phenom when the Islanders visit the Sprint Center this September. The Islanders were rewarded for being the worst team in the NHL last season by winning the draft lottery and the right to draft John Tavares.

Tavares was awarded “exceptional player status” in 2005 by the junior Ontario Hockey League, a rule created specifically to allow him to join the league at just 14 years of age. His birthday fell five days too late to qualify for the 2008 draft, so he has languished in the OHL for four full seasons, all the while being hyped as The Next Big Thing.

Depending on how the scheduling falls, the game in KC could even be Tavares’s first in the NHL. I don’t even want to think about the possibility of the Islanders not sending him to play. (It’s also within the realm of possibility, but highly unlikely, that the Islanders select Victor Hedman with the first pick.)

For all the hype about Tavares, he doesn’t quite live up to some all-time greats who passed through Canadian junior hockey (or even Alexandre Daigle) when it comes to points scored per game as a junior:

2.81 Mario Lemieux (1.88 in the NHL)

2.76 Wayne Gretzky (1.92)

2.50 Sidney Crosby (1.37)

2.27 Eric Lindros (1.14)

2.05 Alexandre Daigle (.53)

1.75 John Tavares

Regardless of how Tavares fares in the long term, we in Kansas City can look forward to seeing him take one of the very first steps in an eagerly anticipated NHL career.

The CHL In Kansas City

2009-04-03T17:04:00.008-05:00

It’s not the NHL, but the Central Hockey League is coming to the Kansas City area this fall. According to this article, the Independence Events Center, where the team is to play, is 50% complete, and on target to be done by November 2nd. There has been no publicity surrounding the new team, which I found odd until I learned that it is actually not a completely done deal yet. This article says the deal is nearly finalized, and a deal could be reached on April 6th. Kansas City Hockey History has a page dedicated to the team, which includes a poll for possible team names (Independence Impact kind of has a ring to it).

I’m glad professional hockey is returning to KC, but I can’t honestly say I’m too excited about a CHL team. It’s an independent league, not a development or feeder league. I’ve never been to a CHL game, but I imagine it’s similar to the UHL (which the Kansas City Outlaws played in for one year), where guys who have passed the prospect age continue to play for very little pay because they just love the game and/or they can’t shake the dream of making the big time. I’ll watch and enjoy anybody playing hockey, but, as long as we’re not an NHL town, I would vastly prefer to see kids with NHL potential working their way up the ladder (such as in the ECHL, AHL and even the USHL). The top five scorers in the CHL right now are an average age of about 31.

But, hey, hockey’s hockey, and I’ll definitely go check out the action in Independence. Besides, I need somewhere to rock my Scouts jersey.

Edit: The deal has been finalized.

Wilf Paiement: Where Was He Then?

2009-04-03T16:45:00.004-05:00

20 Years Later, Paiement Knows Better
The Kansas City Star - Monday, July 4, 1994
Author: Adam Teicher, Staff Writer

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO? Wilf Paiement

AGE: 38.

FORMERLY: Right winger for the NHL’s Kansas City Scouts.

CURRENTLY: Self-employed.

RESIDES: Amherst, N.Y.

FAMILY: Wife, Susan; children, Andrea, 14; Adam, 12; Alyssa, 9; Alexander, 6.

At the time, Kansas City seemed a wonderful place for Wilf Paiement to begin what would surely be a standout NHL career. Paiement was 18 and labeled a future superstar when he was the second player chosen in the 1974 NHL amateur draft by an expansion team, the Kansas City Scouts. What better way, he thought, to break in than with a brand-new franchise?

With the benefit of 20 years of hindsight, Paiement can see now that there would have been better situations for him. Philadelphia and the defending Stanley Cup champion Flyers would have been nice. Likewise Montreal, which would win the Cup four straight times later in the 1970s. In fact, any place besides Kansas City and the Scouts might have suited him better.

“The only thing I wish was that I’d have played for a contender right away,” said Paiement , now 38 and six years removed from his last NHL season. “It would have been a little easier for me. When you’re only 18 years old, you’ve got a lot to learn. You don’t like to admit it at that time, or maybe you don’t know it, but you do. And they expected so much out of their first-round draft pick.”

Paiement never became a superstar, but he had a better fate than the Scouts. While his first NHL club moved from town after only two seasons, Paiement lasted for 14 years and played for seven teams before his career ended with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1987-88. Paiement scored 40 goals in a season twice and finished with 356. But his career is probably best remembered for a stick-swinging incident in 1978 between Paiement, then of the Colorado Rockies, and Detroit’s Dennis Polonich. After being struck with Paiement’s stick, Polonich suffered a concussion and broken nose. He sued Paiement and was awarded $850,000 in damages.

Paiement said he enjoyed his two seasons with the Scouts. A 6-foot-1, 205-pound right winger, Paiement scored 47 goals before moving with the Scouts to Colorado. But he wonders whether his career would have been more productive if he had started with a more established team. “It’s tough on an 18-year-old to go to an expansion team,” Paiement said. “Thank goodness we had players like Simon Nolet and Brent Hughes in Kansas City. They helped me out quite a bit.”

Paiement lives in a suburb of Buffalo, where the Sabres were one stop near the end of his career. Paiement invested money from his playing days wisely and is self-employed with his work interests, mainly in real estate. “I know there are athletes that played and made a few bucks and then have nothing to show for it once they retired,” he said. “Fortunately, things didn’t work out that way for me.”

Numbers From 1974-75

2009-03-21T13:36:00.000-05:00

Here are some numbers from the Scouts first season (sourced from Hockey-Reference.com). Numbers in parentheses are league rank, out of 18 teams:

Record: 15-54-11, .256 (17)
Home record: 12-20-8, .400
Road record: 3-34-3, .113
(That the other two road wins came against the lowly Capitals and Seals makes the January 23rd victory in Boston that much more remarkable.)

Goals for: 184 (17)
Goals against: 328 (16)
(One stat that explains the Scouts success relative to the Capitals is goals against: The two expansion clubs scored at the same rate (181 for the Caps), but the Caps gave up 118 more goals (446).)

Goals per game: 2.30
Goals against per game: 4.10
(Yowch.)

Power play goals for: 57 (11)
Power play percentage: 16.24% (15)

Power play goals against: 53 (2!)
Penalty kill percentage: 77.25% (13)
(Washington gave up 94 PP goals.)

Short-handed goals for: 6 (11)
Short-handed goals against: 6 (4)

PIM: 744 (18)
(Being the least penalized team in the league served the Scouts well. GM Sid Abel might not have been proud of the distinction however, since he brought in Larry Johnston and Steve Durbano, which helped push the number up to 984 PIM the following season, and 80 PP goals against.)

Times shut-out: 12
Shut-outs: 0

Team leaders:

Goals
26 Simon Nolet
26 Wilf Paiement
18 Robin Burns

Assists
32 Simon Nolet
32 Dave Hudson
29 Guy Charron

Points
58 Simon Nolet
42 Guy Charron
41 Dave Hudson

Points-per-game:
.824 Guy Charron
.806 Simon Nolet
.586 Dave Hudson

PIM:
101 Wilf Paiement
70 Robin Burns
64 Richard Lemieux

Games played:
80 Ed Gilbert
80 Randy Rota
79 Richard Lemieux

Scouts Notes, March—April, 1975

2009-03-21T13:35:00.010-05:00

The first season of NHL hockey in Kansas City ended with a whimper over the course of March and April in 1975. The Scouts eked out just one victory in that time, going 1-13-3 (.147). Jay Greenberg penned a piece for the March 25th Star examining possible reasons for the sharp drop off after a relatively successful stretch over January and February:

“The most tangible reasons are the injuries to Jean-Guy Lagace and Simon Nolet. Lagace’s departure with a fractured ankle turned out to be more critical than feared and emphasizes how important he is to the club’s future.

‘He’s the type of guy who motivates,’ says Gary Croteau. ‘Not only verbally but by the way he plays, too. He’s experienced, too; he helps the younger guys. He starts things. It’s contagious.’ ...The power play has been abysmal since (Lagace) was lost.

Nolet has been back now for nine games, but (until recently) wasn’t the same player he had been before being shelved.”

Greenberg also theorized that since the Scouts were already assured of besting the Capitals in the standings and having a moderately respectable expansion year, the Scouts had little motivation during the end of the season.

Some notes:

• The Scouts signed defenseman Larry Johnston on February 28 for the remainder of the year and the following season. Johnston had been with the Baltimore Blades of the WHA, but was released by mutual agreement so that he could sign with the Scouts. Johnston told the Star that the WHA was a “nightmare,” and that he was “anxious to get back to the NHL.” Johnston had a history of piling up penalty minutes in every league he’d played in.

• The below ad ran in the March 2nd Star and details promotions for March home games. Greenberg revealed in an article that the Scouts had just hired an advertising firm in February, and the change is reflected in this ad. Ads for home games ran in the Star throughout the year, but they were small, unimpressive things that promised little in the way of promotions other than “plenty of parking.” I realize that the world of marketing and advertising is vastly different today than it was in the mid-’70s, but the lack of promotion during the early days of the Scouts seems downright asinine. Owner Ed Thompson vastly underestimated the work that needed to be done to sell the sport and team to a market like Kansas City, and that has a lot to do with why the Scouts were gone after just two years.

• On March 5th, the Penguins came to town, and goaltenders Denis Herron and Michel Plasse, who had been swapped for each other earlier in the season, faced each other. Perhaps fittingly, they dueled to a 4-4 tie. “They didn’t beat me,” said Plasse. “I didn’t lose to them,” said Herron.

• The amount of coverage the Star gave to the team decreased noticeably over the end of the season.

• Great quote from a March 11th Times story by Greenberg: “(Coach) Bep (Guidolin) offered anxiety over the NHL trading deadline...as one reason for the recent lethargy. ‘That’s all I’ve been hearing for the last two weeks,’ he said. ‘ ‘When’s the trading deadline?’...A player came up to me today and asked me when it was. I told him it was over. I told him we tried to trade him but nobody wanted him. That’ll shut him up.’ ”

• As late as March 11th, the Scouts trailed the North Stars in the standings by just six points, but finished the year 12 points behind them.

• Guy Lafleur scored his 50th goal of the year against the Scouts on March 29th in Montreal.

• Wilf Paiement achieved a more modest milestone the next night by potting his 25th. I say modest, but 25 is a nice mark for a rookie on a bad team. He finished the year with 26 goals, but only 13 assists.

• Jay Greenberg offered this season summary:

Attendance Numbers for 1974-75

2009-03-13T22:10:00.006-05:00

I’ve finished gathering attendance numbers for the Scouts first season: The average attendance at Scouts home games was 8,529. On the road, they played in front of an average crowd of roughly 13,500 (missing data for 11 of 40 games). As I reported in an earlier post, the home attendance averaged 8,431 in the first half of the season; interestingly, it ticked upward in the second half to 9,027. The best attended game was the opener with 14,758, followed by a late-season game against Buffalo on March 22 with 13,567. The lowest attendance came on December 12 against California, with just 5,979 at the arena.

I’ll be back in a few days with notes on the final five weeks of the ’74-’75 season.

Scouts Notes, February 1975

2009-03-10T21:10:00.004-05:00

Dave Hudson and the Scouts battle the Maple Leafs on February 6th in Kansas City

The relatively good times continued to roll for the Scouts in February 1975. They managed to pick up points against the Black Hawks, Maple Leafs, Golden Seals, Capitals, Rangers and North Stars. Their 14-40-8 (.281) record at the end of the month was actually considered respectable, particularly compared with the 6-53-5 (.133) record of the fellow expansionee Capitals. The Guy Charron acquisition in December had sparked the club, with Charron putting up 26 points in his first 21 games as a Scout. On February 5th, GM Sid Abel told Star reporter Joe McGuff, “We’ve played well since we acquired Charron. He is one of our better players and the line of Charron, (Simon) Nolet and (Robin) Burns can play with any of them. We’re playing better than I thought we would when the season started. We’re green and we’ve had problems on the road coughing up the puck when the pressure is on, but we’ve played well at home.” The term “respectable” was thrown around a lot in coverage of the team, and there seemed to be a real optimism that they were preparing to take a significant step forward the following season.

There were of course bumps in the road as well, including getting shutout in 4 of 6 games between the 7th and 16th, and serious injury trouble cropping up in the middle and end of the month. Team MVP Nolet missed time, and defensemen were dropping so fast that Dennis Patterson logged “45 to 50” minutes on the blueline on the 16th against the Capitals! Coach Bep Guidolin even played some forwards at D here and there to spell the few defensemen who were healthy enough to play. Their top defenseman, Jean-Guy Lagace, broke an ankle and missed a large chunk of time.

Nevertheless, after the Scouts defeated the North Stars 4-2 on the 23rd, they were only 4 points out of the cellar in their division. Unfortunately for them, they would only manage a 1-15-3 record the rest of the season.

Here are some articles from the Star:

This article from the 11th takes a look at business troubles facing the Scouts, including underwhelming attendance, and owner Edwin Thompson deflecting criticism and any notion that the club is not on solid financial footing. Maddening quote: “The club will lose money this year, but less than was expected, Thompson says. Losses are projected for next year, too, but he is still hopeful the club will begin to turn a profit by the third year of operation.” So why did he abandon ship after just two years?

On the 12th appeared this critical look at the Scouts promotional efforts off the ice. An interesting couple of notes about attendance: it was “ahead of team projections,” and “A look at the comparative first-year attendance figures for the other post-1967 teams indicates they’re not doing badly. The Scouts are averaging 8,120 a game, which puts them ahead of three others: California (4,600); Pittsburgh (7,292); Los Angeles (8,037).” (Kind of contradictory to the stance taken in the previous column that attendance was a problem.) The rest of the article paints a bleak picture of a lack of promotion the team was pursuing to sell tickets—something that seems to be an obvious need in a non-traditional hockey market like KC.

On the 16th, this long feature on Wilf Paiement:

On the 18th, this pat on the back for GM Sid Abel and assistant GM Baz Bastien:

DIY Scouts Jersey

2009-03-06T22:15:00.004-06:00

Ever since my fascination and curiosity about the Scouts started, I’ve wanted a Scouts jersey. But the $150-$300 that hockey jerseys typically go for is just absurd, so I held off. Then on December 8th last year, one of my favorite websites, Uni Watch, ran this amazing story about a dude named Bryan Justman and his homemade hockey jerseys. I knew I was going to have to attempt making a Scouts jersey for myself.

Tonight, I finished the jersey. You can check pictures here. It’s far from perfect, but I'm happy with it for my first attempt. Next up is a Rangers jersey for my one year old son.

Edit: My jersey is one of several featured in a story on ESPN.com!

Isles Owner Wang: “Kansas City BBQ Is Delicious”

2009-03-06T15:21:00.006-06:00

See this link for an interview with Islanders owner Charles Wang about the status of the Islanders and the Lighthouse Project that is supposedly the make-or-break factor for him to remain as owner and keep the team on Long Island. Kansas City is brought up, and Wang jokingly says, “Where's Kansas City? Oh, yeah, Kansas City, that’s a nice place, right?” and “Kansas City barbecue is delicious.” He is ratcheting up the rhetoric and scare tactics to push a new arena through.

Star columnist Randy Covitz has this article today: “Islanders owner gets more serious in threat to move or sell NHL team”