Predators to be bought by local group ?

I never cared much for hockey until Knoxville got a minor league team back in the early 90s I believe. What a great sport. It quickly became my second favorite behind football.

Minor league hockey is great, but it's not much cheaper (at least here) than an NHL game. I get Preds tickets for $19 I think and the cheapest tickets I can get for the Knoxville Ice Bears are $12. Beer is ridiculously priced at both. :ha:

 

I'd have to respectfully disagree with the AFL comparison. The value of an NHL team appears to be close to $200 million dollars according to the offers Leipold is getting. The average value of an arena team is $12 million.

 

I forgot all about the Knights. I never went to any of their games. I started with the Knoxville Cherokees. They were in the ECHL. That's pretty decent hockey. The Cherokees really got screwed over by the city. After that, we got a UHL team called the Speed. That was during the time that I was freelancing and did some work for a magazine called Just Hockey. I remember interviewing the goalie (who had just graduated from Wisconsin). We discussed the differences in the college game and the minor leagues. He all but came right out and said that fighting is encouraged, not that there's anything wrong with that! :ha:

Anyway, I'm getting off track. Bottom line is that I really enjoy hockey at every level. I don't think losing the Predators would be devastating to the city, but I do think that it paints an image (particularly to 95% of the world who won't take the time to get the details) of a city in regression. Also, as a hockey fan in the southeast I kind of detest the attitude that the culture in this part of the country will never latch on to the game.

I have no doubt that the Predators would sell out in Hamilton in no time flat, but fortunately for Nashville NHL fans, the board of governors is still pursuing their effort to spread the game to non-traditional markets. Maybe it'll work and maybe it won't, but I sure enjoy watching some of the best hockey players in the world on a regular basis in Nashville.

 

Yep. No argument there. The NHL's ratings are horrific. The lockout hurt more than I think anyone anticipated.

I wouldn't stick a fork in the Preds nor the NHL yet, though. They've got the game moving in the right direction and I think the ratings will follow.

 

Back in the day, we used original ice from the Ice Age.