The Seattle region isn’t the only WHL center that’s staring at the possibility of the NHL moving into its back yard.
Rumors began circulating last week that parties in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, are looking to bring an NHL team to the city. Saskatchewan is the home of the WHL’s Blades.
According to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, sources told the paper that On Ice Management Group Inc., led by Toronto businessman John Graham, is working on a deal to relocate an NHL team to Saskatoon as early as next season.
Those sources also said that if an NHL team came to Saskatoon, the Blades would be out.
“In the years that we’ve owned this hockey club, we’ve been through the NHL coming to town on more than one occasion in various forms,” Blades owner Jack Brodsky told the StarPhoenix. “We’re just going to continue to go about our business like we always do. We’ll see who comes.”
In recent weeks news broke about the possibility of a new arena being built in Seattle in an effort to lure NHL and NBA franchises to the area. Everett Silvertips assistant general manager Zoran Rajcic said the Tips were preparing for the possibility, but there were no thoughts of the team relocating from Everett.
The Blades have had to deal with the possibility of professional teams moving to town for decades. As recently as 2004 the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers sought to move their American Hockey League affiliate to Saskatoon. There have also been several attempts to move NHL teams to the city, the closest coming in 1983 when the St. Louis Blues’ relocation to Saskatoon was blocked by the NHL.
Saskatoon already has an NHL-size building, as the Credit Union Centre seats 15,200. The Blades don’t come close to filling the building, averaging 4,290 through 34 home dates this season.
But does Saskatoon have a large enough population base to support an NHL team? The city’s population is 222,000, which would be the NHL’s smallest market.
“If Saskatoon is ready to support a National Hockey League team, far be it from us to try and stand in the way or think we’re going to say anything about that,” Brodsky said. “But that has yet to be proven to me to be viable here.”
Around the WHL
Four more teams clinched playoff spots last week. In the Western Conference, Kelowna became the sixth team to earn a ticket to the postseason. In the Eastern Conference, Moose Jaw, Medicine Hat and Calgary have joined Calgary in earning playoff berths. … Tri-City overage center Brendan Shinnimin has parlayed his strong play into a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes. Shinnimin was an undrafted free agent. … Shinnimin was also named the WHL Player of the Month for February. Shinnimin tallied 23 goals and 20 assists in 14 games. … Portland’s Sven Bartschi was named the WHL Player of the Week. The 19-year-old forward had eight goals and two assists as the Winterhawks went 3-1.
League leaders
Points — Brendan Shinnimin (Tri-City) 120; goals — Emerson Etem (Medicine Hat) 55; assists — Patrick Holland (Tri-City) 77; penalty minutes — Cody Beach (Moose Jaw) 208; wins — Mac Carruth (Portland) 40; goals against average — Nathan Lieuwen (Kootenay) 2.36; save percentage — Ty Rimmer (Tri-City) .921.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
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