Calgary Flames fans: Don’t worry, Ken King is simply being strategic
By Ramina Shlah
Another day of billionaires being greedy. But don’t worry Calgary Flames fans, Ken King is just simply being strategic in what he’s doing right now.
Don’t worry guys, I know we’re all somewhat scared. But the Calgary Flames won’t be relocating.
Just minutes ago, news completely surfaced the hockey nation about Flames CEO Ken King saying that the city is no longer in pursuit of a new arena.
Breaking: Ken King drops bombshell, saying owners no longer going to pursue new arena in Calgary.
— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) September 12, 2017
King: "It's time we stopped pretending."
— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) September 12, 2017
King spoke to Mayor and determined the city has no genuine interest in helping build a building. Talks over.
— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) September 12, 2017
King re future of Flames in Calgary: "I don't know what this means."
— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) September 12, 2017
Bettman: "I'm not surprised at this result. I think it was inevitable."
— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) September 12, 2017
I know this all seems scary, but don’t worry. Ken King has strategically planned this out and he’s saying this at this specific time for a reason. As we know, the Calgary Flames and the city have not been able to come to an agreement about a new arena. Mayor Naheed Nenshi is sticking his own and standing up for the public that they will not be paying for a new arena.
Out of the six Flames owners, three of them are among the 100 richest Canadians, two of them have net-worths over $3 billion, and one owns a $6 billion firm. They can absolutely afford a new arena and kudos to Nenshi for sticking to his gut.
This brings us into the strategy. Seattle just so happened to announce a new arena deal earlier today. And now this:
I think it's neat that Ken King is throwing a tantrum coincidentally as a mayoral election approaches.
— Mike Pfeil (@mikeFAIL) September 12, 2017
There are mayoral candidates currently running and giving their stances in Calgary. Right now, King and Bettman are trying to push feared Calgarians to vote another way rather than re-electing Nenshi. They want the people to vote a mayor who will push through a new arena deal that uses a majority of public money.
Bettman also said (in a tweet I put above) about how “hard” it will be for the Flames to remain competitive. However, last season, the Flames had the tenth best attendance record out of all the teams and the third best out of all the Canadian teams. The Saddledome has a capacity of 19,289 and the average attendance last season for the Flames was 18,727. I’d say that’s pretty decent.
Think the NHL, a league which refused to let the Arizona Coyotes leave at their worst, is going to let the Flames leave? Give me a break.
— Matthew Henderson (@mhenderson95) September 12, 2017
With the Flames having the Cup contention window open this upcoming season, I don’t think it’ll be too hard for them to remain competitive.
Bettman on what Calgarians can do now: "You need to make your voice heard if you think the city is moving in the wrong direction."
— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) September 12, 2017
This is basically saying “Don’t vote Nenshi if you want to keep the Flames in the city” without saying those specific words.
Next: 23 Days Until the Season Starts: #23 Sean Monahan
Don’t worry Flames fans. It’s all a business tactic and the Calgary Flames won’t be going anywhere. But unfortunately, it strikes enough fear in enough people that their plan may end up working after all. We may be saying goodbye to Nenshi in a month’s time when the election happens and of course, the billionaires will end up getting their way.