The Florida teams were a joke back in the day, two teams that everyone in the NHL was eager to play on their schedule. It’s the opposite now, with both teams being destinations and two of the model franchises in the league. The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning have won the Eastern Conference in each of the past six seasons, and how both teams get here is fascinating, something every team must take note of.
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Two teams that should keep these southern teams in mind don’t exist, at least not yet. It’s only a matter of time before the NHL expands, and two markets they’ll look at are Atlanta and Houston. Both are in the south, and if all goes right and they follow the right blueprint, they’ll become destinations and be successful both on and off the ice, like the Florida teams.
Investing in the Fans
Every fan base is unique, and teams must cater to them differently. The Lightning started to improve when they became a fan-friendly organization, and the Panthers particularly improved when they became a family-friendly one built around a suburban base.
There’s a good chance an Atlanta team builds an arena in a suburban area or away from downtown and must appeal to that type of base. Houston, on the other hand, would at least start in Toyota Center, which is in the heart of the city, which favors more businesses and corporate backgrounds.
It’s more than just the location, of course. The Vegas Golden Knights have done a lot to grow hockey in the region, and it’s helped them out. It’s not just about the Golden Knights, either but also building hockey facilities and an environment for fans to play and enjoy the game all the time.
Ownership is Nothing Until It’s Everything
The NHL has a hard salary cap and is the only league of the four major sports with one. Even with a rising cap in the coming years, the playing field (or ice surface) is rather even. That said, owners can spend big on the teams and cut corners elsewhere.
The Lightning and the Panthers spend on their teams, not just on the ice but off of it as well. The facilities are top-notch, and for two teams that travel a lot, they have a great reputation for first-class travel. It’s all about being a model franchise, and both teams have become that.
The opposite extreme was the Arizona Coyotes. The market should have been a success story. It had everything in place to work, and Gary Bettman tried to make it work, even when the writing was on the wall after the team was kicked out of Gila River Arena. Instead, the Coyotes failed and relocated because of the incompetent ownership.
That’s the floor for a non-traditional market, where the team becomes invisible and ultimately moves. It’s a floor that a team in Atlanta or Houston must keep in mind.
A Development Plan in Place
Any team can land a core and usually does at some point. The key is what happens after that. How do teams build around their stars and prepare a long-term plan to remain competitive? For both the Lightning and the Panthers, it was also about building up a development plan after assembling a core.
It’s not a coincidence that the Lightning became a model franchise after moving its team to Syracuse. Likewise, the Panthers affiliation with the Checkers has done wonders for both the NHL and American Hockey League (AHL) teams. It’s not the move that did the trick as much as the culture they built afterwards with their farm systems, where prospects take steps forward.
If Atlanta or Houston gets a team, a subsequent question will be how they plan on building their pipelines. Where will the AHL and ECHL teams be and how will they be run? The location doesn’t matter but how the teams are operated will be vital for their success. So, an Atlanta team can have its affiliate in Orlando or Jacksonville (both markets make sense) but it’s about working with that market as well. Likewise, Houston can have an AHL team in San Antonio or Oklahoma City with the right plan.
This is especially important once these teams are on the rise. They’ll have the core, and the question will be how they build after that. Having a great farm system in place will make them great in the long run. It doesn’t even need to be a close-by market, as the Lightning have shown with the Syracuse Crunch, as long as the market and environment help with development.
After All of That, Then State Taxes Help Atlanta or Houston
Once a team checks off all of the boxes, then they can lean into the tiebreakers. One of them, for free agents, is the state taxes. Another is the warm weather and golfing, two things that hockey players love. Atlanta and Houston, with the right plan, can lean into those advantages.
So, there’s a good chance that both Atlanta and Houston get teams. However, it’s not a sure thing that these markets will work out. On the contrary, Atlanta has failed twice, and Houston’s hockey history isn’t a great one (with the Aeros failing in the World Hockey League back in the day). If they follow the blueprint set up by the Florida teams, then it will be a success.
