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Post by Jacques Strap on Feb 22, 2023 10:22:28 GMT -4
Agree with all the comments the "historic" hype was over the top. At first I was worried the guy was from the US but so was Bobby but with a huge connection to the area. The fact Bobby lived year round in Arizona and flew in a few times a year won't mean a huge change in operations from that standpoint. The one question I do have is this a personal transaction between two friends or was the team quietly put up for sale and no local buyer wanted it? It's a kick in the teeth to a growing city like ours that no local group or person would have the money to buy it (or want to). If we don't have anyone who could afford the Mooseheads this should be a big wake up call to those who think a professional hockey team would work here. What connection did Bobby Smith have? Well not a "huge connection" but Bobby Smith was born in N Sydney was he not? Not sure if his family is from CB or NS. He is Canadian also but not sure if that matters. What makes me worry is that Bobby Smith had lots of hockey contacts. Not that we seen him use them but he still had hockey connections. I am thinking though if Sam Simon has the cash he can basically pay a premium for the guys he wants. Like asking, who is the best scout in the CHL? Give the guy a call and offer him lots of cash. Not sure if things are that simple though. I am sure if Peter asks his Dad for $omething he will get it. The good news is maybe we can start trading with Saint John again. lol. |
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Post by trueblue on Feb 22, 2023 10:34:33 GMT -4
Well not a "huge connection" but Bobby Smith was born in N Sydney was he not? Not sure if his family is from CB or NS. He is Canadian also but not sure if that matters. What makes me worry is that Bobby Smith had lots of hockey contacts. Not that we seen him use them but he still had hockey connections. I am thinking though if Sam Simon has the cash he can basically pay a premium for the guys he wants. Like asking, who is the best scout in the CHL? Give the guy a call and offer him lots of cash. Not sure if things are that simple though. I am sure if Peter asks his Dad for $omething he will get it. The good news is maybe we can start trading with Saint John again. lol. If you look at the London Knights (sorry to keep bringing them up, but they are the shining star) - it's not so much the quality of any individual scout but more the number of scouts they employ and the number of scouting trips they get sent on. All that takes a lot of $$$ and I really, really hope the Simons spend big in this area if they are looking for places to burn money. For comparisons sake, our website shows a 6-person scouting department. London's shows 15. Cape Breton's shows 3. Bathurst's shows 1. Look at each of their history of drafting, developing, and getting players to report. It makes a difference. |
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Post by Jack Bauer on Feb 22, 2023 10:43:12 GMT -4
What connection did Bobby Smith have? Well not a "huge connection" but Bobby Smith was born in N Sydney was he not? Not sure if his family is from CB or NS. He is Canadian also but not sure if that matters. What makes me worry is that Bobby Smith had lots of hockey contacts. Not that we seen him use them but he still had hockey connections. I am thinking though if Sam Simon has the cash he can basically pay a premium for the guys he wants. Like asking, who is the best scout in the CHL? Give the guy a call and offer him lots of cash. Not sure if things are that simple though. I am sure if Peter asks his Dad for $omething he will get it. The good news is maybe we can start trading with Saint John again. lol. Yes, Bobby was born in North Sydney. He also left there before he was school aged and will tell you he's from Ontario if you ask him. If thats the connection....there really is no connection. If someone is local to the region...they will proudly let you know that in most cases. But Bobby isn't, so he doesn't. It's not a shot at him as much as it saying that people need to understand the full context if they think a guy born in CB is local to Halifax when he was raised in Ontario. |
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Post by Jack Bauer on Feb 22, 2023 10:44:45 GMT -4
Well not a "huge connection" but Bobby Smith was born in N Sydney was he not? Not sure if his family is from CB or NS. He is Canadian also but not sure if that matters. What makes me worry is that Bobby Smith had lots of hockey contacts. Not that we seen him use them but he still had hockey connections. I am thinking though if Sam Simon has the cash he can basically pay a premium for the guys he wants. Like asking, who is the best scout in the CHL? Give the guy a call and offer him lots of cash. Not sure if things are that simple though. I am sure if Peter asks his Dad for $omething he will get it. The good news is maybe we can start trading with Saint John again. lol. If you look at the London Knights (sorry to keep bringing them up, but they are the shining star) - it's not so much the quality of any individual scout but more the number of scouts they employ and the number of scouting trips they get sent on. All that takes a lot of $$$ and I really, really hope the Simons spend big in this area if they are looking for places to burn money. For comparisons sake, our website shows a 6-person scouting department. London's shows 15. Cape Breton's shows 3. Bathurst's shows 1. CB has more then 3 i'm pretty sure. We have a chief Atlantic and chief Quebec scout I believe. Each with some people underneath them. I highly doubt Halifax only has 6 and doubt even more than Bathurst has 1. |
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Post by trueblue on Feb 22, 2023 10:52:08 GMT -4
If you look at the London Knights (sorry to keep bringing them up, but they are the shining star) - it's not so much the quality of any individual scout but more the number of scouts they employ and the number of scouting trips they get sent on. All that takes a lot of $$$ and I really, really hope the Simons spend big in this area if they are looking for places to burn money. For comparisons sake, our website shows a 6-person scouting department. London's shows 15. Cape Breton's shows 3. Bathurst's shows 1. CB has more then 3 i'm pretty sure. We have a chief Atlantic and chief Quebec scout I believe. Each with some people underneath them. I highly doubt Halifax only has 6 and doubt even more than Bathurst has 1. No huge disagreement from me - just going by who is listed on the respective team websites. An exercise in trying to illustrate the different levels/tiers of scouting staff sizes across the league and the impact it can have. We know Cam just came back from a scouting trip in Europe, and that he was in Massachusetts a few weeks back. Send him (or someone else on staff) multiple times. It all adds up. |
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Post by yesisaiditfirst on Feb 23, 2023 15:07:51 GMT -4
For all the talk of "he bought the team as play thing for his son who likes sports". "It's a starter team for them to learn how to own a team".
There are cheaper ways to do this. An OHL team maybe even one of the Michigan ones for way less $ probably could have been bought for that.
No they buy a team that probably cost $27-30M and 1300 miles away. In a league where business is done in 2 languages.
They bought this team because it's low risk. Hard to F it up. The audience and brand is entrenched in community and it will probably make money and be worth more in 5-10 years where they get a gain on their efforts.
So he trusts his son with the investment. If it's a stepping stone it's not a toy.
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Post by Murph on Feb 23, 2023 16:07:23 GMT -4
The worry I have is that while now I think Bobby is one of the best owners in Junior hockey, he wasn’t at the beginning. - He threatened to move to the forum over a lease fight with little regard to the fans. - he hired his buddy Al MacAdam as coach, who openly said he didn’t want to coach Junior hockey. - He forced the Marchand trade, which was a disaster (especially when Groulx was the other option.) - He hired himself as coach - which was a disaster. - this ended up in the dark period where attendance dropped to around 5000 Not to mention he installed his son on the team, who simply wasn't QMJHL material... People need to let this go. Yes they drafted him too high. But he did have 25 points as a 17 year old on the 4th line who fought occasionally. Hurt a lot at 18 before the fans ran him out of town. Keep in mind CSR had him ranked in the 5th round. Eliminating defensemen and goalies, Smith had more career points than 1 player drafted in the first round, 3 players in the 2nd round, and 5 in the 3rd round where he was drafted. Fans accuse Bobby Smith of being bias because the kid was his son. And that’s true. Had he used an 8th round pick nobody would have given a shit. But a lot of those same fans are equally bias against Daniel Smith, simply because he was the owners son. |
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Post by coleminer on Feb 24, 2023 20:23:13 GMT -4
Will anyone in the local media be doing a big writeup on Bobby Smith's time as owner?
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Post by sliderz on Feb 28, 2023 19:51:03 GMT -4
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Post by trueblue on Feb 28, 2023 21:46:12 GMT -4
Around the 30 minute mark, Sam references spending on scouting (being the most important thing), and "tools that the staff need that they've been waiting for". If he follows through on his word, it's hard not to feel a lot of excitement. Sounds like Peter had a great time on the road trip! 🤣 |
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Post by Citris on Feb 28, 2023 23:37:51 GMT -4
Get Allie and Cam over to Europe more... gotta nail that import draft  |
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Post by coleminer on Mar 1, 2023 22:08:11 GMT -4
He said "we will win more championships". Just like that, it will happen!
What was most interesting to me was his intention to spend more money on the Metro Centre. Said the wait times to take a piss was unacceptable. I'm hoping the egress of the building can be improved.
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Post by coleminer on Mar 1, 2023 22:09:02 GMT -4
Tickets will have to go up, big time, if he is going to spend this much on scouting and the building.
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Post by mooseman89 on Mar 2, 2023 8:17:11 GMT -4
Tickets will have to go up, big time, if he is going to spend this much on scouting and the building. I'm totally fine with the ticket prices going up if it means a better gameday experience as well as a more frequently competitive on-ice product. Having said that, I believe you will see a little dip in the "casual fan" ticket sales until that theory is proven. |
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Post by sliderz on Mar 2, 2023 12:28:46 GMT -4
Tickets will have to go up, big time, if he is going to spend this much on scouting and the building. Season Ticket Holders who renew their seats by purchasing the playoff package available to them have the pricing for next season locked in as it was this season. So not only are they not going up big time, they aren't going up at all for the returning fans. |
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