Less than 10,000 fans showed up for last night’s exhibition hockey game between the New York Islanders and LA Kings at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, but it is time for Missouri to get another hockey team.
First, the game wasn’t the best of matchups. The ownership group that runs the Sprint Center also runs the Kings, so that’s why we had LA in KC last night. With the Islanders, a team that has struggled and may not even call Long Island their home if an upgrade to the Nassau County Coliseum is not approved, the other team last night, you couldn’t have had two teams further away geographically in the U.S. playing last night, so there wasn’t much of a local interest.
The Blues played at the Sprint Center last year. Bring in Minnesota or Chicago, even Dallas, any team with a regional presence than the coast teams and you would have a bigger crowd. Plus, it didn’t help that Zack Greinke was pitching last night, the only reason these days to watch baseball in Kansas City these days.
Kansas City needs another pro franchise. The city, the state needs something to rally around. Our pro football teams stink, we know about the Royals and we have no NBA franchise. Outside of the Cardinals, there is nothing in this state for fans to rally around from a professional standpoint.
So, there in downtown KC, this big state of the art arena sits empty most of the year. We had a close call with the Nashville Predators until they got their ownership issues worked out. Now, the other team coming up for discussions as a possible move is the New York Islanders. That’s why they were scheduled for this game. To give their players and ownership an idea of what Kansas City fans could provide.
If not the Islanders, what about the Phoenix Coyotes who are also going through ownership issues? Wouldn’t it be great if someone would buy that team and move them to Kansas City where we would have Wayne Gretzky as their first coach?
The game last night was pretty interesting. The Kings won 4-2 and there were five fights and while the crowd may have been light, they were certainly enthusiastic. Kansas City starves for hockey and I think the city would support a pro team.