If you are a Winnipeger there is some sort of sense of obligation to be celebratory, and excited that we now have an NHL franchise and are a "real" city again. Some have gone on to say "This is the greatest day in Winnipeg Sports History". If you ask me, I think that's a little bit far fetched. 

   During the last several months I have heard all manner of statements and conjecture, and now is as good a time as any to share my thoughts on a bunch of those things. Some of those comments have been:

• "The MTS Center (the local arena) is too small for an NHL team to succeed."
  
• "If the Trashers played in Winnipeg during the 2010-2011 season, and sold out every game, they'd still only be ranked 24th in attendance in the league"
• "They will have to expand the seating capacity at the MTS Center for an NHL team to survive in Winnipeg"
  

    The MTS center currently weighs in at 15,015 seats.  Yes it will be one of the smaller rinks in the NHL. However I would like to draw a comparison with the Montreal Alouettes. As a CFL team they play in the smallest stadium in the entire CFL. From 1999 - 2009 they played at Molson Stadium with a capacity of 20,202. Despite playing in the smallest Stadium, it was sold out almost every game (I think there was maybe one or two games during those 10 years that weren't sold out) for 10 consecutive years. In 2010 an expansion was added to Molson Stadium adding an extra 5,000 seats.

     The move to the smaller venue has largely been viewed as saving the Montreal Franchise. According to Sports Map World the CFL Stadium Sizes are:

   Despite the sizes of the stadiums, the average attendance for CFL Games are in the 27,000-30,000 range. BC and Toronto both feel especially cavernous and in both cases it's been discussed building a permanent home similar to Montreal's.

   So why does CFL Stadium sizes compare / matter in this discussion about NHL franchises?

   Lets look east to Toronto and Ottawa. Toronto, with the Air Canada Center has 18,819, and sells out every single game. There is such a demand for tickets that people proclaim that Southern Ontario can support a second NHL Franchise. (Feel free to insert one of many Maple Leafs jokes here).

   Now lets look 383 Kilometers North East to Ottawa. Scotiabank Place was expanded in 2005 to 19,153. Last season while they 16 Sellouts, their average attendance was 18,379. Meaning that for most games there was at least 1,000 empty seats. When Scotiabank Place expanded, their supply of seats surpassed the demand for tickets.

   When you have a venue that constantly sells out, there is a buzz around the tickets. People covet and desire those tickets, and they become a commodity that is sought after.

   Which leads us to the 13,000 seat elephant. As part of the agreement to purchase the Atlanta Thrasher, True North Sports and Entertainment (TNSE) has an expectation to demonstrate to the NHL board of governors (BoG) by June 21st that there is a commitment for the Winnipeg fan base for 13,000 season tickets. There has been a website launched today to go along with that:

http://driveto13.com/

  Without those 13,000 season tickets (requiring a 3-5 year commitment), there is a chance that the BoG will not approve the sale and relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg. Will they reach the 13,000? That's a fantastic question. To the right of this article I've inserted the image from the Drive to 13 website, that will be updated at 4:30pm daily with the total number of season tickets sold so far. For those of you not tracking the story, sales start June 1, with a pre-sale to Manitoba Moose (Winnipeg's AHL Franchise) season ticket holders. The remainder then go on sale Saturday June 4th to the general public.

  I have to wrap up now, but in theory when I get around to writing part 2, I'll touch on Bettman, team loyalty, and team name.