Jeff Jacobs
Seventeen months into this, he has one concession.
"It has proven harder than I thought," Larry Gottesdiener said.
Seventeen months into this, I have one observation:
It's not going to get any easier.
The official announcement came Tuesday that the New York Rangers' AHL affiliate will continue to play at the Civic Center for a minimum of four years - unless Gottesdiener lands an NHL franchise or demolition begins to build a new arena.
In other words, there's an excellent chance that the Wolf Pack will remain at the Civic Center at least four years and, if both sides agree, even through the life of the six-year deal.
There is no NHL team on the horizon.
There is no firm evidence that the money to build a new arena will be easily secured from the state legislature.
That doesn't mean Gottesdiener is doing the wrong things. Or that the state did the wrong thing in turning the operation of the Civic Center and Rentschler Field over to Gottesdiener's Northland Investment and AEG Facilities.
On the contrary.
It only means that it's harder than Gottesdiener thought it was going to be.
Those who expected that an NHL franchise was going to magically appear are as dangerous and foolhardy as the ones who insist an NHL team is never going to appear.
The road is long.
So let's try to be patient and not overly cynical. We know that's an awful lot to ask.
"I didn't necessarily think I'd have an NHL team by now," said Gottesdiener, who began his quest in late 2005. "But after working on Pittsburgh and Nashville, I'm back at square one. I probably thought I'd be further along. I'm not aware of anything else that's portable on the market right now."
Gottesdiener hasn't talked openly for a while. So let's listen and digest.
"I think expansion is Hartford's best shot," he said.
With minuscule national TV ratings and some franchises in trouble, you really think there'll be expansion?
"I believe that," he said. "I think they'll go to 32 within five years."
Gottesdiener's attempt to buy the Penguins in '06 has been documented. What about Nashville?
"We negotiated on the Predators, yes," Gottesdiener said. "I actually believed I had a shot. It was a different structure than a straight purchase. Events conspired to cause them to reject our proposal. It was predicated on what happened in the playoffs. The puck didn't bounce our way. I can't say anything more."
There is an impending $220 million sale of the Predators to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie. Although there had been reports the BlackBerry magnate was looking to relocate the team to Hamilton or Kitchener/Waterloo, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday Balsillie had no intention of moving the team. Bettman, however, also said he was "intrigued" by the idea of a team returning to Winnipeg.
He expressed no such intrigue in Hartford.
"The NHL is not knocking down our doors," Gottesdiener said. "Bettman has been equivocal on his support of Hartford. He hasn't been negative. He certainly hasn't been positive.
"He always has said very clearly he doesn't want teams to move. However, if you look at the viable markets for expansion there's Kansas City, Houston, Portland, Seattle ... I think Ontario will be taken care of [with the Predators], although there are complications with Buffalo and Toronto.
"But you look at the logical candidates for expanding the footprint of the NHL, they'd be much better off in the Pacific Northwest or in Houston. I think Hartford is a much more underserved sports market than Kansas City even though it's of similar size and has greater financial resources. Houston, trying to create a market in the Sun Belt which has proven difficult, is somewhat problematic. I really think our competition is the Pacific Northwest, [but] they're really going to have trouble keeping the SuperSonics because they won't build a new arena and they don't have a new arena in Portland."
So this was Gottesdiener's pitch: The combination of having once been an NHL market, having an entrepreneur willing to pay for the team and having a new arena agreement in place would make Hartford "a very competitive scenario."
The NHL is not returning to this market unless there's a new arena.
"Period, not even close," Gottesdiener said. "I don't think it actually has to be built. An agreement must be in place. ... Ontario is never getting a team without Jim Balsillie, and Hartford is never getting a team without some entrepreneur stepping up. You've got to care about that market. For me it's as much about the city as it is about the hockey. Am I going to do this indefinitely, forever? Not necessarily, but I haven't backed away. And whether we get the NHL or the AHL, this city needs a new arena."
This city's big developer has hundreds of millions invested in the future of Hartford. This is on him. He wants it to be on him. Plan A for the NHL. Plan B - for a smaller arena for UConn/AHL. He dreams about an area built right on the bones of the old Civic Center, stretching through the Church Street garage toward I-84 for all the world to see. He deserves his shot.
Does he make mistakes? Well, let's put it this way. He has spoken too soon at times, like saying earlier in the year he didn't think an affiliation with a New York or Boston team was a good idea. Yet there he was Tuesday bragging how the Wolf Pack had the best record in the AHL over the last decade.
"This is a very different deal structure than I ever contemplated," he said. "Under this agreement, Northland AEG is running all the business operations.
"It's the management of the operation that turned off the market. Everybody hated the money flowing to New York and the sort of disdain they were treated [with] by the New York operation. You can't argue with the [on-ice] product. The product always has been good. The marketing, sales, concessions, cleanliness, before- and after-game experience, it's all on us now. That's what changed. I'm excited about it."
On this day he was saying he didn't necessarily believe the Hartford hockey market needed to be rebuilt. He said he didn't think it was a prerequisite to getting the NHL. We'd argue the opposite. We'd argue the NHL is looking for something special out of Connecticut if it was ever to return. Overwhelming fan interest or huge corporate interest in addition to Gottesdiener ... but, I'm not going to get too bent out of shape. He's still learning on the fly. His tune usually changes for the better. Once AEG comes in, here's one bet there will be a concerted effort to get the attendance up from a franchise low of 4,563. This is a team that once drew 7,221 in 1998-99. Gottesdiener already tried - and failed - to get an MLS team for Rentschler. He's looking at indoor lacrosse and arena football.
"Look, I've got to work on the NHL franchises that are for sale and I have to work on the arena financing and continue doing that at times looking like I'm tilting at windmills," Gottesdiener said. "I know that."
Keep tilting, Larry.
