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Post by Nacho STAYS Hyped on Apr 22, 2009 19:22:37 GMT -5
Move some teams from the southern US to Canada and the northeastern US. I think that places like Maine, where there are no pro sports teams and where they are hockey crazy, could be great for an NHL team.
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Post by Vice honcho room temperature on Apr 22, 2009 19:22:08 GMT -5
Because... I have no problem with it except why are there two teams in Florida
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Post by The Summer of Muskrat XVII on Apr 22, 2009 19:33:42 GMT -5
Just a question, what is so bad about people in the South wanting to watch Hockey? Can we not enjoy the sport too? It's not the Southern hockey fans that are the problem, it's the overwhelming apathy from most in the south. It's awesome if you, and your friends are hockey fans but in most of the southern markets you guys are the minority. If you're 3/4 full for every game then by all means keep a team, but I remember seeing some of the southern arenas having like 1000-2000 people in them for most games which is terrible.
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Post by Drillbit Taylor on Apr 22, 2009 19:49:21 GMT -5
I see what you are saying, but when people say move them to Canada etc does not allways make sense.Winnipeg does but not Hamilton. Thats my arguement. Year in and Year out Houston gets higher attendance in AHL then Hamilton. But no one is saying that Houston needs a team, just the opposite. But people allways bring up that since a city in Canada then they deserve it more then a team in the South. The same can be said for Hartford.
Don't Get me wrong, I do think that adding 2 more in Canada is fine. To make it a 32 team division. But they have to prove they want it bad enough. Which Winnipeg has, but some others have not.
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Post by Koda, Master Crunchyroller on Apr 23, 2009 0:17:28 GMT -5
Just a question, what is so bad about people in the South wanting to watch Hockey? Can we not enjoy the sport too? It's not the Southern hockey fans that are the problem, it's the overwhelming apathy from most in the south. It's awesome if you, and your friends are hockey fans but in most of the southern markets you guys are the minority. If you're 3/4 full for every game then by all means keep a team, but I remember seeing some of the southern arenas having like 1000-2000 people in them for most games which is terrible. This is the reason why I said make the Oklahoma City Blazers an NHL team, they nearly sell out all of their games, and they are a Central Hockey League team!
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Post by Drillbit Taylor on Apr 23, 2009 0:22:58 GMT -5
It's not the Southern hockey fans that are the problem, it's the overwhelming apathy from most in the south. It's awesome if you, and your friends are hockey fans but in most of the southern markets you guys are the minority. If you're 3/4 full for every game then by all means keep a team, but I remember seeing some of the southern arenas having like 1000-2000 people in them for most games which is terrible. This is the reason why I said make the Oklahoma City Blazers an NHL team, they nearly sell out all of their games, and they are a Central Hockey League team! They would have a better argument if they were AHL. And being an independent mid level team does not help. Having an affiliation would help a lot. Just Saying ;D
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Post by CJ Denton is Egon on Apr 23, 2009 0:33:31 GMT -5
I think its more of a history thing really, before the NHLs big move into the south, was there even hockey teams around there?
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Post by Drillbit Taylor on Apr 23, 2009 0:36:44 GMT -5
I think its more of a history thing really, before the NHLs big move into the south, was there even hockey teams around there? Yea. WHA had Houston, and Pheonix and Miami. And the Flames started in Atlanta in the 70's
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Post by CJ Denton is Egon on Apr 23, 2009 0:38:21 GMT -5
I think its more of a history thing really, before the NHLs big move into the south, was there even hockey teams around there? Yea. WHA had Houston, and Pheonix and Miami. And the Flames started in Atlanta in the 70's I'm talking about 1900s.
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Post by Koda, Master Crunchyroller on Apr 23, 2009 0:41:05 GMT -5
This is the reason why I said make the Oklahoma City Blazers an NHL team, they nearly sell out all of their games, and they are a Central Hockey League team! They would have a better argument if they were AHL. And being an independent mid level team does not help. Having an affiliation would help a lot. Just Saying ;D Dallas should've made them their AHL affiliate, instead of wasting money making a new team entirely....
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Post by Drillbit Taylor on Apr 23, 2009 0:41:41 GMT -5
Yea. WHA had Houston, and Pheonix and Miami. And the Flames started in Atlanta in the 70's I'm talking about 1900s. So just because they did not have it in the 1900s it should not be there?
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Post by Koda, Master Crunchyroller on Apr 23, 2009 0:44:19 GMT -5
So just because they did not have it in the 1900s it should not be there? Besides I destinctly remember reading the following from CJ Denton: I think its more of a history thing really, before the NHLs big move into the south, was there even hockey teams around there? Not one mention of it needing to be the 1990s.
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Post by CJ Denton is Egon on Apr 23, 2009 0:44:58 GMT -5
So just because they did not have it in the 1900s it should not be there? I'm not saying that, I'm saying that might be a reason why there is apathy in the south towards hockey.
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Post by Drillbit Taylor on Apr 23, 2009 0:53:04 GMT -5
But the whole south is not that apathetic. Texas, OK, and Carolinas like it. My HS had a hockey team, and got decent attendance at the games. And the School is right down the road from a large body of water, and technically sub tropical being bellow 30 degree line.
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Post by Koda, Master Crunchyroller on Apr 23, 2009 0:56:40 GMT -5
But the whole south is not that apathetic. Texas, OK, and Carolinas like it. My HS had a hockey team, and got decent attendance at the games. And the School is right down the road from a large body of water, and technically sub tropical being bellow 30 degree line. Hell, believe it or not, the University of Oklahoma even has a hockey team! And a lacrosse team(one of the few colleges in the South with one...)....so yeah, Oklahoma likes a lot of sports the South in general doesn't like...
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Post by CJ Denton is Egon on Apr 23, 2009 0:59:30 GMT -5
But the whole south is not that apathetic. Texas, OK, and Carolinas like it. My HS had a hockey team, and got decent attendance at the games. And the School is right down the road from a large body of water, and technically sub tropical being bellow 30 degree line. I'm just seeing hockey support in the south, compared to say, Collage football, and since Collage football has a long history in the south, thinking that might be one of the reasons.
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Post by Brandon Walsh is Insane. on Apr 23, 2009 1:08:00 GMT -5
Didn't NHL teams move away from Canada for a reason?
The entire league hit trouble a few years ago, and has yet to recover.
I think it's pretty weak to put a team in a city that cannot support one.
Doesn't make fiscal sense, and if a major team does show up in Maine or wherever else, just so they have a team, I can see it being folded within a few years.
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Post by Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action on Apr 23, 2009 1:32:18 GMT -5
Phoenix moves back to Winnipeg. Move all southern teams to Canada. Lord knows that fans who love the 'Canes shouldn't have a team just because there were no teams in the south in 1908. I mean, I'm sorry Hartford lost their team, but that's no reason that we would have to lose ours. RBC Center is one of the loudest arenas in the NHL because the fans are so hyped. I mean it's an indoor event people, it doesn't matter if it's in the N, S, E or W now. We have the science for climate control unlike back in the 1900's. That's why it was played in the North, because they couldn't do what we can now-a-days. If we are to go by what should be based on historical markets that means that there should not be one baseball team outside of the U.S.A. or in the western part of the U.S. and it also would mean that no large cities (like Philly, Chicago, etc) should have football teams.
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Cranjis McBasketball
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Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Apr 23, 2009 3:25:33 GMT -5
The NHL, if it ever wishes to grow, needs to be in markets which will actually support it. Here's an idea, rather than shoving a team into a place it has no serious business being, Miami, Tampa, Nashville, Columbus, Phoenix all come to mind, and trying to grow the market by waiting for them to suck for 10 years in order to acquire enough draft picks to build a decent team for 2 seasons until the salary cap forces the players out.....get a decent TV deal, one which doesn't kowtow to an American audience that doesn't give a shit and if the ratings show a ton of fan support, then, think about putting a team there.
I went to a Flames game this past Feburary, the GA nosebleed (think of how the Dome looks like a Saddle, hence Saddledome) seats were we sat, I could stand my seat and touch the ceiling at it's highest point, were re-selling on on-line ticket re-sellers for.......$300+. They are $20 seats.
Since the lockout, the ENTIRE NHL has been propped up on revenue generated from 6 teams......Vancouver, Edmonton, Ottawa, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal......what do all those cities have in common? This despite a tax system which sees the Candiens pay more taxes than every last American franchise COMBINED.
It's time to face up to the unface-up-toable, America, by and large has rejected the NHL. Time to say fine, thanks, see you later and pull out of the vast majority of American markets. Put the teams in a market where they can survive, given the right support. Jim Bassille (or whatever) sold out all the uxury boxes (maybe all his season tickets as well, not sure on that) in Hamiliton on the mere suggestion he would buy the Preds and relocated them there.
The NHL is markething to a market it that doesn't want it. Crosby is getting the majority of the marketing, yet thanks to the NHL's f***in' stupid regional TV deals, no one sees Crosby play and it's not just him, it goes for the whole league, cept Toronto, which enjoys the only national broadcasting rights in the NHL, which is why, unless you're in a regional market, you have seen Toronto play every Saturday night for the past 60 years, cept for about 3 games this season.
Despite the rest of the world slowing catching on, hockey is a Canadian game, always was, always will be. The IIHF World Juniors aren't on the radar for any country other than Canada, it's argueably more exciting and anticipated than anything the NHL puts on and no one sees it, except Canada. The Memorial Cup, the Spangler Cup (to a less extent), the World Juniors, the World Championships, Canada Cup (World Cup)....all loved and looked forward to in Canada, all these events are international.......did you know about them?
I don't doubt anyone's love or passion for the game, in any market, however, let's be honest and say the NHL wants to improve it's image, it needs to return it's home.
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Post by Drillbit Taylor on Apr 23, 2009 12:19:42 GMT -5
But lets use Hamilton as an example. Why do they deserve a team more then anyone else. "Just because they are Canadian?" That is not a good reason.That comes off kinda arrogent.
But lets Use Hamiton: In the AHL Lets see where they rank in attendance.
2005-06=14th (5,120) 2006-07=14th (4,888) 2007-08=15th (4,575) 2008-09=15th. (4,624)
How does that warrant having a team? They can not even crack the top 10 in attendance.
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