I constantly hear or read people talking about how certain cities don't deserve teams. Some people even say all of the teams should be in Canada. This seems like a "Cut off your nose to spite your face" mentality. The U.S. needs Canada for hockey, and I'll say it, Canada needs the U.S. as well. What other country has ridiculous amounts of money to spend on sports and endorsements?
I am not Canadian, but I am a hockey fan. And many fans who live in the south, especially metropolitan areas like Tampa, Raleigh, and Atlanta aren't originally from that city and were hockey fans from their place of origin. And for all of the other fans, I think it's great to have new fans in new places in order to keep this sport alive.
2007-02-26 08:29:28 · 12 answers · asked by rulistening521 2 in Sports ➔ Hockey
I agree with you completely about having teams in the south. I have actually heard that Tampa is one of the cities that has one of the highest levels support. They had crowds of 20,000 when they were just an expansion team. Many probably fear losing the traditional face of hockey with the lack of Canadian team, something in which I also agree with, but today's sports climate isn't about tradition it is about business, and wherever there is a market for the game is where it is going to go. So If a team can be more profitable relocating from Canada to the southern United State, or another none traditional hockey area, so be it.
2007-02-26 08:39:01 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree with you 100% that there should be more Canadian teams in the NHL. Sports are a business. If there is no fan base, there is no money! Hockey teams survive lucratively in populated cities. Southern United States cities have a high amount of income due to tourism and retirees. Cities, for the most part, in Canada aren't as populated as others. Green Bay should have an NHL hockey team. Alaska is out of the question because there is no population! How the hell does Canada lose two of its teams? I am still surprised that the Quebec Nordiques and the Winnepeg Jets moved! If you want more teams in Canada, don't let them get away in the first place. Citizens in Canada should have went to the games!!
2016-03-16 01:13:50 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the reason is they blame expansion for the NHL being what it is now. The league grew far to quickly and expanded faster than the talent pool, as a result the quality of the product went down. Most of this expansion happened in the south and as such they connect the dots as "the south having teams ruined hockey". The fact is the expansion could have happened anywhere and the sudden need to fill rosters with bodies diluted the talent pool.
2007-02-26 08:56:20 · answer #3 · answered by needingajob 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I used to play hockey for 13 years and I never had a problem with having more hockey teams.
this just made more opportunities to get drafted and be part of a team. Would of liked the Winnipeg Jets and the Quebec Nordics to stay in Canada but in the end, they are both the same team at heart with its hockey roots coming from Canada.
cheers
2007-02-26 08:34:55 · answer #4 · answered by H Vice 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Hockey was simply better when it was more a Canadien sport. Those people up there breathe, sleep, and eat hockey. Unlike us, they don't have football, basketball, and baseball to the extent we do. There is less to do in Canada than in warm weather climates during the winter. It is terrible that cities like Winnipeg and Quebec lost their hockey teams. Hockey growing up was always a cold weather sport, and I think when they expanded too far south, hockey lost its identity.
The other problem is the internationalization of hockey. Some think it is good, I think it is bad. We can't even pronounce 1/2 the guys names on our team, and you wonder if some of them even speak English. Hockey players don't seem like the guy next door anymore and fans can't identify with them as much as when 95% of the players were from Canada and the U.S.
2007-02-26 08:45:35 · answer #5 · answered by ace 3 · 0⤊ 4⤋
Most of the southern teams do not have fans like northern teams. Some of the fans for teams, Carolina to name one, are just jackasses and stuck up. Florida's fans don't know that much about hockey but they are wonderful for supporting their team. Dallas has had hockey long enough that they have knowledgable fans and a respected hockey team. Canadians are more passionate about hockey than any American cities, except maybe Detroit.
2007-02-26 08:41:10 · answer #6 · answered by Scott 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
hatred predominantly southern nhl teams
2016-02-01 01:53:02 · answer #7 · answered by Charley 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hockey needs all the support it can get right now, I was was Whalers fan, and we lost our team, the Canadians are just angry because they can't win the cup
2007-02-26 08:39:13 · answer #8 · answered by Edogg 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
1st, i doubt anyone in the south is complaining since hockey has about 5 black guys in the league and good odds they aren't there.
2nd, americans just dont like hockey. i bet east coast is much different than west but in general hockey is not that big. its amazing that sports like football and baseball are dominant and consist of hardly any play at all. the movement of the ball in a football game is under 10 minutes. and american LOVES that!
the cool thing is no body cares about baseball or football anywhere else on the globe. its a pretty interesting sociological phenomena.
2007-02-26 08:37:52 · answer #9 · answered by xyz 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
I wouldn't worry about it. It's Bettman that has tried to run the game into the ground. Too much expansion into markets that don't support their teams (e.g. Atlanta, Anaheim, Florida) but actually some older teams (e.g. New Jersey, New York Islanders, Chicago, Los Angeles) don't support their teams either. It's not just the southern teams. I think it's mainly anti-Bettman.
2007-02-26 08:35:22 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋