Of everyone that reads these forums, who is sick of hearing people whine about NHL teams in Southern cities?

Question

Yes, I am a Predators fan and obviously biased, but get a grip people! I used to think most hockey fans were a more upscale group than other sports (NBA, NFL, etc.), but obviously I was wrong. You Canadians and northeners gripe about how the love of the game has been taken away by the money, but you gripe even more about a Southern team that has an obsessive fan base(it is true) that truly loves the game and continues to grow more into it. Just because some people down here 'don't get it' and the money doesn't flow like wine doesn't mean we have to be denied the extreme pleasure of a hard fought hockey game.

Answer 1

Don’t become a victim of the very thing that started this off in the first place … generalizations.

Sounds like you’ve felt the results of other fans generalizing about southern teams. Just don’t rope all northern fans together. You have legitimate points. Not every northern fan feels the way you say they do. Many do not. It’s a complex blend of a variety of opinions and different factors. You’re obviously a loyal hockey fan. the sport needs you. Thanks for being such a strong proponent. But a few really loyal southern fans is not the same as many loyal fans in the north. I don’t think the loyalty of the “few” that you represent has been questioned. I think that you’re picking up on northern fans questioning the quantity of loyal fans in southern states. i.e. a “per capita” measurement. (let's face it, in the south, football is absolute king. please tell me that you recognize that).

Teams are formed because of money. Money from an initial investment by an owner. Not necessarily fan support. Although the two are indirectly linked, and over time, they are directly linked.

To southern states, hockey is more of a “hobby”. It’s a form of entertainment. But in the north, it’s a way of life for many people. It’s more than just something to watch. It’s something that they’ve grown up w/, and understand more intimately. That could be one reason why the long-term loyalty of southern fans is questioned over the long term. Northern fans will ALWAYS love hockey and will not tolerate getting to a point where it is “out of hand” (define that however you will). But southern fans may not have an equal amount of commitment to the sport, because it may lose its attractive value to them over time. Because … it is entertainment, and nothing more, to the majority of southern fans.

Just some things to keep in mind.

add - to the comment made about Winnipeg and Quebec, you're missing the point. an NHL team is mostly about owner investment and financial maintenance. Not merely fan attendance. Those owners have other fees to stay in the league. Fan attendance is only one of the incomes. Sponsorships/advertising also contribute to their income. Also, the American dollar has more value than the Canadian counterpart. At many levels. It’s also spent more freely. (some implied meaning there. i.e. Americans aren’t as fiscally sound w/ their money. We tend to waste it.) so non – Original 6 Canadian teams have a tougher time to keep up w/ the super – teams of the U.S., and their smaller counterparts which inflate league costs (relative to the Canadian dollar) and player salaries.

This is big topic. It is difficult to explain this phenomenon w/ just words. Just be careful not to oversimplify the issue.

Answer 2

I agree.. even though I am a devout Devils fan, I do enjoy watching both the Preds. and thrashers play.. the south has the quick punch teams where the north has the grind and trap teams... as always regions have ways of doing things differently then anywhere else... and the NHL is just developing in the south.. so it will be a few more years till the fan base gets large enough for the money to flow like wine.. and as a side note the real upper class hockey fans (the ones you say don't exist) are the ones who truly understand the game by PLAYING IT... we don't have time to ***** and complain we are too busy learning the game first hand and getting the crap kicked out of us.. unlike the blind pride of some we intimately know the game inside and out... not just "our team is the best.. because"... we can actually doubt our own team and still consider ourselves fans... because we know what the hell we are talking about... but the south is still young in the NHL.. and it doesn't look like they are going anywhere so welcome to the fam lol

Answer 3

I agree whats done is done and we just have to deal with it.
I'm sure if they took a sport like football and messed around with the rules and expanded to the point of a water down version of the game, people in the south would have a hard time getting over it too.

As far as Winnipeg and Quebec losing their franchises people should research before they shoot their mouths off. Both those cities had great fan bases but had greedy owners that wanted both cities that were in recessions to build them a new rink or they would walk. It makes me sick that a city like Colorado that didn't support a team that was building, get a second chance from the NHL and bought a Stanley Cup team.

Answer 4

I live in Dallas and I can definitely say that it is annoying. Hockey has taken off when the stars first arrived in Dallas there was one public ice rink for hockey now there are over 100. Prior to the stars arrival less than 100 kids played hockey in the Dallas area now there are over 1,000 teams (pee wee, high schools, bantom, etc) in fact someone born and raised who played high school hockey in a Dallas Suburb was just drafted in the NHL. While I freely admit nothing is ever going to take away from the Dallas Cowboys in this town but if teams are patient and grow roots and a fan base the sport will thrive in the given area. For all the people in Canada saying that they can support a team much better than anyone else and that southern cities do not deserve teams I ask Winnipeg and Qubec how they like their NHL franchises?

Answer 5

I have to admit that I am one who believes that hockey is a regional sport that is trying to appeal itself nationally. But the people that run the NHL have all the money, not me. If they think it is a worthwhile investment, then they know something that I don't.

I also have to admit that it does work in Tampa, Raleigh, and Anaheim. The argument could be made that those franchises are experiencing a windfall due to recent championships. In time, we will all know.

But the whining that gets to me is from a particular tangent of the population. It is those who think all will be fine if everything goes back to the way it was in 1955. Or that Americans are out to steal Canada's precious toy and augment it to displease them.

I'll end there before I can be labeled a whiner.

Answer 6

When you start getting FANS you can complain about us saying teams shouldn't be there. Have a playoff team and then competing for the President's Trophy AND Fighting DETROIT for the Division lead most of the second half of the season and you STILL don't average 14,000 fans in the season? THAT is why we complain about Southern teams. Yeah there are a few Northern teams that probably need moved as well. Also you complain about SOUTHERN teams but mention nothing about the fact that Columbus is another team usually complained about and IT IS IN THE NORTH. It is about where the team is as well as lack of fans. That is why we complain about L.A.(those of us that remember they HAVE a team).

Answer 7

I'm not tired of it. If anything I am tired of hearing great praise for a US city that sells out a piddly couple of games.

Let the American with Season tickets cast the first stone. Canadians without season tickets are exempt, as ALL season tickets are sold out, and ALL games are sold out. The closest team to me, there is a 3 to 5 year waiting list for season tickets. Or more. AND the tickets cost a lot more in Canada than they do in Nashville.

I live 5 hours away and I'd still have to consider snapping some up if they came available.

OH, so how many games do you go to??

Answer 8

You are right, but also, the people griping are people who don't really like the game. They watch it, and they might even play it. They probably think they are alot better then they really are, and they don't really know anything about hockey. I am willing to bet that at least 5 out of 10 people who gripe about hockey, and play hockey, and think they are better then they are, also play roller hockey. I am telling you, roller hockey is a cancer to ice hockey. It may help your stick handeling, and shooting, and maybe even your speed, but it messes up your head, and makes you do those wide circle turns instead of starts and stops.

What I am trying to say, is that you shouldn't worry about people dissing the south hockey, because most of the people that do it, have no business talking bad about anything. I live in missouri, so hockey gets dissed alot, plus we got the blues who haven't done too hot in awhile, so hockey isn't excactly our states bread and butter. Hold in there, hockey will get popular again, maybe, or it will just become extinct.

Answer 9

It's gotten old, for sure.

With that said, pro sports are about the bottom line and if Nashville cannot afford a payroll above $20M without falling into the red, you have to start questioning the viability of a franchise there. That has to be a discussion, regardless of where the team might or might not move to.

Answer 10

So prove it, fill your arena every night for the next 40 years. The new owners will be feeding from the kitty for the next three years and then they will move the team. You can take that to the bank. It isn't your fault, you have a lot of friends and neighbours who don't get hockey and never will.