Actually....Tampa Bay is where many thousand Canadians go after they retire, that is one reason why the hockey market is strong there.
quick question about Canadian retirees in Florida, Cannon88. does the Canadian National Health still pay their medical bills IF they move out of Canada after they retire OR do they then need a private health insurance policy?
I hear you bear, only gary can hold a draft behind closed doors and in a secret location with only the owners and no other witnesses. Fishy considering the Penguins were averaging 11k a game (last in the league) and just scooped up the worlds best player, Sid Crosby. Pens had won cups with Mario Lemieux and they still lost interest. 
Anyway i have another idea. A league can be formed using a multi tier sytem like they have in soccer. There is Division A teams and Division B teams. Majority of Div A are large market teams like Tor, Mtl, Chi, Phil, Nyr, Det, Van, Edm, Bos, Calg. LA and a few others. Div B teams will have majority of teams in smaller markets like Hamilton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Quebec City, Portland, Hartford, Seattle, Tampa, Cleveland, Regina, etc. At seasons end, the bottom 3 teams in Div A get demoted to B and the top 3 Div B teams get Promoted to Div A. Could that work? For the league to cancel this season, their 3rd lockout, it would basically mean that the current system just doesn't work. Say bye bye to gary and his mob friends
Polar bear
Thanks efini
All games cancelled through Jan 14th
Would think this window of time is the last chance to setup a partial season this year.
Owners are billionaires and these teams are just fancy toys in their wonderful world,they'll survive with no hockey this year.
Players are just millionaires with plenty of debt and little to no collateral to survive the hard times.
Flutie, I'm good with all the above but why did you leave out the great old franchise of the Chicago Blackhawks and all their great fans? The number would have to be 16 teams, 8 in Canada and 8 in the States. What do you think of this?
Toronto New York
Hamilton Boston
Montreal Detroit
Quebec Philadelphia
Winnipeg Washington <<<
Calgary Chicago
Edmonton St. Louis <<<
Vancouver Los Angeles
NO Ottawa in Canada? that would make 9 Canadian cities 
I would replace your Capitals selection with San Jose. Hosershark fans have supported their team since the entered the league. always sell out and it's "the loudest building in the league". the statement that "The Capitals fans for a number of years supported one of the most horrific hockey teams the NHL has ever seen" is false. Washington was a VERY weak money losing franchise for years.
Pittsburgh also has strong support for the Penguins. sell out every game @ CEC a AND their fans "travel". a Penguins @ Panthers game has more fans from Pittsburgh than Florida. used to be the same in Washington "before Ovechkin". more Penguins fans at games than local Capital fans. they would do better than the Blues.
I could actually see more of a 22 team "9 and 13" split with the 8 Canadian cities mentioned plus Ottawa and the 8 Americans WITH San Jose, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Buffalo, who, like Detroit, get a lot of "cross border" fans, and (suprise) Tampa. the Lightning actually draw pretty well considering they are in a "southern city" non-traditional market.
you get right down to it and the only real "trouble" teams in the league right now are the Coyotes in Phoenix, Panthers in Miami-Ft Lauderdale, the Bluejackets in Columbus, the Islanders on Long Island and the Stars in Dallas. the others usually at least broke even under the last contract. THAT can be correct by moving some to better markets like Hamilton, Quebec City, Seattle (?), 2nd teams in the Toronto and Montreal markets (?) or even Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (?) which is a smaller city but VERY wealthy. think Green Bay Packers in the NFL. I remember that Saskatoon almost grabbed the Blues in 1987 when they were having financial problems.
Sounds interesting if you ever run for commissioner ...
Saskatoon Blues oh mercy.
Agreed Flutie looking forward to the World Juniors beginning on Boxing Day! 
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