Quote Originally Posted by LeRinkRat:
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.
I did mean to include a team in Ottawa, that was just an error on my part and that makes it easier. They can replace Washington. Washington was just to fill an 8th team in America as I did not know who else to use, mind you I disagree with you a bit on your harshness towards them because very few teams would have survived the early years the Capitals had, even the great hockey city of Minnesota failed to support their team when they could not bring home a Cup. I mean the Capitals were a complete abomination for a long time and I have no idea how anyone attended those games for so long, I don't care if they lost money the fact they retained a fan base is kind of incredible. But I will agree they too are a bit of a weakling and would not be missed either.
San Jose is not a bad idea, yes they have been pretty loyal so I can get on board with that.
There is no way in hell you can have a team in Buffalo if there is one in Hamilton, and there should be one in Hamilton so those people don't have to keep driving to Buffalo and fill another teams arena in another damn country! You take the Canadian fans out of the Sabres arena and they are done, a fact the NHL knows all too well, which is why they won't give Hamilton a team.
I will simply agree to disagree about your Penguins even though it may ruffle your feathers. The NHL saved that franchise, by I believe gift wrapping Lemieux and then Crosby for them and without Stanley Cups in that city that fan base would have been dead a long time ago but that is just my humble opinion. I did use to enjoy watching those "old" Penguins when I was a kid though so we could give it a go I guess.
Minnesota lost a franchise once and that's enough, thanks. I do like the idea of hockey there though, it's a great hockey city. Not sure what happened the first time, they got to go to a couple of Finals which is more than a lot of fans get to see. Wonder how long they will keep going this time if they don't get a Cup. Lou Nanne was the man.
Yes all the retired Canadians in Tampa do create a viable market down there. But I do wonder what would have happened though if they actually counted that goal Calgary's Gelinas scored on them and Calgary had gotten the Cup like they earned. I wonder if they would have enough fans still hanging on??? Hmmmm
Saskatoon is an excellent idea and it's crazy how they have never gotten a franchise. But I think there anonymity in American is what keeps them down. The American politics simply do not fit for the Prairie boys unfortunately
I guess I am thinking more along the lines of natural, loyal, diehard fans and not ones the NHL office helped create?
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