yeah, probably. it doesnt belong down there.

_________________

I'm glad also, because it allows me to have conversations about hockey with others, and it allows me to watch the Sabres.

It belongs here just as much as it belongs in Canada. Just because you need a little bit more effort to play it here than there means nothing.

_________________

yeah, well. i look down on those southern teams. im a snob, and hockey on the NHL shouldnt allowed in carolina, or atlanta, or florida. its a regional sport that has no business being in a place where it has to be tolorated and only a side show. its embarrassing.

_________________

For me, if your bodies of water have no natural chance of freezing, then there shouldn't be hockey there. Hence, my looking down on Southern teams. It's a cultural thing, and with no frozen ponds, the culture just isn't there.

_________________
mechaphil

Well then Eliminate three California teams, two Florida Teams, Phoenix, Dallas, Carolina, Nashville, St. Louis, and Atlanta.

Mind as well get rid of New Jersey and both New York teams, too much cement and no ponds to play hockey on there either.

So eliminate 11 teams, that would honestly be kinda boring to have to play the same teams over ad over. It would be 4 times for every team, or more like 2 for every non-conference team and then 6 times for every conference team and around 8 times for Division teams again. And hockey wouldn't grow at all. Even if you don't like Bettman or hockey in the south, you have to admit it has grown the fanbase tremendously.

For those 11 teams, that is real close to 220,000 extra seats for fans to watch hockey. Because there are not 11 places in Canada or the Northern USA which could support a hockey team, almost everyone of those places is already has a team.

_________________

st louis freezes. on a regular basis.

_________________

My bad, never been there and just didn't feel like looking up the weather patterns there.

Well if you want hockey in frozen places, you could always move the Hurricanes to the mountains, it typically freezes there plenty, but there isn't a city out there which could support a team.

_________________

i could care less about whether it freezes there. the facts are hockey will never be more then a novelty in many of these markets. and thats not fair when other markets have lost teams, while the sport was front and centre.

_________________

Seattle, Portland (ORE), Winnipeg, Quebec City, Regina, Hartford makes six possible cities to move franchises to. Hell, lets add Milwaukee to that list. That's seven cities, with four contracted teams. Sounds good to me.

_________________
mechaphil

Many of those teams that were lost was because of corporate sponsors being nonexistent.

Hartford can't afford a team because of that, They would need a lease free arena with a very rich owner for it ever to come back there.

Quebec is just too small of a market to financially support a team again also, the fan support would be there just like before, but the market is way too small.

Winnipeg might not even be able to support a team again. It isn't about fan support. Those three places failed because of Financial problems but all had tremendous fan support.

_________________

Well, it appears Dallas, Florida, Tampa Bay, and Phoenix are right up there with them. Wow, does the South offer such fantastic hockey markets.

_________________
mechaphil

Isn't Phoenix and Dallas the only places with financial troubles anyways?

Haven't heard anything about the Florida teams.

_________________

The troubles surrounding the two teams in Florida are ridiculous. Well, the Panthers talk has died down, but the Bolts' ownership woes and season ticket deficiencies are pretty sad. Can you believe you can buy a TBL season ticket for $256 a seat in some sections? Pathetic.

_________________
mechaphil

Wow, that is unbelievable.

I do agree that Florida should only have one team though.

I do remember the whole Panther's talk again from the offseason.

_________________

uh, those teams moved because of insufficient arenas. the same owner who owns the canes, was the same scumbag who opted out of the hartford lease, because the new arena wasnt finalized. same with quebec. and winnipeg. the money was there, fan were there. arenas were not. the only reason carolina has a team is because NHL owners voted down the whalers relocation to detroit.

some relocations have worked. colorado comes to mind. dallas even has had very good results all things considered. yeah, ownership is in danger, but its not because of lack of fan support.

_________________

The Coyotes need to move north, any team that goes bankrupt is doing something wrong, and although it's easy to blame the city the team sucks too. New owner who wants to win + New hockey crazy market = league win.

_________________
"Call a cop he robbed Delmore blind!!!"
Rick Jeanerette after Marty Biron's diving save back in 2000.

"I'm going to go to the spa and have a hot tub and massage and relax," Miller said. "That's it, and it's back to work tomorrow." Ryan Miller after clinching the North East division.

About the 'Yotes...they've got young talent and a fantastic coach, plus a more-than-serviceable goaltender. All they need is a rabid owner and a hockey market built in.

_________________
mechaphil

No, financial problems was the main reason those teams moved, yes they didn't have arenas but everyone of those teams was moved also because of not having the financial support.

Remember salaries were huge then and all were paid in USD and many couldn't afford to keep losing money where they were.

_________________

uh, no. hartford was not moved because of financial problems as a key component. a new arena (the civic center had no luxury boxes) brings in a ton of money, hence why their survival in hartford was hedged on a new arena.

"The Whalers ownership ultimately gave up on the new arena, and on March 26, 1997, the team announced that it would be leaving Hartford after the season, one of the few times that a team announced it would leave its current city without having already selected a new city."

_________________

Well the Jets and Quebec was because of money.

Hartford wasn't going to get an arena when he wanted it anyways.

_________________