I think it's safe to say that northern hockey fans that move south will hold allegiance to their original team. Even if they try to follow the new local team it will be on a fair weather basis, just like new southern fans. The south won't be able to build a true hockey fan base unless they have young kids growing up with the sport, playing the sport, and following the sport through adulthood. There will never be enough ice rinks for that to happen, and hockey will never be able to compete with the warm weather sports like football and basketball that are dominated by southern athletes already.

I won't say that having southern hockey markets is a lost cause, but they will never hold their own for revenue. Not until the next ice age.

I (kinda obviously) meant the last 5 seasons.

'04,'06,'07,'08 & '09.

That would be 2 cup winners for the Southeast in 5 seasons.
If the Caps manage to pull this off, that'll be THREE cups for the Southeast in six seasons. That's an average of, well, a cup every other season since 2003.

Sorry for confusing you.

You can call the Southeast shitty all you want if it makes you feel better, but they're racking up those cups, aren't they!

Within a 30 mile radius of myself I can name you 10 times the hockey rinks I had around me in Bradford and such.

I know off the top of my head 5 in the Raleigh area at least. If there is a hockey team in the south, the NHL forces the teams to plant hockey rinks so the sport will grow. I'm sure 12 years ago none of these hockey rinks existed, but they do now because of the Hurricanes being in Raleigh and the growth of hockey, and I see plenty of kids going to stick n pucks and plenty of kids who are growing up playing hockey.

I honestly don't see how some markets can't cut it in the south, it takes time for them to work of course, but it looks like lots of kids like hockey here in Raleigh, and that is all because an owner decided to move his team in an unknown for hockey.

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Yeah, but the division as a whole is weak. In four seasons since 2002 only one team in the SE has qualified for the playoffs. That's including this year. And three seasons where two SE teams made it.

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"...they came down into the stands and asked if I knew how to do play by play. I said...No. But. I'll take a shot at it if you want".- Rick Jeanneret

Funny thing, geographically speaking, Washington really isn't even IN the Southeast!

The Central can.

97, 98, and 02.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

I don't believe more than two teams from the SE have ever made the playoffs in the same year.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

But that's one team and not 3 different ones.

That would be what I'm assuming at least, and the Central has been a pathetic division outside of Detroit and now recently Chicago.

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well he said three cups

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Oh I know.

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Also Buffalo is one of three teams in the East with 100 points.

The East can have four teams with 100 points or more if Pittsburgh earns one point tomorrow.

The West can have 7 teams with 100 points if the LA Kings can earn one point tomorrow.

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