Hockey in florida

[Gi-15]

I can't imagine being a panthers hockey player right now. They were playing at home against my habs and it was just like at the Bell Centre. First time they sellout all year and a big majority of the tickets were sold to Quebeckers on vacation. Fans were booing the panthers when they scored and there was a standing ovation for Maxime Lapierre(the habs 3rd line center) when he completed his hat trick in an empty goal.

Why did hockey went to florida in the first place? What was Bettman thinking? In the same time real hockey fans in Winnipeg and Québec are dreaming of a hockey club they'll never get back.

 

[Don Wassall]

Why did hockey went to florida in the first place? What was Bettman thinking? In the same time real hockey fans in Winnipeg and Québec are dreaming of a hockey club they'll never get back.

When I attended Penguins games, the largest contingents of fanstraveling to supportthe opposing team were from Toronto and Montreal.


Greed by the owners is why the league kept expanding. Every time there was an expansion team the existing teams reaped a windfall in expansion fees.


The way hockey is ignored by the U.S. media it will be very hard for it ever to succeed in the southern half of the country.


Winnipeg and Quebec lost their teams because of greed, alleged lack of support by corporations in those cities, and because of the weak Canadian dollar compared to the U.S. dollar.


Now the Canadian dollar is much stronger but still no team for Winnipeg and Quebec. It's a shame. Edited by: Don Wassall

 

[jaxvid]

Go to any hockey game in the Sun belt and it's the same story, the home team is often the visiting team as far as fan support. Warm weather hockey is built around the premise that there are plenty of well to do retiree's from the north in those places with money to spend.

Florida is the worst with the NY teams being treated like the home team when they play there. In the southwest it's much the same. I have heard that the NHL is carrying the Phoenix club right now, maybe they'll go back north where they belong.

 

[Matra1]

The business side of hockey is a fixation of Canadian sports talk radio. According to the 'expert analysts' the teams currently in big trouble or playing to less than half full stadiums, and thus soon to be in big trouble, are the:

Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning (formerly a successful franchise both on the ice and in business terms), NY Islanders, Atlanta Thrashers and Carolina Hurricanes. (Not to sure about Columbus and Anaheim but I suspect they are not in good shape either).

At least the Black Hawks are doing better!

It was in the news last week that the Florida Panthers are, in effect, paying people to go to their games as the value of the freebies (meals at some restaurant, etc) had more value than the tickets. Earlier in the season the same team gave away tickets to anyone with a Florida drivers license!

I'd like to see contraction in the NHL, but Gary Bettman has reportedly banned the very word in all meetings.

Without contraction I'd like to see (fantasy time here) the following happen:

1) the return of the Hurricanes to Hartford or at least somewhere in New England

2) the return of the Coyotes to Winnipeg

3) Jim Balsilie, of Blackberry fame, being allowed to purchase the Nashville Predators and bring them to Hamilton, Ontario (Bettman hates Balsilie and will make sure it doesn't happen)

4) a second franchise in Toronto

5) a return to Quebec City, but not the Avalanche, as they're doing well in Colorado - send one of the Florida teams)


Edited by: Matra1

 

[Don Wassall]

It was a shame that Hartford lost the Whalers. They were the NHL's closest thing to the Green Bay Packers, a smaller city that still wholeheartedly supported their team.


The New York metro area shouldn't have three teams. The Islanders and Devilsrarely draw well. One of them should move to Canada. The two Florida teams should be relocation candidates as well. All the other cities seem to draw well, at least when their team is winning.


I would expect though that if the current "recession" continues to deepen, by next season we will see somestunningly small attendance figuresin both the NHL and NBA in certain cities. Edited by: Don Wassall