The NHL Assassin

[Don Wassall]

The North American players should follow the lead of the Russian and European NHL players and go play in Russia and Europe for decent money and wait out the NHL for however long it takes until it collapses. Most of them are quite wealthy; they should then start their own replacement league in Canada and the U.S. with themselves collectively their own boss.

But they'll never think outside the box like that; most North American players would never consider relocating outside of their comfort zones to play on a different continent, much less go for an aggressive strategy that would bring Bettman and the NHL owners to their knees.

 

[white is right]

The Winter Classic between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit has been cancelled. This was going to be the biggest Winter Classic and a huge event for Michigan with tens of thousands of Canadians coming down for the event spending loads of $$$$ on hotels, restaurants, and beer. The latest is that the owners known as the "hawks" (the no compromise wing of ownership) are becoming dominant so there's now a serious possibility of no NHL season at all for 2012-13.:icon_sad:

At first I thought this lockout would end fairly quickly but now with the cancellation of regular season crown jewel game it looks like this could be another long lockout and the season is in peril. I hope this doesn't kill the sport in weaker markets....

 

[Realgeorge]

Kill the NHL is the Agenda

Even "Federal Mediators" have thrown up their arms after visiting the NHL Strike circus this week. After two days they left in disgust declaring waste-of-time. They are right. The agenda is not money. Only a trivial money amount is in technical dispute. Revenue amounts expressed in percents (49? 51? 53?) could easily -- trivially -- be settled by very inexpensive counter-lawsuits. Each side sues the other for their 2 or 3 or 5 percent of the till.

Why shut down the whole season over a triviality? Because it's all-out war against the White NHL. The best way to injure the league and the sport is to shut it down for an extended period. Tick off fans and connected industries. Force all pro hockey into minor leagues, and overseas.

Then the negro-dominated NBA and NFL, and the Dominican- and Puerto-Rican MLB can rule unopposed. As it should be. White man go to U-know-where.

 

[Realgeorge]

The North American players should follow the lead of the Russian and European NHL players and go play in Russia and Europe for decent money and wait out the NHL for however long it takes until it collapses. Most of them are quite wealthy; they should then start their own replacement league in Canada and the U.S. with themselves collectively their own boss.

But they'll never think outside the box like that; most North American players would never consider relocating outside of their comfort zones to play on a different continent, much less go for an aggressive strategy that would bring Bettman and the NHL owners to their knees.

All of the above, exactly correct.

The very least the dunderheaded NHL players could do is declare the NHL dead, the NHLPA deader, and file a massive lawsuit. Better to tie up the NHL owners in court for years. The NHL is already dead, it died on the first day of the "lockout". But it is ugly watching the very obvious, that the PowersThatBe REALLY sharpened their knives for this one -- the chance to kill the hideously White National Hockey League. I wonder if ten NHL players understand this. I bet it's more like a third of them, but they're too wimpy to do anything Nationalist-like about it

 

[Matra2]

Did anyone see Gary Bettman's angry press conference the other day? Wow, what a nasty piece of work! He made himself look very small, petty and arrogant. I agree it is time to get rid of the NHL. It's a pity the players can't form their own league. It's often forgotten that the world's most successful sports league - the English Premier League - has only been around for 20 years. Unfortunately, no one is in a position to do what the English soccer teams did when they formed their own league. In the NHL the owners, many of them Jewish, are the main problem.

 

[Realgeorge]

Finally! NHL Players to Sh**-can their Union

Took them long enough, but the dunderhead NHL players finally will shut down their "Union" which has been used against them so effectively. They should quickly file anti-Trust lawsuits. Won't ever win one, but just filing will bring the other side into real negotiations.

Too bad NHL players couldn't see what the "Donald Fehr" unit is all about, i.e. c.f. Benedict Arnold. So BAD for White people, another NHL season is lost. But finally might be on the way to tearing apart the Jewish-dominated NHL that insists on inflicting a bankrupting National model to a totally Regional sport.

Butthead Bettman will laugh all the way to his favorite Jewish bank. But you gotta start somewhere.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl-players-vote-step-toward-220206993--nhl.html

TORONTO (AP) -- NHL players are a step closer to dissolving their union.
The Canadian Press says NHL Players' Association members voted this week to give the union's executive board the power to file a ''disclaimer of interest'' until Jan. 2.
The news agency, citing an unidentified source, says the vote drew more than the two-thirds of support needed. The union declined comment, saying it's an internal matter.
If the executive board files the disclaimer, the union will dissolve and become a trade association. That would allow players to file antitrust lawsuits against the NHL.
Negotiations between the league and union have been at a standstill since talks ended Dec. 6. The NHLPA now appears set to follow the lead set by NFL and NBA players. Both dissolved their unions during lockouts last year.

 

[Average American]

I'm a native Southerner & hockey fan, but two failed franchises in Atlanta (within a generation) is the prime example of how hockey probably shouldn't be in the SunBelt,. The NHL's southern tip should end with the Caps, in my opinion. (as pointed out by earlier posters), a smaller league, with it's strongest markets, would be a gamechanger..

either way, I miss NBC's NHL on Monday nights..

 

[Realgeorge]

I'm a native Southerner & hockey fan, but two failed franchises in Atlanta (within a generation) is the prime example of how hockey probably shouldn't be in the SunBelt,. The NHL's southern tip should end with the Caps, in my opinion. (as pointed out by earlier posters), a smaller league, with it's strongest markets, would be a gamechanger..
QUOTE]

Thanks for remarks Average American. You seem highly above-average to me!

Grotesquely over-extending the NHL market into guaranteed-to-fail Southern climes is a strategy -- a suicide strategy by Bettman and Jewish owners and the Powers That Be in sports and America. The NHL is an extremely strong regional sport. How to destroy it? Overextend. Just like killing the US Dollar by printing too much of it. Ben Bernanke and Gary Bettman are really the same spirit. They could switch jobs seamlessly. Nobody would notice.

 

[Don Wassall]

Just found out today that the Penguins have a waiting list for season tickets of over 9,500. That's phenomenal, way more than I would have guessed considering the cost of tickets and the size of the Pittsburgh market. I wonder if any NBA teams have anything approaching that kind of interest and loyalty.

It's sick that the NHL so casually throws away so much goodwill for the second time in eight years.

 

[Realgeorge]

Bring on 2013

Final NHL offer is on the table. De-unionized Players examining the details. Drop Dead is 19 January.

Tell me if 2012 is not the "Mother of all" depressing years. Four more years of President O-Mulatto, and the possible death of the National Hockey League.

19 February: Catchers and Pitchers report to many MLB training camps. Why not look ahead?

Oh, I left this out -- A3P (USA), Forza Nuova (IT), Jobbik (Hungary), Front National (FR), and Golden Dawn (Greece) had good 2012s. It's a start.

 

[Tannehill17]

I'm a native Southerner & hockey fan, but two failed franchises in Atlanta (within a generation) is the prime example of how hockey probably shouldn't be in the SunBelt,. The NHL's southern tip should end with the Caps, in my opinion. (as pointed out by earlier posters), a smaller league, with it's strongest markets, would be a gamechanger..

either way, I miss NBC's NHL on Monday nights..

I don't agree with that. Atlanta didn't fail twice because of lack of fan interest. It was ownership that did them in. Atlanta Spirit Group purchased the Thrashers in a package deal with the arena and the Atlanta Hawks with the sole purpose of offloading the Thrashers and to control the arena with the Hawks as the anchor tennant. Atlanta is a large market and the league wanted to keep the team there but there was nothing anyone could do as no local ownership would get a fair lease with the arena as long as Atlanta Spirit Group controlled it.

Here in South Florida, the Panthers have set themselves up with a solid business model, a developing fanbase and as an overall strong business. They make money on real estate that the arena sits on and from the arena itself which is very productive. It is also considered to be one of the top 10 concert venues in the nation. Don't listen to a lot of the biased hockey media in regards to Southern franchises especially since it panders to their HOCKEY IS OUR GAME demographic. You really think the media is above this type of manipulation? They have an audience to please, and attacking the "evil south" is a very easy way to do it, particularly with little understanding of the financials of the game of hockey or franchises in the south.

 

[Average American]

hey brother.. (I dig your user name)..

you're more qualified to comment on hockey in South Florida.. but the Atlanta Flames were playing in front of empty houses in the late 70s, and the NHL gave that market a second chance less than a generation later..@ one point, they had elected officials in Georgia putting on a big public show of distributing Flames tix, to prove that Atlantans cared about hockey (tix that were bought by the Flames players).. How often should the NHL put a short-term franchise in GA (& subsequently leave for assorted reasons), once every 20 years (?)
please believe, I'm not demonizing the South, I'm a proud son.. but NHL over-expansion has hurt the league, & most of the dirty souf is more interested in ballin', flyin' Falcons flags off thier Impalas & shot-callin' than NHL. peace

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YXE0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=jMgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4069,4804184
(found this link on the old Flames ticket sales)

 

[jaxvid]

I don't agree with that. Atlanta didn't fail twice because of lack of fan interest. It was ownership that did them in. Atlanta Spirit Group purchased the Thrashers in a package deal with the arena and the Atlanta Hawks with the sole purpose of offloading the Thrashers and to control the arena with the Hawks as the anchor tennant. Atlanta is a large market and the league wanted to keep the team there but there was nothing anyone could do as no local ownership would get a fair lease with the arena as long as Atlanta Spirit Group controlled it.

Here in South Florida, the Panthers have set themselves up with a solid business model, a developing fanbase and as an overall strong business. They make money on real estate that the arena sits on and from the arena itself which is very productive. It is also considered to be one of the top 10 concert venues in the nation. Don't listen to a lot of the biased hockey media in regards to Southern franchises especially since it panders to their HOCKEY IS OUR GAME demographic. You really think the media is above this type of manipulation? They have an audience to please, and attacking the "evil south" is a very easy way to do it, particularly with little understanding of the financials of the game of hockey or franchises in the south.

I think a lot of the criticism of southern (and western) NHL franchises is based on a visceral reaction that since there is little cold weather that the natives would not support a winter weather based sport. I suppose there is not much enthusiasm for snow mobiling or skiiing in Florida either?

It seems that the marketing strategy for many southern/western NHL teams is to draw most of their support from retirees or transplants from northern cities. It seems to me that many Red Wing games in Florida or out west have as many Red Wing fans as for the hometown.

I'm not saying that isn't a recipe for success, who knows maybe White people will continue to be able to retire to warm weather locations and spend accumulated income on season tickets to the local hockey team. It does seem however that some natural affinity for the game from the locals is necessary. Hockey is a difficult sport to follow on TV. It really helps to have played or followed the game from a young age.

But less and less northern fans have played any hockey as kids nowadays. It's an expensive and difficult sport to play in our extremely urban environments and with sandlot sports even in the summer having gone the way of the dinosaur, I don't see much hope for pick up games at the park. (the city of Detroit used to flood a local park where I lived during the winter so we could have a place to skate and play hockey. The idea of the current govt of the city of Detroit flooding anything, except through incompetence is a very humorous thought).

I don't see a bright future for professional hockey in the US. Maybe I'm wrong. But I don't think the mexican invasion is going to be ripe for new hockey fans. I also don't expect much from lazy kids that are more familiar with Nintendo hockey then the real thing. Also very few schools have a hockey team. In comparison almost ALL schools have a basketball team--both for boys and girls. I think the sport of hockey has a brief window to be a profitable and popular sport. Demographics will eventually doom it. Even the NHL has to be stocked with 50% foreign imports. That makes a missed season so much more damaging.

 

[Tannehill17]

I think a lot of the criticism of southern (and western) NHL franchises is based on a visceral reaction that since there is little cold weather that the natives would not support a winter weather based sport. I suppose there is not much enthusiasm for snow mobiling or skiiing in Florida either?

Well thats pretty much it in a nutshell. A lot of people just automatically assume that in places that don't have natural ice, that the sport can never grow in those areas, which is a false assumption. Being born and raised in Miami, I grew up a fan of the sport as we had a rink that was just a few blocks away from where I lived. I think people would be surprised to see how much youth hockey has grown down here. Another reason I believe it is growing is because white kids who grow up in "Sowff Flawda" are being shut out of football and are being told that only blacks are good enough to play in the "football hotbed" That leads to white kids taking up sports like hockey as there is no caste system to say they're not good enough

I don't see a bright future for professional hockey in the US. Maybe I'm wrong. But I don't think the mexican invasion is going to be ripe for new hockey fans. Demographics will eventually doom it. Even the NHL has to be stocked with 50% foreign imports. That makes a missed season so much more damaging.

This is what I find more concerning than anything, the demographic shift. At least the sport will always have a white audience, which is even more reason to support it.

 

[Matra2]

Don't listen to a lot of the biased hockey media in regards to Southern franchises especially since it panders to their HOCKEY IS OUR GAME demographic. You really think the media is above this type of manipulation? They have an audience to please, and attacking the "evil south" is a very easy way to do it, particularly with little understanding of the financials of the game of hockey or franchises in the south.

Then why did the Panthers have a program giving away tickets to people on their birthdays, to newlyweds, and various others? Then there were the free meals at Olive Garden or wherever when you bought a ticket. It's possible, as you imply, that their business model takes this stuff into consideration but according to the Nielsen ratings a couple of years ago the Panthers were getting 0.19 ratings (per household) in total 3000 people in the South Florida TV market. You could get more viewers for a team in Grand Forks, North Dakota!

More people watch infomercials than Panthers games: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/flap...nto-informercial-than-local-hockey-team-.html

The five NHL markets with lowest household ratings per game in 2011:

Tampa Bay: 14K
Columbus: 10K
Phoenix: 9K
Atlanta: 6K
Florida: 3K

With the exception of Columbus, which is not a traditional hockey market, they are all in the Sunbelt.

Now ratings for the Panthers did increase when they made the playoffs last year but they were still very low by NHL standards.

The Phoenix situation - the subsidies, attempted bailout, NHL rescue scheme, etc, - is the biggest joke in professional sports. The expansion to the Sunbelt is Bettman's legacy.

​

 

[Truthteller]

You are correct Matra. The Atlanta Thrashers were a complete joke -- on the ice and off. The only reason their fan support was not a complete and utter outward disaster, is because they were reporting"WNBA style" attendance figures. That means, like the WNBA, they were handing away hundreds (even thousands?) of absolutely free tickets each night. They were also selling thousands of tickets at steeply discounted rates or selling large blocks of discounted tickets to major corporations (most notably Coke-Cola), who would hand them away for free. There is a reason that not even one legitimate ownership group in the entire world came forward to buy them and keep them in Georgia.

Only real difference between and Atlanta and Phoenix is Atlanta's black mayor was happy to let them go -- no bailout from the city. Meanwhile, the taxpayers in Glendale are pretty much paying all the Coyotes financial loses.

To make the argument that Atlanta had solid fan support is silly. Silly beyond believe, regarding the Thrashers (I don't know much about the Flames). Again, if the Thrashers were not handing away free tickets or steeply discounting large blocks (WNBA style) they might've averaged well less than the 10,000 (plus) fans per game they were reporting most nights. Numbers might've been as low as 6,000 to 7,000 per game, sans giveaways?

One thing that can be said, in fairness. Is Atlanta fans never really had the chance, given the fact the team was so bad. One playoff appearance and zero playoff wins in like 11 years (or however long they lasted?).

Another thing that can brought up, is Atlanta, in general, is a very poor sports market. Hawks probably drew just as poorly as the Thrashers at Phillips Arena, although their TV rating were likely much better, considering all the blacks in Georgia. Braves, also, have had attendance issues over the years, even at Playoff time.

 

[Tannehill17]

Then why did the Panthers have a program giving away tickets to people on their birthdays, to newlyweds, and various others? Then there were the free meals at Olive Garden or wherever when you bought a ticket. It's possible, as you imply, that their business model takes this stuff into consideration but according to the Nielsen ratings a couple of years ago the Panthers were getting 0.19 ratings (per household) in total 3000 people in the South Florida TV market. You could get more viewers for a team in Grand Forks, North Dakota!

The Phoenix situation - the subsidies, attempted bailout, NHL rescue scheme, etc, - is the biggest joke in professional sports. The expansion to the Sunbelt is Bettman's legacy.

Keep in mind when pretty much anytime you have a team that goes on a 12 year losing streak, especially in a non-traditional market, its gonna be hard to get people in the building. Also keep in mind, the bandwagon mentality prevalent here in South Florida. Its not just hockey that struggles, but sports in general (look at the Marlins) People only show up when the teams are winning. The Nielsen ratings suck but the NHL has always been a gate driven league anyway and the ratings have been pretty crappy all across the board, not just here in South Florida. Now this might sound like conspiracy theory nonsense, but it is my understanding that Nielsen households are disproportionately located in primarily urban areas (in this case it would be Miami) which I assume would be minority households. Most of the Panthers fanbase consists of white people who live in the suburbs, not the city itself (notice they're the only team here not based in Miami)

You say the team would be better off in Grand Forks North Dakota but I find that borderline laughable as the South Florida area is the 8th largest media market in the country and the largest media market in the Southeastern US. If the league has any hope of obtaining that elusive national TV contract, it needs large markets like Phoenix and Miami as they represent an important strategic geographic footprint the league would like to maintain. The northern elitism (not singling you or anyone else out, just wanted to make this statement) shown towards southerners is that of the DWF variety, and it shows not just in hockey but through TV shows like Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo. I think the biggest concern is like what Jax stated and that is the changing demographics. If anything is hurting hockey, its not having teams in the south but rather the fact that we whites are being phased out altogether in favor of our replacements from south of the border.

Regardless though, despite the pleas from hockey "purists" the Panthers aren't in any danger of moving. The ownership (Sunrise Sports Entertainment) makes a nice profit managing the arena. As long as the owners are making money and are happy, that is the only thing that really matters in the long run. The Coyotes situation is entirely different and I hate when the Panthers are compared to them. The Coyotes don't have the solid business model nor the sweetheart arena deal the Panthers have which is why they are having problems. I hope the Coyotes manage to stay in Phoenix because as I mentioned, Phoenix represents an important geographic footprint which is why the league is fighting tooth and nail to keep them there. As much as I'd like to see the Quebec Nordiques back, a small Canadian market like that does nothing to increase the leagues visibility. I apologize if this post sounded condescending, but as a sunbelt hockey fan, I just get annoyed when people want to take away the one good white sport I enjoy away from me. I'm also sick to death of the NBA being shoved down my throat and I want to see the NHL have a strong presence in this area.

 

[Don Wassall]

I don't agree that the NHL can be only a regional sport. In Pittsburgh where I grew up, there was a long-established AHL team before the NHL expanded from 6 to 12 teams in 1967. But very few kids grew up playing the sport. I went to a large suburban high school that was topnotch in practically every sport, but there was no hockey team.

The Penguins struggled to draw crowds for most of their existence. They had bad owners and mostly bad teams until the early '90s when free-spending Howard Baldwin put together an amazing array of talent around Mario Lemieux. After Baldwin went bust and the talent on that team either grew old or was given away, the team went bankrupt (as they had in the '70s) and almost moved to Kansas City.

The arrival of Lemieux in 1984 saw the first widespread interest in youth hockey in Western PA, but it wasn't until Sidney Crosby was drafted in '05 and the Penguins became a powerhouse again that hockey really took off among young White kids in the Pittsburgh area, so you're talking about generations going by in a northern market before it became popular to play among the young. Now, there's indoor rinks for aspiring players, which is the only way it can prosper even in Pittsburgh, where some winters are too mild for long periods of outdoor ice to play on.

I never played hockey but always liked watching it on television. In person it can be a great fan experience when the home team wins. The NHL can thrive anywhere, but collectively its owners are far from visionaries, and Gary Bettman is a terrible commissioner, whether deliberately or otherwise.

 

[jaxvid]

There shouldn't even be an NHL team in Pittsburgh, the NHL never should have expanded past the original six!! Ha ha just kidding but it is strange that one of the first expansion teams --the Minnesota North Stars couldn't manage to keep their team and lost it to, of all places--Dallas. If you can't make a go of it in cold Minneapolis then you got a problem. However I believe that was a case of managerial ineptitude.

I have noticed that where ever I travel in this country, even to the farthest point south, the Brownsville area of Texas for example, there are guys playing hockey. Last time I was there I met a guy (northern transplant) who played hockey all year round (indoors of course) and was in a league made up of people from the indoor rinks in the area, there were several, some 3 hours apart. These guys were adults, playing rec hockey. In southern Texas, across from the Rio Grande. So I will grant that there is a mass of die-hard hockey people that will support the sport anyplace in the country. The only issue is if the mass of people is large enough, and is there a group (management of a pro team) that can adequately tap that group to the point that it's profitable.

When you consider that Minnesota, Winnipeg, and Quebec, and almost New Jersey, amongst others, have lost their NHL teams, then the point becomes that it is not just "where" but "who".

 

[Matra2]

When you consider that Minnesota, Winnipeg, and Quebec, and almost New Jersey, amongst others, have lost their NHL teams, then the point becomes that it is not just "where" but "who".

With the exception of New Jersey, where it's never been all that big, those places all have a large hockey following. The owners often moved the teams because they had incentives, including subsidized new arenas, in other places. Unfortunately, there weren't many fans in those places.

The reality is that hockey is only popular in places where it snows. Even in Europe that is the case whether you're talking about the Czech and Slovak Republics, Russia, Switzerland, Scandinavia (but not non-snowy Denmark), Slovenia (but not non-Alpine parts of former Yugoslavia), and regionally in Germany and France (the Alps mainly).

 

[Matra2]

You say the team would be better off in Grand Forks North Dakota but I find that borderline laughable as the South Florida area is the 8th largest media market in the country and the largest media market in the Southeastern US. If the league has any hope of obtaining that elusive national TV contract, it needs large markets like Phoenix and Miami as they represent an important strategic geographic footprint the league would like to maintain.

Did having teams in such big southern media markets help them get a good TV contract? No. With NBC the NHL had an advertising revenue sharing agreement (ie NBC did not pay the NHL a single $ for rights). Even that was annoying as NBC kept scheduling big playoff matches early in the afternoon on weekends instead of at night when most fans wanted to watch thus causing NHL ratings to plummet in Canada and some parts of the northern US. With Versus becoming NBC Network there is now money going to the NHL and things are looking up from a TV perspective (or were before the lockout) but perhaps the problem is the obsession with becoming a national sport. The more a regional sport becomes national the less connected it is to its roots, the more gimmicks to promote the sport with non-traditional demographics, and the more it becomes a visible target for the cultural Marxists.

The northern elitism (not singling you or anyone else out, just wanted to make this statement) shown towards southerners is that of the DWF variety, and it shows not just in hockey but through TV shows like Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo.

Not true. Southern NASCAR fans are always complaining (justifiably) about their sport being changed to suit new viewers up north and taken away from its heartland. I don't see that as anti-Northern or elitist. In England rugby league fans in the north had the same complaints about the failed attempt by Rupert Murdoch to make it popular in the south of England. In an increasingly homogenised world regional cultural distinctiveness is positive.

Regardless though, despite the pleas from hockey "purists" the Panthers aren't in any danger of moving. The ownership (Sunrise Sports Entertainment) makes a nice profit managing the arena. As long as the owners are making money and are happy, that is the only thing that really matters in the long run. The Coyotes situation is entirely different and I hate when the Panthers are compared to them. The Coyotes don't have the solid business model nor the sweetheart arena deal the Panthers have which is why they are having problems.

Sweetheart arena deals. Profits. How about fans? There's no evidence that there's much of a fan base in South Florida and fans of traditional teams are just as uninterested in the Panthers as NASCAR fans are about races in Canada and New York.

As much as I'd like to see the Quebec Nordiques back, a small Canadian market like that does nothing to increase the leagues visibility.

Visibility where? Wall Street and Corporate America? Visible to the Judeo pop culture icons of the day? A a team in Quebec City would make the sport much more visible even in Canada and would restore the rivalries of the past - especially with Montreal. Americans have seen hockey on TV since the 1960s. In general they don't like it that much outside of traditional areas. The argument that if-only-they-could-see-hockey-they'd-love-it doesn't wash.

I apologize if this post sounded condescending, but as a sunbelt hockey fan, I just get annoyed when people want to take away the one good white sport I enjoy away from me. I'm also sick to death of the NBA being shoved down my throat and I want to see the NHL have a strong presence in this area.

I sympathise as you are in a bad location for sports but after playing throughout the sunbelt for two decades ratings and attendance in most of those places are very poor. If there was a sufficient fan base then that would be different. But the NHL is now a mess with lots of owners in mostly non-traditional markets trying to cut costs hence the lockout.

 

[Tannehill17]

I sympathise as you are in a bad location for sports but after playing throughout the sunbelt for two decades ratings and attendance in most of those places are very poor. If there was a sufficient fan base then that would be different. But the NHL is now a mess with lots of owners in mostly non-traditional markets trying to cut costs hence the lockout.

I see your point, but I just don't see how the NHL could work in this day and age as a regional sport. You have to remember, technology has caught up with us (ie the internet) and pretty much the entire world that you knew prior to 1996 no longer exists. The NHL had to adapt to the modern sports landscape and follow the lead of the other 3 major sports. As for the lockout, it isn't just southern teams that are losing money, I believe it was something to the effect of nearly half the teams, which would include some northern franchises as well.

Another thing that hasn't helped is the fact that the NHL has had commissioners who couldn't market canteens of water to a Bedouin in the Sahara Desert. Namely John Ziegler and Gary Bettman. For as much crap as David Stern gets around here (and deservedly so since most of the players in his league are a bunch of tattooed thug punks) He at least was able to take a dying league, put it back on the map, and actually sell the game. This is something Clarence Campbell, John Ziegler and Gary Bettman were unable to do. However I'm not one of those fans who perpetually hates on Bettman. I think he has had some good ideas and was glad to see him crush the players union back in 2005, but as an ambassador of the game and as someone to get people excited about hockey, he has been the drizzling sh*ts.

I truly believe that franchises in the sun belt is part of a grander overall strategy. The fan interest might not be there now but who is to say that it wont be in 10 years time. As Don Wassall mentioned, it took the Penguins around 30-40 years to truly establish a solid fanbase in Pittsburgh. Also remember the Chicago Blackhawks under Wirtz were drawing way worse than most southern franchises are now. As for Nascar, I don't pay any attention to that sport so I'll take your word for it. I just know that I love hockey. I grew up playing it at my local rink, I never miss a game on TV, and I definitely think there is a place for it here.

 

[Vanilla Ice Berg]

Since the NHL lockout has been seriously toying with my fragile constitution of late I was wondering if anyone has been following the World Junior tournament.
I grew up on USA versus the Soviet Union/ Russia rivalry and now that has seemed to take a back seat to the USA/Canada rivalry the last decade or so.
USA just defeated Canada 5-1 in the semi-finals to get into the finals against a young/fast Swedish team.
USA hockey has come a long way the last 30 years as I believe for the first time the Hockey News ranked the 2013 top 100 prospects and 40 were from the USA!!!!

 

[Matra2]

The World Juniors tournament is bigger in Canada than NCAA football and basketball finals are in the US. It's the main TV event over the Christmas holidays each year. It's also a big deal in some other countries. I remember something like 2 million out of Sweden's 9 million people watched when they played Canada in the final back in 2009 - much bigger relatively speaking than a typical NFL playoff or NBA final in the US Neilsen ratings. It's a shame the US doesn't get into this great annual event especially as it always has a good competitive team. There is nothing like international sporting events with country playing country instead of corporate franchises playing each other. Anyway, the final will be on Saturday morning at 8am ET against Sweden.

 

[jaxvid]

The World Juniors tournament is bigger in Canada than NCAA football and basketball finals are in the US. It's the main TV event over the Christmas holidays each year. It's also a big deal in some other countries. I remember something like 2 million out of Sweden's 9 million people watched when they played Canada in the final back in 2009 - much bigger relatively speaking than a typical NFL playoff or NBA final in the US Neilsen ratings. It's a shame the US doesn't get into this great annual event especially as it always has a good competitive team. There is nothing like international sporting events with country playing country instead of corporate franchises playing each other. Anyway, the final will be on Saturday morning at 8am ET against Sweden.

Do you know if anyone is showing that Saturday final? I would like to record it.

International sports has lost it's allure to me as I see it as nothing but a big "go US" brainwash, and at this time I am not to fond of either the usa or the diverse affaletes it chooses to represent it. However a team filled of White kids from suburbs around this once great land would be fun to cheer on.