81 replies to this topic

[stevkrause]

As hockey is religion in canada i think canada deserves to have more nhl teams there, would be good for the nhl and the whole world to be honest...

You're dead on when it comes to this topic...

[mjtm77]

They've gotten rid of all their superstars the past few years

Savard Kovalchuk Heatley and now they have.....

[stevkrause]

Savard Kovalchuk Heatley and now they have.....

Kane, Bogosian, Little, Slater, Oduya, Enstrom...

am I the only one here that thinks they have a good, exciting, young team?!?

Edited by stevkrause, 21 October 2010 - 03:43 PM.

[hooon]

Kane, Bogosian, Little, Slater, Oduya, Enstrom...

am I the only one here that thinks they have a good, exciting, young team?!?

I do, but they lack the superstar power that draws crowds. Kane is the closest thing to being a superstar and he's still a few years away from being that.

[13dangledangle]

You're dead on when it comes to this topic...

I 100% agree with you and mindfly on this, I think those teams would thrive today in the Canadian locations. Not to mention the economics behind it, not only are tickets not selling in current locations, there not selling at about a fraction of the price they'd sell for in the canadian market (which isn't soo lousy these days)

[Chelios57]

As I die hard Thrashers fan, I think it simply comes down to winning.

How great would the Wings attendance be if they played like the Thrashers have since their existence?

They definitely support winning hockey:


http://http://www.yo...=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.c...=1&hl=en_US

Everyone remember how terrible Chicago, and Pittsburgh, and Washington, etc., etc. attendances were?

This team has traded away Heatley, Hossa, Savard, and Kovalchuk. How do you think their attendance would be?

Edited by Chelios57, 21 October 2010 - 04:11 PM.

[F.Michael]

LOL - was thinking of starting this very same topic last night while I watched the Sabres/Thrashers game (nothing else on worth watching).

Pretty sad turnout; I immediately noticed the sparse crowd when the camera angles changed...And to think the league doesn't want Balsillie/Hamilton to have a team, and this is Atlanta's 2nd chance

As I die hard Thrashers fan, I think it simply comes down to winning.

How great would the Wings attendance be if they played like the Thrashers have since their existence?

They definitely support winning hockey:


http://http://www.youtube.com/v/H2mC_oPbXVs?fs=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/v/57dz_f2WW0Y?fs=1&hl=en_US

Everyone remember how terrible Chicago, and Pittsburgh, and Washington, etc., etc. attendances were?

This team has traded away Heatley, Hossa, Savard, and Kovalchuk. How do you think their attendance would be?

The problem is - how many players want to stay there?

Look at the Maple Leafs; a model franchise in putting a suspect product on the ice, and yet they're sold-out for years to come.

[wingslogo19]

Wow, that's just brutal.. We get more fans at our jr hockey games

[MulesWillFly93]

Atlanta has never been a good sports town for attendance and support, period.

Not fair to single out hockey on this.

Agreed, plus it's just not that big a city! I don't know why, but I always considered it to be one of the major metropolitan areas of the South, but as of 2009, Atlanta is the 33rd largest city in the U.S. El Paso, which is the most random-ass place I can think of, is #22, for pete's sake. For that matter, Seattle, which might actually have some hockey fans in the vicinity, is in 23rd place (10 spots ahead of ATL) and has 100k more people than Atlanta, yet we keep on putting teams in the South for the sake of some kind of Manifest Hockey Destiny. Ridiculous.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros]

Atlanta has never been a good sports town for attendance and support, period.

Not fair to single out hockey on this.

If I remember correctly, the poverty rate in Atlanta is above national average. Their financial situation is similar to Detroit's.

[Hockeytown0001]

That's just sad.

[Stolberg]

How about moving Columbus to Yellowknife or Juneau? I'm in Athens (OH) and I see more LA Kings jerseys than CBJ. Strangely enough, the Kings' fans are very hockey-wise around here and I have no idea where they all came from.

kings jerseys in one town in ohio

surely nobody cares about the blue jackets then

[SweWings]

How about moving Columbus to Yellowknife or Juneau? I'm in Athens (OH) and I see more LA Kings jerseys than CBJ. Strangely enough, the Kings' fans are very hockey-wise around here and I have no idea where they all came from.

Out of all the teams in the league... why LA I wonder...

Agreed, plus it's just not that big a city! I don't know why, but I always considered it to be one of the major metropolitan areas of the South, but as of 2009, Atlanta is the 33rd largest city in the U.S. El Paso, which is the most random-ass place I can think of, is #22, for pete's sake. For that matter, Seattle, which might actually have some hockey fans in the vicinity, is in 23rd place (10 spots ahead of ATL) and has 100k more people than Atlanta, yet we keep on putting teams in the South for the sake of some kind of Manifest Hockey Destiny. Ridiculous.

Seattle could build a nice local thing with Vancouver. I really don't get why there isn't a team there.

Oh and the city size thing, check metropolitan areas, Atlanta is kinda big

[grwingfan]

Grand Rapids would support a NHL franchise better than Atlanta, Phoenix or Miami.

[SuperNovaXll]

Move Atlanta to Quebec, Phoenix to Winnipeg, Panthers to Hamilton... =)

I couldnt agree more

[_Kabrok_]

As I die hard Thrashers fan, I think it simply comes down to winning.

How great would the Wings attendance be if they played like the Thrashers have since their existence?

They definitely support winning hockey:


http://http://www.youtube.com/v/H2mC_oPbXVs?fs=1&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/v/57dz_f2WW0Y?fs=1&hl=en_US

Everyone remember how terrible Chicago, and Pittsburgh, and Washington, etc., etc. attendances were?

This team has traded away Heatley, Hossa, Savard, and Kovalchuk. How do you think their attendance would be?

That's a terrible buisness plan for a sports team, particularly one with a salary cap. You might as well just say that at the very best Atlanta's viability will be a vomit-inducing rollercoaster ride. Ditto with any of these bandwagon-heavy teams, honestly.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros]

Florida drew a little over 11,000 to tonight's game against Dallas..As for Detroit, a town once known for sellout streaks drew 18,399 tonight...

[Hockeytown0001]

[wingfanatic4alltime]

Florida drew a little over 11,000 to tonight's game against Dallas..As for Detroit, a town once known for sellout streaks drew 18,399 tonight...

Still though 18,000 people in the seats is a hell of a lot better then 8,000 to 11,000 people. Guys hockey is not popular at all in the south which our faboulus commissioner thought could be a hockey hotbed. Hockey has failed in the south, i love hockey as much as all of you guys but im a realist hockey in some markets is lucky to be the 3rd sport after football and baseball. The league needs to contract or at least move these southern teams to canada or give Seattle a shot.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros]

Still though 18,000 people in the seats is a hell of a lot better then 8,000 to 11,000 people. Guys hockey is not popular at all in the south which our faboulus commissioner thought could be a hockey hotbed. Hockey has failed in the south, i love hockey as much as all of you guys but im a realist hockey in some markets is lucky to be the 3rd sport after football and baseball. The league needs to contract or at least move these southern teams to canada or give Seattle a shot.

Atlanta and Phoenix need to relocate first, in my opinion. Atlanta couldn't sell out even with Kovalchuk on the team. Phoenix has an up and coming squad, and still can't draw 10,000. Move Atlanta to Quebec City, and move Phoenix back to Winnipeg. Same number of teams in each conference. Divisions might have to be tweaked a bit. Hockey does not belong in cities like Atlanta, Phoenix, and Miami (Sunrise). The attendance numbers prove it. Even with competing teams in Phoenix, they have a laughable fan base. Same goes for Atlanta. Up and coming, young team, and will be lucky get 50% of the arena full. Cities like Winnipeg and Quebec are STARVING for an NHL franchise. Time to give it up, Bettman&company.