January 21, 200422 yr The problem is that Bettman has introduced nine teams to the league in his tenure...That's right, NINE, most of them shouldn't have even been created! The main problem in this is the vast 'watering down' this has caused the entire league. Had he not tried to NBAize the league so much, it wouldn't be in the trouble it is today!
January 21, 200422 yr So it has to get cold for people to enjoy hockey? That is exactly why the sport is in trouble. The populations is the US has been in flux for decades. People move from state to state all the time. The states in the south have seen a net population increase and the north a decrease. The fans have moved south. Or are you saying hockey is such a s***ty sport that only people in the north can be attracted to it? Hockey is closer to soccor than any otehr sport. Where are your biggest markets for soccor? South. Fans down here instatntly appreaciate a sport that scoring isn't every 30 seconds. Of the close to 100 minor and independent hockey teams in the US, 4 of the top 25 attendance clubs all are within 50 miles of the Texas - Mexico border. Minnesoat couldn't even support a team. Drop every team in the north, eh. Hockey will grow when they have fans border to border instead of some weird regional thing. Hockey needs to attract a bigger audience, not smaller. Hockey will be healthy when television will carry games nationwide like all the other major sports. Sure run a league for the die hard fans. See the Blackhawks in front of 1,500 die hards. How many Hawk fans attend 25 or more games vs how many people attend less than 3 or 4? The casual fan is what drives a sports economy. Add up all the people who make one or two trips a year to a baseball game vs. the die hards and the pile from the casual fan is much greater than the die hards. Die hards come to a game and spend less per game then the family there for their once or twice game. Imagine a league with teams in the Hartfords of the world vs. teams in the Atlantas of the world. Which is going to be more successful? Right on, dude! There is a definite "Northern bias" on this site, and it's good you were able to somewhat deflate that.
January 21, 200422 yr Author The problem is that Bettman has introduced nine teams to the league in his tenure...That's right, NINE, most of them shouldn't have even been created! The main problem in this is the vast 'watering down' this has caused the entire league. Had he not tried to NBAize the league so much, it wouldn't be in the trouble it is today! That may be a problem, Heather, but the bigger problem is this: ALL NINE of those teams have AT LEAST as many points as the SlackHawks have so far this year. Don't blame expansion for the sorry state of the West Side Hockey Club. Their demise is of their own doing, and they deserve every bit of the indifference they receive in this city. Their game reports barely make it ahead of the high school basketball scores in the Sun-Times! The ONLY time the Slacks are front-page news is when an alcoholic over-the-hill 12-step dwarf gets in a bar fight and the disorgan-I-zation covers the incident up for him, or when they fire someone. They are a sad pathetic joke, but no one's laughing....except the fans of the 26 teams who are better than them!
January 21, 200422 yr They are a sad pathetic joke, but no one's laughing....except the fans of the 26 teams who are better than them! Canes actually fall in that group...barely...but they still have more points (yes I know the Canes were the worst in the NHL last year)!
January 21, 200422 yr Canes actually fall in that group...barely...but they still have more points (yes I know the Canes were the worst in the NHL last year)! Of course, they have Ft Wayne's own Kevin Weekes in goal
January 21, 200422 yr That may be a problem, Heather, but the bigger problem is this: ALL NINE of those teams have AT LEAST as many points as the SlackHawks have so far this year. Don't blame expansion for the sorry state of the West Side Hockey Club. Their demise is of their own doing, and they deserve every bit of the indifference they receive in this city. Their game reports barely make it ahead of the high school basketball scores in the Sun-Times! The ONLY time the Slacks are front-page news is when an alcoholic over-the-hill 12-step dwarf gets in a bar fight and the disorgan-I-zation covers the incident up for him, or when they fire someone. They are a sad pathetic joke, but no one's laughing....except the fans of the 26 teams who are better than them! Ah I knew the Critic would agree with me.
January 21, 200422 yr Of course, they have Ft Wayne's own Kevin Weekes in goal That dude is exceedingly frustrating - he'll throw a shut out or two followed by several games of 1 or 2 goal hockey and then for a week he'll give up 4+ goals. I guess if there was an offense on the Canes, it wouldn't be as noticeable!
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