THN: Brampton Battalion relocation proves Toronto isn't a hockey town
 

Brampton Battalion relocation proves Toronto isn't a hockey town:

http://www.thehockeynews.com/article...daily_20121107

Isn't it more-so that Toronto is a Leafs town and not so much a hockey town (honest question)? Growing up on the prairies, most of the Leafs fans I knew, from Toronto or here, liked the Leafs but didn't really play hockey or much sports. It was more an identity thing.

First, Brampton is not Toronto. Second, the population of Brampton these days is largely made up of people from non-hockey cultures. Third, their rink was in a lousy location for traffic.

Brampton is in the GTA. (Greater Toronto Area)

St. Mike's had to move from Toronto to Mississauga (Which is also in the GTA) and they're still second last in attendance, only ahead of Brampton.

Don Cherry's Mississauga Ice Dogs had to leave.

The Roadrunners lasted 1 season in Toronto.

The Marlies attendance has been lousy since returning to Toronto a few years ago.

There are not a lot of white ppl/hockey ppl in brampton/missisauga.

Brampton is not a hockey town. Mostly made up of first generation immigrants from Asia. Toronto is a massive hockey city and mainly a Leafs city. The GTHL is the largest hockey league in the World and there are still two professional teams in Toronto; Oshawa, Mississauga and Barrie all close to the city and a whole bunch of junior A teams.

Doesn't the GTA have more players in the NHL than anywhere else in the world? Sounds like a pretty good argument to me..

Mississauga is still mostly whites. Brampton on the other hand is not.
And plus, no one cares about juniors when you have a NHL team.

Everyone that I grew up playing hockey with we're Leafs fans. As I'm getting older I'm finding that most of my friends who didn't play hockey are now hardcore Leafs fans. That being said, a high percentage of white kids and a growing percentage of black and Asian children in Toronto are playing hockey. It's still (and likely always will be) the biggest sport in Toronto.

I thought it was Edmonton?

I doubt it. Maybe per capita, but there are tons of players from the GTA.

hmm, "people from non-hockey cultures," where have I heard that before in a derogatory manner? :huh:

Oh yeah, right here on HF :)

Edmonton
Calgary
Vancouver
Ottawa

All these teams have an NHL team and have a loyal fanbase

GTA has the most NHL players, Edmonton does pretty good too

I live in Brampton (and grew up here) so I know exactly where it is. And Brampton being in the GTA still doesn't make it Toronto.


Take a look at the demographics of Mississauga too. And, just like Brampton, Mississauga is not Toronto.



The rink isn't full but I wouldn't classify attendance as lousy.

It wasn't meant in a derogatory manner at all, merely as an observation that the population of Brampton is predominantly from cultures that have nothing to do with hockey. Twenty or thirty years ago the same couldn't be said but it definitely can now.

So you have to be white to like / play / follow hockey? :)

I think one of the points they missed is that Toronto doesn't just have a major hockey team. They have a team in Baseball, Basketball, CFL, Soccer and an AHL team in the very same city.

No other canadian hockey team has a team in as many major sports so the people who live in Toronto have a wider range of selection which spreads the population. If your not a die hard Leaf fan and are tired of them losing, it's really easy to choose another sport instead of following a lower tier hockey league like Brampton is in.

If Toronto just had an NHL Hockey team then I think Brampton would have done a lot better.

I know what you meant, but the same can't be said for (many) other HF threads when discussing certain NHL teams that happen to play in various cities and/or regions across North America.

Of course not, don't be stupid. But it is a simple fact that the population of Brampton is made up largely of people whose sporting interests lie elsewhere (soccer, cricket, etc.) because they come from countries that do not have winters like we do and therefore do not have winter sports. Many people here are also relative newcomers and it takes time for them to become interested in Canadian sports. After they have been here a while many of them will develop an interest in hockey, especially if their kids do, but it is unreasonable to expect that of them when they are still new to the country.

If anything, I'd modify the title to say that "GTA isn't a hockey area" or something similar.

Brampton isn't Toronto, and the GTA is a pretty wide ranging area as colchar has been stating.

With that said, I think that Toronto is more of an NHL city. We've had trouble putting people in the seats at Ricoh (though the Marlies have been pretty poor up until recently). It looks like the undying loyalty for hockey does not extend past the Leafs.

Bingo.

Brampton is largely populated by Indian, Pakistani etc.. Most of which don't identify with hockey.

Good point about the bunker too.. The 410 is always ridiculous around 6:30 when most would be on route, and last time I went (probably 5-6 years ago) it took us like 20-30 mins to get out of the parking lot. I can live with that downtown Toronto, because it can't be avoided.. But in Brampton its ridiculous.

Owners seem to think hockey team + GTA = goldmine.. Its not that simple. The Leafs are likely the only team that could still turn profit with a monkey at the wheel.. Other teams have to market and manage their franchise well for success.

Brampton is becomming less of a hockey town every time PIA or AI lands, I'm not surpised they decided to relocate.


Its very clear this 'author' is just looking for attention.

The Battalion leaving is long overdue and was never going to succeed here.

The Marlies are averaging 6,084 per game which puts them 9th in the AHL in attendance this season, and last season they averaged 5,480 per game which put them 14th. No team in the AHL averages 10,000 per game.

As for Brampton moving proves Toronto isn't a hockey town? The driving distance between the Hershey Center (Steelheads Arena) and Powerade Center (Battalion Arena) is 6.4km!!!! Too much hockey in too small an area.

Or maybe it proves that Toronto's not a junior hockey town.... or that there are already too many junior teams in the area as it is.

Is Brampton even in the GTA? I know Mississauga is but Brampton doesn't really border any part of Toronto.

Anyways, the location of the Hershey Centre in Mississauga is pretty bad (should probably have been in either downtown around Square One or in Streetsville) and The Bunker in Brampton was never gonna work.

I do agree to some extent though that people in Toronto from what I've seen are often just casual fans or Leafs fans who don't care that much about hockey. Of course it has more hockey fans in terms of volume than anywhere else but if you look at % then other Canadian cities might have a higher % of hardcore hockey fans.