Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Jiggyfly
If something doesn't get worked out by the end of this week, I have little doubt Fehr will file a DOI. He will use every ounce of leverage he has left.
If he does, this process will literally drag out until the last possible minute, sadly.
This is like watching Steve-O and Johnny Knoxville daring each other to set their nutsacks on fire and neither one is smart enough to think about the damage it will do.
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If it prevented them from reproducing I'd say it's a net win for humanity.
BTW Gooch et al:
My post above (with the hats) was partly sarcastic WRT to "a pure game of the icy north" sentiments. However at a certain point you have to acknowledge that "expanding everywhere because the other sports are everywhere" is a stupid approach. The bottom line is, until hockey IS available in schools and free rinks and stuff like that there are many places in the southern US in particular and SW US, where it will remain forever irrelevant. Sports gets in your blood when you're a kid playing it, not because the NHL plunked a franchise in Florida or AZ and said "look, snowbirds here... they'll bring their love of hockey!"
It's a short-sighted situation. Of all those teams that were built, only Nashville and Carolina have enjoyed some success and continued popularity even when they don't go far in the playoffs. The other franchises have been fan disasters. Contracting this league by a couple teams at least, would make the product better on the ice, better positioned financially, and would just make more sense. FLA and PHX are the two obvious candidates. ANA and TB are possibilities if they continue to struggle with ticket sales, despite the talent on their rosters.
And I don't relate to the whole "oooo, if you're a Pittsburgh fan you can never question those markets because we almost lost a team!" Irrelevant. Pittsburgh's problems were managerial, not the absence of hockey town culture. Pittsburgh is a great hockey town. People care about hockey in Pittsburgh whereas in some other markets the only way to make anyone care, is go far in the playoffs. ATL was such a town, and moving that ill-conceived franchise to WPG was the smartest thing the NHL could've done.