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NHL Fan Interest in Cities that Lie Between existing NHL cities
Another interesting city here is Albany and the rest of upstate NY. It's really a coin toss between the Rangers and Sabres for most popular, however there's also a sizeable presence of Boston fans and other random teams. As you go more north, you even start to get a mix of random Canadian fans.
Another interesting city here is Albany and the rest of upstate NY. It's really a coin toss between the Rangers and Sabres for most popular, however there's also a sizeable presence of Boston fans and other random teams. As you go more north, you even start to get a mix of random Canadian fans.
I know there's a lot of Habs fans around Plattsburgh for obvious reasons. But yeah, upstate New York, especially north of Albany, is very mixed.
Another interesting city here is Albany and the rest of upstate NY. It's really a coin toss between the Rangers and Sabres for most popular, however there's also a sizeable presence of Boston fans and other random teams. As you go more north, you even start to get a mix of random Canadian fans.
New York State, especially upstate, I would think should be considered to be solid hockey territory, though I'm not the one to say that with certainty.
What's the chance, though, of Albany ever getting an NHL team? Rochester probably has a better chance, but neither one will likely ever be part of an NHL-team map.
Last edited by MoreOrr: 12-14-2011 at 09:34 PM.
Reason: typo
I went to a Greenville Growl game in 2006 (the last year of the Growl btw) and noticed more Thrasher jerseys in the crowd than Hurricanes. I don't know how it was at Road Warrior games last season but I imagine it hadn't changed much. The proximity to Atlanta compared to Raleigh probably gave the Thrashers the edge in the SC Upstate.
Moreorr, I think in the US, most in-between cities are rather indifferent to the NHL.
It has been my observation that in-between cities and non-market cities in the US will usually care about the nearest MLB and NFL team.
However, NHL and NBA alike usually have more concentrated fanbases within their immediate metropolitian areas, moreso than baseball and football.
Canada I think is an interesting case. You will find that the breakdown occurs partly along generations. Anyone who grew up in the Original 6 era would generally be either a Leafs or a Habs fan. The rest would be spread out amongst the other 28 NHL teams.
For instance, take my elementary school class, as I grew up in Saskatoon. I remember there being 3 or 4 Winnipeg Jets fans, 1 Calgary Flames fan, a few Oilers fans, a couple Canucks fans, a Minnesota North Stars fan, a couple Pittsburgh Penguins fans, a Tampa Bay Lightning fan and me a LA Kings fan. I think this is the stereotypical breakdown of fans who grew up after the Original 6 era in Western Canada. I'm not sure how many survived to adulthood, but in Saskatchewan you had pockets of Kings fans who moved from the Oilers with Gretzky. It was always good for me to dress up on Halloween as Wayne Gretzky because there were a few houses who'd give me more candy than my friends.
Moreorr, I think in the US, most in-between cities are rather indifferent to the NHL.
It has been my observation that in-between cities and non-market cities in the US will usually care about the nearest MLB and NFL team.
However, NHL and NBA alike usually have more concentrated fanbases within their immediate metropolitian areas, moreso than baseball and football.
Honestly, that was partly my suspicion. Although, I was thinking it would have more to do with the size of the respective city and an attitude that... 'we're a big city so if we don't have our own major league team, we're not about to follow another city's team'...
People here still miss the Whalers and want them back badly. No allegiance to Rangers or Bruins, never Islanders. More Flyiers and Red Wings fans here than that.
Hartford is biggest tv market without a pro team. Whalers merchandise flying off shelves. Effort to bring back NHL is all over tv, radio and newspaper here. Howard baldwin is leading the effort, but now Richard Gordon is on board, too
People here still miss the Whalers and want them back badly. No allegiance to Rangers or Bruins, never Islanders. More Flyiers and Red Wings fans here than that. Hartford is biggest tv market without a pro team. Whalers merchandise flying off shelves. Effort to bring back NHL is all over tv, radio and newspaper here. Howard baldwin is leading the effort, but now Richard Gordon is on board, too
People here still miss the Whalers and want them back badly. No allegiance to Rangers or Bruins, never Islanders. More Flyiers and Red Wings fans here than that. Hartford is biggest tv market without a pro team. Whalers merchandise flying off shelves. Effort to bring back NHL is all over tv, radio and newspaper here. Howard baldwin is leading the effort, but now Richard Gordon is on board, too
People here still miss the Whalers and want them back badly. No allegiance to Rangers or Bruins, never Islanders. More Flyiers and Red Wings fans here than that.
Hartford is biggest tv market without a pro team. Whalers merchandise flying off shelves. Effort to bring back NHL is all over tv, radio and newspaper here. Howard baldwin is leading the effort, but now Richard Gordon is on board, too
then why is Baldwin lamenting the fact tht less than 2K showed up for the team he a)doesn't own, b) has been bought out of more than 1 city, including Pittsburgh, sold another to a corrupt group who leveraged it as collateral, what's the hook for Hartford after last year's semi-success @ Rentschler, whalers2010, add in the most foolish promotion of all, changing the identity of the franchise mid-year, is tht smart business acumen, and where is Baldwin going to build a new arena to house a franchise he only operates..... the same set of circumstances that drove the original franchise to NC, EVEN Whale/Wolf*Pack fans have elected to ignore the Whale....
