I'd sooner expand to 32 teams than contract. Had the fools running this league kept their wits about them we'd have a solid Salary Cap in place and 3-5 years from now it would probably make financial sense as well as be the logical step for the league to take.
I'd sooner expand to 32 teams than contract. Had the fools running this league kept their wits about them we'd have a solid Salary Cap in place and 3-5 years from now it would probably make financial sense as well as be the logical step for the league to take.
I don't understand how expanding would be such a good idea.
Right now,here are nine teams that are struggling.
Carolina Hurricanes
Columbus Blue Jackets
Florida Panthers
Nashville Predators
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
Phoenix Coyotes
St Louis Blues
Tampa Bay Lightning
Too many teams without a big enough fanbase and not enough coming (Phoenix, Colombus, formerly Atlanta), but 30 teams isn't excessive, you can still add a few more teams, manily in Canada.
I think the NHL has too many teams and I am not referring to the teams that are supposedly losing money or supposedly have a small fan base. The real problem is that with 30 teams the talent is watered down tremendously. Also, rivals tend to play each other less because of the balanced schedule. Ideally, I think the NHL should have about 26 teams.
Right now,here are nine teams that are struggling.
Carolina Hurricanes
Columbus Blue Jackets
Florida Panthers
Nashville Predators
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
Phoenix Coyotes
St Louis Blues
Tampa Bay Lightning
It's a very large market that the NHL probably hopes will be a valuable asset once the economy has rebounded a little bit in the Phoenix area. At least that's my speculation.
As far as Columbus goes, I expect all they need is some success. Can you imagine being a fan of that team? Yeesh. Nothing but gut punches and groin kicks for a decade. Pretty much no silver linings or moments in the sun of any kind since inception. That's pretty tough to sell. If the Coyotes are folded or relocated to Quebec, John Davidson needs to immediately hire all of Phoenix's hockey operations folks, and immediately fire all of his. The trio of Davidson, Maloney, and Tippett might be able to turn around the on-ice debacle that has been the Blue Jackets, similarly to how they made a credible product out of what had been a laughable on ice **** show down in Phoenix.
I think that a contraction would lead to better hockey level, sometimes, I feel that talent is too diluted. To me, 24 teams would be ideal. Basically, the top 9 of every team could be improved and the 4th line of many teams would simply get completely replaced by better players playing on the 3rd line on teams that would be taken out of the league. I tend to think that the competition level would potentially be better and it could also help the financial state of the league.
I do realize that this would also mean that many players would lose their jobs. I also realize that this would be almost impossible to do now that the NHL has 30 teams. I just think that it should not have gotten there in the first place.
This is my humble opinion and I know that most people will not agree with my stand, but this is how I see it for now.
