In order for hockey to grow in warm weather markets, the team must have success for an extended period. Hockey does very well here in Colorado because we were very good for an extended period. The Avalanche moved to town and won the Stanley Cup the first season, they followed that up with a bunch of deep playoff runs including another Cup victory. This planted the seeds needed for youth hockey to really build up a solid base. Now the kids who got into hockey because of that boom have grown up as Avalanche fans and will always love hockey and their team. We now have a built in market for the team.

Anyone who thinks that Denver is a cold weather city has clearly never lived here. It is only cold for a few months here, and it will get to 50 degrees a few days during each of those cold months. Outdoor hockey doesn't really exist here. Our youth hockey was built almost completely in indoor rinks, so it can happen in warm weather cities.

 

Originally Posted by downbylaw11

they created the glowing puck for the benefit of americans and it lasted how long? one season? it was a disaster. If Canadians couldn't see the puck, they would have created a glowing puck for us too, but they didn't, because nobody here has ever complained that they couldnt see the puck. is it because we eat more carrots? i doubt it. the only thing i can think of is that americans just don't understand the game well enough to follow the play and they literally need to be shown with a giant green dot on the screen where the puck is. if the average person watched hockey and actually tried to, and did eventually enjoy it, they probably wouldnt have any trouble seeing where the puck is. but if you ask a bunch of non hockey fans what their biggest complaints were they'd say something ridiculous like they couldnt see the puck, so they said, ok, we'll make it glow. then when they realized that this didn't improve ratings, it becomes obvious that these fans just don't like hockey.

the glowing pucks entire existence was an absolute joke here in canada and the fact it looked stupid was only half the reason.

saying hockey is only popular in cold places is like saying soccer is only popular in warm places or europe. it's obvious and it has less to do with the sport itself and more to do with where the sport came from. obviously you can't play hockey on a frozen pond in florida so the sport is harder to grow in that sense because you can't just go outside and play it like you can in some other parts of the world. yet, i live in a place in canada where having a frozen pond happens like once every 5-10 years, and hockey is still huge, so it has more to do with the general popularity of the game in our country and a common belief that soccer is wack lol

People actually play pond hockey? LOL. I have a rink 3 mins from my house. Another rink 5 mins away. 2 more rinks 10 mins away. Fuck playing on shitty pond ice with no boards.

Anyways HD has done wonders for sports in general especially hockey. It has made watching hockey 100 times more enjoyable.

Hockey is never gonna appeal to the masses it's a unique type of sport. Canadians love hockey because it's like 90% white. The US is a melting pot. Do you think Mexicans are ever gonna care about hockey? What about most black folks? It's really not a complicated answer as to why hockey is more popular in Canada.

The NHL was on the verge of bankruptcy because it has so much trouble attaining viewers. I honestly don't know what can be done to grow the game. It's expensive to play at an elite level because you are traveling so much.

As far as I know they got rid of the other Canadian teams because they weren't doing too well. They weren't getting good tv viewer ratings so they weren't generating any real revenue for the league.

I'm sure merchandise sales for those franchises were also really low.

i could srsly disprove everything you have said in this thread. but im just not gonna do it. im not even sure what ur talking about honestly. if ur saying the jets and the nordiques left cuz of tv viewers loolololol . srsly smoke another

ok bud the jets left cuz the 15 games that were televised in 95 didnt have enough viewers, my bad.

im just a buttfucking hick from the peg tho how the fuck could i do that. enjoy the smog on ur bus ride home faggot

so u make 500 word posts coming up with completely fabricated explanations without doing a 30 second google search to just figure it out.

makes sense

 

Originally Posted by chancemcc

so u make 500 word posts coming up with completely fabricated explanations without doing a 30 second google search to just figure it out.

makes sense

Not really. I knew it had to do with $$$$. The exact details I wasn't aware of.

You just sound mad since you no longer have a hockey team. Get over it buddy it'll be alright!!

 

Originally Posted by chancemcc

that would be regina actually

u say that like its hurting my feeling or something lol

i could give 2 fucks what u think of where im from, im proud of where im from, thats all that fucking matters 2 me

Sweet!! We're all really excited to know that you're proud to be from Winnepeg. Cool story bro!! I'm sure it's a REAL awesome place!!!!

 

Originally Posted by chancemcc

lol its prolly not too smart to smoke weed all day long with a clear mental handicap

Your trash talking needs some work. Keep trying tho it's amusing.

$$$$ talks!!

I was just messing around about the pond hockey comment. We have a few spots around town where people skate on natural terrain (lagoons, bogs, lakes) Usually people just take their families there and mess around.

Thanks for the insight into the financial situation in Canada. I didn't realize the Canadian Looney had been taking such an ass kicking in recent years.

I usually only play outdoors these days. At the good spots they mop the rinks every single night (unless it's dumping) so they are always like glass. I'm pretty lucky to have access to such good rinks.

 

Originally Posted by downbylaw11

2. salary cap helped a lot. before the lockout, there were haves, and have nots, and have nots could never compete with teams like detroit, toronto, new york, because they would spend 80 million while another team could only spend 40

2003-2004 season

Top 5
Detroit 77.8
New York Rangers 77.0
Dallas 67.6
Philadelphia 65.1
Toronto 61.8

Bottom the sub 30m teams
Nashville
Pittsburgh
Atlanta
Minnesota