The same thing was said about the old Atlanta Flames hockey club...and the similarities don't end there: both teams have won zero (0) President's Trophy, zero (0) Stanley Cups, and have participated in exactly zero (0) Stanley Cup Finals. It's just my opinion, but I would like to see the NHL remove six of the following teams from their ranks: Carolina, Florida, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, San Jose, Nashville, Phoenix, Columbus, Anaheim or Los Angeles. I have nothing against the fans, but these are not exactly hockey havens and their "average fan" does not follow the sport...and their kids certainly don't lace-up a pair of skates and invade the frozen ponds and backyard ice rinks each winter. I don't know folks in the San Jose area, but in my neighborhood we always had several backyards rinks (some with outdoor lighting) in additional to two nearby (hopefully) frozen ponds. Heck, my brother and I even had a goal setup in our basement and never did a week pass during the sping-summer that my brother and our friends didn't put on the pads and practice our "Bobby Hull" slap shots or pretend we were as quick as Bobby Orr or as skilled as Gordy Howe. Does this routinely happen in San Jose? I doubt it!
Plus, the small percentage of real hockey fans south of the Mason-Dixon line want to see teams like Boston, Detroit, Montreal, Philadelphia and not Nashville, Florida, Phoenix, Florida, and Tampa Bay. If given a choice, do you really think Joe Bubba sitting in front of his TV in Highpoint NC is going to watch Carolina or NASCAR? Perhaps this may change after a prolonged period of Global Cooling, but not until then. The reason the NHL has so many problems is largely due to granting franchises to cities that don't rate one. You can call it hockey snobbery, but I call it a fact that is based on lifestyle, ratings and figure$. The NHL needs to shed itself of a lot of dead ice; time to get rid of all the hockey predenders.
Again, this is just my opinion. Also, a very good article on the NFL over here.
There are so many errors and misleading statements in this post I have no idea why I'm even responding to it. Probably because I'm an idiot, but here goes...
1. Comparing the fans of the Atlanta Flames and the San Jose Sharks is ludicrous. The Sharks sell out every game, attendance in Atlanta was dropping year after year.
2. Discussing team success in relation to which teams should be eliminated is also ludicrous. Should the Chicago Cubs fold because they haven't won the World Series in 100 years?
3. Eliminating teams because the fans don't have rinks in their backyards? Oh my. Beyond lucicrous.
4. The Lightning, who sell out every game, should fold? Jeesh.
5. Real hockey fans south of the Mason-Dixon line only care about northern teams? Where do you come up with this stuff???
6. Joe Bubba in Highpoint NC? Are you serious? Take a trip down to the triangle in NC, trust me it's not all beer guts and NASCAR. It's an incredibly growing, affluent educated area with a lot of devoted Canes fans. For the most part college basketball is more popular than hockey, but then again the Red Sox are a lot more popular in Boston than the Bruins, and the same thing can be said about the Eagles and Flyers in Philly.
Goodness gracious, after responding to this I feel like my IQ just took a serious hit.
Sandra
