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2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Cosmo, Apr 19, 2024.

Page 46 of 48
  1. matt_garth

    matt_garth Well-Known Member


     
    matt_garth, Jun 25, 2024
    #541
    dixiehack likes this.
  2. maumann

    maumann Well-Known Member

    And the teams are comprised of Canadians, Americans from northern states and Europeans from hockey playing countries, just like every other team in the NHL. It's not like the Panthers found a bunch of kids from Dade and Broward Counties, taught them how to skate and won a Cup over those poor Canucks. (Although I think Disney already made that movie.)

    The Original Six played in climate-controlled arenas, just like every other NHL team since. It's not like the weather outside has any bearing on the talent level inside. And for "soft ice," it affects both teams. The hockey season used to begin and end at a logical place on the calendar. But every sport is out of whack.

    However, had the 1955 Red Wings played Rocket Richard and the Canadiens in a snowstorm on an ice floe in the middle of the Detroit River, I'd have certainly heard about it.
     
    maumann, Jun 25, 2024
    #542
    BitterYoungMatador2, PCLoadLetter and garrow like this.
  3. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    There’s nothing like the hockeys old boys network.
     
    JC, Jun 25, 2024
    #543
    matt_garth and Tighthead like this.
  4. matt_garth

    matt_garth Well-Known Member

    On that topic …



     
    matt_garth, Jun 25, 2024
    #544
  5. UPChip

    UPChip Well-Known Member

    Most of my not-entirely-serious grousing from last night had to do with the cultures and fanbases. I mean, yeah, the Panthers players aren't a referendum on the quality of play in a location but I feel like having South Beach and non-miserable winters is unfair to the people who are trudging to the arena on Long Island or in St. Paul or in Edmonton in February.
     
    UPChip, Jun 25, 2024
    #545
  6. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I dislike the teams that came about from the NHL's "Southern Strategy" in the 1990s, too. It has less to do with weather than about the lack of culture and the fanbases. They might have been able to make it work -- they got the franchise fees (which was what it was all about), and those owners skate by with the merchandising and regional sports network contracts to pretty much break even. ... but get to say they own a pro sports franchise, which has the cachet they wanted. But I think it holds the NHL back on the whole. Hockey just doesn't belong in certain places and those cities attract a very small, niche group of fans that don't have the same level of passion on the whole as most (but not all) of the older teams up north.

    I always come back to Carolina, as the example. ... they have had such a good team the last several years, yet everytime the Rangers (team I pay attention to) are down there, more than half the arena is wearing Rangers jerseys. During the playoffs, they prevent ticket sales to billing zip codes from NY, NJ and CT, because if they didn't it would feel like a NY home game. ... and it still doesn't keep a good chunk of the fans in the arena from being Rangers fans, because even the aftermarket tickets with a plane ticket and hotel are not much more expensive than a home game in NY. With the team they have. ... I can't help but think that if it was Boston or Detroit or Chicago or Toronto or Montreal or Minnesota that the level of passion for a team that competive would be much greater. The team would certainly earn way more than it does.
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2024
    The Big Ragu, Jun 26, 2024
    #546
  7. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Hockey is still a niche sport. ... Even in NY, a shitty Knicks team will have way more interest than a really good Rangers team, all day long. Hockey is nothing compared to baseball and football here either. The Rangers have an insanely passionate fan base, but I always joke that when you see 18,000 people for a Rangers sellout at MSG, you are seeing every single Rangers fan there is. They live and breathe the team (and all seem to know each other and only socialize with each other), but it isn't like the Knicks, where they could fill the Garden 50 times more for a big game if they had the capacity.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 26, 2024
    #547
  8. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    Washington is the weird exception to this. The Wizards' fan base seems to be non-existent. Being utterly trash mediocre for 45 years now hasn't helped. Seriously, the Wiz/Bullets have won more than 45 games twice (!!!) since 1979-80. I almost never run into any Wizards fans in the wild. The Caps are by far the bigger deal here, and I don't think even a 60-win Wizards season (hahahahah) would change that.
     
    Cosmo, Jun 26, 2024
    #548
    garrow and Big Circus like this.
  9. dixiehack

    dixiehack Well-Known Member

    See also Atlanta, which gets insanely good ratings for every NBA team but the sad sack Hawks.
     
    dixiehack, Jun 26, 2024
    #549
  10. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    One could also ask how the heck so many Oilers fans got into Game 7, though I think capitalism reigns in every market.
     
    playthrough, Jun 26, 2024
    #550
  11. dixiehack

    dixiehack Well-Known Member

    I seem to remember 10s of thousands of Georgia fans invading South Bend for football, but nobody is seriously proposing Notre Dame has a bad fan base.
     
    dixiehack, Jun 26, 2024
    #551
  12. da man

    da man Well-Known Member

    You want to make an omelette, you've got to break some eggs. There are now rabid hockey fans in places like the Carolinas, Texas and Florida where they were previously all but nonexistent. Growing the game, and all that.
     
    da man, Jun 26, 2024
    #552
    Craig Sagers Tailor and maumann like this.
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