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Let's contract the league...


SDS

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be an NHL city. That will make 24 teams - 12 per conference, 6 per division.

 

Out:

 

Carolina

Florida

Nashville

Atlanta

Columbus

Tampa Bay

Phoenix

San Jose

Anaheim

 

did I say 6? :blush:

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be an NHL city. That will make 24 teams - 12 per conference, 6 per division.

 

Out:

 

Carolina

Florida

Nashville

Atlanta

Columbus

Tampa Bay

Phoenix

San Jose

Anaheim

 

did I say 6? :blush:

 

Florida

Nashville

Atlanta

Columbus

Phoenix

Anaheim

 

It's hard to contract a recent Cup winner....

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Tampa actually has a nice fan base and a recent Cup win so you can't put them on the list. Carolina is about to win a Cup so they're off it.

 

If the criteria to go by is very little tradition, success, attendance and fan base then you can probably eliminate only a couple. Florida and Nashville. Yes, both have their little core group of great fans but for the most part , those cities don't give a hoot about NHL. I would say Anaheim and especially New Jersey should be moved to cities that would embrace the NHL and pack the building. The Devils should be ashamed of their home attendance numbers.

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Tampa actually has a nice fan base and a recent Cup win so you can't put them on the list. Carolina is about to win a Cup so they're off it.

 

If the criteria to go by is very little tradition, success, attendance and fan base then you can probably eliminate only a couple. Florida and Nashville. Yes, both have their little core group of great fans but for the most part , those cities don't give a hoot about NHL. I would say Anaheim and especially New Jersey should be moved to cities that would embrace the NHL and pack the building. The Devils should be ashamed of their home attendance numbers.

I was, am and always will be a Sabres fan, going back to the days when we would go the Main Post Office at midnight to get the earliest postmark on our standing room ticket requests. However, when Columbus got it's franchise in 2000 I became a first-day PSL owner, and have 2 lower bowl seats in the 18th row at the red line. The Blue Jackets have averaged about 90% capacity over the years, and 100% on premium seating. The renewal rate is 95%+ every year. A good number of these people are from northeast cities with hockey tradition. Columbus has over 600,000 residents and about 1.5 mil in the county. There are also many corporations headquartered here (Nationwide Arena). (I cheer for the Sabres on the rare occasion when they are in Columbus)

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Just to be a jerk, I'll say let's start with the two franchises that actually went broke recently, Buffalo and Ottawa, and throw in one that seems to be always on the verge, Pittsburgh. None of those franchises is in the American Sun Belt, it should be noted. You see the slippery slope we're starting down, SDS? You rabble rouser.

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I was, am and always will be a Sabres fan, going back to the days when we would go the Main Post Office at midnight to get the earliest postmark on our standing room ticket requests. However, when Columbus got it's franchise in 2000 I became a first-day PSL owner, and have 2 lower bowl seats in the 18th row at the red line. The Blue Jackets have averaged about 90% capacity over the years, and 100% on premium seating. The renewal rate is 95%+ every year. A good number of these people are from northeast cities with hockey tradition. Columbus has over 600,000 residents and about 1.5 mil in the county. There are also many corporations headquartered here (Nationwide Arena). (I cheer for the Sabres on the rare occasion when they are in Columbus)

 

I don't have a problem with Columbus....I think they are a great addition to the NHL. You can tell that the people in that city care about their NHL team and support it. I would say the Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild are the best of the "new" teams to join the league.

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the sabres being bankrupt was solely because the old owner screwed up and robbed peter to pay paul... you can't say the same about Pittsburgh and I'm honestly not sure of the situation in Ottawa

 

Ottawa had a hard time at the start building a fan base mainly based on the on-ice performance.. When you come into a league and are the absolute worst team in NHL history and are playing in an extremely small building (now used for ohl games) its extremely hard to build a fan base... Thats just my opinion on the matter anyways.

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I think that teams located in areas where ice doesn't form naturally should be contracted.

 

Deleted:

 

Anaheim

San Jose

Nashville

Atlanta

Panthers

Lightning

Carolina

Dallas

Phoenix

 

Tax payers in those cities and franchise owners can be soothed by giving each city/arena an NBA team (or in cases of overlap, another NBA team).

 

There is ice in St. Louis at some point in the year right? If not, they are my exception. Although Western Canada is a warm place, I think all Canadian cities have ice naturally at some point during the year. If, by chance, some Canadian city doesn't reach freezing they get a pass too.

 

Teams that will be restored:

 

Hartford Whalers

Winnipeg Jets

Quebec Nordiques

 

UPDATE: I think Saskatoon should have a team too.

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San Jose is actually a good NHL city. They have great attendance and they are growing the grass roots in the area for both kids and adults. I was impressed with how much they support the Sharks when I lived there. They even get decent coverage in the SJ Mercury. As for the NBA, I don't think they even want the Warriors around the Bay.

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