CFN – I will forever feel that Hockey is Canada’s game. I get that most of the players still duking it out for Lord Stanley’s Cup are Canucks, but without a Canadian team in play there’s no magic for me.
I probably will not watch another game this year.
And that’s an issue for the NHL as they have undermined hockey in Canada under Gary Bettman in favour of places like Phoenix.
Quebec City. Really, no team yet? What the heck are they thinking? It’s nice that they headed back to Winterpeg; but can you really compare the support we Canucks give our teams compared to the Americans; especially in the Southern US states? I hate how the NHL has uglied our sport. Talk of expansion; there should be talk of contraction as the good talent gets dragged down by 3rd and 4th liners.
Do we really need specialists to crap up great players? Do we really want to spend $200 to watch a 15 point third liner?
Average Ticket Prices in the NHL for 2013/14 According to Forbes
Toronto $368.60
Phoenix $76.65
Montreal $ 257.06
Columbus $95.90
Winnipeg $276.69
Edmonton $272.75
Vancouver $265.48
Calgary $262.10
Anaheim $91.49
Ottawa, lowest in Canada $137.82
Essentially it takes nearly 3 US fans to equal one Canadian one and Canuck teams generally out draw American ones!
The NHL’s most valuable teams?
1) Toronto $1.15 Billion
2) NY Rangers $850 Million
3) Montreal $775 Million
4) Vancouver $700 Million
5) Chicago $625 Million
While the players union may not be a fan of contraction there is no argument that the product would be better with less teams. With the rise of the KHL and play in Europe there will be less players feeding the NHL and frankly it’s hard to bond with some Eastern European players. In baseball it was a bit similar for fans with the influx of players from the Dominican Republic. People like their home town heroes!
Taking out two teams from the NHL and moving two teams to Quebec and either Hamilton or nearby Toronto just makes good sense for the game and ultimately the business of hockey.
The more teams make the more players make. It’s that simple, and yes with contraction there might be less players, but there are other opportunities.
What are your thoughts hockey fans? You can post your comments below.
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Never going to happen under Bettman’s watch.