IceCap

There's an argument to be made that had things been done differently both Atlanta and Phoenix could have worked but as admiral pointed out, both have built in problems that would have to be overcome even with competent ownership. Also, I want to remind everyone that the Phoenix Coyotes went to the playoffs five of their first six seasons in Arizona. It wasn't "the league gifted us a Cup contender right away" situation like Vegas, but the Coyotes were a successful on-ice team for their first half decade+ It's not like they were terrible all the time. In fact they were a regular fixture of the post-season for the early years, when such success would be the most important for securing new fans. Regardless, what could have happened in Atlanta and Phoenix is immaterial at this point. People were saying Winnipeg shouldn't get a team again because the lost the original Jets. I'm sure such folks will be consistent and admit that after two tries Atlanta's cooked for the foreseeable future. And Arizona? Well...it's been twenty-five years. Twenty-five years of tossing money into a black hole. Millions upon millions in both private and public funds just wasted. The whole thing has been a disaster. And sure, maybe really keen ownership makes it work and overcomes the market's issues, but that's not our timeline. Our timeline is the "millions upon millions wasted over twenty-five years" one. Enough is enough.

You know things are bad when the league is responding to a negative news story like a third world dictatorship.

My attempt...

J'aime les couleurs, d'accord ? La FDL a fière allure en sarcelle.

Look... They have to use the Wolf jerseys as alternates right? Right!?

Those are nice!

looks at the Lightning turning into the Maple Wings Whatever do you mean?

The thing that I'm really bummed about is that this meme where the team is putting out "Hat" hats for their "Jersey" jersey and the goalie getting a "Mask" mask is that the higher quality joke of "Jersey of the Channel Islands gets a NHL team" gets lost in the shuffle. The Duchy of Normandy suffers another indignity

I think it was a combination of yellow sweaters and good marketing, paired with Nashville's rising profile nationally. Nashville became the "quirky" transplant destination and the team sort of played into that. By the time they were playing the Penguins for the Cup the narrative was that they invented having fun at hockey games. You know...despite the fanbase's most memorable feature being something they stole from the Red Wings. Echt. spits I had to say something somewhat positive about the Red Wings. It didn't taste good.

I played on my high school's hockey team. Our colours were red, white, and grey. One of my friends on the team once said "we should have neon green and black alternates." I asked why and he said, I'm not joking, "they'd be sick." I can't help but think of that when I see the neon green and black Stars sweaters.

Here. I have stats! The Atlanta Thrashers were worth $135 million in 2010. The Winnipeg Jets were worth $164 million in 2011. They shot up $29 million in one year by moving from Atlanta to Winnipeg. Winnipeg! The Winnipeg Jets are currently worth $575 million by the way. Keep in mind Winnipeg is only 12% of Atlanta in terms of population base. So how did that whole "bet on a low floor and high ceiling" work out for the NHL in Atlanta v Winnipeg? Look, I've been championing this cause for a while around these parts. For a while it was all very speculative because we were close enough to the mid 90s to say "give it more time, what if they pull it off?" But we're in 2021 now and the numbers are backing up what I, and others, have been saying for a while now. Yes. Tampa and Nashville worked. Congrats. Throw a party opposing fans won't be allowed to go to. But not every Sunbelt experiment worked and it's time to admit that and fix those mistakes. The other side doesn't have anything but an appeal to emotion. gRoW tEh GaME!

The comparison isn't between the the team and the thirty-one other teams. The comparison is how much they're worth and what their revenue looks like in Winnipeg vs Atlanta. But you don't wanna look at that because it destroys your whole narrative.

The thing with the Fisherman is that it can't really work. Even IF they only used it as an alternate... Even IF they restrained themselves with the striping and numbers... ...you'd still have opposing fans chanting "we want fish sticks!" every time they wore them. So the concept is DOA unless you also erase Gorton's Fish Sticks from the timeline as well. But I do like the idea of teal being worked into the Isles' identity. My urge to get back to concepts is rising...

Coyotes apologists- The Jets are doing NFTs! lol cold weather teams do dumb things too! one hour later State of Arizona: The Coyotes owe $1.3 million in unpaid taxes and the city of Glendale will lock them out of the arena if it's not paid by the end of the year. Sometimes life comes at you fast.

I think that was the intent behind their black "gradient" sweaters, but they really missed the mark. G-d those are awful. I don't think the NFL has anything to do with it. I think the all white RR look was just going for something sleek and futuristic. That seems to be the team's direction, branding wise. The reason I think the neon green alternate is a meme jersey is because...well...the Stars have embraced being a meme franchise. It started with internet snark invading their jumbotron graphics. And evolved into them being one of the first pro teams to go full internet humour/meme culture on social media. Factor in that neon green is just the sort of dumb teenagers love and I'm convinced that the entire black/neon green sweater was an attempt to get something that would resonate in the meme-o-sphere.

Why are these our only options? This whole thing exists because the Red Wings bitched and moaned about having to play in the West despite accumulating a quarter of a century long playoff streak and four Cups in five Finals visits. The whole league was bent over backwards to accommodate them. So the Detroit Red Wings.

Patrick Roy probably helped there. First, the Detroit Red Wings. Second, any division that's "Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto...oh and also Tampa Bay and Sunrise, FL" is a joke. Third, the Metro is a dumb name. Forth, so is the Atlantic if you actually look at where the teams are located. Fifth, these divisions have led to a dumb playoff format compared to the relatively simple one before. Sixth, the NHL is so in love with these dumb divisions they're going to keep a team floundering in the Sunbelt just to maintain them. Seventh, the Detroit Red Wings.

Side note- I found it funny how, during the 70s and 80s, the Nordiques were the "separatist" team and the Canadiens were the "Canadian" team. The separatist sentiment was always stronger in Montreal than it was in QC, paradoxically because QC was almost entirely French speaking.

Eric Lindros did and said whatever his mom told him to do and say. That's the same "grow the game" crap that's kept this team in Arizona for a quarter of a century bleeding money. Yeah. Houston is bigger than Quebec City. And Atlanta is bigger than Winnipeg. How'd that turn out? Fact is that small Canadian markets punch way above their weight with the NHL and sunbelt metropolises tend to punch below their weight unless you have ownership that isn't rock stupid. And this is the NHL so guess how that'll go. In terms of being a better NHL market? Quebec City laps Houston. The language the fans speak doesn't matter if they pay for tickets. Which is a given that they will. And more than this team ever had in Arizona. Also as far as language goes...I know as much French as high school was able to drill into me- which is to say not much- but you're playing hockey and on the road half the time. It's not hard to manage in that situation.

The Wings were the Leafs' biggest rivals after the Canadiens but I think the Bruins have supplanted them in that spot in recent history. I wouldn't miss them if they went out west, is what I'm saying. The NHL division alignments are a joke anyway. And if moving the Coyotes to Quebec City is what blows it all up and forces the league to start again then so be it. I've never seen such a blatant attempt at artificial crowd inflation then sticking Tampa and Florida in a division with Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. And yes I included Tampa. They draw plenty well on their own, but there's always a strong visiting fan contingent when a team from up north comes down, and I have to think the league was aware of that revenue influx. Point is the current NHL divisions are dumb, and should be redrawn anyway.

Do Gorton's Fish Sticks not exist in this alternate timeline? Also- you're forgetting one thing. The stupid wavy name and numbers that conformed to the stupid wavy stripes. That was a step too far even by whacky 90s design, and worse than anything any of the other sweaters you listed included. It gets points in my book for being a blue-based Lightning sweater that uses the classic logo. It and last year's Reverse Retro. It's shocking the team never committed to that basic look.

Quebec City.

Join us. I'm convinced that was what was behind the Dallas Stars' neon green alternates.