The_Admiral Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 That fewer kids are playing hockey in Canada is cause for alarm. Quebec in particular can't get anyone to play. Their kids have given up hockey for, as I understand it, soccer, football, MMA, and smoking. ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tp49 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Kronwall gets 1 game for his hit on Kucherov. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sport Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Hockey is the best and people are people. People will embrace hockey if it's presented to them in the correct way regardless of where they live. There are people in the states who don’t know they love hockey. It’s the NHL’s job to grab them. Canada will always be there, but you won’t get people in the US unless you try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FGM13 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I dunno, I have noticed that hockey is becoming less popular (although not unpopular) in my town and the surrounding ones, being replaced by soccer, baseball and especially basketball. GO OILERS-GO BLUE JAYS-GO ESKIMOS-GO COLTS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmic Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Hockey is the best and people are people. People will embrace hockey if it's presented to them in the correct way regardless of where they live. There are people in the states who don’t know they love hockey. It’s the NHL’s job to grab them. Canada will always be there, but you won’t get people in the US unless you try. Just like people will always need film for their camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceCap Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 It always will be though. I don't know if it's entirely fair to compare the US/Canada in those terms.It's a larger version of the "why can't every market be like Toronto?" discussion. I don't expect every market to be like Toronto, and I don't expect American interest and ratings to match Canada's. That doesn't mean I have to consider fanbase apathy and ratings disasters like Florida as being "acceptable." I don't think expecting every Sunbelt fanbase to, at the very least, be at the Ducks' or Lightning's fanbases' level is asking too much.As far as what we've gotten out of expansion? There are NHL players (or have been or in the organizations) from California, Texas, Florida, Tennessee. Hell the projected #1 pick in next year's draft, Auston Matthews, was born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona. You've filled a baseball stadium and a football stadium for hockey games in California. The Ducks/Kings/Sharks have all set up high school hockey leagues that are thriving. I don't know what more you want in terms of "what have we gotten from it?"If you think I'm unaware of this, or criticizing any of this then you've missed the point of my argument entirely.We're at a point where we can judge the success/failure rate of the NHL's Sunbelt experiment. So let's prop up the successes and move the failures to markets that will properly support them. And then let's see the NHL embrace and strengthen the fanbases it has, regardless of where they're located on this continent. Not the nebulous fanbases it might someday have if Uncle Gary's hopes and dreams pan out. 'Cause we're 20+ years in. And they're not all panning out.Ultimately? I want the NHL to embrace its existing fanbases rather then ignoring them while they drill for oil in dry wells. That's why I bothered bringing up that Canada will always top the US when it comes to overall fan interest. For as much the NHL has gone out of its way to ignore this country to try and appeal to fans in the Sunbelt? We still provide them with the best ratings. We still provide them with the highest gates. That as much as the NHL has tried to replace and marginalize us? We're still here. Still going strong.It's why I'm annoyed by comments like "Canada has hit the ceiling" and "Canada will always be there." Yeah, we will. And we have been. And we're still the engine driving this show of a league, whether the league itself or scores of insecure Sunbelt fans care to admit it or not. PotD 26/2/12 1/7/15 2020 BASS Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Regular Season Champion 2021 BASS NFL Pick'em Regular Season Champion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unocal Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 They've been trying to tap the previously untapped regions of the US for twenty+ years now. What have we gotten out of it? A clown college in a Phoenix suburb, another poorly planned expansion into the desert, a team drawing flies in a strip mall in a Florida swamp, a niche market in North Carolina, and a team that left a Sunbelt metropolis for greener pastures in a small Canadian prairie town. Now you do have successes. Tampa Bay, Nashville, Dallas. And they have risen the league's profile. Not to the point where the NHL's popularity in the US is challenging its popularity in Canada though. Maybe you have reached the ceiling in Canada (though I agree with admiral, you really haven't if you have Canadian markets that could support NHL hockey but who don't have teams), but that "ceiling" is far above any level of interest the NHL has managed to squeeze out of the US after a solid 20+ year effort. I thought the Coyotes were doing just fine in the old America West Arena. Back when they were truly the Phoenix Coyotes and they wore these awesome unis: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sport Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 But what started this was the idea that an all-Canadian matchup would be good for the health of the league because of Canada’s TV contract. I’m arguing that Canada will watch regardless of who’s playing in the finals while the US’ TV ratings are very heavily tied to the two teams playing. When it comes to hockey viewership Canada is inelastic while the US is very much elastic. (It’s been a while since I took econ. I think I got that right). Canada is fixed, the US can vary depending on who's playing.For me, though, I don’t give a hoot about ratings. I don’t work for NBC or the NHL and I understand that some years will attract more interest and other years we’ll get Carolina-Edmonton so there’s no point in worrying about it. I just want to see the most entertaining matchup and some years that may mean two Canadian clubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted April 29, 2015 Author Share Posted April 29, 2015 Why don't we try to make more American fans of Canadian teams? Get new/casual/unaffiliated fans to root for the Montreal Canadiens the way people do for the Yankees. Of course, the dilemma there is that those people probably don't even know where Montreal is because when we study maps in grade school, there's nothing north of the United States. Still, promote the Habs as a team people all across the continent can get behind. ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeypower Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Nope, you're only supposed to root for your local team. No exceptions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyk33 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Why don't we try to make more American fans of Canadian teams? Get new/casual/unaffiliated fans to root for the Montreal Canadiens the way people do for the Yankees. Of course, the dilemma there is that those people probably don't even know where Montreal is because when we study maps in grade school, there's nothing north of the United States. Still, promote the Habs as a team people all across the continent can get behind.I don't think that would work because America is pretty much the most nationalistic country in the West. People aren't going to root for teams in other countries unless they either have a connection to that country or if the best that sport has to offer is over seas (soccer). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceCap Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 But what started this was the idea that an all-Canadian matchup would be good for the health of the league because of Canada’s TV contract. When I said that I was coming from an economic standpoint. Yeah, the low US ratings wouldn't look good at all. The high Canadian ratings, however, would soften the blow economically.I also think we need to discuss the differences between growing the game and Growing the Game. The latter is what happens when you go "oh hey, housing boom in the southwest and southeast, let's get in on that!"The former is the much better idea of saying "hey, let's make as many Ohioans as possible Blue Jackets fans." It's what I was getting at when I said I'd like to see the NHL embrace the fanbases it does have, rather then dick around trying to force square pegs into round holes. PotD 26/2/12 1/7/15 2020 BASS Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Regular Season Champion 2021 BASS NFL Pick'em Regular Season Champion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted April 29, 2015 Author Share Posted April 29, 2015 The stewardship of the game by the team owners has historically been terrible. Too many of these guys thought they were in the arena-booking business, not the hockey business. ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubsFanBudMan Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Why don't we try to make more American fans of Canadian teams? Get new/casual/unaffiliated fans to root for the Montreal Canadiens the way people do for the Yankees. Of course, the dilemma there is that those people probably don't even know where Montreal is because when we study maps in grade school, there's nothing north of the United States. Still, promote the Habs as a team people all across the continent can get behind.It worked for English soccer... I guess.And Ice_Cap, I'll have you know that Sawgrass Mills is no strip mall. It's the real deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unocal Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I'm rooting for a Calgary-Montreal SCF Rubber Match. Split in 1986-1989. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still MIGHTY Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 | ANA | LAA | LAR | LAL | ASU | CSULB | USMNT | USWNT | LAFC | OCSC | MAN UTD | Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infrared41 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Why don't we try to make more American fans of Canadian teams? Get new/casual/unaffiliated fans to root for the Montreal Canadiens the way people do for the Yankees. Of course, the dilemma there is that those people probably don't even know where Montreal is because when we study maps in grade school, there's nothing north of the United States. Still, promote the Habs as a team people all across the continent can get behind.Americans are frontrunners first and foremost. The reason the Yankees, Steelers, and Cowboys have so many fans is because those teams won a lot of championships in a short amount of time. (Not to mention, they did it on a much bigger stage.) Just telling Americans "hey, even though they haven't won jack since 1993, this Montreal team is hockey's version of the Yankees" ain't gonna do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmic Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Why don't we try to make more American fans of Canadian teams? Get new/casual/unaffiliated fans to root for the Montreal Canadiens the way people do for the Yankees. Of course, the dilemma there is that those people probably don't even know where Montreal is because when we study maps in grade school, there's nothing north of the United States. Still, promote the Habs as a team people all across the continent can get behind.If the school springs for the "deluxe version", there's a dot for Toronto in the big, gray blob at the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceCap Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Why don't we try to make more American fans of Canadian teams? Get new/casual/unaffiliated fans to root for the Montreal Canadiens the way people do for the Yankees. Of course, the dilemma there is that those people probably don't even know where Montreal is because when we study maps in grade school, there's nothing north of the United States. Still, promote the Habs as a team people all across the continent can get behind.Americans are frontrunners first and foremost. The reason the Yankees, Steelers, and Cowboys have so many fans is because those teams won a lot of championships in a short amount of time. (Not to mention, they did it on a much bigger stage.) Just telling Americans "hey, even though they haven't won jack since 1993, this Montreal team is hockey's version of the Yankees" ain't gonna do it. Why not? Seems to work for the Rangers. NBC pushes them as the NHL's Yankees. And they haven't won anything since 1994. PotD 26/2/12 1/7/15 2020 BASS Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Regular Season Champion 2021 BASS NFL Pick'em Regular Season Champion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubsFanBudMan Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I think that's a fair point. Everyone here can list NBC's favorites... so their influence on awareness is real. They might be wise to add a Canadian team or two to that mix. Montreal has the narrative... maybe they can get started building them up this year with a deep run.Remember, ESPN has been quite the kingmaker through the years. Since they aren't really in the hockey business anymore, there's no hope for help there. But I'm not going to sell "NBC Comcast Universal Maybe Time Warner Maybe Not" short on power.Seriously, 10 years ago (maybe even 5) I knew no one interested in English soccer. But many I know watch it now. (I still don't. Maybe someday.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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