Official NHL playoff thread

[gojetsgo]

Oilers fans rock Anaheim

School band's long-planned trip to Disneyland coincides with series

Some quotations of note:

"It's weird to not see anyone wearing a Ducks jersey or a hat or anything," Williams said. "I would have thought in the playoffs it would have picked up at least. You can hardly even tell you're in Anaheim."

He said there is still plenty of hockey excitement in the city, but it was all coming from vacationing Edmontonians they'd run into.

"It seems like there are more Oilers fans than Ducks fans down here," Williams said. "Everywhere we go, people are screaming 'Go Oilers,' because they see the jersey, but you don't see that support for the Ducks."

The city of Anaheim showing no support for their team... big surprise. Tickets are still available for the rest of Anaheim's home games and although the crowd tonight was announced as a sellout, there were obvious empty seats.

And yes, tickets are still available for Carolina home games. Go to the Canes' website and search for tickets for TOMORROW's game. You can still get tickets for ANY price level. Try it for yourself.

In contrast, the 3 Oilers home games sold out in 2 minutes online. I am currently listening to fans cheering on Whyte Avenue from out of my window, and I live several kilometers away.

You can blast me all you want, but I feel cities like Anaheim and Carolina are clearly showing that they don't deserve to have hockey teams. This is round 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs and people in these towns still don't give a damn.

The failed experiment of Southern exploration is the NHL's biggest embarassment.

[jkrdevil]

Gotta give him credit 2 Goals Allowed 2 Assists in 2 Games.

THe Oilers were very smart getting him, imagine iof the Senators got him, I guess they blew that one

I know and people complained about the price the Oilers gave up for him. Giving up the 1st round pick is looking real good right now.

[FiddySicks]

The failed experiment of Southern exploration is the NHL's biggest embarassment.

That may be a little bit overboard. Its not like these teams are posing the risk of folding. And, of course your going to get more support from Canadian cities, Hockey is Canada's national passtime. Yeah ill admit its kinda odd to see playoff teams not selling out, but to call the Southern exploration of the NHL failed is pretty much dead wrong.

[Eye]

The failed experiment of Southern exploration is the NHL's biggest embarassment.

That may be a little bit overboard. Its not like these teams are posing the risk of folding. And, of course your going to get more support from Canadian cities, Hockey is Canada's national passtime. Yeah ill admit its kinda odd to see playoff teams not selling out, but to call the Southern exploration of the NHL failed is pretty much dead wrong.

Exactly right. Thank you Bucfan. You may not get sellouts in all arenas, but to say that the NHL's southern expansion has failed is a bit of a stretch. You still get A LOT of people going to the games down there. As for expanding to the south, the NHL would be stupid, as would any other league, to not put teams in the biggest cities. So tickets are available for games in Anaheim and Carolina, that certainly does not mean that the cities show no support for their team. Hockey is relatively new in the south and it is STILL growing.

[gojetsgo]

I agree that the NHL would be stupid to not have some teams in the southern US, but I feel the NHL went too far. There are logical places to put a team, and there are stupid ones. True, none of these teams are folding, but they are only still around because they have had owners who have very deep pockets and are willing to lose millions every year.

And it's not like fans in Anaheim or Carolina haven't had enough time to warm up to their teams. The Ducks have been around for 13 years and the Canes for 9. Both teams have been to the finals in recent memory. Hockey is not new to them, its just boring to them.

It is baffling that markets that large can't fill a 17000 seat arena for a 3rd round playoff game. It really pains me to see cities blessed with not only an NHL team, but one that has a legitamite shot at the cup, and show little more than apathy. Fans in the many non-NHL hockey-loving cities, would kill for what these lcuky fans have.

[LMU]

It is baffling that markets that large can't fill a 17000 seat arena for a 3rd round playoff game. It really pains me to see cities blessed with not only an NHL team, but one that has a legitamite shot at the cup, and show little more than apathy. Fans in the many non-NHL hockey-loving cities, would kill for what these lcuky fans have.

I hope you realize that this season is the first since a little thing called a lockout. You may remember it. It took Major League Baseball a few years to overcome the aftermath from the strike of 1994, largely due to the unplanned Sosa/McGwire home run chase. To expect that hockey, a sport that doesn't have the popularity in the US that baseball has, wouldn't deal with this hurdle is just plain ignorant. Besides, not to offend anyone, but the Southern hockey markets, notably the LA area and the South, have sizeable groups of people (Hispanic in LA and African American in the South) who aren't normally attracted to hockey, while in Canada, it's a way of life. So, obviously there's a lack of interest of some sort, but how could this not have been expected?

[The_Admiral]

***

[Roger Clemente]

you don't see that support for the Ducks."

Reprinted with courtesy from Duh magazine.

More productive my ass.

Two contributing factors, though not entirely responsible, may be the 6PM start time coupled with general SoCal gridlock.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[Shane Does Art]

Gotta give him credit 2 Goals Allowed 2 Assists in 2 Games.

THe Oilers were very smart getting him, imagine iof the Senators got him, I guess they blew that one

yah that would be great but noooooo, Hasek was coming back said Muckler we will be fine. That blew up in our face.

[IronChefShark]

I feel cities like Anaheim and Carolina are clearly showing that they don't deserve to have hockey teams.

so under that logic, would you agree that Montreal didnt deserve to have an MLB team?

[Gary]

I feel cities like Anaheim and Carolina are clearly showing that they don't deserve to have hockey teams.

so under that logic, would you agree that Montreal didnt deserve to have an MLB team?

or Vancouver Grizzlies didn't deserve an NBA team for that matter.

[J.R.]

I feel cities like Anaheim and Carolina are clearly showing that they don't deserve to have hockey teams.

so under that logic, would you agree that Montreal didnt deserve to have an MLB team?

or Vancouver Grizzlies didn't deserve an NBA team for that matter.

I agree with both statements and they've been rightfully relocated in the United States.

[zer0dotcom]

I feel cities like Anaheim and Carolina are clearly showing that they don't deserve to have hockey teams.

so under that logic, would you agree that Montreal didnt deserve to have an MLB team?

or Vancouver Grizzlies didn't deserve an NBA team for that matter.

I agree with both statements and they've been rightfully relocated in the United States.

Rightfully? Care to explain?

[Eye]

I feel cities like Anaheim and Carolina are clearly showing that they don't deserve to have hockey teams.

so under that logic, would you agree that Montreal didnt deserve to have an MLB team?

or Vancouver Grizzlies didn't deserve an NBA team for that matter.

I agree with both statements and they've been rightfully relocated in the United States.

Why would it be ok for those teams to be relocated to the United States? If they were relocated to another city in Canada, to me it wouldn't be a problem as long as they would be making money.

[J.R.]

Rightfully? Care to explain?

They weren't receiving enough support from local fans and attendance numbers were horrific, therefore they were moved to locations that now support the teams. It's a simple concept and something that the NHL should consider in some markets.

[Fred T. Jane]

I feel cities like Anaheim and Carolina are clearly showing that they don't deserve to have hockey teams.

so under that logic, would you agree that Montreal didnt deserve to have an MLB team?

or Vancouver Grizzlies didn't deserve an NBA team for that matter.

I agree with both statements and they've been rightfully relocated in the United States.

Why would it be ok for those teams to be relocated to the United States? If they were relocated to another city in Canada, to me it wouldn't be a problem as long as they would be making money.

Where would they go? Edmonton? Calgary? Saskatoon?

[zer0dotcom]

Rightfully? Care to explain?

They weren't receiving enough support from local fans and attendance numbers were horrific, therefore they were moved to locations that now support the teams. It's a simple concept and something that the NHL should consider in some markets.

ok, when I first read it, I was under the impression you were meaning a different meaning of 'rightfully'.

I agree with Fred's 'Why does it have to be the States' comments. It's been said time and time again that the purpose of expansion and relocation is to expand teh fanbase of the league into areas it hadn't been before. MLB and NBA hasn't gone into Western Canada (other than Vancouver)Alot of places do have the CFL, but other than Hockey, many Western Canadian places don't have other Major level teams to follow.

There is the potential that 'A' team could survive on the prospect of being new to the area. Hell, who would have though that ice hockey would survive being pro in Florida or Texas? But, my empahsis is on one team, not loading three or four in there.

Also, guys, if there is going to be an arguement about the merits of relocation and Canadian Markets vs. American markets, start a new thread, this one is for NHL playoff discussion

[J.R.]

Why would it be ok for those teams to be relocated to the United States? If they were relocated to another city in Canada, to me it wouldn't be a problem as long as they would be making money.

Name one Canadian city, other than Toronto, that could support a professional baseball team and name one Canadian city, other than Toronto, that could support a professional basketball team. There's many cities in the United States that can do that, so they were moved there. What's the problem?

[zer0dotcom]

Why would it be ok for those teams to be relocated to the United States? If they were relocated to another city in Canada, to me it wouldn't be a problem as long as they would be making money.

Name one Canadian city, other than Toronto, that could support a professional baseball team and name one Canadian city, other than Toronto, that could support a professional basketball team. There's many cities in the United States that can do that, so they were moved there. What's the problem?

It's been said time and time again that the purpose of expansion and relocation is to expand teh fanbase of the league into areas it hadn't been before. MLB and NBA hasn't gone into Western Canada (other than Vancouver)Alot of places do have the CFL, but other than Hockey, many Western Canadian places don't have other Major level teams to follow.

Why not try to break into the Canadian Market? It hasn't been tried out West yet, who's to say that it wouldn't work?

[BrianVlietDesign]

GO DUCKS GO!!! We can take Game Three, I believe in you guys. I have never lost hope and I won't lose it now. I've got just one word for Ducks fans...BELIEVE.