Ice Man Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 Beil's spiel by Larry Beil, Yahoo! Sports September 17, 2004 Headshot Logo The NHL lockout started on Thursday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dallasdevil15 Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 sad but true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 You won't get any argument here. It is what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squishyx Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 atlanta was a bad example, its a huge city with 4 proffesional teams, and i hear the thrashers sell out nearly every game and still have 10$ bleacher creature seats they sell.... other then that the article is true but its nothing ground breaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantaRay Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 They expand into cities that shouldn't have pro franchises, either because they are too small or don't have a fan base that cares. The NHL is a classic example, which is why there are teams in Columbus, Nashville and Atlanta.This is an idiotic statement. Atlanta and Nashville are big markets and Columbus has been an NHL cash cow who sells out more than the majority of "established" NHL teams. Years ago this would have been a viable argument used against bringing a team to a NON-MARKET like New Jersey, which I am sure would not go over well on this board. The southern expansion in the long term will prove too be a major boon to the league. The real issue for me is players salaries and the lack sustained , organized effort by the NHL too build youth hockey as a viable option to high schools, junior high schools in each state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbdf Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 So right manta - the nhl should have been partner to USA Hockey and Hockey North America and assisted, financially, promotionally, etc. in introducing more than just street hockey across the country - ice programs, financial assistance to towns/private operators to build rinks, promoting highschool and junior travel team programs, promoting existing programs, high school tournaments, promoting college level hockey, even (and you canadian readers will hate me for this) slowly pulling some major junior teams south of the border or building U.S. based major junior leagues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 even (and you canadian readers will hate me for this) slowly pulling some major junior teams south of the border or building U.S. based major junior leagues. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Plymouth Whalers, OHL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted September 20, 2004 Share Posted September 20, 2004 Are you mentioning one instance, Don? Erie, Portland, Seattle, Tri-Cities all are or were junior hockey cities in the last 10 years. rbdf seems to be talking about more than that. Does anyone know anything about the USHL? Clemmensen and Hale both played there. Seems to be where a lot of young US players play, out in the Midwest. The NHL may be thinking that despite the fact that soccer is one of the three most popular sports for kids to play, very few like the professional version of it, so that's why it doesn't give money to these leagues. But the NHL is so much of a better product than MLS or any professional soccer league, so they'd be mistaken in that assumption. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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