NHL Hockey thread

[Barrister]

And Vancouver is by every objective means one of the worst hockey markets in Canada.

You just keep telling yourself that as the Jets struggle to survive in that market.... again.

Two years in and the Jets are still thriving.

[crazy canuck]

And Vancouver is by every objective means one of the worst hockey markets in Canada.

You just keep telling yourself that as the Jets struggle to survive in that market.... again.

Two years in and the Jets are still thriving.

By thriving you mean they havent left town yet.  As predicted the initial glow is still on them and people are still willing to shell out money to watch a team that cant make the playoffs.  But how long can that trend last.  The history of hockey in Winnipeg tells us the honeymoon wont last forever.

[Barrister]

And Vancouver is by every objective means one of the worst hockey markets in Canada.

You just keep telling yourself that as the Jets struggle to survive in that market.... again.

Two years in and the Jets are still thriving.

By thriving you mean they havent left town yet.  As predicted the initial glow is still on them and people are still willing to shell out money to watch a team that cant make the playoffs.  But how long can that trend last.  The history of hockey in Winnipeg tells us the honeymoon wont last forever.

You just keep on predicting doom.  Surely something bad will happen next year!

[crazy canuck]

This is the one time of year I post in this thread.   Its only been two years since the Jets were reborn.  Of course I have predicted their doom.  Its plain to see.

[PRC]

CC is the ultimate bandwagon fan.  Canucks go deep in the playoffs and he is cheering as loud as anyone (as we saw him do in 2011)... they slide and he's not paying attention, not interested in hockey at all.  If the Canucks go deep again I wouldn't be surprised to see him right there at the end waving a big # 1 mitt around.

[Neil]

Hell, pro basketball is a sport the same way the pro wrestling is a sport.

I concede that the NFL and Major League Baseball are more popular by a big margin but its funny to watch someone try to compare hockey to a sport that is in the top 5.  Hell Golf beats out the NHL.  GOLF!

On the other hand, you live in Canada.  NHL Hockey is the #1 sport by a gigantic margin.  They must be doing something right to so utterly dominate this market.

[crazy canuck]

CC is the ultimate bandwagon fan.  Canucks go deep in the playoffs and he is cheering as loud as anyone (as we saw him do in 2011)... they slide and he's not paying attention, not interested in hockey at all.  If the Canucks go deep again I wouldn't be surprised to see him right there at the end waving a big # 1 mitt around.

Meh, the only reason I watch deep into the playoffs is because I am forced to notice as I have to wade through a sea of Canuck's fans as I get to my office.  I realize that some of you have never experienced a home team going deep into the playoffs but there is no need to get personal about your bitterness.

[Neil]

I realize that some of you have never experienced a home team going deep into the playoffs but there is no need to get personal about your bitterness.

Really?  Who hasn't experienced that?

[Barrister]

CC is the ultimate bandwagon fan.  Canucks go deep in the playoffs and he is cheering as loud as anyone (as we saw him do in 2011)... they slide and he's not paying attention, not interested in hockey at all.  If the Canucks go deep again I wouldn't be surprised to see him right there at the end waving a big # 1 mitt around.

Meh, the only reason I watch deep into the playoffs is because I am forced to notice as I have to wade through a sea of Canuck's fans as I get to my office.  I realize that some of you have never experienced a home team going deep into the playoffs but there is no need to get personal about your bitterness.

Have you forgotten 2006 already?  Oilers make it to game 7 of the finals.  I too was surrounded by a sea of home team fans, but I didn't succumb to the bandwagon.

[crazy canuck]

Have you forgotten 2006 already?  Oilers make it to game 7 of the finals.  I too was surrounded by a sea of home team fans, but I didn't succumb to the bandwagon.

Meh that says more about your Jetboyism than anything.  Besides it was more of a shot at Toronto...

[viper37]

And Vancouver is by every objective means one of the worst hockey markets in Canada.

You just keep telling yourself that as the Jets struggle to survive in that market.... again.

Two years in and the Jets are still thriving.

By thriving you mean they havent left town yet.  As predicted the initial glow is still on them and people are still willing to shell out money to watch a team that cant make the playoffs.  But how long can that trend last.  The history of hockey in Winnipeg tells us the honeymoon wont last forever.

I'll have to take BB's defense here, being acustomed to root for a team who can't seem to make the playoffs (even worst, a non existent team now ).

Last year, the Jets ranked 11th in their conference.
This year, they might not make the playoffs, but they're #9 and they might just finish #8 this year.  Probably gonna lose in the 1st round, 5-6 games, but anyway, I'd call this progress.  You have to go back to 2006-2007 for the franchise to have made the playoffs, the only time they did.

It's not the Canadiens or the Leafs, it's not a team with a long tradition.  The original Jets started around '79, I think? Same time as the Nordiques when the AHL folded into the NHL?

It's Canada here, my friend.  People just love the game.  Winning or losing, people go to the game, and they buy the caps, the shirts, the hockey sticks, the posters, the calendars, the boots, all those silly derivatives.  We're like that, French or English, Arabic or European, the only unifying force of this country is the sport.

Their time will come, and until them, I'm 100% positive the people of Winnipeg will be behind their team, win or lose.

There are two reasons why the Nordiques and the Jets moved to the south in the 90s:
1- unfavorable exchange rate
2- no wage cap.

#1 meant increased costs for canadian teams, nearly 40% more.  #2 meant that the same teams kept going to the playoffs and winning the cup spending 5 times as more as the others for their players.

#1 is solved for the time being, and we have a revenue sharing agreement, wich wasn't there in 94-95.  Heck, it helps keep the Coyotes in Arizona, despite an empty arena, so I can't see how the Jets would move again with a full arena.
#2 means every team have their chances, dynasties are rare, we see a rotation of the winning teams. Rangers were #1 last year, #8 this year (for BB's sake, maybe even #9 ).

I think the fans are patient.  Just like Nordiques fans.  Just like Habs fans, nearly 25 years without the cup, nearly a generation.

The NHL ain't such a bad league, it has corrected many things over the years.  Of course, they don't do everything like I want them to, but it's not my non-existent millions financing the thing.

[viper37]

I realize that some of you have never experienced a home team going deep into the playoffs but there is no need to get personal about your bitterness.

Really?  Who hasn't experienced that?

Ok. they did, but I was young, and at the time, I was mostly limited to listening hockey on radio, with headphones, so my parents would think I was sleeping

[HVC]

I agree with C's* jets hating policy but disagree with his hockey hating policy. I'm torn.


* he has lost the right to use Canuck due to his uncanadianess, origin of the nickname aside.

[crazy canuck]

It's Canada here, my friend.  People just love the game.  Winning or losing, people go to the game, and they buy the caps, the shirts, the hockey sticks, the posters, the calendars, the boots, all those silly derivatives. Their time will come, and until them, I'm 100% positive the people of Winnipeg will be behind their team, win or lose.

That is the main problem.  People are way too quick to drink the cool aid and buy into the narrative that this is what we do.  Fact is more kids here play soccer and basketball then they play hockey.  And it is a very large margin when we look at soccer.

If you guys keep approaching the sport as if it were some kind of cult it is never going to clean up its act.  And until that day comes it is always going to be a sport only for the fanatics.

[Josephus]

Have you forgotten 2006 already?  Oilers make it to game 7 of the finals.  I too was surrounded by a sea of home team fans, but I didn't succumb to the bandwagon.

Meh that says more about your Jetboyism than anything.  Besides it was more of a shot at Toronto...

We were our colours and excitement ALL THE TIME