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Flames Draft Watcher · 03-19-2009, 01:46 PM

So if you couldn't afford Flames games and it was an hour long drive to the Dome you still wouldn't go watch good hockey just because they were Canucks prospects? Even if that is a popular sentiment, its ridiculous to think it would be a universal one.

Having lived quite a bit in both Burnaby/Coquitlam and Calgary I would say that in general Flames fans are more die-hard and might have more of an issue with this than the reverse.

Your parallel between Cochrane and Abby is a horrible one just based on geography and populations. Abbotsford can draw from Chilliwack as well from further west and south and New West, Coquitlam, Burnaby, Surrey, Aldergrove, etc. There's how many millions living in the Fraser Valley? Certainly it dwarfs Calgary and surrounding towns. And GM place holds what, 20K at most I'd imagine. There is 2 junior teams in Vancouver and Chilliwack but do you really think that the hockey market is fully tapped out just with those 3 teams?

But mostly what I find ridiculous about these fan arguments is the overly simplistic logic of
1) People living near Vancouver MUST be Vancouver fans
2) Vancouver fans would NEVER go watch the Flames farm team play

Both 1 and 2 are quite questionable. To undermine number one you need only ask yourself what the ratio of Canucks fans to Calgary fans is at a VAN-CGY home game. Or ask yourself what the ratio of Leafs or Habs fans to Calgary fans is at a Calgary game. Have you ever seen jerseys that weren't Flames jerseys in Calgary? Have you ever met fans that weren't Flames fans?

There's lots of transplanted Albertans in BC. There's lots of holdover Leafs and Habs fans there just like there is here. There's some fans that have loyalties to other American teams. Some people may be new immigrants that are just discovering hockey and don't have strong loyalties yet. And of course as I've said its not a certainty that every single Canucks fan would shun AHL level hockey that was cheaper and potentially close than the NHL.

Anyways I just find it silly when people make blanket statements about the entire population of a massive geographic area.

03-19-2009, 01:46 PM	#27
Flames Draft Watcher In the Sin Bin Join Date: Oct 2001 Exp:	So if you couldn't afford Flames games and it was an hour long drive to the Dome you still wouldn't go watch good hockey just because they were Canucks prospects? Even if that is a popular sentiment, its ridiculous to think it would be a universal one. Having lived quite a bit in both Burnaby/Coquitlam and Calgary I would say that in general Flames fans are more die-hard and might have more of an issue with this than the reverse. Your parallel between Cochrane and Abby is a horrible one just based on geography and populations. Abbotsford can draw from Chilliwack as well from further west and south and New West, Coquitlam, Burnaby, Surrey, Aldergrove, etc. There's how many millions living in the Fraser Valley? Certainly it dwarfs Calgary and surrounding towns. And GM place holds what, 20K at most I'd imagine. There is 2 junior teams in Vancouver and Chilliwack but do you really think that the hockey market is fully tapped out just with those 3 teams? But mostly what I find ridiculous about these fan arguments is the overly simplistic logic of 1) People living near Vancouver MUST be Vancouver fans 2) Vancouver fans would NEVER go watch the Flames farm team play Both 1 and 2 are quite questionable. To undermine number one you need only ask yourself what the ratio of Canucks fans to Calgary fans is at a VAN-CGY home game. Or ask yourself what the ratio of Leafs or Habs fans to Calgary fans is at a Calgary game. Have you ever seen jerseys that weren't Flames jerseys in Calgary? Have you ever met fans that weren't Flames fans? There's lots of transplanted Albertans in BC. There's lots of holdover Leafs and Habs fans there just like there is here. There's some fans that have loyalties to other American teams. Some people may be new immigrants that are just discovering hockey and don't have strong loyalties yet. And of course as I've said its not a certainty that every single Canucks fan would shun AHL level hockey that was cheaper and potentially close than the NHL. Anyways I just find it silly when people make blanket statements about the entire population of a massive geographic area. Last edited by Flames Draft Watcher; 03-19-2009 at 01:49 PM.