Yeah myself and very good friend (former pro player) have been fighting with the city here, fruitlessly I may add, to allow ice in the arena for a a lot longer than they currently do. As it stands there is not enough time to implement a proper season and grow the game from grassroots. Nothing here will change until a new arena is built however.
But when you get into the Raleigh area, its really apparent that the game has taken hold. Obviously hockey is an "elitist" sport in terms of cost in comparison to other sports which really hampers getting the best athletes to turn to it at times.
The same can be seen in many other areas as well. Nashville has really done well growing the game as an example. Dallas as well. And most certainly the California teams although hockey has a long history there in regards to the Kings.
It will never ever be the number 1 sport in the USA overall, but that is irrelevant. It's OK to just grow the game and see players from all over the US making it to the big time. Thats how you keep the NHL fresh as well. Lots of games this weekend all over the place, and hopefully this thing just keeps getting bigger and better every year.
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