Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
Cali, you make it sound like 10,000 hockey players in a state with 14MM people is a good thing.
The costs associated out weigh the benefits. Move that team to Canada or Seattle or LV or basically anywhere.
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The growth rate is substantial, you cannot deny that. You can't turn places like Florida into hockey meccas overnight, nor will they ever be the place that is though of as a hockey first area, but having any sort of youth hockey program build here is really good for the game. The youth hockey in So Cal now is a direct result of Gretzky's impact on the area. That took more than 20 years to establish.
Canada, the northeast U.S., and the Minnesota area will always be the hotbeds for hockey, but it's good to have other smaller areas contribute to that culture.
The double failure of Atlanta, and the financial losses of the Panthers and Coyotes aside, there are success stories in Tampa and Nashville, as well as the previously mentioned California success stories.
Don't forget that the California Golden Seals and Colorado Rockies were both failed franchises long ago, and yet the NHL went back there and found success. It helps when the team wins, which has been the major stumbling block for the Panthers. Everyone around here still talks about the team that went to the finals 20 years ago. The only other positive memory people have of the team was Bure's tenure.
The team is just starting to build into a strong perennial contender, and it would be a real shame if they were to move right when they were getting to a point where fans were starting to show up. People are starting to ask for tickets, whereas last year I couldn't give them away.
Florida is averaging 12961 fans per game this year. Not exceptional, but it's still up about 1500 fans per game over last year, which is about 76.1% capacity. Nobody is talking about moving New Jersey, but they're operating at 78.9% capacity for 13905 per game. Carolina is down to 10759, which is around 57.6% capacity. Haven't heard a peep about moving that team. The Islanders were terrible for just as long as the Panthers, and they only moved the team recently because Nassau Coliseum was not going to be brought into the 21st century.
Basically, there is a weird stigma about a team in South Florida. People feel like it just shouldn't exist, but outside of poor financials due to poor performance for 20 years, there's nothing that makes the Panthers much different from any other non-traditional hockey market.