Quote:
Originally Posted by Joborule
I think your two paragraphs contradict each other in non-traditional markets being successful. If that was truly the case, then hockey shouldn't be working in California either. But as you mentioned about Tampa Bay, if a franchise can be successful, it will generate support. And although Phoenix has largely been irrelevant for their entire history, it has produced an elite level hockey player.
But it definitely is a very uphill battle, and if you don't have a period of being a competitive team, you're SOL in being able to stay.
It just feels like at this point that Phoenix is just not going to work out, and it'll be moving to either Houston (they may like hockey more now because of their current weather) or Quebec City. After Seattle starts up, those two cities are next on the queue, with Kansas City being a wildcard I suppose.
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Exactly.
Winning cures all. Case in point, the Panthers going to the cup final in their second season secured a strong fan base for the next 5-10 years. They just were never able to follow up consistently with any sort of winning, so fans never took them on.
I guarantee that Vegas is going to be a very strong franchise for decades simply because of how they broke into the league and set the fan expectation.
To quote Al Davis:
