I look at it from a different perspective.
In European sports or US college football, there is a sense of belonging to a club or association. In many instances, you literally are part of the club with a membership and voting rights. The club and the supporters have a mutual understanding that they need each other.
In North American pro sports* you are just a paying customer. The team is just a franchise of the NHL umbrella. Their mandate is to maximize revenue, and that's it. They don't give a #### about you, just extracting as many dollars as they can from you.
I cheer for the Flames and I am a pretty big fan, but I don't live and die by them. I'm pretty annoyed they have basically sucked since 1995, but I'm not losing sleep over it either.
One peice of advice that is controversial: sports gambling can make it fun again despite the performance of your team. But obviously many problems can arise from gambling too.
*notable exception: Green Bay Packers.
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