Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis don’t exactly have great winters either. Maybe not as much of a factor as the Canadian prairies, but likely a deterrent to some degree if the player has a choice and all other things are equal.
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I think the problem is that all other things are not equal. I think people hand wringing over our winters are off base and it’s a pretty meaningless factor altogether.
Sure, the weather can suck in Chicago, or Ottawa, or Vancouver, etc, but there’s something on offer beyond the weather that makes up for it. Does Calgary have top ten weather in the NHL? No. But the issue is that the weather isn’t great, the arena is ancient to the point that players are publicly complaining about it, being rich is kind of pointless after a certain amount (especially if you aren’t allowed to enjoy mountain sports), and it can be a pretty ugly city at times that is mostly sprawling suburbs.
I guess tracing it back, Winters was completely correct. He didn’t say climate was the only reason, he said it was one of many. And it is. Unfortunately for us, it’s a big factor because we have almost nothing else going for us (from a young, rich hockey player’s perspective).