Every NHL city has it's competitive advantages in some aspect but I do think ethnicity and cultural background can play a role in some European and American players wanting to sign in the Prairie provinces.
I brought this up once in the political thread for other reasons but for European/Russian players having more of a taste of home or home's cultural background, does help. Calgary/Edmonton and Winnipeg don't really have a lot of that offering. It's not that we don't have those immigrant communities here , it's just that is there a strong Swedish supermarket offering in western Canada? Where can we get some Czech delicacies? How strong of a community/church situation is there for the Russian players for big Orthodox holidays like Christmas and Easter?
It's not just the players themselves, a lot of times the wives/girlfriends are also looking at this and they want some aspect of their cultural background for their children. Language school, religious education, cultural and community events/food/celebrations and more.
Sometimes I think it would be wise for the Flames to really nail down on players from the interior BC, AB, SK and MB. It's close, a lot of times they will have friends and family here and their loved ones can travel here easily.
I just don't know if poor weather, lack of cultural offerings, higher taxes, poor travel options for something really "different" close by and a poorly managed organization from a winning perspective (Calgary) can really compete with some of these non Canadian players.
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