And it's over...

[BookerT]

didn't tampa bay win the most recent stanley cup? and i thought dallas has always been pretty supportive, as crazy as that seems.
 
 honestly, they should get rid of the caps. it pains me to say it, and i would feel like a great part of my childhood would have been wasted, but this town clearly doesn't give a shit about the team. every time the devils, flyers, rangers, penguins, basically any east coast team comes to town, there are more of their fans than caps fans.

[Venerable Bede]

Originally posted by BookerT:
  didn't tampa bay win the most recent stanley cup? and i thought dallas has always been pretty supportive, as crazy as that seems.
 

yeah, dallas fans are fairly supportive of the stars.  
 
 i'd say contract florida, tampa, atlanta, nashville, phoenix (or send em back to winnipeg) and probably carolina (unless there's a canadian city that would take them).  i'm reluctant to contract phoenix and carolina outright simply because of the history of the franchises, the old jets and whalers.  same with the caps.

[sonickteam2]

dallas and tampa bay can be contracted. just cause they are good, does not mean they are making money and helping the league.
 
   screw em.  and neither have any real history. sure the Stars were Minnesota , but i bet you'd be hard pressed to find anyone from Minnesota to care if Dallas lost its team!

[HoyaSaxa03]

<img src="http://www.sptimes.com/Lightning/graphics/number1-04.jpg" alt=" - " />
 
 as an enormous lightning fan (attended to the first game ever, the '97 playoff mini-run against the flyers, and rabidly followed the season last year from DC), this is really tough.
 
 i agree that the league is way overextended, they never should have moved into places like Tampa, S. Fla, Atlanta, Phoenix, etc, etc ... i think in an ideal world many of the southern teams would be contracted ... but as a lightning fan, i can't personally advocate it, i just see how it makes complete sense in the broader picture
 
 positive: we have the cup for another year, right?

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

I think this picture proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are at least two gay hockey fans in Tampa. Not that there's anything wrong with it.
 
 

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
   <img src="http://www.sptimes.com/Lightning/graphics/number1-04.jpg" alt=" - " />
 
 as an enormous lightning fan (attended to the first game ever, the '97 playoff mini-run against the flyers, and rabidly followed the season last year from DC), this is really tough.
 
 i agree that the league is way overextended, they never should have moved into places like Tampa, S. Fla, Atlanta, Phoenix, etc, etc ... i think in an ideal world many of the southern teams would be contracted ... but as a lightning fan, i can't personally advocate it, i just see how it makes complete sense in the broader picture
 
 positive: we have the cup for another year, right?

[HoyaSaxa03]

Originally posted by Sam Pulsize:
  I think this picture proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are at least two gay hockey fans in Tampa. Not that there's anything wrong with it.
 

these two young homos were actually in philadelphia, hence the mocking of the flyers' logo ...

[eltee]

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa03:
   

Originally posted by Sam Pulsize:
  I think this picture proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are at least two gay hockey fans in Tampa. Not that there's anything wrong with it.
 

these two young homos were actually in philadelphia, hence the mocking of the flyers' logo ... [/b]

Tough guys - be a little more PC please?
   <img src="http://www.everyschool.org/u/hillbrook/kyled/slapshot226x326%5b1%5d.jpg" alt=" - " />

[vansmack]

Originally posted by Sam Pulsize:
  Two separate studies found that most NHL teams were in the red. Probably because of overpaid players, but perhaps also from snot nosed law students sneaking into games without paying.    

Haha, well done!
 
 They should have worked out better concession deals, because I never stole a beer or a hot dog.  Oh wait, I definitely had a lot of free beers from the suites.  Somebody pays for those, right?  And, how much did they make on my jerseys?

[xcanuck]

Originally posted by sonickteam2:
   I will take out 6 teams, no problem, but can i pick those 6?  probably not. nashville, florida, carolina, phoenix, dallas and tampa bay will do.
 
  but will that really solve the problem?

My six teams to contract would be Florida, Carolina, Phoenix, Tampa, Washington, and Anaheim. I wouldn't take out Dallas because their fan base is reasonably large enough and I wouldn't take out Phoenix because I couldn't see Gretkzy letting it happen.
 
 Contraction will HELP but not solve the league's problems, especially if they implement revenue sharing. Reasons being:
 
 1. fewer teams on welfare (revenue sharing)
 2. fewer players in the league so the lower tier players won't have jobs. The good part about this is that those are the guys that are doing alot of the obstruction that's slowing down the game. So the overall talent level goes up and so does the quality of the on ice product.
 3. fewer games played in cities with low attendance (which translates to more tickets sold overall). This means higher revenue on average per team left in the league.
 4. lower travel expenses
 5. Detroit FINALLY gets to play in the eastern conference. More Leafs vs Wings games!!
 6. Gary Bettman will get fired as a result of contraction
 
 All these are pluses in my books :=)

[jkeisenh]

I still believe that the best way to solve the league's financial woes is to allow fights-- and lots of them.  that would be a far bigger draw for the sport.  i might even go.

[sonickteam2]

Originally posted by xcanuck:
  My six teams to contract would be Florida, Carolina, Phoenix, Tampa, Washington, and Anaheim. I wouldn't take out Dallas because their fan base is reasonably large enough and I wouldn't take out Phoenix because I couldn't see Gretkzy letting it happen.
 
 Contraction will HELP but not solve the league's problems, especially if they implement revenue sharing. Reasons being:
 
 1. fewer teams on welfare (revenue sharing)
 2. fewer players in the league so the lower tier players won't have jobs. The good part about this is that those are the guys that are doing alot of the obstruction that's slowing down the game. So the overall talent level goes up and so does the quality of the on ice product.
 3. fewer games played in cities with low attendance (which translates to more tickets sold overall). This means higher revenue on average per team left in the league.
 4. lower travel expenses
 5. Detroit FINALLY gets to play in the eastern conference. More Leafs vs Wings games!!
 6. Gary Bettman will get fired as a result of contraction
 
 All these are pluses in my books :=)

nice.  can you send that proposal to Daly?
 
  number 6 is the best!!! and dont take the Capitals away til i move out of the DC area.  while i dont think DC should have a team....how else would i get to see 40 games a year!!!!

[vansmack]

Originally posted by xcanuck:
  My six teams to contract would be Florida, Carolina, Phoenix, Tampa, Washington, and Anaheim.

Just to play the part of Devil's Advocate here, but you've listed three teams that have made the Finals in the last three years despite hockey's problems.
 
 Why not contract Pittsburgh?  How many times are the people of Pittsburgh going to vote down a new arena?  They were so broke they had to give part of the team to their best player because they coudln't pay him.  And things aren't getting better.  
 
 And what of Ottowa and Buffalo?  They're both already bankrupt, why save them?
 
 Nashville and Columbus?

[sonickteam2]

Originally posted by vansmack:
 
 And what of Ottowa and Buffalo?

you shut the hell up about Ottawa.
 
  i think part of Ottawa and Buffalo's problem is that increasing salaries by the league drive ticket prices up and make it hard for lower income cities to get fans in.
 
  Also, lets not look at contraction on team record, lets look at attendance and really lets look at genuine fan support.  when Tampa and Carolina were doing bad they had NO attendance, and only got good attendance when they were having thier good years.  Calgary, for example, has sold out every game for like 3 years and STILL lose money. and they were only good last year. Ottawa would have support regardless of record....Nashville wouldnt.  and theres not even any ice in Nashville.  screw em.
 
  Columbus should have a team though.
 
  and besides, Ottawa shouldnt be contracted just cause Americans can't spell it!

[vansmack]

Using your logic Sonick, I think every team in that list would survive if they implemented a Salary Cap and Revenue Sharing - the only thing that would save teams like Ottowa and Buffalo.
 
 I guess my overall point is that hockey can't survive as a dual-nation sport without a strong TV deal in the US.  And contracting 6 US teams in new markets (some of the largest TV markets in America) does not help your US TV deal.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by sonickteam2:
 

Originally posted by vansmack:
 [qb] and besides, Ottawa shouldnt be contracted just cause Americans can't spell it! [/b]

Thank you.  I was going to keep doing it until you corrected me.  Just looking to get a rise....