Quote:
Originally Posted by pourmeanother
This thread is kind of a joke. I don't mean that to be a **** to JJJ, I just fail to see how any of these suggestions "revive" a sport that is, IMO, doing better than it has in years.
How will eliminating the Sharks do any good for the league? I don't see that being beneficial. You eliminate them because of their name and location... That's laughable. They have the strongest fan base of the California teams, a talented team, and players who will tell you that they love playing in California- you mean you can play hockey and live in a paradise that's not a tundra? Wild. In fact, the 3 California teams are usually average or above average in attendance figures.
Sharks may be a generic name, but it's one that fans have grown to love- you have the "Shark Tank", and I'm not sure there's a cooler PowerPlay intro than 'Jaws'. I don't even think teams need to be chopped at all. Just a few relocations.
Here's my suggestions:
-Move Atlanta, Nashville, and Tampa Bay to more financially viable locations. Canada and/or the Great Lakes area can support more teams DEFINITELY. The Southeast has shown they can't support hockey, and it was a poor choice to have teams settle there.
-Get rid of the *intent to blow the whistle* rule. That is terrible. "Oh, well, I was going to blow the play dead (even though I didn't) before the goal so... OVERTURNED!"
-Do something about the fighting at the drop of the puck. Fighting has changed into something different than in the past. It used to be more meaningful- now it's more like "Oh look, there's George Parros, and I'm Jody Shelley- he isn't doing anything but I like to fight him every game so I'm going to see if he wants to drop gloves at the start of the 2nd period". Let's get some honor back into fighting, but keep it around (I won't stand for the pussification of the league!)
Other than that I have no major complaints about the NHL right now.
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The sport is not doing okay though. Attendance figures are still down, several franchises are struggling and the TV ratings are below that of Full House reruns.
I love hockey and the reality is some teams need to be cut. Maybe San Jose should stay, but I think they need to cut at least 6 franchises and there needs to be more Canadian teams. Canada is a regional sport and places like LA, Dallas and the like are big enough markets to support a team even with only moderate interest.
I could be wrong, but everything I read suggests the Sharks following consists of the folks who go to the games and few others.