The Zetterberg Era
Ball Hockey Sucks
Phoenix was doing worlds better when they were downtown too. The decision to exit downtown has played a large role in their problem in Arizona. We don't question Ottawa as a hockey market we concede their arena is terrible and their owner is a goof. That is because they are in Canada, we don't even get all that upset when they bring out the tarps. Meanwhile Arizona has had terrible ownership and crummy arena location and has suffered as a result. Hey same for Atlanta.
Meanwhile San Jose has ownership that invested heavily in the local amateur program and built a smart organization with strong results. Nashville approached a long-haul build as has Dallas and Tampa though they benefit from snowbirds for a lot of the season. Still this is much more contingent on the ownership group doing the right things and waiting two and half generations to profit. We might have the greatest American player ever thanks to our journey to the desert. One that looks poised at some point (hopefully not!!!!!!!!) to end the extremely long Cup drought in the largest hockey market in the world. Forgive me if I role my eyes when the lecture about shutting down Arizona or whatever else to move to Canada for the annual TSN hit piece on it happens.
The league makes decisions on a bigger level than I think most seem to appreciate and they have substantial information on the markets we talk about along with the potential owners they can do business with.
Meanwhile San Jose has ownership that invested heavily in the local amateur program and built a smart organization with strong results. Nashville approached a long-haul build as has Dallas and Tampa though they benefit from snowbirds for a lot of the season. Still this is much more contingent on the ownership group doing the right things and waiting two and half generations to profit. We might have the greatest American player ever thanks to our journey to the desert. One that looks poised at some point (hopefully not!!!!!!!!) to end the extremely long Cup drought in the largest hockey market in the world. Forgive me if I role my eyes when the lecture about shutting down Arizona or whatever else to move to Canada for the annual TSN hit piece on it happens.
The league makes decisions on a bigger level than I think most seem to appreciate and they have substantial information on the markets we talk about along with the potential owners they can do business with.