"Americanizing" NHL Hockey?

[HisIceness]

They are doing it right putting it in heavy tourist areas like Vegas and Seattle, probably better exposure and someday maybe open the path to a team in like Mississippi.

Well the one time I've been through Mississippi I saw a guy at a restaurant in Jackson wearing a Dallas Stars shirt so yeah I would agree that once Seattle, Houston, Atlanta, Kansas City, Austin, Baltimore, Cleveland, Milwaukee, San Diego, Hartford, Tulsa, New Orleans, Birmingham, Little Rock, and Myrtle Beach get their expansion teams, that should open the door for Jackson to finally receive the long-awaited Mississippi Ice Rebels

 

[GlitchMarner]

What the hell is the OP trying to say or ask?

 

[CalderSchmalder]

bad thread is bad

 

[Zenos]

who actually plays ice hockey outside? literally no one in canada.

If you mean high-level organised hockey then yeah, you're right.
But as others have already commented, there are something like 100 community rinks in the Edmonton area alone. A google search reveals that there are 260 in Montreal. I'm sure the numbers in Calgary, Toronto, Winnipeg (where you can also play on the Assiniboine and Red rivers), Ottawa (also Rideu canal), etc. are similarly large.

 

[Analyst365]

4 of the original 6 teams were American. When the league expanded to 12 teams, 10 of 12 teams became American. The league has always been mostly American.

Canada also has as many teams as it can support. You could argue for another team in the Toronto area, but the Leafs would block that.

The original 6 is a nickname. When the NHL was formed it was all Canadian teams, hence "National" in the name.

 

[GodEmperor]

Already been done post lockout

 

[blankall]

The original 6 is a nickname. When the NHL was formed it was all Canadian teams, hence "National" in the name.

What is now the NHL initially consisted of multiple leagues that merged into one. Multiple leagues used to compete for the Stanley Cup.

 

[mercury]

Sure, that's somewhat true for Minnesota, Michigan, Upstate NY, etc... But do that many people really play hockey in Chicago? or Pittsburgh? or NYC, DC, Philly, St. Louis?

Don't get me wrong, I think youth participation in hockey can help "grow the game", but I don't think it's really necessary for or indicative of club support.

High school hockey is pretty popular in the wealthier Philadelphia suburbs. I went to a private school that consistently challenged for the Flyers Cup and state championship.

 

[Agent Zub]

Yep, took it to paces that had no history or loyalty to the sport. And guess what? Now a lot of those places have a history and loyalty to the sport. That's called growth.

Some of you guys act like curators of the game, trying to keep that fossil safe in the back room of the museum.

I don't understand the conservative mindset honestly. Why fear change so much? Change is necessary to growth.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

Forget Americanizing hockey, I think we should Mexicanize it.

Brilliant, that way we can have Canadians pay for the wall!

 

[Cotton]

who actually plays ice hockey outside? literally no one in canada.

You literally don't know what literally means.

 

[Cotton]

Technically you could argue the bench clearing brawls and fighting of the 70s and 80s was more akin to the WWe then today's brand of hockey. it seems like the NHL has gone the polar opposite as well taking the personalities out of hockey

I would actually argue if the NHL wants to "Americanize" itself more they might go to players and tell them to speak off the cuff to create a fake sense of rivalries

In the sense of personalities you have a point.

The NHL and hockey in general was even more violent in the 1920. I'd say that was Americanism, but just like in the 70's, it was a bunch of Canadians doing it.

 

[Cotton]

The only reason they are relevant again is because of the "bastardized americanization" of the game.

No, but you a free to think that's why.

 

[Leafslet]

You literally don't know what literally means.

it’s called hyperbole, and yes it was used accurately.

 

[Dolemite]

I don't see why that couldn't happen in Florida or Arizona. Put a winner on the ice and the sport will grow itself.

Because Wayne Gretzky drove the coyotes into the ground so badly that the NHL had to take over the team and it’s still reeling from his idiocy (including hiring his playing friends in the front office - some of whom rather be playing golf than coaching)?

They are doing it right putting it in heavy tourist areas like Vegas and Seattle, probably better exposure and someday maybe open the path to a team in like Mississippi.

You mean Seattle as in the first American team to win the Stanley Cup? Or Seattle that has an extremely long history of hockey mostly at the WHL level and currently sports two teams in the Greater Seattle Area? That Seattle?

 

[Brownies]

who actually plays ice hockey outside? literally no one in canada.

I've been playing on outside rinks my whole life and there's a lot of people most of the time and I've been playing in a lot of different regions of Quebec. Love to play with kids and adults, men and women for fun in a not too much competitive setting.

 

[SotasicA]

If you move a team to Niger, could you say the game has been "Nigerized"?

What if you move a team to Cockburn, Australia?

 

[member 298589]

Tariffs on non-american people attending games, certain countrymen not being allowed ďepending on a certain president's current whim, and guns being used in place of hockey sticks.

 

[Svechhammer]

The ones constantly clamoring for the NHL to abandon the South are the ones who are clamoring for the NHL to resign itself to niche semi-major league status in the United States. Sure, you'll be able to hold onto the NE corridor, the cities surrounding the Great Lakes, and Seattle, but you will lose any main national following you have, and the league itself will fall back to the status something like Major League Lacrosse or Canadian Football has in the US. Sure, it'll still be popular in Canada, but you'll see the sport erode in the US.

 

[Incognito]

Tariffs on non-american people attending games, certain countrymen not being allowed ďepending on a certain president's current whim, and guns being used in place of hockey sticks.

Sadly enough, the mental midget currently occupying the highest office in America would probably actually think that this is a terrific idea.

 

[streitz]

It's been americanized for 20 years.

 

[therealkoho]

A flamingly hot market.

I think the NHL has thrashed that idea around before

 

[therealkoho]

who actually plays ice hockey outside? literally no one in canada.

There are 5 outdoor rinks within a 20 minute drive of my house, the rinks are always full December till mid March

 

[Leafslet]

There are 5 outdoor rinks within a 20 minute drive of my house, the rinks are always full December till mid March

that is because you’re 90 koho, you likely live in the 1950s.



also, those rinks have a lot of people just skating around, not neccecelery playing hockey

 

[S E P H]

It's not really about "Americanizing" the game. It's about making money.

America = money.

I don't think it's even that since a lot of Canadian teams would be above a lot of USA teams in terms of team valuations. The more likely cause is that USA has trillion more people than Canada. If Canada didn't simply have the population of just California, they would have more teams.