Jarnberg
Registered User
Hartford's arena only seated a little over 15K, so for the (many) games that fans would have bought 18, 19, 20K tickets, they couldn't.
Can you prove this or give a source?
If Hartford had a team as good as the Preds with a nice, new building that seated 20,000 fans, in 2006-07, their attendance would be 17,500+, easy. If they had Carolina's team (which plainly should still be theirs), coming off a Cup win, they'd be sold out almost every game and any player on the team could be elected mayor.
Assumptions or facts?
And their TV ratings would be a lot higher, and their general appeal would be greater, since it would be a team in hockey country, not NASCAR and fiddlin' country.
Your stereotyping does nothing for your argument.
Obviously you are still upset over losing your hockey team. I would be too, as I don't want to see any NHL teams leave their cities. Its a shame that you want other teams to move and have their fans experience what you've been through. Nashville is not to blame for you losing your hockey team.
I could easily point my fingers at other cities with attendance problems but I'm not. Unlike some people on these boards, I don't go over the attendance figures on NHL.com after every game, pouncing on a chance to call out a city.
Would I like for there to be better attendance at Nashville games and other cities around the US? You bet.
It will take time to keep up great attendance, look at cities who have had hockey for a very long time and their attendance is dropping too, but again, no finger pointing. And also, you said it best:
The attendance figures are meaningless
I'd love for there to be more fans, more media attention, etc. from the city. But its growing. It takes time to build a great fan base. Our die hard fans are awesome. We attend the games and eat, breathe and sleep hockey. Its why we now have a high school ice hockey league. Its why I see more kids in neighborhoods playing roller hockey then football or baseball. But of course, you being so familiar with our city know these things right? Or do you still believe that we play fiddles and are all rednecks.