So I'm a Jets fan living in Edmonton. When I go to a Jets @ Oilers game there's a sizeable number of Jets fans in the building - mostly because both Edmonton and Winnipeg are in Western Canada, there's lots of migration between Alberta and Manitoba.
Similarly if an O6 team shows up in Edmonton you get a lot of fans from those teams, just due to history and fandom being passed down parent to child.
But I'll be honest - if you get a random US team in Edmonton the fans are 100% behind the Oilers.
That's expected to me. There's not a lot of people who've moved from say, Nashville to Winnipeg. And for those who have, there's time variables on if they'd even be Preds fans and loyal to them despite moving -- which would be a fun logic chart to make.
All of that being said - it would be interesting to find out how many unique fans go to see a game in a year. Because even if you're just a fan of the home team a lot of people can only afford to see a game or two, not 41.
I have no doubt that the Canadian teams who sell out their home games all the time, frequently with the same people in the building most nights... those fans want to see everyone visit once.
The NHL's core logic is "our STH want this," But aren't they going to the games regardless of opponent?
The Home/Away vs everyone logic for me falls apart for all the teams that DON'T sell out every game regardless of opponent. The whole "They need the gate of McDavid visiting" doesn't work, because there's just more non-sexy opponents in the other conference than sexy ones.
And if you're someone going to a couple games a year, then economic factors are probably larger than "who the opponent is." (with the obvious caveat of interest based on star power, but again, that's offset by the teams with no star power).
And if you're not going to games at all, but watch on TV.... then START TIMES are your biggest factor, as you're less likely to watch 10 pm ET or 4 pm PT games because of their inconvenience.
I just do not understand how anyone in the Pacific, Mountain or Eastern time zones could make more money playing H/A vs everyone than not. Central teams (who are the REAL REASON we're doing this) get to sell more 6 pm games and less 9 pm games to their TV partners. THAT makes money.