Rank the cities where you would want to play the most if you were a NHL player

[MasterMatt25]

Where I want to play:
1. Montreal (I'm biased)
2. Ottawa
3. St. Louis
4. Winnipeg
5. Vancouver

Where I wouldn't want to play:
5. Pittsburgh
4. Buffalo
3. Chicago
2. Vegas
1. Philadelphia

 

[PackShark]

1. Panthers
2. Bolts -- This one is for both 1 & 2 - I like warm weather (most of the time), I like being by the water, I ****ing hate paying taxes.
3. Preds - Great city. Beautiful arena.
4. Hurricanes - Another great city.
5. Stars - I have family in Texas and am quite fond of that state.
6. Yotes - No particular reason. Having traveled to AZ, I like the state.
7. Avalanche - Colorado is a beautiful state. Like the team.
8. Rangers - Having grown up in NY, I hate that state with a burning passion for many reasons but playing for my Rangers would still be enough to put them top 10 (though no where near #1).
9. Ducks - Anaheim is the only city in California that I would consider.
10. Caps - Living in DC would be cool, would be close to family in NY and well as my family in the South.


Bottom cities

All other Canadian cities (sans Montreal, they have a special place at the very bottom of this list).
Boston/Pitt/Philly/Buffalo - No desire to live in the Northeast unless I was playing for the Rangers.
LA & SJS - No thanks to living in CA.
Chicago - Umm. Just going to say reasons and leave it there.
Brooklyn - Don't like the Isles and well, its Brooklyn. Enough said.
New Jersey - Can't stand the Devils. Don't like NJ.
Montreal - Hate the team. Don't like much about the city. Taxes are absurd. Last place for me AINEC

In regards to your comment about CA. You realize Anaheim is only 30 miles from LA right.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

People who are saying "no" to Detroit because they don't like the city, you know that all the players live in like Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham, right?

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

NYC because: Own property there already, bias, general love for the area/born/raised

Dallas: No state income, also lived there a while and really enjoyed what Texas had to offer

 

[Big McLargehuge]

In regards to your comment about CA. You realize Anaheim is only 30 miles from LA right.

It's a world away, though. I get it. I'd play for LA, but Anaheim would have to double my salary if they want me to spend any amount of my time in Orange County.

 

[Dynamite Time]

My top 5

Dallas - my home of course

Las Vegas - has it’s fan base but not the pressure like other cities; would be fun

Colorado
Seattle
St. Louis

 

[Hatter of the Beach]

Top tier

1. Tampa. Good GM, strong team, good weather, cheap housing market and no income tax. I hate the Bolts because they’ve owned the Wings, but good team.

2) Anaheim: I lived in SoCal and will always love it. Yeah, it’s expensive, but the weather and women make up for it and well run team

3) Nashville. Brentwood very nice area, no income tax, hot women, and well run team

4) Detroit: hometown. Not the sexiest of areas but suburbs are nice and childhood desire

5) Dallas, taxes, women, and cheap col.

Other areas I would like to live in: Caps, NYR, Chicago, Florida (if they’re good), LA, San Jose, Avalanche, Washington/Pittsburgh/Philly: strong franchises

On the fence:
Toronto: many appealing pros, many negatives. Pressure is double edged sword, and your money goes a lot less, but if you deliver, you are a god. Similar reasoning for Vancouver.


Would avoid if possible: Winnipeg, Montreal (media), EDM (inept, unless I can play on McDavid’s wing for stat padding) , Phoenix, Buffalo, Ottawa, Boston (did contract work there.
New England isn’t my style. Good city, just don’t like it preference why)

Rest of teams I’m neutral.

 

[Jetsetter]

Depends on if you want to have a chance to win the Cup, have a great management group that cares and looks after their own, a fantastic place for your kids to grow up, a city full of culture, join a team that loves playing for each other and fans that give it their all?!

As for all the neanderthals that love to kick their dogs, face it, you don't know Winnipeg!

 

[TheBigThree]

Toronto
LA
San Jose
Florida
Vancouver
Calgary

 

[DowntownBooster]

People who say theres nothing to do in places like Winnipeg, Edmonton etc are truly clueless.

Yeah theres just a million people standing around with their thumbs up their butts. No bars, restaurants, festivals or activities. Sorry guys, tough break.

Totally agree with you Rubixpube. It's nice to see some posts in this thread where Winnipeg is not automatically ranked as 31 or "I don't want to play there". Some people are ignorant in the sense that they just don't really know anything about Winnipeg so they rank it low on their list and then there are those that are ignorant by basing their opinions on stereotypes (i.e frozen uninhabitable wasteland, murders, etc.). It's sort of like basing one's opinion of the U.S. on all the school shootings and thinking that's all the U.S. is about.

Winnipeg is one of Canada's best kept secrets and for the most part people only realize how different it is than what they perceived after they moved here and lived here for a couple of years. Corporate recruiters acknowledge that it's difficult to attract people to Winnipeg (due to perceptions of our city) but once they've lived here it's even more difficult to get them to move away.

It's a cosmopolitan city with lots to do. The arts scene in Winnipeg is huge for a city our size compared to most other locations. There's plenty to do if you know what you want to do and where to find it. If all you want is to golf year round or walk on the beach, then no, Winnipeg is not the place for you.

As far as I know, you wouldn't be able to find many players that donned a Winnipeg Jets jersey going back to 1972, when Bobby Hull signed his contract at Portage and Main, that would have anything negative to say about Winnipeg with the exception of Evander Kane maybe.

I'm not going to knock any other NHL market as they probably all have good aspects about them but I will say that those that diss Winnipeg, including those expats that moved away that do so, are most likely those that rely on the work of others in order to make something of their own lives rather than putting in the work to do it themselves.

 

[PackShark]

It's a world away, though. I get it. I'd play for LA, but Anaheim would have to double my salary if they want me to spend any amount of my time in Orange County.

It’s all one big megalopolis down there to me. I’m a Bay Area person so either one of those teams would need to double my salary.

 

[Soundwave]

Anywhere but Canada. Canada has wonderful cities but why put up with things like not being able to go to a movie theater or grocery store without being harassed and also usually worse travel.

In the US you can be anonymous but play the "I'm an NHL player" card when it suits you.

Miami/Florida or Tampa would be my no.1 choice followed by California.

 

[Jtown]

based on the cities themselves and nothing to do with the organizations.

Yes: Toronto, Montreal, New York Rangers, Philly, Caps, Kings, Ducks, Dalls, chicago,

No: Florida teams, phoenix, vegas , flames/oilers, boston, pitt, buffalo,detroit

the rest i have no strong opinion on either way.

 

[DowntownBooster]

Anywhere but Canada. Canada has wonderful cities but why put up with things like not being able to go to a movie theater or grocery store without being harassed and also usually worse travel.

In the US you can be anonymous but play the "I'm an NHL player" card when it suits you.

Miami/Florida or Tampa would be my no.1 choice followed by California.

Wouldn't that be kind of like a basketball player saying "anywhere but the U.S."?

 

[Soundwave]

Wouldn't that be kind of like a basketball player saying "anywhere but the U.S."?

Well there's only one non-US NBA market. The majority of NHL teams are in the US.

 

[DowntownBooster]

Well there's only one non-US NBA market. The majority of NHL teams are in the US.

I realize that but your arguement about being recognized is what I'm referring to. Basketball players in the U.S. would be recognized wherever they go yet they manage to go to the movies, restaurants, etc. People are quite respectful to hockey players in Canada. For the most part they know when it's appropriate to approach a player to talk hockey or ask for an autograph and when it's not right to do so.

 

[KingBran]

Wont do them all but...


And I would play anywhere given different context of course, but based purely on personal experience...

Tops:
STL - Lived there, Know the area, love the team, media gives the city a bad rap.
COL - Lived here for a while, beautiful place to live - but expensive and gets more crowded every year. However if I was rich I could deal with it better lol.
VGK - I love LV. Such a fun place to be any time of the year.
VAN - Incredible place.

Bottom:
CHI - Hate the team, hate the town, not fond of any of their fans.
EDM - Hate how they run their team, too far north.
OTT, TOR, MTL - Eastern Canada? No thanks.
Anywhere in California - What a messed up state that is. Pretty, but I would never want to live there.

 

[Chairman Maouth]

Please stay on topic. Thank you.

 

[tntkid]

I would obviously play in Winnipeg.

That is where Santa makes presents and where polar bears go to retire.

 

[Dont Toews Me Bro]

Wont do them all but...


And I would play anywhere given different context of course, but based purely on personal experience...

Tops:
STL - Lived there, Know the area, love the team, media gives the city a bad rap.
COL - Lived here for a while, beautiful place to live - but expensive and gets more crowded every year. However if I was rich I could deal with it better lol.
VGK - I love LV. Such a fun place to be any time of the year.
VAN - Incredible place.

Bottom:
CHI - Hate the team, hate the town, not fond of any of their fans.
EDM - Hate how they run their team, too far north.
OTT, TOR, MTL - Eastern Canada? No thanks.
Anywhere in California - What a messed up state that is. Pretty, but I would never want to live there.

Have you ever actually been to Chicago (which is a city not a town btw) or are you just basing that opinion off of what you hear on the news.

 

[LemonSauceD]

1. NY (must see city if you've never, great lifestyle)
2. LA (see NY)
3. Vancouver (lived here for nearly all my life, such a beautiful city with lots of things to do and a beautiful landscape)
4. Toronto (beautiful city, lots of family members that live there, and one of the biggest markets in Canada)
5. Winnipeg (I was born there, and I cannot leave out where it all began. Also, lot's to do here, very compassionate city).

My least preferred:
1. Raleigh (Got lots of bad opinions about Raleigh, particularly how rude people are there)
2. Montreal (Too cold, not good at french, and I find that the French aren't exactly the most open people)
3. Ottawa (capital city, but there's not much to do here at all, and hella cold)
4. Detroit (Great hockey city, though lots of complications with that city)
5. Edmonton (Extremely harsh weather, and mosquito there would drive me insane)

 

[TheSituation]

Anywhere but Canada, really. I would rather play in the tri-state area, but I wouldn't mind playing anywhere south of the border.

 

[Steveshutt]

1. Vancouver
2. Seattle
3. Boston
4. San Jose
5. Calgary
6. Denver
7. Anaheim
8. Manhattan
9. Toronto
10. Chicago
11Montreal
12 Ottawa
13 Edmonton
14 Winnipeg
15 Washington
16 Brooklyn/Long Island
17 Los Angeles
18 Sunrise
19 Phoenix
20 Minny
21 Tampa
22 Nashville
23 Philadelphia
24. Columbus
25. Raleigh
26 St. Louis
27 Dallas
28 Newark
29 Buffalo
30 Pittsburgh
31 Buffalo
32. Las Vegas

 

[Voight]

NYC
TOR
LA/ANA
DAL
BOS
TB

 

[KingBran]

Have you ever actually been to Chicago (which is a city not a town btw) or are you just basing that opinion off of what you hear on the news.

Been there many times. Their hockey fans are super bandwagon and not very knowledgeable about anything over 8 years ago. Also the fact that you feel you need to say "don't call it a town, its a city!" just kinda helps prove the point of how I feel about the people. Too uptight. Relax bro. Town, city... its all the same thing. People from other parts of the country may use slang a little bit different. Is that OK with you?