Sure, but as stated that is part of the problem. Does anybody seriously believe that Hamilton, Quebec, even a Halifax or Saskatoon thrown in wouldn't support NHL clubs better than some of the perennially sorry franchises like Florida, Arizona, Carolina, NYI, who are ALWAYS bringing up the bottom in attendance and despite those clubs practically giving tickets away?
The only Canadian team in recent memory that has even struggled at the gate is Ottawa, this season, but due to the club absolutely imploding, selling off their star players and turning the club back to the stone age. Plus that its a hated arena in the middle of nowhere that is inconvenient to get to and out of.
The irony is it would be easier for Canadian clubs to financially manage being in the NHL now in the salary capped era.
There could be 10 Canadian clubs and a few less American ones. There actually should be. Canadian clubs are perennially top revenue and gate earners. The numbers support this. The NHL is mining gold in Canada and giving **** all back.
To a degree.
The reason the teams all went south wasn't what you think it was.
It was simply the value of the USD relative to the CDN
When we nearly lost our team, it wasn't houston buyers or pocklington, or whatever. It was plummetted oil prices, and a bleak recession, attributing to a very low canadian dollar.
Toon Town has 250k people
Halifax has 400k
Hamilton would be just cannibalizing Leaf fans. They won't make a dent in the league's overall bottom line.
And in my humble opinion, Quebec will NEVER work for political reasons. Players do NOT want to play there. It's a gulag.
Not to get too 'political', but the leading push for the Nordiques is largely coming from Pierre Karl Peladeau (former leader of PQ), who is owner of the arena. He's a hard-line separatist, with some really f***ed up views on culture, immigration, and language. If you're not a francophone in Quebec City, there's a good chance, your owner will treat you 'second rate'.
As someone who had a LOT to say about an english-speaking interim coach, and non-french speaking captains for the Habs, I don't think even Quebecois players would want to play for him. His team is nothing more than a political tool to push a propoganda agenda.
You could write essays on the Nordiques, but they weren't a viable market when they left, and they won't be if they ever return.