Cup In LA

[Black Dog]

Anaheim was tested far more than Ottawa . They had to play in the west which was the harder conference, they travel far more than the east, and had a much harder route to the cup.

Did you know that Ott traveled something like 4-5000 K up to the SC Final, and Anaheim traveled 30,000k . To do that and win is pretty impressive.

As for repeat..?...Anaheim has the team to do so, but since the Stanley Cup is the hardest of the pro leagues in NA to win, every single duck must be in line and the lucky bounces have to go your way . Pun unintended.

I dont see any final repeat for Ottawa, unless of course, Heatley finds a heart, Alfie finds a brain .

Muckler should have signed Gary Roberts, he would if nothing else have held Alfie Heatley and Spezza in check and , dare I say it, may have been the catalyst for Ottawa putting up a series, and maybe win the cup. Bad move Mucks.

I like Ottawa's chances of making it back better than the Ducks, simply based on the fact that they play in the weaker conference and, like Anaheim, most of the key components are already in place. They do need some grit up front and a goalie who's not a spaz, but other than that, they have what it takes to lose in the SCF again. Of course the same caveats I applied to the Ducks apply to the Sens. In this league, it's all up for grabs.

[JerrySeinfeld]

Anaheim was tested far more than Ottawa . They had to play in the west which was the harder conference, they travel far more than the east, and had a much harder route to the cup.

Did you know that Ott traveled something like 4-5000 K up to the SC Final, and Anaheim traveled 30,000k . To do that and win is pretty impressive.

As for repeat..?...Anaheim has the team to do so, but since the Stanley Cup is the hardest of the pro leagues in NA to win, every single duck must be in line and the lucky bounces have to go your way . Pun unintended.

I dont see any final repeat for Ottawa, unless of course, Heatley finds a heart, Alfie finds a brain .

Muckler should have signed Gary Roberts, he would if nothing else have held Alfie Heatley and Spezza in check and , dare I say it, may have been the catalyst for Ottawa putting up a series, and maybe win the cup. Bad move Mucks.

I like Ottawa's chances of making it back better than the Ducks, simply based on the fact that they play in the weaker conference and, like Anaheim, most of the key components are already in place. They do need some grit up front and a goalie who's not a spaz, but other than that, they have what it takes to lose in the SCF again. Of course the same caveats I applied to the Ducks apply to the Sens. In this league, it's all up for grabs.

Heck - the east is a mess. Could say the same for buffalo or pitt - add a couple of veteran solid D and a goalie and they're significantly better. Unfortunately those are tough commodities to come by these days.

And don't even get me started on Ottawa's D. They were pathetically exposed in the finals.

[Who's Doing What?]

I think its apples and oranges. A Sens win would have been greeted with enthusiasm from coast to coast here in Canada.

Not a chance. 30% or so of the entire population of Canada wouldn't be cheering for the Sens. Then when you add in how many people hate Alfie as a player and wouldn't cheer for any team he was on, that number could go as high as 40%. The whole idea of "Canada's team" is a farce. I didn't cheer for Ottawa, and I didn't cheer for Edmonton last year either. I did cheer for Calgary in '04, and from what I saw a lot more people cheered for them that season around here than there was cheering for Edmonton last year or the Sens this year.

I was cheering for the Ducks since last October. I am even wearing my Ducks hat from their 2003 run to the cup finals right now.

[bush_cheney2004]

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. Yes: L.A. and its environs are very big. Yes, there has been hockey in L.A. since 1967. And? Do these facts have any bearing on the fact that hockey is a non-entity in So-Cal?

No, it has bearing on your wager, which you would surely lose:

I'd wager you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in Anaheim proper who could even tell you what the Stanley Cup is, let alone who won.

The OC (Orange County) Register seems to now exactly what the Stanley Cup is and who won it for 2007:

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/sport...cle_1725972.php

[Black Dog]

Not a chance. 30% or so of the entire population of Canada wouldn't be cheering for the Sens. Then when you add in how many people hate Alfie as a player and wouldn't cheer for any team he was on, that number could go as high as 40%.

Oh so you're talking Leafs fans here? They don't count.

The whole idea of "Canada's team" is a farce. I didn't cheer for Ottawa, and I didn't cheer for Edmonton last year either. I did cheer for Calgary in '04, and from what I saw a lot more people cheered for them that season around here than there was cheering for Edmonton last year or the Sens this year.

I was cheering for the Ducks since last October. I am even wearing my Ducks hat from their 2003 run to the cup finals right now.

Good for you. But that doesn't change the fact that most Canadians would perfer to see a Canadian team win the Cup.

bc

No, it has bearing on your wager, which you would surely lose:

I'd wager you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in Anaheim proper who could even tell you what the Stanley Cup is, let alone who won.

Anaheim has a population of something like 350000 people. Of that, there's probably 30,000 hockey fans (that number is an estimate from Ducks blogger who has no illusions about his team's popularity). So, even if you triple that figure to include casual sports fans, you're still looking at an itsy-bitsy number of people who know or care about the Ducks cup win in the very city where they won it.

The OC (Orange County) Register seems to now exactly what the Stanley Cup is and who won it for 2007:

Gee, I'd hope so, given that it's a newspaper and all.

[JerrySeinfeld]

I'm not sure what the popularity of hockey in so-cal has to do with how good a hockey team is. This is supposed to be a thread about hockey, not demographics.

Why should any sports fan really care how many people follow the ducks anyway? They're an amazing hockey team.

[Black Dog]

I'm not sure what the popularity of hockey in so-cal has to do with how good a hockey team is. This is supposed to be a thread about hockey, not demographics.

I think, in the post CBA world and with the NHLs sunbelt strategy looking more and more like a dismal failure, hockey and demograhpics are inextricably linked. Really, we're talking about the future of the NHL. Besides, what happens off the ice is generally makes for more interesting discussion fodder.

Why should any sports fan really care how many people follow the ducks anyway? They're an amazing hockey team.

And what would happen to them if they weren't?

[JerrySeinfeld]

I'm not sure what the popularity of hockey in so-cal has to do with how good a hockey team is. This is supposed to be a thread about hockey, not demographics.

I think, in the post CBA world and with the NHLs sunbelt strategy looking more and more like a dismal failure, hockey and demograhpics are inextricably linked. Really, we're talking about the future of the NHL. Besides, what happens off the ice is generally makes for more interesting discussion fodder.

Why should any sports fan really care how many people follow the ducks anyway? They're an amazing hockey team.

And what would happen to them if they weren't?

They'd play somewhere else as an amazing hockey team.

Who cares? What's your point, exactly? That businesses often attempt expansion of their markets and sometimes fail? That the NHL wants to be a mainstream sport in the USA and has a very tough time getting any foothold in the south?

Whoopdeedo. What a revelation. Gee I haven't heard that regurgitated umpteen times on every sports show in Canada. It would really be interesting if it were...um...a business show.

What I'm saying is it's irritating and obvious to hear about it. Why don't we talk about great hockey. The rest is noise.

It reminds me of the CFL a decade ago. Pre game, half time and post game all devoted to the miserable "state of the game" (gosh what an overused phrase). It was downright depressing to watch.

And so someone on here tries to start a thread about one of the best teams assmbled in recent momery, the classy job of celebrating done by the first so-cal team to win the cup, and everyone jumps on the pathetic negative "ya but that's not a REAL hockey market" train.

If all you can talk about is that not every market in the NHL is an entertainment-starved, northern outpost with few other options for mass-entertainment (eg. EDMONTON), then perhaps you should study your own interest in the sport and go to business school instead.

[Black Dog]

They'd play somewhere else as an amazing hockey team.

Who cares? What's your point, exactly? That businesses often attempt expansion of their markets and sometimes fail? That the NHL wants to be a mainstream sport in the USA and has a very tough time getting any foothold in the south?

Whoopdeedo. What a revelation. Gee I haven't heard that regurgitated umpteen times on every sports show in Canada. It would really be interesting if it were...um...a business show.

What I'm saying is it's irritating and obvious to hear about it. Why don't we talk about great hockey. The rest is noise.

Alright, let's forget about th eissues pretaining to the league's future. Let's talk about yesterday's news instead:

Yessir. Anaheim sure won the Cup.

Yep...

*crickets*

It reminds me of the CFL a decade ago. Pre game, half time and post game all devoted to the miserable "state of the game" (gosh what an overused phrase). It was downright depressing to watch.

I'd agree: the CFL is depressing to watch.

And so someone on here tries to start a thread about one of the best teams assmbled in recent momery, the classy job of celebrating done by the first so-cal team to win the cup, and everyone jumps on the pathetic negative "ya but that's not a REAL hockey market" train.

Tissue? Cookie?

If all you can talk about is that not every market in the NHL is an entertainment-starved, northern outpost with few other options for mass-entertainment (eg. EDMONTON), then perhaps you should study your own interest in the sport and go to business school instead.

Dude, the season's over. There's no hockey to talk about right now.

As for the rest, well, there's place like Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Mopntreal that would hardly qualify as "entertainment-starved, northern outpost with few other options for mass-entertainment" and hockey is doing quite well in all of these markets. So, I'm not entirely sure how Edmonton's status as a non-major city is relevant to the success of its hockey club.

And really, I don't know how one can separate the business side from the sports side anymore.

[JerrySeinfeld]

As for the rest, well, there's place like Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Mopntreal that would hardly qualify as "entertainment-starved, northern outpost with few other options for mass-entertainment" and hockey is doing quite well in all of these markets. So, I'm not entirely sure how Edmonton's status as a non-major city is relevant to the success of its hockey club.

Awwww! You're TRYING! See? It's not so bad being positive is it?

And really, I don't know how one can separate the business side from the sports side anymore.

Easy.

Let me show you:

Anaheim Ducks: Great Hockey Team

Anaheim Ducks Franchise: Smaller Fan Base

[Black Dog]

Again, I'm not sure what's left to say about the Ducks. But I'm happy to let this thread sink like a stone if you are.

[JerrySeinfeld]

Again, I'm not sure what's left to say about the Ducks. But I'm happy to let this thread sink like a stone if you are.

First let me point out the fantasy world that I think alot of sportscasters / NHL types are living in.

You touched on it when you wondered "what would happen to the Ducks if they weren't an amazing team?"

In my opinion it's a myth that a market is not viable or bad becuase they attendence goes as the team's success does.

Let's look at true "hockey" markets - some of which you mentioned.

Example: The Calgary Flames. They were lucky to get 10,000 fans in the years leading up to and INCLUDING the year they made the run for the cup. Why? Because they were pathetic.

Now how about the Houston Oilers? Houston Texas is not a football market? HA! They sucked - end of story - literally.

I can find you umpteen examples of pro sports teams whose attendance and support drops...dramatically....when they team has long periods of poor performance.

Personally I would say the example of the Maple Leaf's the Oilers or the Red Sox of the world - where fans will always show up regardless of performance - are the exception rather than the rule.

SO the NHL doomsayers dreamworld of sunbelt franchises' arena bursting at the seams during losing seasons is a pipedream not even realized in the "legit" sports south of the 49th.

Hockey is a niche sport in some markets, and always will be. But that doesn't mean their not good markets - they're just not the top of the heap. Anaheim has been around for 15 years and as far as I can recall, they've only won one cup.