When Gary Bettman became NHL commissioner in 1993, one of his mandates was to grow the game beyond its traditional markets. He set out to do that with an aggressive plan targeting the southern United States, and between expansion and relocations, the league soon found itself in several brand new markets.
The results have been mixed. While southern teams have certainly seen their share of success on the ice, most have struggled with the bottom line. The Phoenix Coyotes have been in a well-documented state of flux for a decade, the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg, and teams in cities like Dallas and Nashville have struggled financially.
Some fans would conclude that the southern US just can't support NHL teams, but that seems unfair. After all, some southern markets do just fine. The key is figuring out which are viable hockey markets. And that can involve the league asking itself some tough questions.
Here are some signs that your local market may not actually be able to support an NHL franchise:
- When you try to describe the concept of icing to the fans by explaining that it's when the puck is shot all the way down to the other end of the ice, they respond, “That's great. What's ‘ice'?”
- Any time they hear a fourth-line player described as “gritty,” fans instinctively try to smother him in cheese and red-eye gravy.
- Nobody's coming right out and saying that the geographic location is too tropical for professional hockey, but “the wave” going around the arena right now is an actual wave.
- When their team goes on a power play, the fans just wait patiently for them to set up a scoring chance instead of instantly yelling “SHOOOOOOT” like real fans do.
- Scheduling has occasionally proven difficult since the arena is often booked for higher-profile events, such as rock concerts or NBA games or children's birthday parties.
- The fans in the new city never seem to grow attached to the team's logo and uniform colors, even though ownership has given plenty of chances by changing them to something new every six months.
- The kiss cam has recently been replaced by the “Let's see if we can find a section with more than one person sitting in it” cam.
- You throw your hat to celebrate a hat trick; by the time it hits the ice, it's riddled with bullet holes.
- The fans are always asking dumb questions like, “What exactly is the point of that trapezoid thing behind the net?” instead of just pretending to have any idea and then quickly changing the subject.
- As promised, the new arena that the city paid for immediately attracted dozens of new businesses to open up nearby, although it seems like a bad sign that every one of them is a moving company or a bankruptcy trustee.
- Instead of “Go team go!” or “Charge!” the most common fan chant is “Hey, could everyone out there on the ice keep it down? We're trying to catch the score of the college football game.”
- When people come to visit your market they're always saying things like, “Gee, it's hot here” and “My, it's very warm even in winter” and “The name of this city is Phoenix.”
- It's the first year in the new market and team management isn't even bothering to take basic steps to build a winner, such as calling up the Montreal Canadiens and asking if they want to give away their franchise goaltender for nothing.
- After the last home game of every season, the scoreboard flashes the message “To be continued?”