I don't think the NHL will lose any appreciable fan support over any of that stuff at all. Much like other major sports, fans pretty quickly tune out the ugly stuff that's not directly related to the game itself.
I'm fine with people being consistent but in alot of cases people are happy their side won.
1-Develop players
Carolina doesn't have an AHL team... that's the only reason it is sans. Now, all teams want to develop their players and is a top priority for them, but winning is a very important goal for the AHL teams too. Tampa getting a NHL caliber goalie in the AHL on Carolina's dime helps accomplish them winning for their AHL team. And with Vasi out for a while, Tampa was short in Syracuse on goalies with only Alnefelt.
A lot of NHL clubs think winning in the AHL is one of the first spells of development, especially making the postseason and why it increased from 16 to whatever number we have now. That's why AHL mercenaries are also so valued and keep getting jobs. They're all there to be cushions for an organisation's depth.
Yeah, the NHL wants its product in very high TV viewership locations. Which comes first though, Houston or Atlanta? I can't see the NHL doing both at the same time.
Pretty sure when expansion hits it's going to be multiple teams. Gotta keep the conferences balanced even if the divisions aren't. Plus...the owners want all the fat stacks of non-hockey related revenue (expansion fees) they can get.
Easily Houston... that's a situation where you could accelerate to 2025, but 2026 most certainly possible. 26-27 makes the most sense with the CBA. Atlanta, they still have more red tape, tax issues, then construction and opening. On a the quickest timeline 2026 opening is possible, but really 2027 or 2028 are the more likely starting years.
One more question, is the area where they are building the arena in Atlanta a good location? I have never been to the state and see that it's on the outskirts of the city, so I am hoping that this isn't a Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale or Ottawa Senators in Kanata problem
Atlanta is weird... I don't think people realize just how geographically massive it is and just how bad the traffic is to get to one side or another. Let alone going into or out of downtown. Frankly, by modern standards, the city is a planning disaster and basically the picture of what city planners think all the mistakes of the 70s to 2000s were. I think no matter where you place an arena in Atlanta, you're basically keeping parts of the city from being able to easily get there. This isn't Denver where 15 minutes can pretty much get you to Ball Arena if traffic is good. 30-40 if it isn't. We're talking East Point (just southwest of downtown) is going to be 2 hours from this arena on a good day. That's not the best way to keep crowds up. But the Northern Suburbs... Alpharetta/Duluth/Cumming area is where the fans will be... if they can saturate that market and get buy in, it may not matter if you attract the Southern half of the city. There is a good amount of population there, it is growing fast, and there is a lot of money in the area. Predominately the wealth is on the northern and eastern side of the metro area. That's certainly not 100%, but it is far more developed on that side.
Roughly double the distance from downtown and flip from west to east. Both are targeting the suburbs and more affluent areas of Atlanta though.
Yeah it is a more extreme version of that. Truist is still Atlanta proper technically, though basically Smyrna. This is a whole different level. As I edited above... kinda like the Avs being plopped in Castle Rock. Affluent suburb far away from downtown and over half the city. The East Point fans would be making a trip from like Brighton to Castle Rock to see games.
I disagree. I think you'll see a fall off in fans in younger generations. It's happening in other sports, and I'd argue it's happening in hockey too. Colorado Springs has seen a decline in youth participation over the last 3-4 years.
