BKarchitect
Registered User
That's all fair of course, but it sounds like as a hockey fan - your ability to enjoy the game wouldn't change much whether you had a 1/32 chance to win the Cup or a 1/36 chance (hypothetically of course).Because you enjoy the game in general and the players on your team.
I don't at all enjoy the past few years of Blackhawks hockey but from 2018-2021 i still tuned in a ton because I loved watching Toews, Kane, Keith, etc.. play hockey. I love hockey in general. It's Cup or bust in terms of marking team success but it's not Cup or bust for my fandom as a whole.
Winning a Division title or even a President's Trophy is an asterisk on the season to me personally. I know you and others disagree but to each their own. I never even think about the PT the Hawks won in 2013. I remember the Cup win (obviously) and them being in historical company with 24 games in a row of getting at least one point. Division titles and President's trophies are such happenstance to me. I would hate to see that artificially valued more in an over-expanded NHL.
Now if the expansion really does dilute skill and level of play to such a degree that the game is inherently changed, I get that as something that we as fans would all be concerned by.
But strictly on the idea that 4 more teams = less of a chance for "my team" to win the Cup = fan interest going down or fans disincentivized to care...I'm not sure I totally buy that as a reason that "expansion is bad".