To be fair, most Americans couldn’t live in Ottawa, Calgary or Edmonton either. My ex-wife was from Southern California and although she told everyone she loved Ottawa, she hated it with a passion. The cold….. They really just can’t handle it. Hated Calgary too. Same reason. It really wasn’t anything to do with Canadian culture, etc…. Just the never ending cold in the winter.. Couple that with Winnipeg being very small, with nothing remotely close in any direction, they’d go insane. It makes even day trips to a bigger city, or to see family, almost impossible.
I enjoy Winnipeg, and many players do like playing there. Especially in a true hockey sense. They’re treated as well as anywhere and it’s not overbearing. If they’re from large metro areas though, they tend to rather live in more of a metro area. Even if that’s Columbus. Things like having 2 days off and taking your GF/Wife to Chicago, or even day trips to Cincinnati are easy. Not so much from Winnipeg. I had a tough time in Peterborough originally and that’s close enough to Toronto if need be. Since those days though, I much more prefer the smaller town thing. I know other guys who couldn’t wait to be in a metro area though.
Those are the little things that cause players to rather play somewhere else. It’s nothing against Winnipeg and the people. Fans from other places though, from pure ignorance, just assume it’s some hell hole because players would rather play somewhere else. Far from the reality.
