Yes some players would love to be in Toronto. But the reality is most don’t. They don’t want to get shit on daily. And let’s be honest in Philly and in Boston the hockey teams are like the third/fourth most popular teams. US Media give a shit about hockey. ESPN didnt even cover it until this year.
and again i think
that's the problem. but not with Toronto (or "BIG Hockey Market") but with the players etc.
I don't understand/nor comprehend how you want to be paid so much money - and then not want to play in the markets that's
responsible for you making that much money. you say poop on and I'll acknowledge there are times when the media basically just pulls something to make something up but there are alsoa lot of times when the media has the players back. or when it comes to contracts etc they are the one pushing up the numbers etc. When they want to be all dealt or get their demands on -they don't mind the media then. i remember a LOT of players who said they've played here and it's truly not as bad as people assume it is [and that's including the players who actually got it
badly in the media]. to a
man that's been said
. So in my opinion it's very overblown.
to me it really feels like a lot of players just wanna play in a place where all hockey is, is "black thing in net. big hit. we win. yay" they don't want to play in markets where the fans for the most part actually know what's going on.which would be okay if you know they didn't want 50% of the revenue, drive up salary expectations and all of that jazz.
you mentioned salary before. but i think when you sit out (or threaten to sit out, or state you are worth X amount - and then you don't perform as much, i do think your salary should be mentioned) - but that's not even the medias fault. I think that's the PA for wanting salaries to be public (why? so they could be used as comparisons).
i respect people's choices not to be here. but i truly don't get nor respect people's desire in this league - to not want to promote the game and make EVERY market a big market like Toronto. that should be the goal, not be a famous nobody.