Fictional Hockey League

[WarrenWallace]

Just pondering this the other day.....

Say that there was no hockey league in North America. And you were put in charge of starting it up. You have 24 franchises to disperse between USA and Canada. Where would you put them and why? And it doesn't have to be in markets that have a NHL team now. There could be a Kansas City, Portland, Hamilton, etc.

This could be interesting.

[WarrenWallace]

EAST
1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. New York
4. Boston
5. Philadelphia
6. Detroit
7. Quebec
8. Washington
9. New Jersey
10. Pittsburgh
11. Buffalo
12. Columbus

WEST
1. Vancouver
2. Colorado
3. Los Angeles
4. Edmonton
5. St. Louis
6. Minnesota
7. Chicago
8. Seattle
9. Winnipeg
10. Calgary
11. Dallas
12. San Francisco

Thought about:
Kansas City
Salt Lake City
Portland
San Jose - I did San Francisco instead.
Hamilton - Couldn't justify three teams in that area (Toronto, Buffalo, Hamilton).
Tampa Bay - Thought that Columbus was a better market for hockey.

[dfb547490]

East:
1.Toronto
2.Montreal
3.Ottawa
4.New York
5.New York or New Jersey
6.Philadelphia
7.Pittsburgh
8.Quebec
9.Hartford
10.Washington
11.Buffalo
12.Cleveland

West:
1.Chicago
2.Detroit
3.Minnesota
4.Denver
5.Calgary
6.Edmonton
7.Vancouver
8.Dallas
9.San Jose
10.LA
11.St. Louis
12.Anchorage

[Mr Fish]

dfb, as a BC guy, I'm absolutely floored that you didn't include Boston on your list.

East
1. New York
2. Boston
3. Philadelphia
4. Washington
5. Montreal
6. Toronto
7. Quebec
8. Pittsburgh
9. Buffalo
10. Ottawa
11. Tampa
12. Atlanta

West
1. Detroit
2. Chicago
3. Dallas
4. Denver
5. Los Angeles
6. San Jose
7. Calgary
8. Edmonton
9. Vancouver
10. Minnesota
11. St. Louis
12. Phoenix

[dfb547490]

dfb, as a BC guy, I'm absolutely floored that you didn't include Boston on your list.


Eh, that's cause I'm retarded. Take off Cleveland.

[SweetOwnGoal]

24 eh...

Canadian Division

Montreal
Ottawa
Hamilton
Toronto
Winnipeg

NE Division

Boston
New York (three teams become one)
Buffalo
Philly
Columbus

Central Division

Detroit
Chicago
Minnesota
St Louis
Denver

NW Division

Calgary
Edmonton
Vancouver
San Jose
Seattle

Southern Division

LA
Dallas
Houston
Florida (the two teams would become one)
Washington

New teams in bold . Winnipeg and Hamilton would both have a great fan base; I'm making the assumption that they would have rinks to play in that would allow them to be successful. Plus, 1/3 Canadian content should be the goal of any professional hockey league.

Seattle has always supported junior hockey very well and is currently the most glaring market omission in the NHL.

I included Houston because I have always believed that if you expose Texans to hockey they will love it. Ice aside, it just seems like a Texas kind of sport - a little rough around the edges and tough as nails.

Omissions include: Nashville (I like the fact that the NHL is trying to establish itself in the market, but with only 24 cities to chose, there were more deserving places); New Jersey and the Islanders (only room for one team in the NYC market); The two Florida teams become one -- lets give Tampa the benefit and pull Miami; Carolina (I'm not a fan of this market...of all the places Hartford could have moved, why here?), Pittsburgh (I think the sport is dead in this market); Anaheim (there are great hockey fans in the LA area, but not enough for two teams in a 24 team league); Phoenix and Atlanta(more deserving southern markets).

I have included Columbus ahead of other Ohio markets because I like the fact that the NHL is trying to go into markets that the other team sports have ignored -- Why play second fiddle to the Browns when you can be the biggest game in town -- with apologies to the Crew of course.

Oh, and I realize I've included 25 teams -- I had to have even divisions. Sue me.

[Foots]

I'm surprised every one has included Washington in their list so far.

[whirlwind]

Toronto
Montreal
New York
Boston
Detroit
Chicago

[obie]

Canada Conference

Halifax
Montreal
Quebec
Ottawa
Toronto
Hamilton
Windsor
Winnipeg
Saskatoon
Edmonton
Calgary
Vancouver

The question of "Can the greater Toronto area support three teams?" is answered with an emphatic "absolutely" because of local derbies and Windsor's proximity to Detroit, the best American pro hockey city. Other than that, Halifax is chosen b/c it's the largest city among the Atlantic provinces, and Saskatoon is chosen b/c it's a long way from Winnipeg to Calgary.

USA Conference

Boston
New York
Philadelphia
Detroit
Chicago
St. Louis
Minneapolis
Dallas
Denver
Los Angeles
San Jose
Seattle

The rest of the Original Six, plus some cities with rabid fanbases (PHI, DEN, DAL, SJ, STL, MNLPS). Some current teams just have to go: Atlanta, Carolina, Nashville, Tampa, Miami, Phoenix, and Anaheim have all outstayed their welcomes. Washington, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and the Islanders are all stuck with terrible mismanagement. Jersey is a great organization with a meager fan base that doesn't deserve them - move them to Winnipeg, perhaps.

The only city in all this that I truly feel badly for is C-Bus, but they lose out because (a) Uncle Phil owns the Kings, and (b) I'm hoping for a Seattle / Vancouver derby.

The best thing about this is that it guarantees a Canada vs. USA Stanley Cup final every year, which the sport loves.

[MetroAndAGuinessPlz]

24 eh...

Canadian Division

Montreal
Ottawa
Hamilton
Toronto
Winnipeg

NE Division

Boston
New York (three teams become one)
Buffalo
Philly
Columbus

Central Division

Detroit
Chicago
Minnesota
St Louis
Denver

NW Division

Calgary
Edmonton
Vancouver
San Jose
Seattle

Southern Division

LA
Dallas
Houston
Florida (the two teams would become one)
Washington

New teams in bold . Winnipeg and Hamilton would both have a great fan base; I'm making the assumption that they would have rinks to play in that would allow them to be successful. Plus, 1/3 Canadian content should be the goal of any professional hockey league.

Seattle has always supported junior hockey very well and is currently the most glaring market omission in the NHL.

I included Houston because I have always believed that if you expose Texans to hockey they will love it. Ice aside, it just seems like a Texas kind of sport - a little rough around the edges and tough as nails.

Omissions include: Nashville (I like the fact that the NHL is trying to establish itself in the market, but with only 24 cities to chose, there were more deserving places); New Jersey and the Islanders (only room for one team in the NYC market); The two Florida teams become one -- lets give Tampa the benefit and pull Miami; Carolina (I'm not a fan of this market...of all the places Hartford could have moved, why here?), Pittsburgh (I think the sport is dead in this market); Anaheim (there are great hockey fans in the LA area, but not enough for two teams in a 24 team league); Phoenix and Atlanta(more deserving southern markets).

I have included Columbus ahead of other Ohio markets because I like the fact that the NHL is trying to go into markets that the other team sports have ignored -- Why play second fiddle to the Browns when you can be the biggest game in town -- with apologies to the Crew of course.

Oh, and I realize I've included 25 teams -- I had to have even divisions. Sue me.

You'd keep Washington and scrap the Islanders? Clearly, the Devils have no place in the New York area (we've only got two BASEBALL teams), but the Islanders do have a fan base. It's MUCH smaller than that of the Rangers, but clearly if a team that plays in front of a half empty building on a good night deserves a spot in your league then so do the Islanders. If the Islanders actually got past the first round of the playoffs for a year or two the fans would come back to the Coliseum in droves. Understand that Islander fans were absolutely spit on for the entire decade of the 90's by management and the team's ever-changing owners. I'm a Ranger fan and the current Rangers debacle pales in comparison to what the Islander fan base was subjected to during the 90's. It'll take a few deep playoff runs to erase those bad feelings, but its not impossible. If Ranger fans actually stopped going to the games (which won't happen - 7 years of no playoffs and the building is still at 99% capacity every night), Dolan would do everything in his power to immediately bring them back. Islander fans weren't given that - they left and had no reason to come back to pay for expensive seats to watch an inferior product.Three consecutive first round playoff exits aren't going to change that.

[MetroAndAGuinessPlz]

EAST

Rangers
Islanders
Hartford
Boston
Toronto
Buffalo
Hamilton
Montreal
Tampa
Philly
Columbus
Ottowa

WEST

Colorado
Detroit
Los Angeles
San Jose
Calgary
Vancouver
Seattle
Dallas
Chicago
Edmonton
Minnesota
Saint Louis

Thats 24 teams. Intra-conference regular season play only. 65 game season, top 8 in each conference make the playoffs. I would add teams in Seattle and Hamilton and bring back the Hartford Whalers.

[yellowbismark]

Los Angeles
Salt Lake City
San Jose
Vancouver
Edmonton
Calgary

Dallas
Colorado
Winnipeg
Houston
Minnesota
St.Louis

Chicago
Detroit
Hamilton
Buffalo
Pittsburgh
Toronto

Boston
New York
Philadelphia
Ottawa
Montreal
Quebec

[soccernutter]

EAST

Rangers
Islanders
Washington
Boston
Toronto
Buffalo
Hamilton
Montreal
Tampa
Philly
Columbus
Ottowa

WEST

Colorado
Detroit
Los Angeles
San Jose
Calgary
Vancouver
Seattle
Dallas
Chicago
Edmonton
Minnesota
Saint Louis



Edited for my selection.

Man, I could see Seattle/Vancover being a good rivalry.

[CelticOnFire]

East
1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Boston
4. New York
5. Buffalo
6. Ottowa
7. Quebec
8. Philly
9. Colombus
10. Hartford
11. Pittsburgh
12. Washington

West
1. Chicago
2. Detroit
3. Minnesota
4. Vancover
5. Calgary
6. Manatoba
7. Edmonton
8. San Jose
9. Colorado
10. Seattle
11. St. Louis
12. Portland, Ore

[WarrenWallace]

Especially after the work stopage, there is a possibility that some of the teams will fold.

Also, anyone seeing a trend where all the teams are located? ;)

[fidlerre]

anyone who omits columbus from the list is just not smart.

columbus has incredible fan support, and it won't be disappearing anytime soon. the bluejackets are the main professional sports team in columbus <minus ohio state football of course, sorry crew> and they will continue to draw very, very well and they consistantly have been rated the best arena atmosphere in the NHL their first few years. it's one franchise during all this expansion that has been an excellent addition to the league.

[biggyv]

I think it's a little early to pass judgment on Columbus. It looks promising, but you have to wait for the luster to wear off. Remember how popular the Charlotte Hornets once were?

[dfb547490]

Can't believe there's no-one else that thinks Anchorage would be a great spot for a team, if they could get an arena built.

[fidlerre]

I think it's a little early to pass judgment on Columbus. It looks promising, but you have to wait for the luster to wear off. Remember how popular the Charlotte Hornets once were?
trust me on this one, columbus will support them for a long time.

it isn't like the clippers or the crew are taking away fans.

[DoyleG]

Canadian Conference
Vancouver
Edmonton
Calgary
Saskatoon
Winnipeg
Toronto
Hamilton
Ottawa
Montreal
Quebec City
Halifax
St John's

American Conference
New York
LA
Boston
Chicago
Detroit
LA
Seattle
Columbus
Tampa Bay
Salt Lake City
Denver
Hartford