[NHL] I went to a hockey game...

[RichS]

Sorry about that...

My point is that sadly, the fans in CT as well as the powers that be were taken advantage of by, and lied to by Karmanos when he made his promises to stay...blah blah blah.

In no way do I agree with what he did...but, the guys playing the game have nothing to do with his decision making so I don't NOT root for them just because of their owner.

And for the record...I've been a Yankee fan since years before George bought the team from CBS...:-D

[DeltaOne81]

Rich-

I completely understand not wanting to let the owner get into it. As for me, it's hard to route for anything that will make a horrible man (IMHO) smile - shadenfreude? (I took German, but I'm rusty so forgive the spelling maybe) perhaps, but I've been routing for CompuCr@p (or whatever it is) to go under too, so let's just say I don't consider the guy a friend. If he ended up a sad, poor, pityful man, I'd be glad.

I'd love to see Francis and a couple of the remaining (reclaimed) players from the Whaler-days get their due (though Francis won a cup with Pittsburgh, two even, so I suppose he got his already), but I can't do it if it'd mean giving that man success.

So I understand not wanting to bring the owner into it, but I just can't do it in this case. I also stopped being a Pats (NFL) fan after *they* shat on my home state a couple years ago.

All this talk makes me be only more grateful for college sports.

-Fred

[zg88]

All this talk makes me be only more grateful for college sports.

Amen to that!  (Especially the Ivies)

(Although "big-time" college football and basketball differ from the pros, in my mind, only in the degree of compensation and in the college teams' lack of "portability".)

[RichS]

Yeah, I hear that Bob Kraft is sorta Public enemy #1 in the Nutmeg state! :-D

[Keith K]

I'd rather not capitalize too much on the popularity of Big Time sports for several reasons, several of which are:

1) I would hate to see long time conference rivalries like BU-BC disappear in favor of things like Notre Dame-BC, which have no hockey history.

2) Part of the joy of college hockey is that small, relatively unknown schools like CC, LSSU or Clarkson can and have been successful on the national stage.  The more you pump football and basketball conferences the more likely it is that hockey becomes like them.

3) If we get "true" conferences mixed in with old, you the possibility where the "true" conferences may try to use their NC$$ status to pursue their goals which might nt mesh with what the rest of college hockey wants.  This already started to happen with the MAAC and the start date legislation.  I imagine the Big East or Big Ten would have a lot more pull than the MAAC too.

[Sarli]

Hate to tell you but Carolina did NOT sell out Game 1 of the Conference Finals.
I'm sorry but THE CONFERENCE FINALS!! Come walk up, buy tickets 1/2 hr before face-off. Good Seats still available!

Also, anyone else notice how loud the leafs contingent was in NC?

[Greg Berge]

> Also, anyone else notice how loud the leafs contingent was in NC?

The Canes actually have a pretty raucous following, on the Novelty Act That Wins principle.  Having lived there, my prediction is that interest will peak within a year, and the franchise will be unviable by the end of the decade.  About the only people in NC who care about hockey for its own sake are Duke students from Connecticut who don't have the money and RTP enginerds from Boston who don't have the time.

I seriously doubt whether any hockey team in the Confederacy will last out the decade.  Dallas maybe just from sheer size (LA has managed to hold onto a team for 40 years even though nobody there cares).