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Lol it's not an oversimplification.. it just makes sense. 80% of the southern teams are failing miserably.. heck even Denver is really starting to lose it to spite being first in the west.... barely can draw 10 thousand fans a game.
Agreed. It's not rocket science to put hockey teams into markets that are actually pre-disposed to following hockey.
As a Chicago sports fan, I'd love to see Milwaukee get a team so that there's another regional rival for the Blackhawks. The University of Wisconsin actually has the highest hockey attendance of any school in the country - while that's in Madison, a large percentage of those fans are Milwaukee natives and it shows that the state overall is very supportive of the sport. Any market like the Winnipeg, Quebec and Hartford that lost teams also ought to be the first in line.
Hockey is ALL about regional rivalries. Having strong geographic clusters in the Northeast, Midwest and Canada are what's going to carry the league long-term. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be any teams in the Sunbelt, but the NHL should've learned that simply entering into a high growth Southern or Southwestern market isn't necessarily a good trade off compared to a smaller market that has a lot more intense feelings about the sport.
The Milwaukee Admirals don't necessarily draw much more than AHL teams in the south like Houston but I would not use minor league attendance to be a gauge of how interested people will be in seeing actual elite hockey talent come to town. Big difference between getting a chance to see someone like Sidney Crosby and getting a chance to see a bunch of guys nobody's really heard of.
Milwaukee would need a new arena too though. The Bradley Center is a bit dated and small.
When and I did say whenever the NHL expand it will be to Houston Texas first Kansas City secondly and then to Seattle (and) not to Winnapeg....Quebec ...Hartford CT....Hamilton Ontario Canada.
Can I just say, That I really wish Milwaukee had an NHL team. Wisconsin is a big hockey state and you have the Milwaukee Admirals that are the feeder for the Nashville Predators, we have the University Of Wisconsin which is always a hockey power house. They built the Pettit Center with the hopes of luring a hockey team to Milwaukee from what I have heard was that the NHL promised Milwaukee a NHL team if the Pettit's would build a NHL stadium so they did and Milwaukee was passed up for two new expansion teams. Milwaukee has one of the Official Olympic training facilities in the US and back the Admirals used to draw better than the Milwaukee Bucks in the 90's and I'm sure if Milwaukee had an NHL team that same enthusiasm would be back.
I'm really surprised Milwaukee doesn't have a team, it's probably the most deserving right now.
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