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NHL Chase for Lord Stanley's Cup

That looked like game 3, except Detroit managed to finish a few of their many chances.

The home team has been dominating this series (if not on the scoreboard), but I think game 7 will be pretty even.
 
Flipping between the Detroit - San Jose game and the Atlanta - Chicago NBA game last night just reinforced for me how great the NHL playoffs are. It's really not even close. The United Center was a morgue last night in comparison to the Joe last night - and for that matter compared to the United Center during a Blackhawks game.
 
wfumike02 said:
Flipping between the Detroit - San Jose game and the Atlanta - Chicago NBA game last night just reinforced for me how great the NHL playoffs are. It's really not even close. The United Center was a morgue last night in comparison to the Joe last night - and for that matter compared to the United Center during a Blackhawks game.
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Just so much more unpredictability in the NHL playoffs. The NBA has been WAY better than normal in this regard this year, but the favorites win so often and home-court advantage is so huge that you almost always have a very good idea who is going to win a game or series.

In the NHL, with everyone so much more evenly matched and home ice advantage all but non-existent, everything is so unpredictable.
 
I've always wondered why there is such an advantage to home court in the NBA and much less in the NHL, even though there are actually rule changes in favor of the home teams in hockey. Is there actually some reason that the NBA has such a home court advantage, or is it just that road teams don't play as hard on a regular basis since they are expected to lose?
 
redwing42 said:
I've always wondered why there is such an advantage to home court in the NBA and much less in the NHL, even though there are actually rule changes in favor of the home teams in hockey. Is there actually some reason that the NBA has such a home court advantage, or is it just that road teams don't play as hard on a regular basis since they are expected to lose?
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Best answer I have is basketball officials. There seems to be an intimidation factor by the home crowd on basketball officials that you don't see in some other sports, maybe since there isn't glass or a big wall separating them from the fans. There also seems to be a pretty big home-field advantage in soccer where a similar element is in play.

Also I'm sure guys are way more comfortable shooting in their own arena than on the road, which is important since shooting is such an individual act (no goaltender, opposing pitcher, etc.).
 
TuffaloDeac10 said:
Lame. They need to go. Not a hockey market.
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Where do you think the best place for a team would be? Most people seem to think the next move would be back to Canada. I personally agree with some that there are probably too many teams in the league right now. I don't think contraction is ever a sign of a strong league, but I'd love to go back to 28 teams and two divisions in each conference. If they had to move, I guess Hamilton or Winnipeg would be OK, but I can't think of many US cities that would support a team that don't already have one. Seattle? Milwaukee? KC?
 
redwing42 said:
Where do you think the best place for a team would be? Most people seem to think the next move would be back to Canada. I personally agree with some that there are probably too many teams in the league right now. I don't think contraction is ever a sign of a strong league, but I'd love to go back to 28 teams and two divisions in each conference. If they had to move, I guess Hamilton or Winnipeg would be OK, but I can't think of many US cities that would support a team that don't already have one. Seattle? Milwaukee? KC?
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http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/2010/12/8/1536097/nhl-relocation-winnipeg-quebec-city

Pretty decent article on the subject. I think Toronto/Hamilton would be the best place to move Phoenix.
 
I'd prefer Toronto proper over Hamilton or any other non-Toronto Golden Horseshoe city/town. That blog's list of the Buffalo metro is deceiving because the Sabres have lot of Canadian fans and also some "fans" who really pull for the Leafs but have an easier time getting Sabres tickets than Leafs tickets. It'd be really damaging to put a team in Hamilton.

Seattle might be interesting for a Western US destination. But first and foremost I'd look for a town that can be a hockey town. Phoenix is just dumb.
 
Fear not, seems like the Thrash are pretty much as good as gone out of ATL. Winnipeg seems to be the frontrunner as a potential market ... Hamilton needs to find someone besides Balsillie (who the other owners absolutely hate) to step forward as an owner.

Atl relocating out west would pose some interesting realignment dilemmas. The Preds to the Southeast mebbe?

As far as U.S. cities Portland has a grassroots effort going to get a team (no team between SJ and Vancouver, about a 16 hour drive), and K.C. is still looking for a team in the Sprint Center. Isles have been mentioned a bunch here but they just had an arena proposal put forward today so it'll be interesting to see what happens with that.
 
wsc8521s said:
Fear not, seems like the Thrash are pretty much as good as gone out of ATL. Winnipeg seems to be the frontrunner as a potential market ... Hamilton needs to find someone besides Balsillie (who the other owners absolutely hate) to step forward as an owner.

Atl relocating out west would pose some interesting realignment dilemmas. The Preds to the Southeast mebbe?

As far as U.S. cities Portland has a grassroots effort going to get a team (no team between SJ and Vancouver, about a 16 hour drive), and K.C. is still looking for a team in the Sprint Center. Isles have been mentioned a bunch here but they just had an arena proposal put forward today so it'll be interesting to see what happens with that.
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I think Preds to the Southeast would make the most sense if ATL moves (again)
 
Going back to Winnipeg or QC is a dumb idea. Just contract the league if that's what you're going to do.
 
I wonder if Portland would support an NHL franchise. Given that the Blazers are their only Big 4 team, and seeing the way they've supported the Timber, it seems like a decent option.
 
wsc8521s said:
Fear not, seems like the Thrash are pretty much as good as gone out of ATL. Winnipeg seems to be the frontrunner as a potential market ... Hamilton needs to find someone besides Balsillie (who the other owners absolutely hate) to step forward as an owner.

Atl relocating out west would pose some interesting realignment dilemmas. The Preds to the Southeast mebbe?

As far as U.S. cities Portland has a grassroots effort going to get a team (no team between SJ and Vancouver, about a 16 hour drive), and K.C. is still looking for a team in the Sprint Center. Isles have been mentioned a bunch here but they just had an arena proposal put forward today so it'll be interesting to see what happens with that.
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Preds have a pretty brutal travel schedule (as do most of the eastern-most teams in the West).

Portland is intriguing, but I think KC is probably going to get a team sooner or later. The NBA seems to be thriving in OKC as the only sport in town and the NHL might look at KC the same way since they wouldn't have any competition from an NBA team.

I think Phoenix and Atlanta are obviously the next two teams to move, with the potential destinations looking something like this:

1)Toronto area (including Hamilton)
2) KC
3) Portland/Seattle/Northwest

Winnipeg/Quebec City/ Houston and other larger US markets without teams would be in the second tier. It sucks because I think a team in Winnipeg would add a lot to the character of the NHL, but if the market can't support it, there isn't much sense in moving a team there only to have it fail a second time.

The Isles have been in arena purgatory forever, but I don't really see them moving, I don't think the NHL wants to lose that market.

Btw, how terrible of a sports town is Atlanta? I know the Thrashers have been terrible, but their support for all of their major franchises really sucks.
 
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