NHL season 2017/2018

[Mrs Sauga]

Originally Posted by Jaws

Actually, I don’t think most Americans care where athletes are from. Case in point is MLB and NBA. This is actually more of a Canadian thing.

I think they do care to an extent. I don't think their stars HAVE to be Americans though. I think they just like their stars to be "cool". NBA players are cool. Latin players are cool. Cristiano Ronaldo is even cool. Canadians are not. PK Subban is though.

[Acajack]

Pretty sure the NHL cares as little about enrolment in the States as it does in Canada. With some exceptions the BOG is not a hotbed of lovers of the game. Probably less than most other sports.

Originally Posted by logan5

Even if some of these U.S. based teams aren’t doing so well, they do increase hockey enrollment in that city and state. As a business you want to have the best product possible for your customers, and having teams in non traditional markets increases the talent pool the league has to draw from. Auston Mathews being an obvious example ( grew up in Arizona).

If current trends continue, the U.S. will pass Canada in about 10 years as the country producing the most NHL players. That means the quality of play and skill on the ice will have increased. The game will have improved even more and you have a chance to draw in more fans.

Another thing, Americans like to see American athletes being superstars and heroes. With a league that is mostly Americans, you’re going to capture more American fans.

For those reasons I think it’s important to keep expanding into places like Texas, Nevada, and Seattle.

https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/.../USHockey.aspx

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/amp.busi...s-2028-2017-11

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Jaws

Actually, I don’t think most Americans care where athletes are from. Case in point is MLB and NBA. This is actually more of a Canadian thing.

The NBA is 78% American, and MLB is 73%. The NHL has only 26%, which is why, for the most part, hockey is seen as foreign sport.

As there will inevitably be more American stars, it will make it far easier to market the players and the sport much more like they do in the all hype/no substance NBA. Right now the NHL is all substance/no hype.

There's so much more room to grow for hockey, while on the other hand, the major U.S. sports leagues are a lot closer to hitting their saturation points.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Pretty sure the NHL cares as little about enrolment in the States as it does in Canada. With some exceptions the BOG is not a hotbed of lovers of the game. Probably less than most other sports.

That's just flat out wrong.

[blueandgoldguy]

The Winnipeg Jets are Canada's team to many people across the country because they are the only Canadian city left in the NHL playoffs...regardless of how many players on the actual team are non-Canadian.

Some encouraging growth in the US no doubt, but some of the numbers are quite pathetic.

Arizona player participation grew a whopping 4,000 in twenty years
Tennessee grew a whopping 2,000
Georgia increased by 1,000
Florida increased by 8,000
Ohio increased by 3,000
North Carolina increased by 4,000

So I guess in another twenty years we can look forward to 3,000 hockey players in Georgia, 6,000 in Tennessee, 10,000 in Arizona, 10,000 in North Carolina and 20,000 in Florida. Let's also keep in mind there are 55 million people in those US states.

One of those articles mentions the difficulty in finding icetime for players given the low number of rinks in the US. Since outdoor rinks are not possible in all but the most northern US States and the expenses involved in building and operating indoor rinks (especially in those extremely hot southern states) I could actually see % year over year increase in US players decline at some point in the near future until it reaches a point at which it levels off.

I would be very surprised to see the day the percentage of NHL players in the US exceeds the percentage of those in Canada. Factor in the recent rise of high-level soccer participation in the US and many states will see a significant percentage of their elite athletes choose soccer over hockey. It is a much more accessible sport easily played outside year round in the southern states and most of the year in the remaining states

In the meantime...GO JETS!

#CanadasTeam#

[JHikka]

Again, putting this intro perspective...

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

Arizona player participation grew a whopping 4,000 in twenty years [This is double the figure from the late 1990s]
Tennessee grew a whopping 2,000 [This is double the figure since 2005]
Georgia increased by 1,000 [Lost NHL team, numbers still doubled]
Florida increased by 8,000 [Figures have doubled since 2000]
Ohio increased by 3,000
North Carolina increased by 4,000 [Figures have doubled since 2000]

Most of these states are starting from scratch - what do you expect? For comparison:

Minnesota up 15K
California up 12K
Illinois up 10K
Pennsylvania up 8K
Texas up 7K

In total, 120K more people are registered to play hockey in the US than in 2000. That's decent growth considering the total is 550K. It's only 80K less than the official Canada number with roughly half the number of indoor rinks.

Here's a table from engagesports:



Here's an article from Sports Business Daily.

Originally Posted by SBD

It pulled the plug on its 12-and-under pee wee national championship, reducing travel for younger players. It banned body-checking, responding to concerns about concussions. Most importantly, it laid out a boilerplate of recommendations — the skeleton of the ADM — adapting the game to make it more accessible and, in what was then an extreme example of zigging while its sports counterparts zagged, encouraging hockey players to play other sports.

Five years later, hockey not only has stemmed its decline, but reversed it, increasing participation 44 percent, from 517,000 to 743,000 among ages 6-17, according to recently released data from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. That growth has come even as football, baseball, basketball and soccer all have watched youth participation fall during that same span (see chart).

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

So I guess in another twenty years we can look forward to 3,000 hockey players in Georgia, 6,000 in Tennessee, 10,000 in Arizona, 10,000 in North Carolina and 20,000 in Florida. Let's also keep in mind there are 55 million people in those US states.

Is this a bad thing? You're speaking as if the growth of hockey is a bad thing or somehow not up to your standards. Nobody's pretending like hockey is going to become the #1 sport in Texas but it has been making tiny inroads that didn't exist 20 years ago.

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

I would be very surprised to see the day the percentage of NHL players in the US exceeds the percentage of those in Canada.

At current rates the US has more NHL players than Canada sometime in the late 2030s. If we're conservative then sometime in the 2040s.

[logan5]

The 2018 NHL draft rankings for the 1st round (top 31). Canada has 9 players ranked in the 1st round, followed closely by the U.S. with 8. Europe has 14 players scheduled to be selected in the first round. In this ranking the top Canadian is ranked 9. Has there ever been a draft where a Canadian isn't at least in the top 8?

[pegcityboy]

Good points Blue and Gold Guy , like I said in a previous post , Bettman spins the numbers greatly , 20 yrs in Arizona not enough time ? Well then in 100 years he may be able to say hockey is important sport to Arizonans and relative . The exact same for his twisted TV ratings . With 7 Cdn teams creating over 50% of hockey revenue, hockey has a long way to go in lots of US hockey markets . I will add with 330 million people in the States and hockey awareness slowly increasing of course they will be more players from US playing in the NHL . Canada with its 35 million will be miles ahead of producing NHL and AHL players for years and years to come still. No growth is not a bad thing really not needed as NHL has great revenues but pushing hockey into the south just for the sake of big markets is wrong ! Carolina , Florida and Arizona losing millions every year and getting propped up by league . Having said that I do think Seattle will be good market for the NHL but Quebec City needs to be in the league as it will be passionate fans , sold out and a hockey city through and through

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by logan5

That's just flat out wrong.

If you're talking about the passion of NHL owners for the game, a good chunk of them are rich businesspeople who were looking for a pro sports "toy" but found that membership in other more exclusive clubs (to an American anyway) was either too pricey or saturated and therefore not open to them.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by logan5

The NBA is 78% American, and MLB is 73%. The NHL has only 26%, which is why, for the most part, hockey is seen as foreign sport.

As there will inevitably be more American stars, it will make it far easier to market the players and the sport much more like they do in the all hype/no substance NBA. Right now the NHL is all substance/no hype.

There's so much more room to grow for hockey, while on the other hand, the major U.S. sports leagues are a lot closer to hitting their saturation points.

I don't think the average sports fan in the U.S. sees that big a difference in an NHL hockey player who is from Saskatchewan and one who is from Wisconsin. Unless they are on the national team (and we're seeing them less and less due to the NHL taking itself out of the Olympics) I often have no idea if certain players on the teams I follow (Montreal and Ottawa primarily) are Canadian or American. I am sure many casual fans are the same.

[Dwils01]

Just thought I would share my 2018 playoff bracket. I made this back when the playoffs began and I'm surprised by how many I've got correct. Only one series I was wrong on so far. The number in the brackets is by how many games that team will win the series in. Also I have a Washington bias since they have been my team for 23 years.

[Biff]

^^^I have two issues with your bracket....1 - Winnipeg will win the Cup....2 - the OCD in me is bothered by the fact the eastern teams are on the left side and western teams are on the right. Needs to be reversed.

[Dwils01]

I think Winnipeg has a good chance to win and I think they are a better team than Washington but I'm a Washington fan and I think they got a chance to win the cup but it would be a close series.

Noted about which conference goes on which side. I will change that for next year.

[megadude]

Nice bracket. I run a tonne of pools myself. At one point I was running 8 at the same time last year.

I did two for NHL. One is players, the other is team draft.

Players was 14 F, 9 D, 4 teams. Goals worth 1.5, assists worth 1. Team wins 1 point, 1 extra for a SO.

Had 14 participants in the office. And #1 guy beat #2 by 1.5 points after the long season. Second time that happened in 6 years.

It all came down the one and only game on the last day of the season. BOS vs FLA. 1st place guy had Barkov and the other guy had Huberdeau. Barkov was scratched. 2nd place guy needed Huberdeau to score and he would have won the pool on tie breaker. Alas, he did not.


For the team draft, again went down to the last day. Difference was half a point.

6 guys drafted 5 teams each after drawing the drafting order. You pick 1-5 then reverse order and so on.

Each win is worth 1 point and OTL is half point.

Gives you an incentive to follow the NHL or any sport even more. You obviously root for your home team, but also have an interest in 5 other teams.

Not many people do a team draft pool and I only started doing one last year. Some of you should try it out if you haven't already.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

The Winnipeg Jets are Canada's team to many people across the country because they are the only Canadian city left in the NHL playoffs...regardless of how many players on the actual team are non-Canadian.

Some encouraging growth in the US no doubt, but some of the numbers are quite pathetic.

Arizona player participation grew a whopping 4,000 in twenty years
Tennessee grew a whopping 2,000
Georgia increased by 1,000
Florida increased by 8,000
Ohio increased by 3,000
North Carolina increased by 4,000

So I guess in another twenty years we can look forward to 3,000 hockey players in Georgia, 6,000 in Tennessee, 10,000 in Arizona, 10,000 in North Carolina and 20,000 in Florida. Let's also keep in mind there are 55 million people in those US states.

One of those articles mentions the difficulty in finding icetime for players given the low number of rinks in the US. Since outdoor rinks are not possible in all but the most northern US States and the expenses involved in building and operating indoor rinks (especially in those extremely hot southern states) I could actually see % year over year increase in US players decline at some point in the near future until it reaches a point at which it levels off.

I would be very surprised to see the day the percentage of NHL players in the US exceeds the percentage of those in Canada. Factor in the recent rise of high-level soccer participation in the US and many states will see a significant percentage of their elite athletes choose soccer over hockey. It is a much more accessible sport easily played outside year round in the southern states and most of the year in the remaining states

In the meantime...GO JETS!

#CanadasTeam#

Let's face it. Soccer, Basketball, etc. are more accessible in Canada too. Every passing generation of hockey players becomes less and less about raw talent. It's about how big you are and the size of your parents' disposable income. It's a rich kid's sport. A lower to middle class family with two full time income earners is less and less likely to have the time or money to compete with those that do. With this in mind, the US has ten times the people. It's inevitable they will eventually surpass Canada in NHL player production.

[MonctonRad]

Watching the game last night, I think Tampa is done. Washington is too big and too powerful for them. I also think Washington is beginning to believe in themselves. Belief is a powerful weapon.

I also think Winnipeg will take out Vegas, so it'll be a battle of the W's for the Stanley Cup.

Both teams are big and tough and are equipped with real hockey talent. It'll be a great series, but as I said above, belief is a powerful weapon and if Washington truly thinks it is their time and their destiny to win the cup, then I think they will do it.

Stanley Cup final - Capitals in six.........

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Let's face it. Soccer, Basketball, etc. are more accessible in Canada too. Every passing generation of hockey players becomes less and less about raw talent. It's about how big you are and the size of your parents' disposable income. It's a rich kid's sport. A lower to middle class family with two full time income earners is less and less likely to have the time or money to compete with those that do. With this in mind, the US has ten times the people. It's inevitable they will eventually surpass Canada in NHL player production.

And this could be achieved with only very modest increase in the number of American kids playing hockey.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by megadude

Nice bracket. I run a tonne of pools myself. At one point I was running 8 at the same time last year.

I did two for NHL. One is players, the other is team draft.

Players was 14 F, 9 D, 4 teams. Goals worth 1.5, assists worth 1. Team wins 1 point, 1 extra for a SO.

Had 14 participants in the office. And #1 guy beat #2 by 1.5 points after the long season. Second time that happened in 6 years.

It all came down the one and only game on the last day of the season. BOS vs FLA. 1st place guy had Barkov and the other guy had Huberdeau. Barkov was scratched. 2nd place guy needed Huberdeau to score and he would have won the pool on tie breaker. Alas, he did not.


For the team draft, again went down to the last day. Difference was half a point.

6 guys drafted 5 teams each after drawing the drafting order. You pick 1-5 then reverse order and so on.

Each win is worth 1 point and OTL is half point.

Gives you an incentive to follow the NHL or any sport even more. You obviously root for your home team, but also have an interest in 5 other teams.

Not many people do a team draft pool and I only started doing one last year. Some of you should try it out if you haven't already.

We do plus-minus as well, which I like since it means your score can go down sometimes. Adds a bit of faint hope in certain circumstances that would otherwise be hopeless.

[Denscity]

Two nothing Vegas after one period! Winnipeg crowd silenced so far.

[khabibulin]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Two nothing Vegas after one period! Winnipeg crowd silenced so far.

You are so predictable! Why were you not posting about the score or the crowd noise on Saturday night?