ZeBridgeIsOut5 t1_iu1hvi2 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 9:15 PM

Reply to comment by 1984isnowpleb in Hockey in Connecticut by poorlywrittenriffs

That seems harsh. I don't think people were unaware, it's more that guaranteed, top level, NHL talent only recently started playing college games here. UConn hockey led the conference in attendance last couple years, did they not? QU and Yale have always been solid.

I don't think you can count sound tigers and wolfpack games. They are fun diversions but AHL atmosphere is nothing compared to the NHL. Can't say CT doesn't deserve NHL because they don't have some sort of rabid AHL fanbase, because show me an AHL team who does...

1984isnowpleb t1_iu1jq53 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 9:28 PM

Laval rockets game be going nuts same with a few other ahl squads. Look I’d love an nhl team I just don’t think there’s the interest to back it. Anyone that likes hockey already probably wouldn’t even switch their fandom from their other local team. I am glad uconn is getting better because even with QU and Yale being powerhouses for years now, uconn in a few years has made a bigger splash than those two teams facing off for a national championship back in 2013 I think

ZeBridgeIsOut5 t1_iu1lm2r wrote on October 27, 2022 at 9:41 PM

Lol okay but that's an AHL team in Quebec. You have got to see that as an outlier.

I think it's underestimating interest though, if the only metric is 'interest in things other than Pro teams'. I mean, c'mon, the CT Sun sold out their playoff games. Pro has extra panache.

If NYC only had AHL teams, you can bet people would be going to Broadway or smorgasburg or whatever else instead.

1984isnowpleb t1_iu1nc23 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 9:53 PM

Oh 100% an outlier but I had to give you at least one 🤪 Quebec or the south get another nhl team before we do imo. AHL is pro though literally better than every other league in the world besides the nhl and maybe a handful of khl or liiga teams. If the game keeps growing at this rate in another decade when the nhl finally decides to expand again, maybe we will be a legit contender for a team at least I hope so. For now it’s just a pipe dream.

Ct suns average game was 5.7K fans, I’m not sure what sold out is for them but that’s more than the Wolfpack or the BPT isles which says more about nhl growing the game to me than anything

ZeBridgeIsOut5 t1_iu1rvug wrote on October 27, 2022 at 10:27 PM

Haha, gotcha. Yeah the Quebec example is like saying "Championship level teams in England get good turnout why doesn't the USL" 😜

And I'm sure you're logically right about the level of skill in the AHL but it's still 'minor league' in America and likely perceived as such, as minor entertainment.

Also of course an NHL team is a pipe dream, and needs a lot of fortuitous luck. But to say it isn't "deserved" because of apathy based on up-to-this-point mediocre college and AHL teams... is a stretch, IMO.