ontariolightning: Doc Daneeka: ontariolightning: The fact is even with a successful team Phoenix will still be giving away thousands and thousands of tickets because they can't sell them

Well, the fact is that we just don't know how Phoenix would react to a successful team because they've never had one until this season and the last. See also: Columbus.

bandwagon fans
hate those type

i hope coyotes lose to spite the fans that couldnt really give a shiat

...and there's the bitter Canuckistanis that we all love so well.

For all the "not giving a sh*t" the market has a lot more potential than Winnepeg ever was. The metro area of Phoenix has about 3 times the population of the entire Province of Manitoba. Sorry. Building a hockey culture hasn't been easy, but Gretzky did his job there--maybe should have handed the coaching over years ago, but he did a lot to foster youth leagues, to build up hockey in the market. That Arizona has been able to produce players for the NHL says something about that time spent. The expansion teams? That's expanding the sport's reach. That teams out of the traditional environs of hockey's best are making an impact in this race for the Cup, that means that the investment is working.

You'd think that folks would be happy to see the sport expand. To grow. To reach new fans. To create new fans.

Then you have folks who are just bitter that there might be folks who might enjoy the sport elsewhere. It's THAT kind of provincial thinking that caused the Jets to leave in the first place. You want the sport to grow? You have to expand. You have to reach new markets. New fans. You have to grow the culture.

In Arizona are kids who have been on the ice as long as kids in Manitoba, thanks to Arenas like Glenndale. That is what is going to grow the sport. Not just an NHL team, but kids growing up with hockey. With parents who take them to hockey games. Friends and family who attend. With amateur leagues. That is what they have been growing in Phoenix, and you're mad because folks are finding the sport? Enjoying it?

Jacksass...