There Are Limits to Your Expansion NHL

I am very much in favor of marketing the NHL and the game of hockey in general to as many places as possible. On the other hand, I think it is important to know the limits of the NHL’s potential. In my opinion it is not necessarily about trying to make the game compete with other professional sports in North America but about trying to maximize the potential of the league in and of itself. That said I understand the desire to place teams in the southern tier of the United States. Testing the waters is always a good thing and in the case of the Dallas Stars it has been quite successful. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Atlanta (for the second time), Miami, Phoenix, Nashville and Carolina. Miami and Phoenix are terrible sports markets where not even football does all that well. The people seem to either have other interests or have moved from cold weather cities that have teams to which people keep their allegiances with. The time has come to again consider and ultimately place teams in old NHL markets like Winnipeg and Quebec City or exploring new options in places like Kansas City, Milwaukee, Halifax, Hamilton or perhaps putting another team in Toronto proper. I know Gary Bettman and company have a lot on their plates but in this day of expansive cable/satellite TV, the internet, and various other media outlets that can help grow the game it is time to rethink their strategy.