The market is cornered

 

Among the things I appreciate about the NHL is it's dedication to representing the many nations from which it's fans come. The NHL has drawn from the US and Canada, obviously, but also there is a long history of players coming from Scandinavia and eastern Europe. There is also a long history of the NHL playing games in Stockholm or Prague. The NBA can expand it's audience with games in Mexico City. The NHL is going to Finland.

For a sport that has been criticized for focusing, to a fault at times, on expanding into a part of the country that is, at best, hockey illiterate, they haven't really gone crazy with their overseas games. Lately, buy in from places like Vegas and Utah has been very good, but it certainly hasn't always been the case, that those sun belt states were excited about hockey. The NHL hasn't pursued markets that, internationally, are not typical hockey markets.

And Finland, where the Stars and Panthers played this morning, is fully in the tank for the NHL. Aside from the terrific names that Finland has to offer hockey fans, which make their home grown players immediately recognizable, they also put together a terrific bunch of players. They are, after all, the reigning Olympic champion. 

Playing NHL games in Finland isn't really expanding the global footprint of the sport, as much as it is throwing red meat to the the biggest fans. If anything, in these spots, they are competing with domestic leagues (or the KHL) rather than introducing a new sport to a fan base, as the NBA or NFL playing in Mexico City or London is. 

And beyond that, it's not as though Finland would be a large market to try to expand. The population of Finland is about 5 and a half million, or slightly larger than that of South Carolina. Finland's population is into hockey, and have a strong domestic league, and the population doesn't represent a huge market to try to expand into anyways. 

None of this is a criticism of the NHL playing in Finland, specifically, or in Europe in general. It's just neat that they do stuff because it's cool, and not necessarily because of some sort of ulterior motive. 

Anything but the northeast

 The NHL expands or changes markets in clusters, it seems. There were a couple of expansions in the Great Lakes at the turn of the century, with Minnesota and Columbus being a returned teams. Otherwsie, at least in the last 30 years or so, growth has been broadly in two primary regions.

There was the Sunbelt Explosion, that saw two teams brought to Florida, the Nashville Predators, the Atlanta Thrashers and the relocated Carolina Hurricanes through the 90s and early 2000s. Never mind that the Thrashers didn't work out. this spat of expansion brought 4 teams to the American Southeast. Heck, I would also lump the Stars in this group.

Winnipeg gained the Thrashers and they became thee Jets, because the old Jets moved to Phoenix. There had been some expansion in California, and the Nordiques moved to Colorado, but of late it seems like the western US is where the NHL has focused on, with the three most recent franchises moving into Las Vegas, Seattle and now, Salt Lake City (from Phoenix).

The NHL is at 32 teams right now, which seems like a comfortable level, but if the league ever wants to go bigger, maybe finally they will consider some spots in the Northeast, or back in Canada, like Quebec or Hamilton. Knowing what the NHL has done in the past, however, it seems like if they bring one team to the region, more will follow. If we are looking at a one off move, it will probably be out west.

Are you ready for Boise's entry in the NHL?

It's going to be hard to beat last season

Sure, the 24-25 season is about to get going, but it's going to be really tough to beat the 23-24 season, right? It was, top to bottom, one of the better seasons of hockey we've been able to appreciate in a while, ending with the best player in hockey, Connor McDavid, playing in a classic Stanley Cup Final that was nearly squandered by the Panthers in a potentially cataclysmic loss. But it wasn't, and the whole thing was tremendous. How do you get any better than that?

I'll tell you how: Be a fan of nearly every team aside from the Panthers. There is hope to start the season, and it will carry us through the winter. For a couple of teams, about half of the league, the record, their voyage into the postseason, and overall performance will match or best their season last year. That is how it gets better. It will be better for many fans. 

After the Sabres and Devils played in Prague earlier today, we can now also pin another thing in the 24-25 season's favor. This season is here now, and the best possible season is whatever season we get to enjoy right now. So yeah, this is going to be the best season ever. 

Tweet if the Moment

We have made the following roster moves:@Shift4 | #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/kQ7RR6bP0Z

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) September 30, 2024

The NHL season starts in a little more than a week, and teams are right sizing their roster. This may end up being the final Tweet of the Moment before the season begins. The Stars project to be one of the best teams in the league (again) and the real intrigue is that this high octane team still has young Lian Bichsel among the defensive ranks. OK intrigue may have been too strong a word.

Training camp is not a try out

 Preseason games are a yawner for me. Not only are they not intended to be competitive, but they are also designed to get players their skating legs, and not even a time to show off. Strategy is minimal, because coaches don't want to give anything away. Hockey is hockey, but this, just barely. 

There is always some conversation about a player getting hot in training camp and having some good games in the preseason. Will that player make the opening night roster? I would venture to guess the answer is no. Organizations knew who they had because of years of scouting of players previous seasons with the team, or with juniors or with minor league franchises. Sure, Andrew Cristall is "making things tough" for the Capitals, but he was never making the team. Keep it up in the AHL for a couple of weeks, then welcome aboard. It was already written in the stars. 

Training camp doesn't start until September

Photo from the Dan Hamilton, USA Today, via CBC

 I'm sure many of you Canadians checking the CBC website for hockey news are trying to get your heads to stop spinning at the news that Nick Robertson re-signed with the Maple Leafs this year. If I am to judge by his picture used on the site, he will also need to learn how to hold a stick and not be afraid of it. Fortunately for Robertson and many other stick averse hockey players out there, the other part of the headline is that training camp is starting as soon as TODAY for some organizations. In my head, I KNOW that training camp always starts in September, but I rarely have the awareness that it actually is September. 

Utah should learn a lesson from the PWHL

The PWHL went without nicknames for the entirety of their 2023-24 season, and going into year two, they announced nicknames for all 6 franchises. Remarkably, all 6 are not found anywhere else that immediately comes to mind, and none of them are particularly bothersome for being too kitschy, too cute or attempting to be too cool.

If you haven't heard, the team names are the Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge, and Toronto Sceptres. I like that Montreal's team is in French, and Toronto's is in Canadian English. I'm not sure that "Frost" or "Charge" reflect the culture of a place, but since when has that ever mattered in naming a team?

Women's hockey is on the rise in North America, and it is hard to drum up support for a league from scratch. All of these things are true, and against all odds, the PWHL found a marketing team to, at the very least, come up with some solid nicknames.

Sure, the NHL has named a couple of teams lately - the Kraken and Golden Knights. But these teams aren't going to do what the Utah Hockey Club is about to - Play an entire season without a nickname. There is time to hire the PWHL consultants!

Since I myself am not able to hire this group, but do have laziness and access to ChatGPT, I decided to take things into my own hands. I asked our future robot overlord to come up with a team name for Utah that would fit with the PWHL names. 

For a Utah-based hockey team that fits the theme of the league, you might consider the Utah Spires. This nickname references the iconic spires found in Utah's mountain ranges and natural formations, evoking strength and grandeur. It also ties into the rugged, elevated nature of the state while fitting well with the other team names in your league.

Well, shoot. I like that better than any of the other 5 names (or the 6th choice, Utah HC) that are finalists: Blizzard, Mammoth, Outlaws, Venom, or Yeti. I'm not going to be happy with any of those names.

That just means that the PWHL is going to have to expand to Salt Lake City.