Hockey has always been one of my favorite sports and the new NHL season started just last week. One of the big differences to this season from last year is that the Atlanta Thrashers were bought and moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. While I’m sure there were some die-hard Thrasher fans that were devastated by the move, the city of Winnipeg has NHL hockey back for the first time in 15 years since the old Winnipeg Jets were moved to Phoenix, Arizona.
Hockey is probably the most popular sport in Canada; they have one team in the MLB, one team in the NBA, but seven teams in the NHL. Before the Thrashers moved north of the border, the six teams that already played in Canada had very high attendance ratings showing that people in Canada are very devoted to the sport.
While the New York Jets of the NFL were playing the New England Patriots, I would flip over to the NHL Network and catch bits and pieces of the new Winnipeg Jets versus the Montreal Canadiens in the Jets home opener. While the Jets lost 5-1 the fans still seemed elated, like they were in a dream that had come true, the team might’ve lost, but the NHL was back in Winnipeg and a standing ovation at the end of the game proved their embrace.
A city of just over 633,000 people with a very small metropolitan area even for Canadian standards, Winnipeg has one main newspaper that is now “The official newspaper of the Winnipeg Jets.” I went to the Winnipeg Free Press webpage and looked at the sports section which contained a good amount of articles about the Jets. This one is by columnist Gary Lawless, who really captured the feeling of what it was like to be from Winnipeg and finally have a hockey team once again.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/jets-lose-winnipeg-wins-131439418.html
Hockey is probably the most popular sport in Canada; they have one team in the MLB, one team in the NBA, but seven teams in the NHL. Before the Thrashers moved north of the border, the six teams that already played in Canada had very high attendance ratings showing that people in Canada are very devoted to the sport.
While the New York Jets of the NFL were playing the New England Patriots, I would flip over to the NHL Network and catch bits and pieces of the new Winnipeg Jets versus the Montreal Canadiens in the Jets home opener. While the Jets lost 5-1 the fans still seemed elated, like they were in a dream that had come true, the team might’ve lost, but the NHL was back in Winnipeg and a standing ovation at the end of the game proved their embrace.
A city of just over 633,000 people with a very small metropolitan area even for Canadian standards, Winnipeg has one main newspaper that is now “The official newspaper of the Winnipeg Jets.” I went to the Winnipeg Free Press webpage and looked at the sports section which contained a good amount of articles about the Jets. This one is by columnist Gary Lawless, who really captured the feeling of what it was like to be from Winnipeg and finally have a hockey team once again.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets/jets-lose-winnipeg-wins-131439418.html
When you boil it down, sports is about money. The ownership saw that Atlanta, a hot Southern city, couldn't care less about hockey. So, why not move it up to Canada, where people live for hockey?
ReplyDeleteIt is a good move for everyone and few people in Atlanta really care. If I'm not mistaken, the Thrashers weren't very good, anyway. Atlanta was 28/30 in attendance in the NHL. The world will keep spinning. And Canadiens will be partying in the streets because they have their hockey back in Winnipeg.
I personally love that the NHL is back in Winnipeg. That is a city that was devastated 15 years ago when their team took off for Phoenix, Arizona of all places where it is really hot and hockey is unheard of because of the weather. Similar to what happened to the Cleveland Browns, how they left for a while and came back to the league. I think that the move is great for the NHL and for the Canadian hockey fans. Winnipeg deserves their Jets.
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