data.3news-bydate.train.rec.sport.hockey.54564 Maven / Gradle / Ivy
From: [email protected] (Ali Lemer)
Subject: Re: Minnesota Shame?
Organization: Columbia University Center for Telecommunications Research
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In article [email protected] (Steve Hunter) writes:
>I'm a hockey fan from way back, and maintain an interest as best I can
>here in the hockey hinterlands (Oklahoma). I'm hoping I can get a
>reading from some of you about the move of the North Stars to Dallas.
>
>I've been under the impression that Minnesota was one of, or possibly,
>THE hockey state in the U.S. So why is the team moving to a city in
>Texas? Is it that the owner is a greedy, self-serving profiteer, or
>were the Stars really not making a profit? Or was the city or whoever
>owned the arena doing some price gouging?
>
>Opinions, please.
Well, as a hockey fan, I think it's terrible. It's one thing to say, "Hey,
let's give a hockey team to cities that don't have one!" -- that's fine. It's
entirely another to say, "Okay, let's take a team from a thriving hockey town
and move it!"
Of course, none of us will ever know the real inside story, but
from what I know, a group of Minneapolis businessmen told Green repeatedly that
they would purchase the remaining 3600 (?) season tickets to get to the 10,000
level that Green wanted, yet he refused every time. It's pretty obvious that he
was determined to get out of Minneapolis at any cost and use the season tickets
thing as an excuse.
I was fortunate enough to get to the penultimate game, and
the fans were great! People were tailgating and playing roller hockey in the
parking lot before the game, the attendance was so full as to have SRO, and the
whole atmosphere in the Centre was terrific. Minnesota IS Hockey, USA. How the
NHL can so blithely let the major league team from there move away is beyond
me. I only hope they get a new team soon.
Just my $0.02.
-- Ali.
--
Ali "Procrastination" Lemer || "I gave [NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman] a puck
Columbia University (NYC) || once. He spent the rest of the day trying to
[email protected] || open it." -- Pat Williams, GM, Orlando Magic
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