Sunday, October 12, 2008

NHL pipe dream

People who know me well know I would love the NHL to come to Wisconsin. I also know that it will likely never happen. It's a shame, given that Wisconsin is, relatively speaking, a pretty good hockey state. It's no Minnesota or Massachusetts, but hockey is actually played in Wisconsin (you know, as opposed to Tennessee, Texas, Georgia or Arizona). However, Milwaukee is not big enough to support three teams, so I highly doubt we will ever see a Wisconsin-based NHL team.

I often wonder who I am supposed to root for in the NHL as a Wisconsin native. Living in Minnesota, I support the Wild to some extent, although I can see being more of a fan once I get to a game. But, I would imagine the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings have some sort of territorial "claim" over Wisconsin. So, here's my idea: I think it would be fun to have a 4-team preseason tournament, with the winner getting "rights" to Wisconsin. It would be played every year in Milwaukee. I know I would put the Red Wings, Blackhawks, and Wild in the tournament. I am not sure on the 4th team, although I would think it would be either the St. Louis Blues or Nashville Predators (Nashville's AHL affiliate is the Milwaukee Admirals).

Obviously there are a lot of obstacles to making this happen. First off, it would be tough to say how much interest there would be in Wisconsin for this. Second, would the teams be interested in playing a preseason tournament with anything at stake? Also, would the winning team's games being shown in Wisconsin get much viewership?

Like I said, this is a pipe dream. But, wouldn't it be fun for people in Wisconsin?

3 comments:

Gino said...

since you do live in natural hockey territory, didnt you find it ironic that the ducks from sunny so cal won the cup a couple yrs ago?

Mike said...

Yeah, that was something...at least they aren't the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim anymore. Why can't Orange County-based sports teams have normal names?

The day the apocalypse happens will be shortly after Nashville beats Florida (or vice versa) in the Stanley Cup finals.

Gino said...

i liked the 'mighty ducks of anaheim' name, regardless of disney reference.
of course, if it was 'bad ass geese of anahiem', i'd like that too.
'big bad mutherfuqers of anaheim' would be the dream name for any team.
maybe i'll start an nfl expansion and name it my way.
i dont live in anaheim anymore, so i'll have to change that part of the name,of course.

face it, a team name should instill fear and trepidation.