The NHL in Houston

[Marz]

Hi folks, I recently read a post on here regarding the possibility of an NHL team in Houston and thought I'd add my 2 cents.

Unfortunately I haven

[Coffin]

I don't really see it happening. The Dallas Stars aren't hugely popular outside of Dallas, and their popularity is more of a Texas pride issue than a love for Hockey. Houston is just way too south to create a genuine interest in hockey, I think. You don't have very many kids in Texas who grew up around hockey like you do up north.

[editor]

On the other hand, Houston is a city with more than its fair share of transplants -- especially people from colder climates who think more of hockey than some of the locals. This could help with the popularity of hockey in Houston.

Still, hockey is suffering in cities all over the country -- not just small markets. Unlike baseball, after the hockey strike, many of the fans really didn't come back. I know someone who lost their job because of the strike. And in Chicago, they can't even GIVE away tickets to Blackhawks games. Nobody really cares, and the team has becomes less than an afterthought. Even in Chicago, arena football gets more play on local TV than the NHL.

[RedScare]

And in Chicago, they can't even GIVE away tickets to Blackhawks games. Nobody really cares, and the team has becomes less than an afterthought.

Wow, that IS bad. I went to a Blackhawks game in 1992 at the old Chicago Stadium. Our seats were the second to last row in the corner...only the two chairs behind me were farther away from the ice. This was right after Gulf War I, when the Blackhawks fans had become famous for cheering wildly from the moment the announcer asked them to stand for the National Anthem, all the through the Anthem, and for several minutes after the Anthem. It was absolute pandemonium, and we felt lucky to have scored those incredibly crappy seats. Hard to believe that even Chitown doesn't care anymore about the NHL.

(BTW, that was one SCARY neighborhood!)

[Trae]

Back when the NHL was in its prime, I heard that many people were saying that it could surpass the NFL in popularity.

[TJones]

I love going to an Aeros game. It is a good time, but there just aren't enough fans in Houston that share the interest. I am also worried for our teams future in Hockey. I know at one point they wanted ot make them a fiull fledged NHL team, instead of transplanting some Canadians. I like our team just the way they are though, if they join NHL, great, but if they transplant a NHL team here to try to compete with the Aeros, that NHL team is certainly not going to get my business Marz.