Looking for an Eastern Conference team

[DJ]

NOT named Pittsburgh, Philadelphia or Washington to run with in a new Be A GM I'm looking to start up. Ideally it would be a non-playoff team, but I'd take a look at the No. 6-8 seeds since there's not a ton of difference between those squads and some of the non-playoff teams.

[Gagnon39]

Take the Rangers.

[actionhank]

Go Sabres. I'm contemplating a Tampa Bay dynasty myself.

[pf8363]

sabres will be easy, youve got myers and ennis who will both be superstars... not to mention miller and enroth. id go toronto, theyre on their way but still need a lot.

[bwiggy33]

I say the the Canes. They've got the Caniacs (some of the best fans in the NHL), a Superstar in Staal, one of the best goalies in the league with Cam Ward, superstar rookie Jeff Skinner, and a team that needs some roster improvement in order to get to that next level. It would be a good challenge and they are only about 2 years away IMO at getting to that next level. I'm really surprised they didn't make the playoffs this year because of how good they normally are at the end of the year and in the playoffs.

[pf8363]

Quote: Originally Posted by bwiggy33

I say the the Canes. They've got the Caniacs (some of the best fans in the NHL), a Superstar in Staal, one of the best goalies in the league with Cam Ward, superstar rookie Jeff Skinner, and a team that needs some roster improvement in order to get to that next level. It would be a good challenge and they are only about 2 years away IMO at getting to that next level. I'm really surprised they didn't make the playoffs this year because of how good they normally are at the end of the year and in the playoffs.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH

[bwiggy33]

Quote: Originally Posted by pf8363

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH

Whats wrong with them? I give those fans a lot of credit. There are three teams who I think have great fans in non traditional hockey markets.

1. San Jose Sharks (my second favorite team)
2. Carolina Hurricanes
3. Nashville Predators

These three teams have fans that show up to games regular season or playoffs. Although some of them don't understand the game of hockey fully I still give them a lot of credit. Some of them are actually pretty knowledgable when it comes to the sport. Who would have ever thought that the Hurricanes franchise would actually survive. The Carolina Panthers are barely making it, and Charlotte is on their second NBA team. The Canes are quite honestly the most popular franchise in NC. I guess it could be due to the fact that they are a fairly successful franchise.

Honestly I don't see why it's a huge joke. Hockey struggles to get fans to games in the regular season in areas where hockey isn't as big. When you see a place like Carolina, San Jose, and Nashville fill their building it makes me smile because it's a market where most people would have never thought a successful fan base would build up. It's not like MN, NY, Massachusetts, and Michigan where hockey is big (playing wise). We all are fortunate that in the Midwest and the East Coast that hockey is a popular sport. That means our franchises are going to be more successful with drawing fans. Don't say anything about the North Stars though. Places like the ones I mentioned above do not have big time places to play hockey. This is why I love those three franchises so much. They got their fans by working from the ground up. It all starts with work ethic, success, and character. Each one of those franchises has all of that and that is why they are successful. You should know that from the Sabres franchise. I absolutely love the Sabres and the way they go about their business. They are my 3rd favorite team. And no it's not just because of Ryan Miller like 3/4 of the United States. I can't wait to see what Terry Pegula does with that team. He's already off to a hell of a start with re-signing Lindy Ruff. That would have been a major mistake to let that man go. If he would have been gone I think the Wild would have snatched him up pretty quick.

[Jgainsey]

I've been slowly chugging along with my Tampa Bay Be A GM all season long. I'm been a fan for years, so I'm a bit biased, but there is plenty of talent to go around. Definitely a lot of fun to be had with TB if you're looking to switch things up.