The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

Attendance at OTT/FLA tonight: 7,311. Feel the excitement!

[gopher_guy]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

Attendance at OTT/FLA tonight: 7,311. Feel the excitement!

It looked bad on TV. Rows upon rows of emptiness in the lower bowl.

[Twenty Four]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

7K my *** lol. The pics I seen did not look anywhere near even 7k. I hate to say it, but the Panthers should move. I wish we could have a sunshine state rivalry like California has but the excitement for the Panthers just isn't there. Tampa & Florida are night and day organizations at the moment.

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

For now, I'd at least keep Tampa around,see if maybe the Panthers fan would move over to becoming Lightning fans and possibly boost that market instead.

Either way, Panthers NEED to be moved ASAP. Coyotes too. Coyotes to Seattle, Panthers to KC. Have conferences go back to 15 teams each with 3 divisions.

And I honestly think the Panthers players got paid more for this game, than amount of money the arena brought in from ticket sales.

[gopher_guy]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

It really does boggle my mind that there are two hockey teams in Florida. The market just isn't there. The only way it would possibly work well is if both the Florida teams were perennial playoff contenders. Clearly that would never be the case.

It sucks for the die hards, because I'm sure there are some big Panthers fans who would be bummed to lose their team. But an empty building just does the NHL no good.

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

It really does boggle my mind that there are two hockey teams in Florida. The market just isn't there. The only way it would possibly work well is if both the Florida teams were perennial playoff contenders. Clearly that would never be the case.

It sucks for the die hards, because I'm sure there are some big Panthers fans who would be bummed to lose their team. But an empty building just does the NHL no good.

Every team that has ever moved in any sport has obviously had people who hated it. Yes, there'll be Panthers fans who'll be mad the team moves,but the number of people who'll be happy, not just in the city that get the team,but the fans from other cities in the NHL, will outweigh it alot more.

But as long as Bettman is in charge of NHL, these things won't get fixed. Look how long it took for the Jets to get their team back,and even then,it was almost cause of Bettman being forced to with the Thrashers situation.

Vancouver-Seattle rivalry will be a real good one,especially since the west doesn't have the amount of big rivalries the east has. Those games you'll see lots of fans crossing the border to go to those games and it'll be great to have.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

For now, I'd at least keep Tampa around, see if maybe the Panthers fan would move over to becoming Lightning fans and possibly boost that market instead.

I'm sure Lightning fans appreciate this sentiment.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

As for the Panthers, their arena lease runs through the 2027/28 season. An awful lot of cash and arm-twisting would be required to break it.

[Money99]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

It really does boggle my mind that there are two hockey teams in Florida. The market just isn't there. The only way it would possibly work well is if both the Florida teams were perennial playoff contenders. Clearly that would never be the case.

It sucks for the die hards, because I'm sure there are some big Panthers fans who would be bummed to lose their team. But an empty building just does the NHL no good.

Miami as a whole is a terrible sports town. Nobody gives a crap about any of the pro teams there.

Did anyone else catch the PBP guy saying the new owners were looking into seeing how things would look financially without an NHL team as a tenant?
I wouldn't be surprised if the Panthers were relocated sooner than later.

[Twenty Four]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

For now, I'd at least keep Tampa around,see if maybe the Panthers fan would move over to becoming Lightning fans and possibly boost that market instead.

Either way, Panthers NEED to be moved ASAP. Coyotes too. Coyotes to Seattle, Panthers to KC. Have conferences go back to 15 teams each with 3 divisions.

And I honestly think the Panthers players got paid more for this game, than amount of money the arena brought in from ticket sales.

The Lightning fan base is doing just fine. There's absolutely no reason to get rid of the Lightning. The arena is always electric, there's excitement about the organization, and we have a talented team. I think most people outside of Florida just lump in Tampa with the Panthers boat, and that's just absolutely unfair. The playoff games last year (even though we lost and didn't have Bishop) were 2 of the most insane sporting environments I've ever attended. The city loves this team, and as Tampa continues to excel, new hockey fans are made every day. Bolts games have to be the most well-attended pro team in Florida. The Panthers are by far the worst. Night and day.

[Twenty Four]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

I'm sure Lightning fans appreciate this sentiment.

Not particularly

[Cletus]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

I love how everyone wants to get rid of the Bolts. They now have solid ownership for the first time in team history. It seems like everyone wants to get rid of any team in the south after a bad decade. There's a lot to do in the south during hockey season so you have to be competitive to draw fans. It's not like Toronto where you can charge 100 bucks a ticket to watch Colton Orr. I know people on OS understand that but I'm not sure media does

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[OSUFan_88]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

Attendance at OTT/FLA tonight: 7,311. Feel the excitement!

I read this on twitter yesterday, but why should the fans be punished for the product the Panthers ownership and front office put out there?

Now, I know the Panthers have never had great support, but I don't think it's fair to rag on the fan base when they are voting with their wallets to not go to the games.

People did the same thing to Columbus, and when the front office finally got their heads out of their ***, viola, Columbus is all of a sudden a good hockey town.

Frustrating to see sometimes. I must be sensitive to it because I'm a Jackets fan, but it's really quite annoying to hear about moving a team when they are just god awful.

The Coyotes, on the other hand, don't draw even when they were in the playoffs. Move that disaster now.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

I read this on twitter yesterday, but why should the fans be punished for the product the Panthers ownership and front office put out there?

Now, I know the Panthers have never had great support, but I don't think it's fair to rag on the fan base when they are voting with their wallets to not go to the games.

Except the Panthers' attendance numbers have always been worse than they appear because they always counted freebies until this year, and they give away a lot. Business picks up in the winter due to snowbirds cheering for northeast and Canadian teams.

Nobody watches the Panthers on TV, either. They averaged 7000 viewers per telecast when they won the Southeast in 2012. Not households. Total viewers.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: The Official 2014-15 Regular Season Talk Thread

That's.....that's astounding. I don't know what to say. How there's a team still is beyond me.