Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire
I guess the good news is the more franchises they add, the more likelihood there is that another one will fail like Atlanta did and get moved to Quebec.
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I'd argue the opposite, actually. The more franchises there are the less likely one individual one is to be a problem for the rest of them. The wider base the NHL has of stronger franchises the easier it is for them to carry weaker franchises. As long as the proportion of weak < strong doesn't get out of control then it'll be fine. Something like COVID obviously throws a wrench into that but I hope you get what I mean.
Something I read a few weeks ago, and a fun trivia piece: the last Stanley Cup winning team at any point to fold or relocate were the Montreal Maroons who folded in 1947. The NHL hasn't had a SC winner fold or relocate since.
When/if a relocation has to happen the NHL likely has better US options than QC, anyway.
People still keep talking about teams like Florida and Arizona relocating as if they haven't been in their locations for the past 20-25 years. At some point these folks have to give up and just admit these teams are here to stay.
It makes me uncomfortable to see supposed fans of a sport wish and hope for teams to fail as if those teams don't have fans and followers of their own that would be hurt and negatively affected by the team's loss. Surely we should all be hoping for the best for the sport regardless of where it's played instead of acting like vultures waiting for a carcass.