There's been some rumblings in the past couple of days about an
ownership group in Seattle wondering about whether or not the Emerald City could support an NHL franchise.
I think I can save them a huge amount of money and answer that question for them, right here and now.
YES!
No disrespect to any of the cities down South who are struggling to bring fans through the gate, but the closer an NHL franchise is to the 49th parallel, the better off it would be. It's a no brainer.
Seattle is only 2 hours or so from Vancouver and the cross-over of fans in the different sports is probably more than any of us think.
I get down to Seattle at least once during the football season and then a few more times in the summer when Boston are in town to play the Mariners. Nothing beats heading down on a Friday afternoon and staying for the weekend set versus the BoSox in mid-summer.
And the number of BC license plates heading down the I-5 when the Blue Jays are in town is significant, too.
I'm not saying the NHL would consider moving to Seattle just because a lot of Canadians would make the trek - I'm just saying I've met a ton of fans at Qwest Field and Safeco who've told me they've come up to Vancouver to see the Canucks more than once or twice.
Corporate sponsorship wouldn't be an issue, either. Seattle is one of the meccas for corporate America. I know I'd add at least one day trip on my yearly skedge to see the "Seattle Starbucks" in action.
The NHL needs to make this happen.
On to tonight's match-up versus the Chicago Blackhawks. How's everybody feeling about this one?
I've got a weird, queezy feeling in my bones. I hate it when the Canucks play games they're supposed to win because for as long as I can remember, Vancouver have always played to the level of their competition.
They'll get jacked up for a big game versus the Wild and then curb their enthusiasm for games against teams like the Blackhawks. Why does that happen?
I was discussing this with a friend of mine last week and we decided it was because the Canucks are a product of their environment. It's all about life on the West Coast - living in a beautiful place with a population of laid back Vancouverites who know they live in the prettiest city but aren't in a big hurry to tell the rest of the world.
People in Vancouver do what they have to just to get by, but anything beyond that just might get in the way of all the other stuff the city has to offer.
It's all about white collar versus blue collar, too. It seems like the higher up a person gets in a corporation, the less work they have to put in to collect their dough - but a blue collar city always works hard to get the job done.
Vancouver is definitely white collar.
Phoenix or Florida must be killer cities to play as a professional athlete. I'd probably have my mail delivered to the private golf club down the street from my condo in the gated community.
Kudos to Alain Vigneault for trying to change the culture of the Canucks 180 degrees to a consistently hard-working bunch - tonight will go a long way in determining if the job is done.
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