The reason why the Wild are so successful in MN and the Stars weren't is because the Wild's pretty much the only team in the city where they play in (Which is NOT Minneapolis!) and nothing else.
When the Stars were in Minnesota, they constantly had to compete with the Vikings and Twins (And a lesser extent, Gopher hockey) for attention. Playoff games were sometimes on tape delay on the local UHF stations. When the Wolves moved in, it sealed the deal for the Stars. They had to compete with a new major league sports franchise in an area with a strong basketball history residing in a new arena in a centralized location while the Stars were miles away from DT MPLS in an aging arena while the center of their market was located 5 miles to the north. The NHL decided not to give MN a franchise until they played in Saint Paul, not Minneapolis for that exact reason; they'd get killed at the gates if they were located in Minneapolis and instantly become a second thought in the TC sports scene.
To add, hockey's more of an East Metro thing than a West Metro thing over here. Minneapolis only has one high school hockey program for all MPLS HSs (And a poor quality HS team at that) compared to having 7 basketball programs, while Saint Paul's high school hockey programs are some of the most dominant in the state while having very weak basketball programs. Another factor too, the East Metro never really supported the North Stars because everybody in the East Metro were Fighting Saints fans and resented the NHL.
IMHO, Winnepeg getting back an NHL team may or may not seem like a good idea. On the one hand, Winnepeg will make sure that arenas are filled and Winnepeg will draw fans from Saskatoon, Regina and even as far away as the Red River Valley (Minnesota Wild territory), but on the other hand, it's only 700K. That's about the population of Minneapolis and Saint Paul combined, with a few suburbs added or Denver proper plus a few large 'burbs. The arena will have to sell out every night and draw fans in from everywhere in that area. It would have to become a regional obsession to the point where it's considered a major taboo if you're not from Thunder Bay, the Red River Valley or SK and not be a die hard Jets fan, sort of like if you're from Wisconsin and you're not a Packers fan, there's something a bit "off" about you. (Sort of like if you're from the East Metro and not a hockey fan, there's something a bit "off" about you)
The NHL needs to get rid of it's delusion that it's a national sports league and concentrate more on the local tastes (Not that the NBA isn't also a regional sports league; The Timberwolves and to a lesser extent, the Bucks struggle and so did the Buffalo Braves, the Kansas City Kings and other cold-weather and Midwestern markets). Hockey will always be a sport played by people from cold areas, much like basketball will always be a sport for coastal and southern cities.
The NHL relocating into northern markets may help the league much like the NBA relocating from places like Vancouver to Memphis and Kansas City to Sacramento helped the league. Tastes in sports are very regionalized, due to differences in climate and culture. You don't find many basketball fans in Buffalo because it's too snowy half the time to play a game of outdoor ball and you don't find too many football fans in places with a high immigrant population because they simply didn't grow up with the game. Baseball is probably the only sport that can be considered pan-regional in this country.
The reason why the Wild are so successful in MN and the Stars weren't is because the Wild's pretty much the only team in the city where they play in (Which is NOT Minneapolis!) and nothing else.
When the Stars were in Minnesota, they constantly had to compete with the Vikings and Twins (And a lesser extent, Gopher hockey) for attention. Playoff games were sometimes on tape delay on the local UHF stations. When the Wolves moved in, it sealed the deal for the Stars. They had to compete with a new major league sports franchise in an area with a strong basketball history residing in a new arena in a centralized location while the Stars were miles away from DT MPLS in an aging arena while the center of their market was located 5 miles to the north. The NHL decided not to give MN a franchise until they played in Saint Paul, not Minneapolis for that exact reason; they'd get killed at the gates if they were located in Minneapolis and instantly become a second thought in the TC sports scene.
To add, hockey's more of an East Metro thing than a West Metro thing over here. Minneapolis only has one high school hockey program for all MPLS HSs (And a poor quality HS team at that) compared to having 7 basketball programs, while Saint Paul's high school hockey programs are some of the most dominant in the state while having very weak basketball programs. Another factor too, the East Metro never really supported the North Stars because everybody in the East Metro were Fighting Saints fans and resented the NHL.
IMHO, Winnepeg getting back an NHL team may or may not seem like a good idea. On the one hand, Winnepeg will make sure that arenas are filled and Winnepeg will draw fans from Saskatoon, Regina and even as far away as the Red River Valley (Minnesota Wild territory), but on the other hand, it's only 700K. That's about the population of Minneapolis and Saint Paul combined, with a few suburbs added or Denver proper plus a few large 'burbs. The arena will have to sell out every night and draw fans in from everywhere in that area. It would have to become a regional obsession to the point where it's considered a major taboo if you're not from Thunder Bay, the Red River Valley or SK and not be a die hard Jets fan, sort of like if you're from Wisconsin and you're not a Packers fan, there's something a bit "off" about you. (Sort of like if you're from the East Metro and not a hockey fan, there's something a bit "off" about you)
The NHL needs to get rid of it's delusion that it's a national sports league and concentrate more on the local tastes (Not that the NBA isn't also a regional sports league; The Timberwolves and to a lesser extent, the Bucks struggle and so did the Buffalo Braves, the Kansas City Kings and other cold-weather and Midwestern markets). Hockey will always be a sport played by people from cold areas, much like basketball will always be a sport for coastal and southern cities.
The NHL relocating into northern markets may help the league much like the NBA relocating from places like Vancouver to Memphis and Kansas City to Sacramento helped the league. Tastes in sports are very regionalized, due to differences in climate and culture. You don't find many basketball fans in Buffalo because it's too snowy half the time to play a game of outdoor ball and you don't find too many football fans in places with a high immigrant population because they simply didn't grow up with the game. Baseball is probably the only sport that can be considered pan-regional in this country.
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The reason why the Wild are so successful in MN and the Stars weren't is because the Wild's pretty much the only team in the city where they play in (Which is NOT Minneapolis!) and nothing else.
When the Stars were in Minnesota, they constantly had to compete with the Vikings and Twins (And a lesser extent, Gopher hockey) for attention. Playoff games were sometimes on tape delay on the local UHF stations. When the Wolves moved in, it sealed the deal for the Stars. They had to compete with a new major league sports franchise in an area with a strong basketball history residing in a new arena in a centralized location while the Stars were miles away from DT MPLS in an aging arena while the center of their market was located 5 miles to the north. The NHL decided not to give MN a franchise until they played in Saint Paul, not Minneapolis for that exact reason; they'd get killed at the gates if they were located in Minneapolis and instantly become a second thought in the TC sports scene.
To add, hockey's more of an East Metro thing than a West Metro thing over here. Minneapolis only has one high school hockey program for all MPLS HSs (And a poor quality HS team at that) compared to having 7 basketball programs, while Saint Paul's high school hockey programs are some of the most dominant in the state while having very weak basketball programs. Another factor too, the East Metro never really supported the North Stars because everybody in the East Metro were Fighting Saints fans and resented the NHL.
IMHO, Winnepeg getting back an NHL team may or may not seem like a good idea. On the one hand, Winnepeg will make sure that arenas are filled and Winnepeg will draw fans from Saskatoon, Regina and even as far away as the Red River Valley (Minnesota Wild territory), but on the other hand, it's only 700K. That's about the population of Minneapolis and Saint Paul combined, with a few suburbs added or Denver proper plus a few large 'burbs. The arena will have to sell out every night and draw fans in from everywhere in that area. It would have to become a regional obsession to the point where it's considered a major taboo if you're not from Thunder Bay, the Red River Valley or SK and not be a die hard Jets fan, sort of like if you're from Wisconsin and you're not a Packers fan, there's something a bit "off" about you. (Sort of like if you're from the East Metro and not a hockey fan, there's something a bit "off" about you)
The NHL needs to get rid of it's delusion that it's a national sports league and concentrate more on the local tastes (Not that the NBA isn't also a regional sports league; The Timberwolves and to a lesser extent, the Bucks struggle and so did the Buffalo Braves, the Kansas City Kings and other cold-weather and Midwestern markets). Hockey will always be a sport played by people from cold areas, much like basketball will always be a sport for coastal and southern cities.
The NHL relocating into northern markets may help the league much like the NBA relocating from places like Vancouver to Memphis and Kansas City to Sacramento helped the league. Tastes in sports are very regionalized, due to differences in climate and culture. You don't find many basketball fans in Buffalo because it's too snowy half the time to play a game of outdoor ball and you don't find too many football fans in places with a high immigrant population because they simply didn't grow up with the game. Baseball is probably the only sport that can be considered pan-regional in this country.
The reason why the Wild are so successful in MN and the Stars weren't is because the Wild's pretty much the only team in the city where they play in (Which is NOT Minneapolis!) and nothing else.
When the Stars were in Minnesota, they constantly had to compete with the Vikings and Twins (And a lesser extent, Gopher hockey) for attention. Playoff games were sometimes on tape delay on the local UHF stations. When the Wolves moved in, it sealed the deal for the Stars. They had to compete with a new major league sports franchise in an area with a strong basketball history residing in a new arena in a centralized location while the Stars were miles away from DT MPLS in an aging arena while the center of their market was located 5 miles to the north. The NHL decided not to give MN a franchise until they played in Saint Paul, not Minneapolis for that exact reason; they'd get killed at the gates if they were located in Minneapolis and instantly become a second thought in the TC sports scene.
To add, hockey's more of an East Metro thing than a West Metro thing over here. Minneapolis only has one high school hockey program for all MPLS HSs (And a poor quality HS team at that) compared to having 7 basketball programs, while Saint Paul's high school hockey programs are some of the most dominant in the state while having very weak basketball programs. Another factor too, the East Metro never really supported the North Stars because everybody in the East Metro were Fighting Saints fans and resented the NHL.
IMHO, Winnepeg getting back an NHL team may or may not seem like a good idea. On the one hand, Winnepeg will make sure that arenas are filled and Winnepeg will draw fans from Saskatoon, Regina and even as far away as the Red River Valley (Minnesota Wild territory), but on the other hand, it's only 700K. That's about the population of Minneapolis and Saint Paul combined, with a few suburbs added or Denver proper plus a few large 'burbs. The arena will have to sell out every night and draw fans in from everywhere in that area. It would have to become a regional obsession to the point where it's considered a major taboo if you're not from Thunder Bay, the Red River Valley or SK and not be a die hard Jets fan, sort of like if you're from Wisconsin and you're not a Packers fan, there's something a bit "off" about you. (Sort of like if you're from the East Metro and not a hockey fan, there's something a bit "off" about you)
The NHL needs to get rid of it's delusion that it's a national sports league and concentrate more on the local tastes (Not that the NBA isn't also a regional sports league; The Timberwolves and to a lesser extent, the Bucks struggle and so did the Buffalo Braves, the Kansas City Kings and other cold-weather and Midwestern markets). Hockey will always be a sport played by people from cold areas, much like basketball will always be a sport for coastal and southern cities.
The NHL relocating into northern markets may help the league much like the NBA relocating from places like Vancouver to Memphis and Kansas City to Sacramento helped the league. Tastes in sports are very regionalized, due to differences in climate and culture. You don't find many basketball fans in Buffalo because it's too snowy half the time to play a game of outdoor ball and you don't find too many football fans in places with a high immigrant population because they simply didn't grow up with the game. Baseball is probably the only sport that can be considered pan-regional in this country.