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Fans not yet convinced

ROY MacGREGOR

From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 6:41 PM EDT 11/05/08

Canada's time to get to work at the worlds is swiftly approaching ...Read the full article

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  1. R Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: This is not related to hockey, but...

    I also find that the statues in Halifax incredibly intriguing.

    Although Edward Cornwallis is considered the "Founder of Halifax," he was constantly jeered by the original settlers of Halifax during his tenure and eventually had to be re-assigned as the Governor of Gibraltar. One should recall that Cornwallis had also participated in the slaughter of the Scots at Culloden in 1745 so his choice as Governor of New Scotland did not sit well with a lot of residents of Scottish descent.

    His nephew, Charles, who surrendered Virginia in disgrace to the Americans, also had a similar record of brutality as his uncle in his dealings with the Irish in 1798 as Edward had both with the Mik'maq in Nova Scotia and the Scots at Culloden...

    Even more inexplicable is how Halifax has maintained to this day so many statues and shows of public reverence to Joseph Howe who was an anti-Confederate.

    Personally I think that these should all be torn down and statues to Sid Crosby should be erected...

    Cheers.
  2. R Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: I don't think one can entirely suggest Halifax or Quebec City are at fault for the spotty attendance at some of the games in this tournament...

    For example, 1200 Latvians alone travelled huge distances to Halifax to watch this event. Relative to that number, how many Canadians have?

    How many posts on these G&M threads do the IIHF games draw from Canadian readers compared to a story on... say.... the Leafs' hunt for a GM...

    Cheers.
  3. Philoso Raptor from Kingston, Canada writes: Hey R. Miller,

    OK, I'll try to boost the G&M's click-through rate here. I think the structure of pro sports has a lot to do with the relative disinterest of Canadian fans in the IHF championships. Rather unfairly, in my view, the world championship is seen as the tourney where the "losers" go to play for a consolation prize. I would love to see North American sports leagues adopt more of a European Football model where teams:

    a. compete in intra league single elimination club tournaments interspersed with the regular season.

    b. compete for promotion or risk relegation based on regular season results.

    The two pro sports where this might be theoretically possible are hockey and basketball. Sadly, it's a bit of a pipe-dream, principally due to huge economic gulf between so-called major and minor league teams.

    Getting back to the current IHF tourney, I think the current NHL schedule, with the virtual firewall between the Eastern and Western conferences, contributes to the lack of interest due to fans rarely seeing teams from the other conference and having little chance to gain appreciation for players on those teams. How huge would Nash,
    Burns, etc. be if they played in the major Eastern media markets more frequently?
  4. R Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: Philiso Raptor from Kingston, Canada:

    Great idea --

    Wouldn't it also be more meaningful to watch local players playing for the respective teams in the IIHF tournament. Maybe, four regional Team Canadas (West, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic) would also boost interest in Canada if fans got to actually cheer for local heros.

    I look at the enthusiasm and support of the fans from former Soviet break away Republics like Latvia and Slovenia cheering for their teams in Halifax and think, "Wow, they must be doing something right even though their teams aren't very competitive."

    Cheers.
  5. Philoso Raptor from Kingston, Canada writes: Wow, a dialog on a G&M board!

    Regional Canadian teams is an intriguing idea. I guess you could have qualifiers during the NHL season for Canada's representative team in the world tourney. Unless we run off something like 10 championships in a row, the IHF might have a hard time justifying multiple teams from Canada.

    Incidentally, Slovenia is not a former Soviet satellite; it was part of the former Yugoslavia. Very interesting little country: population of less than 3 million with a per capita GNP close to that of France which is more than double any of the other former Yugoslav countries. Latvia has done really well with IT.

    Have you been to any of the Halifax games?

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