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Homegrown NHLers
by Alanah McGinley on 12/12/07 at 02:09 PM ET
Comments (3)
From Allan Muir at Sports Illustrated,
As the NHL struggles to grab its fair share of the spotlight in so many American markets, it makes good sense to appeal to the most basic emotion of the sports fan: hometown pride. Even the most hockey-savvy crowds aren’t immune to the tug. Look at how Edmonton-born Fernando Pisani is treated by Oilers fans, for example, or how every trade rumor out of Montreal involves Les Habitants bringing home some local boy and granting him his bleu, blanc et rouge birthright.
These connections create excitement. So why not tweak the NHL’s current draft system to create more of those situations, especially where they’re needed most, by giving teams first right of refusal to local prospects?
Filed in: NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: nhl+draft,
Comments
He brushes off the “snags” of how to define local pretty dismissively. What if a kid was born in the “local area” of one team but lived with one of his divorced parents in another team’s local area and played college hockey in yet another team’s local area? And had never “dreamed of playing” for any of those teams because his favorite team was an entirely different one from any of the three he lived close to.
And who gets to claim the entire nation of Sweden as part of it’s local area?
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 12/12/07 at 03:49 PM ET
If you are born in New York are you property of the Islanders or Rangers? Is a tape measure used to determine place of birth to local rink?
Posted by Hockey1919 from Montreal on 12/12/07 at 04:40 PM ET
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Hockey Links
Muir mentions one of those myths that just won’t die: Montreal’s French player rights. Debunked here and here.
Posted by Jeff J from Fredericton on 12/12/07 at 02:30 PM ET