If the CBJ get moved to the East, personally, I will come up with a way to say '7:00 PM start' the same way Homer Simpson says' Beeeeeeer'. That drooling, slobbery dream of no more 10:30 PM road games is enough to put any CBJ fan in a good mood.
One thing that would be really great about the move to the East would be the match up with Pittsburgh. I'm not saying that we would fare any better than we ever did against Detroit, but one thing the Pittsburgh match up does is create echoes of NFL rivalries. Both Cleveland and Cincinnati get pretty fired up when their football team is playing the Steelers. Given our minimal market penetration in those cities, the notion that the Ohio team had a hockey game going with that old rival might stir some interest in those areas. I like that a lot.
One thing I don't like about the move to the Southeast, is that it is likely that we would assume the role of Atlanta. Literally.
One of the reasons that the Southeast appears so soft is that Atlanta has played there. The problem is, if we move to the East, it means they won't be there anymore. And unless the CBJ get a bunch better in this off season, I don't really think they have enough to change the pecking order in the Southeast, and we would 'play Atlanta'. We may fare well against the East in interconference play, but when you are lining up against the guys in your own Division, you scout them and you know them pretty well. At this point, I don't believe that will translate into CBJ success. We are better off sneaking up on people.
Besides, I have it on good authority from my buddy Bill that it ain't gonna happen. So we better concentrate on making our team better this off season, because it looks like another year of Detroit, Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis for the CBJ.
GO JACKETS!!
Bill is probably right about this year. I'm guessing Bettmann is waiting for Quebec City to get their arena funding situation in order so he can move the Yotes there in 2012. Maybe CBJ's best bet is to wait for the Islanders' arena deal to fall through so they can move to Kansas City. Jackets slide into Atlantic (or whatever its called) with Pens, Rags, Devils (6 games vs. Hitch!?) and Flyers. Better rivalries than with southeast teams, anyway.
ReplyDelete