A Missed Connection in Newark

There are problems in New Jersey, and no I am not talking about the failure of the lighting system on Friday night at the Prudential Center, where the National Hockey League was forced to suspend the Tampa Bay/New Jersey game with the Lightning leading 3-0 in the second period.

The attendance is not what it should be for a franchise that usually can be found near the top of the standings and has won the Stanley Cup a few times.

Daryl Reaugh, the color analyst on Dallas Stars telecasts and the Razor in blogdom, did not like what he saw when the Stars came to visit Newark.

"This isn't some sunbelt expansion club we're talking about," Reaugh wrote in his blog. "This is the team doing all that winning, with the iconic legend in net, just across the river from New York, NY with it's Madison Avenue, media headquarters, and massive population. And after all, isn't winning supposed to be your best marketing tool?"

The problem is saturation, and when the Islanders, Rangers and Devils can usually be found playing on the same night, sometimes all at home, there is little chance to get big crowds across the board.

The Sun Belt reference by Reaugh is worth noting here, because that region, which is defined rather loosely whenever a writer wants to argue that a large part of the United States doesn't deserve an NHL team, gets kicked around quite often.

But many of the expansion teams in the loosely defined Sun Belt have had to deal with either bad management or bad ownership, sometimes both, which the Ice Man blog in Atlanta pointed out as part of an argument about keeping John Anderson around as coach of the Thrashers a while longer.

"Have you been to a Thrashers game at Philips Arena lately?" the Ice Man blog said. "Give the number of empty seats each game, chances are very good that you answered 'no' to that question…that, or 8,000 or so of you show up disguised as empty seats most nights."

"But contrary to the yammering that spews forth from the “Make-It-Seven” types… this is not because Atlanta is a bad hockey market or that the NHL simply cannot survive in this area of the country," the Ice Man blog added. "There is a great fan base in the metro Atlanta area…many have relocated from traditional markets that grew up loving the game as well as many, like myself, who are natives of the area and have learned to love the sport."

Fans of franchises that have been managed at top speed right into a wall have reason to be concerned, if not skeptical, about their team.

But the Devils franchise, which was yanked out of Denver after the 1981-82 season and dropped in the Meadowlands once it became clear that Sonny Werblin would never move the Rangers out of Madison Square Garden, has never been the money machine envisioned by the league.

But numerous bloggers, blog commenters and news media outlets in Canada continue to circle the nativist wagons and call for more teams in Hamilton, Winnipeg, Quebec City, all at the expense of Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Florida, Nashville and Carolina. And when there are signs of financial woes or a less than full house in Los Angeles, Anaheim, Dallas, Colorado, St. Louis and Columbus (gee, that Sun Belt is more flexible than the waistband on those Sansabelt slacks) the voice from Canada and the Northeastern United States grow loud, if not shrill.

The Sun Belt argument doesn't buy you anything in the Lounge. And if you cannot see why when you overserve a market and leave them drunk with hockey, it's going to get messy out there.

Know when to say when. One team in New York City is probably enough. I'm willing to let them settle the issue directly on the ice. Winner stays, the losers of the tournament walk, to Canada, to the Western United States, to the Sun Belt (which perhaps to Canada means all of the Lower 49 states and the District of Columbia) whatever.

And now that the Los Angeles Kings are better, I'm willing to see a playoff between them and the Anaheim Ducks for the same stakes.

Until then, I am willing to stand behind those who wonder whether the lights should remain off in Newark.

THE SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Carolina 2, Colorado 1
At Buffalo 3, Toronto 2
At Dallas 4, N.Y. Islanders 3
Columbus 3, at Calgary 2
Tampa Bay at New Jersey, PPD
The standings are here.
Recap by Sportsnet.
Three stars by Puck Daddy.

AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Albany 3, Manchester 2 SO
At Binghamton 4, Portland 3
At Providence 3, Adirondack 1
Grand Rapids 6, at Rochester 3
At Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3, Lowell 2
Hartford 5, at Worcester 2
Syracuse 4, at Norfolk 1
At Hamilton 3, Lake Erie 1
Bridgeport 3, at Springfield 2
At Peoria 5, Toronto 1
Hershey 2, at Manitoba 1 SO
At Houston 5, Rockford 3
At Abbotsford 3, Texas 1
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Toledo 6, Trenton 5 OT
At Kalamazoo 2, Charlotte 1
At Elmira 3, Florida 1
South Carolina 4, at Gwinnett 3
At Wheeling 4, Cincinnati 2
At Bakersfield 6, Stockton 4
Ontario 3, at Las Vegas 2 OT
At Victoria 5, Idaho 2
At Alaska 5, Utah 3
The standings are here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Montreal 4, at Halifax 1
Rimouski 4, at Lewiston 3
At Victoriaville 8, Chicoutimi 0
Quebec 6, at Baie-Comeau 0
Prince Edward Island 5, at Gatineau 4
At Saint John 3, Cape Breton 1
Drummondville 3, at Val-d'Or 2 OT
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Saginaw 5, Guelph 4
At Kingston 6, Barrie 2
At Kitchener 7, Erie 2
At London 6, Niagara 3
At Ottawa 5, Belleville 1
Owen Sound 4, Sault Ste. Marie 3 SO
At Sudbury 4, Brampton 2
At Oshawa 4, Peterborough 3 OT
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Prince Albert 3, Lethbridge 2 SO
Moose Jaw 5, at Regina 2
Medicine Hat 3, at Brandon 2 SO
Vancouver 5, at Edmonton 3
Swift Current 3, at Red Deer 2 SO
At Kamloops 6, Kelowna 4
Chilliwack 3, at Spokane 0
At Tri-City 3, Prince George 2
Everett 3, at Seattle 0
The standings are here.
The roundup is here.

UNITED STATES HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Indiana 3, Sioux City 2
Fargo 4, at Youngstown 2
At Des Moines 5, Chicago 3
At Green Bay 3, Team USA 1
Omaha 5, at Lincoln 4
At Tri-City 1, Cedar Rapids 0
At Waterloo 3, Team USA 0
The standings are here.
The all-star game rosters are here.