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Questions, Questions

Given how the Sharks are off until this Saturday, thought I’d use the time to catch up on a project I have sadly left neglected until now.

We of the hockey blogging portion within SportsBlog Nation recently came up with a question for everyone else.  Kind of a roundtable thing.

Tonight’s question (which I should have taken care of days ago — my bad) is from Christy at Winging It In Motown:

Anaheim only has a .429 win percentage after 14 games this season (including two games played in London to start the season).  Part of that has to do with the fact they are missing Selanne and Niedermayer who haven’t decided if they want to still play, part of it’s injuries, and part of it was coming back from London and having to play right away.  Would you like to see the NHL start off each season with two teams playing oversees in places like London or Prague (the alleged site for next season’s opener)?

That would be a no.  There’s simply no way to adjust the schedule and make it fair for teams doing this.  The time change back and forth is murder, and you either force the teams to compress their alloted training camp time due to it being shortened, or compress the regular season schedule because of the lengthy break following the trip… well, there ought to at least be a lengthy break for the team to readjust itself time-wise.

Finally, the whole thing seems a little gimmicky.  As an example, if Manchester United and Chelsea decided to have their season opener here, would it attract or create any new fans for soccer?  No.  The existing fans would crawl over the Sierra Nevada in winter or Death Valley in summer in order to see the game live, and there might be a smattering of curious locals.  But a lasting impact?  Don’t see that happening.

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