Florida THE state of Hockey-USA-USA!

[FunSeeker]

It really is incredible the run that the State of Florida is on with the Stanley Cup finals. Whoever wins Florida, will be in the finals from the East. Facts.

Congrats to the Panthers. They really dominated. Keeping the Cup in the USA is another haunting reminder to Canadian fans of the continuing American cities roll of success in the being the Champions of the NHL. The Snarky-America Booing-Loser Canadian fans can go crawl back in their hole now.

[Frank Barone]

It has now been 32 years since a Canadian team has won the cup. This is more than a trend. I've read the Canadian franchises still operate in old school ways, while newer franchises have had to innovate to survive, which ultimately led to their successes.

It also seems like the Canadian franchises self destruct in a way, succumbing to the more intense media pressure by making short term decisions over long term. The media pressure must be tough for the players and coaches as well, and the Mitch Marner situation may become example #1 of this.

[TheJackBurton]

Florida and Tampas run are probably done and over with.

Florida has a lot of miles on those legs, is going to start losing their depth, and have a barren prospect pool.

If Army had done that, I'd be massively stoked because even if they have a dark 20 years or so, it's still absolutely worth it.

[ManitobaBlues]

It has now been 32 years since a Canadian team has won the cup. This is more than a trend. I've read the Canadian franchises still operate in old school ways, while newer franchises have had to innovate to survive, which ultimately led to their successes.

It also seems like the Canadian franchises self destruct in a way, succumbing to the more intense media pressure by making short term decisions over long term. The media pressure must be tough for the players and coaches as well, and the Mitch Marner situation may become example #1 of this.

I have to agree—especially when it comes to Mitch Marner. His dream of playing for Toronto was admirable, but ultimately, that may have been his first mistake. Honestly, it's hard to understand why any player would want to be part of that organization, considering how it's run. You're absolutely right—many of our Canadian franchises are still led by old-school hockey minds who are slow to adapt.

The media in Canada can be excessively harsh, and Marner didn’t deserve the level of criticism he received. But unfortunately, that’s just the reality of playing in a Canadian market.

As a Canadian, I find it increasingly difficult to support our NHL franchises. We’re starting to see progress and modernization in leagues like the OHL over the past couple of years, and I had hoped the NHL’s Canadian teams would follow suit. Of all of them, Calgary seems the most aligned with the culture and mindset of an American franchise.

At the end of the day, I truly believe American fans are just as passionate about hockey as Canadians are. The key difference is that the American media tends to show more respect to the players and coaches—they don’t try to position themselves as experts who know the game better than the professionals.

[Army's Mom]

It has now been 32 years since a Canadian team has won the cup. This is more than a trend. I've read the Canadian franchises still operate in old school ways, while newer franchises have had to innovate to survive, which ultimately led to their successes.

It also seems like the Canadian franchises self destruct in a way, succumbing to the more intense media pressure by making short term decisions over long term. The media pressure must be tough for the players and coaches as well, and the Mitch Marner situation may become example #1 of this.

I have to agree—especially when it comes to Mitch Marner. His dream of playing for Toronto was admirable, but ultimately, that may have been his first mistake. Honestly, it's hard to understand why any player would want to be part of that organization, considering how it's run. You're absolutely right—many of our Canadian franchises are still led by old-school hockey minds who are slow to adapt.

The media in Canada can be excessively harsh, and Marner didn’t deserve the level of criticism he received. But unfortunately, that’s just the reality of playing in a Canadian market.

As a Canadian, I find it increasingly difficult to support our NHL franchises. We’re starting to see progress and modernization in leagues like the OHL over the past couple of years, and I had hoped the NHL’s Canadian teams would follow suit. Of all of them, Calgary seems the most aligned with the culture and mindset of an American franchise.

At the end of the day, I truly believe American fans are just as passionate about hockey as Canadians are. The key difference is that the American media tends to show more respect to the players and coaches—they don’t try to position themselves as experts who know the game better than the professionals.

To be fair, many of the American hockey media are newer to the sport. Just looking at the P-D, how many former football or baseball writers haven't we had to slowly bring along lol.

Honestly, I think TOR is a unique situation - if Canadian franchises and markets have unique problems, then TOR is the uber-Canadian franchise - with media that much more arrogant, the fandom that much more scarred, and the ownership that much more myopic.

I'd throw WPG onto the list of "American-like" markets, at least culturally. I spent a week there visiting friends last summer and could barely tell they had an NHL team, even when driving right past the rink. Plenty of other things on their minds (including Trump's 51st state nonsense), other than hockey.

Not like TOR, where they beat you over the head with their hockey heritage 13 months out of the year...

Not that I mind that - as a rabid fan, I love it. But that sort of fishbowl definitely doesn't seem to appeal to the newer generation of hockey player.