Drafts past. Playoffs for other sports going on so question. Are the Carolina Hurricanes more relevant in the Carolina's now than the Hornets?

[lightsout]

Just so guys know that American hockey is feeding some top tier talent into the NHL, here is a list of some of the American players in the league. Most of these guys are big time names in the league. An asterisk by their name means they are on the Canes roster.

Patrick Kane
Phil Kessel 
Joe Pavelski 
Zach Parise 
Matt Cullen 
Jason Pominville
Blake Wheeler
Paul Statsny
Dustin Brown
Ryan Kesler
James Van Riemsdyk
Trevor Van Riemsdyk*
TJ Oshie
Bobby Ryan
Ryan Suter 
David Backes
Kyle Okposo
Derek Stepan
Brandon Dubinsky
Nick Foligno
Johnny Gaudreau
Matt Niskanen
Justin Faulk*
Jack Eichel
Patrick Eaves
Auston Matthews
Brian Boyle
Brooks Orpik
Noah Hanifin
Bryan Rust
Jonathon Quick



The vast majority of the above names, major names within the league. Some of the best at their positions or they contribute on some of the best teams in the league. Just in case you wonder if it's mostly Canadians or Europeans in the league, there are a ton, but a lot of homegrown American talent exists within the league. The above is maybe like, a tenth or so of all American players within the league.

[Car123]

I don't think I've ever seen anyone wearing Hurricanes gear.

[RealBitsOfPanther]

I'm on the coast down east and can honestly say no one cares about the Hornets. It's hard to get excited about them with the state of the league and the fact that there is literally 0 reasons to watch them. 

A lot of ya'll are using your own sporting preferences/tastes/whatever you want to call it in this argument instead of looking at the facts

The Canes have won the most for any professional team in the state. That's a fact. 

The Hornets will never pull as much in this state because of college basketball.  

Also, for those that are hating on hockey, have you actually watched it? Like watched a game on tv? Did you watch it by yourself or with a group? Did you understand the rules, basic strategies? Did you ever see a game live? Hockey is prob my favorite sport to watch live. 

[MechaZain]

Yes but it's more than just the success of the teams. College basketball's popularity here, Canes being the only pro team outside of Charlotte, and a large number of NBA fans follow the league or certain players rather than their home team.

I feel like a minority among NBA fans in this state rooting for the Hornets but the Panthers were the same before Cam. I think the Hornets can bounce back to 90s popularity but it'll take sustained success to wipe out the damage the Bobcats era did to the franchise. 

 

[thefuzz]

17 hours ago, WOW!! said:

Charlotte is a business hub a banking hub and the population center of the state.. CLT brings more money to the state than any other region.. I promise you more ppl are coming to the CLT than the outerbanks..

You said Charlotte is what people know and come to see, then back it up with a banking and population center?

I can guarantee you that when folks from Ohio or New York or Connecticut or California think about North Carolina it's most certainly not a bland nouveau city....it would likely be the triangle referencing college basketball, the mountains of NC, or the beaches of NC.

Now do more people travel through Charlotte?  Sure, it's a major airline hub, do people decide to go spend their week vacation in Charlotte?  Nah.

[djp14]

44 minutes ago, RealBitsOfPanther said:

A lot of ya'll are using your own sporting preferences/tastes/whatever you want to call it in this argument instead of looking at the facts.

You're down east. A lot of us are in Charlotte. The Canes aren't a thing here.

Which isn't to say that they don't have fans in Charlotte. But they're a distant 4th behind the Panthers, Hornets, and Braves.

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, MechaZain said:

Yes but it's more than just the success of the teams. College basketball's popularity here, Canes being the only pro team outside of Charlotte, and a large number of NBA fans follow the league or certain players rather than their home team.

I feel like a minority among NBA fans in this state rooting for the Hornets but the Panthers were the same before Cam. I think the Hornets can bounce back to 90s popularity but it'll take sustained success to wipe out the damage the Bobcats era did to the franchise. 

 

Yeah, that is the odd thing about modern NBA fans, they seem to be less loyal to home teams than other sports. I see more loyalty to individual players.

Winning cures all, there is no doubt about that. The Canes missed the playoffs for 9 straight seasons but once we got back in the hunt in a serious way, people started flocking to the stadium. 

[kungfoodude]

47 minutes ago, djp14 said:

You're down east. A lot of us are in Charlotte. The Canes aren't a thing here.

Which isn't to say that they don't have fans in Charlotte. But they're a distant 4th behind the Panthers, Hornets, and Braves.

LMAO. The Braves don't even have fans in Atlanta, much less Charlotte. 

[mc52beast]

Some would have to question whose career has been managed the worst, Kemba or Cam. Hornets have had a star on the team for years and have never put any decent talent around him. People talk about how terrible an owner JR was, what about Jordan?

[djp14]

9 minutes ago, Luuuuuuke! said:

However, it also is the job, I must say, of existing management teams and the NBA to maximize the potential for the teams wherever they are. Because the NBA is a really good product. So yes … all the markets are not equal, but also maybe all the management teams are not equal.

This is much more relevant to the Hornets than any of the other things you underlined.

The OP posted a video of Canes fans at a playoff game. I've been to Bobcats and NuHornets playoff games, and the place was damn loud. Win, and the people will come. As the Canes can attest.

[MechaZain]

1 minute ago, mc52beast said:

Some would have to question whose career has been managed the worst, Kemba or Cam. Hornets have had a star on the team for years and have never put any decent talent around him. People talk about how terrible an owner JR was, what about Jordan?

I give Jordan more of a break because he tried, they just had worst draft luck and free agents did not want to play for the Bobcats. The Panthers used Cam's strengths to drag their feet on addressing various holes. Cam was also a star from day 1 and Kemba grew into one. 

[kungfoodude]

 

40 minutes ago, mc52beast said:

Some would have to question whose career has been managed the worst, Kemba or Cam. Hornets have had a star on the team for years and have never put any decent talent around him. People talk about how terrible an owner JR was, what about Jordan?

 

Jordan has been an absolutely HORRIFYING owner. JR had plenty of negatives but Jordan's era has been market by some of the dumbest possible personnel decisions and this was following the terrible Robert Johnson era. As Panthers fans, we bitch about the Matt Kalil contract but the Bobcats/Hornets have handed the fans multiple Kalil level contracts. As a Hornets fan, it is often best to just not pay attention at all during the offseason/draft because it will just upset you. 

The absolute worst part about having a star player like Kemba has been that the clearest path to getting more elite talent is getting rid of Kemba, the only elite talent on the team. We have been mired in the no man's land of the NBA draft where all the surest talent goes ahead of us and the process becomes a much bigger crap shoot. This is compounded by our general inability to identify elite talents. We are pretty good at drafting role players, that we have down to a science.

[RealBitsOfPanther]

1 hour ago, djp14 said:

You're down east. A lot of us are in Charlotte. The Canes aren't a thing here.

Which isn't to say that they don't have fans in Charlotte. But they're a distant 4th behind the Panthers, Hornets, and Braves.

 

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

LMAO. The Braves don't even have fans in Atlanta, much less Charlotte. 

This. I love the Braves, but I see way more Red Sox and Yankees stuff. 

[Davidson Deac II]

Fwiw, Duke and Carolina are far more popular than either the Hurricanes or the Hornets.  This is still a college sports state.  The Panthers do fairly well, because the NFL is the most popular sports organization, but the other two pale in comparison to the big college teams.