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

[WarHeel]

17 minutes ago, JakeDel5674 said:

You can thank everyone's favorite player LeBron for that one. 

Not MY favorite player. That’s for sure.

[JakeDel5674]

1 minute ago, WarHeel said:

Not MY favorite player. That’s for sure.

Never been a fan of his, ever. 

[MillionDollarCam]

Whether we want to believe it or not the Hurricanes are currently the most relevant sports team in the state.

Winning does that and the only time that losers are relevant is when generational talent is involved (i.e. Zion Williamson).

Additionally, when you have a franchise that is run the right way (as a business), the results tend to be better.

Dundon is heavily involved in everything that encompasses the Hurricanes and it’s paying dividends. Additionally you have Tepper who tends to hold to the same set of standards, he bought the team and will run it how he sees fit (as a business). I expect a very similar turnaround for the Panthers.

Then you have MJ who shows up to three games a year and has no desire to be involved whatsoever except when it comes to making shitty draft picks.

For the most part, the teams who do well have owners who treat their franchise like a business. Franchises who don’t do well typically have owners who treat their franchise like a hobby (yes, there are exceptions).

Bottom line is Dundon has his fingerprints all over the Canes and it’s made them one of the most interesting sports story’s of the year.

[Trill OG]

Hell nah!

 

Nobody watches Hockey or care about it enough for the Hurricanes to be popular in the Carolina's. If it wasn't for this thread I would have never known they were playing in the playoffs. I honestly forgot we had a hockey team. Wayne Gretzky is the only hockey player I know and I never saw him play a game.

[JakeDel5674]

Just now, Trill OG said:

Hell nah!

 

Nobody watches Hockey or care about it enough for the Hurricanes to be popular in the Carolina's. If it wasn't for this thread I would have never known they were playing in the playoffs. I honestly forgot we had a hockey team. Wayne Gretzky is the only hockey player I know and I never saw him play a game.

LOL. Well, you're wrong. So....................

 

#noonecares. LOLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[Smithers]

I mean...the Hurricanes have won a title in the last 15 years. Hell the Hornets have never won.  So I think that answers your question.

[steven8989]

They win another championship, way more relevant than Panthers. Thanks Jerry Richardson!

[Trill OG]

1 hour ago, JakeDel5674 said:

LOL. Well, you're wrong. So....................

 

#noonecares. LOLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Oh wow Zion Williamson got paid to advertise the Carolina Hurricanes. Oh and you totally proved me wrong with the 30 people in the bar cheering for the Hurricanes. Oh wow the Hurricanes are everywhere! LOLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

[Shadow]

The thing with the Hornets for me is they have not given me a reason to care since they came back. I was hype af for their return thinking it would be the old hive and I was wrong. The experience is just okay, the teams have been awful, and our one chance to get a star was taken from us when we didn't get to draft Anthony Davis.  The fact that they didn't get any stars to play with Kemba is going to go down in history as one of Charlotte's biggest failures all time. Kemba plays his ass off and doesn't have the help to get to the next level. I'm not saying anything groundbreaking but if it is so obvious to a layman like me, why didn't the professionals do a better job of giving Charlotte a championship team?

I have been an avid Hurricanes fan since they came to NC. I still have a picture of me by the Eastern Conference Championship trophy. Going to the watch party for game 6 at PNC with 10k crazy fans for a game that wasn't even played there was one of my sports highlights even though we lost. The Hurricanes did no favors for their brand between 09-18. Missing the playoffs that many times leads to a whole generation of lost fans. Even this years performance is a year or two earlier than expectations.  They have some good kids in the minors and a system that is consistent. They will be good for awhile.

So many cards had to fall right for this year to happen for the Hurricanes it's insane. Unfortunately, those same cards have never fell the right way for the Hornets and that's why there is more indifference towards those who aren't diehards.

[Mother Grabber]

4 hours ago, Trill OG said:

Oh wow Zion Williamson got paid to advertise the Carolina Hurricanes. Oh and you totally proved me wrong with the 30 people in the bar cheering for the Hurricanes. Oh wow the Hurricanes are everywhere! LOLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

hurricanes have one of the loudest, most rockin stadiums in the league. the crowd is crazy every game.

[Eazy-E]

It’s not about relevance. Hockey isn’t nearly as popular as Basketball or Football in America. 

The Hurricanes are the most successful team in the Carolinas but they are probably the least popular. You could ask almost anyone and they will know who Kemba Walker and Cam Newton are. I doubt the majority can even name a Hurricanes player let alone know the Carolinas have a hockey team. It’s the sad truth unfortunately.

[Tepper's Chest Hair]

8 hours ago, JakeDel5674 said:

You can thank everyone's favorite player LeBron for that one

Why not Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, or Paul Pierce?

[lightsout]

The reason why the Hurricanes don't have the die-hard following is multi-layered. 

1) Hockey is hard to learn and get into as a sport to play. As somebody who plays pick up games (in Indian Trail at Xtreme Ice, btw), let me just explain what is needed. The ability to ice skate (or roller skate if you want to get into roller hockey). The ability to then skate with pads, which effects balance a bit at first but if you are a good skater, you won't struggle much getting used to it. The ability to then skate in full pads while managing to control the puck on a stick and make passes and take shots. Shooting a puck is not as intuitive as you'd think. Getting lift on a puck is the single hardest thing I've had to learn to do and I've played all sports in either an organized team setting or in a recreational setting.

2) Hockey is expensive to play. Most kids don't grow up playing hockey in the US because it is expensive. My skates cost $400. My stick cost $100. All padding, had I bought them new, would have run about $450-$600. Now, you can go to a Play It Again Sports or equivalent used sporting goods store and probably scrap all of those together for around $300 total, if not less. But, to get "good" gear to start out in, you're looking at being around $1k in the hole. Youth gear is moderately cheaper than adult, but still. It's tough financially.

3) Basketball and baseball are cheaper. All  most kids needed to get into basketball  was some shoes and a basketball with a hoop SOMEWHERE. Live in an apartment complex in a city/town? There's a rec center or an outdoor court in a park somewhere. $200 for a basketball hoop at Walmart, so one Christmas can cover a child's interest in basketball without much financial stress. Baseball isn't far off either. Glove and cleats and a bat and you can join a youth league in no time. 

4) It's easier to learn necessary skills for other sports. Teaching the motor skills of throwing a baseball or shooting a basketball can be done much faster than most necessary skills in hockey (standing evenly on the ice and taking an accurate wrist shot where the puck lifts at least one foot off the ice and hits the net....just try it). This makes it faster to learn. So for an adult trying to pick hockey up as an adult, you'll struggle more than if you joined a softball or basketball rec league with no knowledge of how to play those sports. As a child, this can lead to frustration. When they realize not many or none of their friends play hockey, they feel like they're wasting time or missing out. 

5) Hockey marketing is missing in America. You don't see Bauer or CCM commercials in the states. It's not a part of the culture south of like, Michigan. You may see some Team USA commercials or something during the Olympics. That's it.


People watch sports they used to play or grew up watching. As hockey wasn't massively popular like football or baseball or basketball in the US, that means most people view hockey as just some random thing that Canadians and Europeans play. It's not "American". It's not our national sport. NBC is our national broadcast station for big games, and that team is usually not great at being ambassadors of knowledge for the sport. Half the time, unless it's Caps/Pens, they don't really understand the teams playing enough to talk up the drama or the storylines. And that's another thing, there isn't much drama. Basketball has divas, football has divas, baseball has divas....hockey generally doesn't. You have some goonish guys and some guys that are kind of silly during interviews sometimes, but for the most part it's a league of straight laced guys who are team oriented above all else. Their personalities aren't plastered all over the place like in other sports. 

Eventually, hockey will grow to the point that it becomes bigger. I can't find the study, but it is growing in popularity in America, just slowly. I think football will die a slow, but eventual death in the US. With the concussion prevalence and the declining youth numbers, it's inevitable that it will drop over time. Hockey COULD replace it, but they'd have to really grind out marketing and coverage of teams on a national scale. Fox Sports broadcasts local markets all across the league, but they do a piss poor job of covering the sport on FS1. NBC Sports covers the games and have a talk show dedicated to hockey, but it's one show and nothing else. ESPN and the like may cover playoff hockey for 5 minutes on Around The Horn, but that's all. 

Hurricanes need all the support they can get because they have earned it. Over the last 22 years, they have proven to be more successful than a Charlotte basketball team and have competed at least as well as the Panthers. They deserve some attention and love. A lot of people don't expect to love hockey until they watch a game or two.

[Ricky Spanish]

I enjoy watching both hockey and Basketball, but it's easier to pull for a team on the rise than a team stagnant in mediocrity/failure.