Hockey in Florida!?!?!?

Good day folks!!! Sorry I haven't posted in a while...I was on a much-needed vacation with my family for about 10 days in the great state of Florida. We enjoyed Disneyworld, Seaworld, and the Islands of Adventure to no end...you can't put a price on the enthusiasm of a child in any of those theme parks. It was fabulous!!!!

Of course, for the kids and my wife it was great...I also had a great time however for some reason I couldn't get my sports fix!!! To be more specific I couldn't get my hockey fix!!! Now, the last time I checked, there were 2 NHL teams located in Florida...the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers. The Panthers are basically out of the playoff picture but the Tampa Bay Lightning are still fighting for 7th or 8th position which will get them into the playoffs. This should be BIG news. It is also worth noting that the Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2004...right before the lockout. Now with 2 NHL teams located in one state how come I can't get any NHL news? The only sports news I received was NCAA March Madness basketball!!! To those of you who aren't familiar with this we're talking about college/university basketball championships...not a professional sport but bigger than any Canadian sporting event to be sure. That being said I should still be able to receive updates and hi-lights from professional sports...at least from the leagues that are local!!! In Florida they have teams in every professional sport...Major League Baseball (Florida Marlins, Tampa Bay Devil Rays), National Football League (Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars), the National Basketball Association (Miami Heat, Orlando Magic) and the National Hockey League (Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning). Yet I can only receive news from the NCAA (not professional), the NCWAA (the women's college/university basketball program...again non-professional) the NBA and some grapefruit league action...which is MLB's pre-season.

I'm sure I'm not the only individual who encounters this dilemma. I understand that Florida is not a huge hockey market however they are somehow able to support 2 hockey franchises in this state...someone down there must want to follow one or both teams. Florida is also known for it's abundance of Snowbirds...these are also known as retired Canadians who reside in Florida for the winter months. Hmmmm....let's see....Canadians in Florida during hockey season. That should equate to some people requesting hockey info especially as the playoff race tightens. For some reason that info is not supplied!!! I'm beginning to wonder if any of the news stations ever bothered to check what their viewing audience may want at different times of the year!?!?!? I doubt it!!!

Living in Ontario we have 2 NHL teams as well. The fan base is huge and when you watch Sportscentre or Sportsnet, hockey is front and centre in the news. However, I believe we have a higher sports IQ!!! We not only show the NHL we also show hi-lights of NCAA, MLB, NFL, NBA, Soccer, Cricket, Diving, Skiing, etc.

I'm not ashamed to say that, as Canadians, we have more sports knowledge and more sports savvy than the U.S. We're just too damn nice to pick up the phone and tell the station what we want to see...we're also too damn polite to tell the bartender to change the channel and find some NHL action!!!! Who knows...if more hockey news was broadcasted in the southern U.S. they might actually attract some fans!!! Remember when I said that Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup in 2004??? They couldn't fill the arena...even during the playoffs...and they were giving tickets away!!!! Sad isn't it!?!?!?

If they spend as much time on the NHL as they do on the grapefruit league or NCAA I would bet the attendance would climb and the buzz would spread!!! After all, it's the best game in the world...if you know about it!!!!

Keep your stick on the ice...

All cheap shots and comments are welcome!!!

CHEERS!!!!
The Rokpig