All Star game in the south

1-31-2011- So the all star game is over and all has returned to normal in the nhl. I am glad that the hockey world got to see the hospitality and the support that the south can provide. From what i have heard from players and media alike it seemed everybody enjoyed the festivities in Raliegh. I think most of the media was suprised by the support of the carolina hurricanes fan base. It just goes to show how well hockey can do in the south. I feel that the south gets a bad reputation in the hockey world for not having enough fans to support a nhl team. All i hear all the time is how they need to take teams out these struggling southern markets where hockey doesnt belong. The fact is that in most southern cities with a nhl team are doing farely good. just look at the hurricanes. You can go to a hurricanes game on any given night and be overwhelmed with how loud and passionate there fans are. Sure in some cities the attendance might not be as good as other more established franchises. To me that is comparing apples to oranges. If you compare lets say atlanta's attendace to detroit or toronto there is no comparising. Those other two teams have had a long history in the nhl. with detroit have a storied history of winning and making the playoffs. If you are to tell me that if any team in the leauge were to not make the playoffs year after year it wouldnt hurt there attendance. the survival of southern teams has nothing to do with were they are located but in the quality of the product on the ice. People want to watch winning teams it doesnt matter where the team is located. My final point is the new york islanders there attendce has been down partially due to having the worst arena in the league and partially to constantly being at the bottom of the standings. So if a team from the north has trouble selling a losing product then of course a southern team will have just as much problem selling a losing product.