On Tue, 29 Sep 1998, tom Dubay wrote:
 
> I hope that you are not basing your comment on the fact that the Whalers left
> town.  Would we characterize Quebec City, the Twin Cities, Winnipeg, possible
> Edmonton as not interested in hockey because they lost or could lose their
> teams?....  Best regards.
>
No, I'm basing my comments on having to explain the rules and attraction
of hockey to clueless people back in the original six days.  My family is
still in Hartford and I visit there as frequently as I can (not often
enough since I live in Edmonton.)  Whatever success the Whalers had (IMHO)
is that Hartford likes to feel that it is "major league" and the Whalers
gave them an opportunity to do that.  There was a civic support element to
following the Whalers and the corporate community that did jump on board
did so for the most part for community booster reasons.
 
All I'm saying is that Hartford is not a hockey area.  Of course having
had NHL hockey there are some people that now follow the sport but I
really doubt that tournament will draw many, I hope I'm wrong.
 
Arthur Berman [log in to unmask]
 
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