Reply #79: You're claiming that a president trophy winning team

[inthebrain]

that can pack their building in the post season makes you a real hockey town.

You think San Jose is up there with New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal etc.

Sorry, but you have a loooooooooong ways to go. Those towns, the fans bleed with their teams through thick and thin. In the summer, even after losing seasons of no post season and finishing in the lottery, the itch is still there. Come mid July it feels like the off season has gone on for way too long.

They hold draft parties on June 26th.

The papers cover who's doing what in Juniors, college and the AHL. Folks want to get as much in info as to what is going on in the Euro leagues. TSN.ca is probably visited at least three - four times a day by those fans.

Folks stay up till two sometimes three in the morning scanning sports talk radio for anything hockey related.

Sorry, but San Jose has a very long ways to go. It comes with years of trying to build a cup contender and falling flat. It comes with a lot of bitterness that winning your division means nothing. The cup is everything.

Fans that have been through know there is more to winning in this league than just making the post season or winning your division. It's the years it takes to build a team right through the draft and smart trades. And still you are not guaranteed much.