Reply #117: ....

[Forkboy]

That's why they have to charge so much less and couldn't sell out an 11,000 seat arena in their innaugural.

It's a factor. To think that the cost of living in an area doesn't affect how people spend their money is silly.

And so now your positing that it is "cheap" to live on Long Island.

No, just that it's cheaper than the San Jose area.

The Islanders are not a team that draws a lot of suits. These are working class folks going to games.

I know, that's one of the things I like about them.

BTW; you can thank many of these so called "undedicated Islanders fans" for padding the Bruins attendance stats over the years. On the three nights a year they played here the BanknorthGarden was 1/3 Islanders fans. Same with the fans who also traveled from Buffalo, Toronto and Montreal.

You mean all 2 games per year in Boston against The Islanders? I'm sure that jacked up their season average by a ton! :eyes:

Buffalo and Toronto fans coming all the way to the Garden in mass numbers? Uh huh. Montreal I'd believe. Many of their fans came here over the last few years, at least until this one.

By the way, by your logic, wouldn't all those Ranger and New Jersey fans who travel to Nassau be padding the Islander numbers? And even then they couldn't get 10K one year (which honestly is both stunning to me, and pitiful to see, no matter how you slice it).

And your looking at a season where the previous owner went to prison for lying about his worth. The current owners fire saled the franchise to get the payroll under 10 mill. Meanwhile you Boston fans were bitching about Jeremy Jacobs?

Sorry your team has crooked owners, but that's not our fault. We bitch about Jacobs because Boston expects winners every year. He wasn't doing much to keep up with the other three pro teams, and the team's payroll was sucky. The criticism is merited. Just because your team has criminals as owners and can't run a team doesn't mean other cities shouldn't expect a good product. Maybe you guys should have bitched louder earlier than you did. You might have been rooting for a team that mattered this year.

You wouldn't draw that well in simialar circumstances in Boston.

More hypothetical opinion in lieu of facts.

The Isles had 7 sell outs this year. COUNT EM!!! 7 in year they were dead last in the NHL with ticket prices averaging 50 bucks a pop.

I know, it's pretty impressive. But your initial argument was whether San Jose is a good hockey town, not whether Long Island is. I think Long Islanders are great fans (and a hell of a lot cooler than Ranger fans in general). I also think San Jose has established themselves as a good hockey town as well, which is borne out by the fact that they consistently draw good crowds despite their own lack of success over the years.

And let's face it, sports is the ultimate in "what have you done for me lately". In that regard, San Jose is better than Long Island, plain and simple. That doesn't make Long Island a bad hockey town, just as the Sharks lack of success doesn't make them a bad hockey town.

Why you feel this desperate need to denigrate San Jose and their hockey fans is beyond me, unless rooting for such a lousy team for so long has made you highly insecure in your hockey fandom. Even in the Bruins lowest days I still appreciated fans in other cities. Hell, I even like Montreal fans.

And with that, I think we're done here. Well, I'm done at least (the Sox just tied it up in the 8th). You can say your mind and have the last word. But it's pretty stupid to knock a town where the fans have been fine to satisfy something inside yourself.