Don’t Fault The Location, Fault The Team

from David J. Neal of the Miami Herald, Northerners, rooted and transplanted, sniff at the travails of Phoenix, Atlanta, Tampa Bay and the Panthers as proof that hockey should remain the province of cities that have snow days. It doesn’t fit their prejudices to note that each of those four franchises has a history of ineptitude that few markets would support these days. You don’t, for example, hear much griping about a team in San Jose. And the last time a lake froze in St. Louis, a glacier covered Chicago.... Fans of a team rebuilding a fan base can’t enjoy the championship the following season because of a money move by management—attendance springs back instantly from that within a year or two, right, Marlins? Besides, warm weather doesn’t cause bad decisions. Rick Dudley’s office needing air conditioning in January isn’t why he traded up one spot to draft Petr Taticek ninth overall in 2002, leaving division rival Washington to take Alexander Semin three spots later. It’s also not why, with the No. 1 overall pick in 2003, Dudley traded down to No. 3 and chose Nathan Horton. Horton’s a good player who hasn’t lived up to being the No. 3 overall pick in one of the best drafts ever. Dudley could have taken center Eric Staal, a great, clutch player who Carolina snapped up at No. 2 and followed to the Stanley Cup three years later. more