I've made it no secret that I would love to have hockey back in Kansas City. Now, if that were to happen, I would certainly hope that the city and its ownership will follow the examples of the Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes. Neither place is what you would consider a hockey hotbed. However, the single most important thing that both do well that the Atlanta Thrashers franchise never did was sell the game to the people. Both Nashville and Carolina recognized this and in some cases, even went out of their way to educate the people about the game. Both franchises also have stability on their side, with Nashville boasting the same GM and coach since day one and Carolina having the same owner and GM, both of whom were around when that team was still the Hartford Whalers. Identity is also important, as the Predators have always preached a defense first, hard work ethic that permeates the entire team. Carolina's identity is similar to Nashville's, which is one reason why they have been to two Stanley Cup finals and won one of them. I won't harp on the reasons the Thrashers franchise failed, as it's been fairly well documented. The point that I'm making here is that should Kansas City ever get a team again, they would be well advised to follow the examples set by non-traditional markets in Tennessee and North Carolina. Nashville has expanded its fanbase to those in Mississippi and Alabama and Carolina has both North and South Carolina. If Kansas City hopes to succeed, they should think to expand its fanbase to Kansas and Nebraska.
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