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The author of this article misses a very critical point here. Pro hockey never "matured" from a cult sport at all -- the NHL simply gave the appearance that it had become popular on a national level by relocating and expanding into U.S. television markets with large populations but no real hockey fan support. In their NBA-oriented style of TV-based marketing of the 1990s, the NHL -- through former NBA executive Gary Bettman -- decided that a Phoenix market with 20,000 casual fans among 4 million people represented a more lucrative opportunity than a Winnipeg market with 500,000 die-hard fans among 600,000 people.

I've been in that casual Phoenix market for 20+ yrs (even though I'm originally a die-hard BroadStreetBully fan). I'm not going to argue the Phoenix point, but I will argue the Winnipeg point.

When economic-push-came-to-shove Winnipeg didn't want to or couldn't support NHL hockey. This goes beyond the discounted Canadian dollar. Winnipeg had more than enough time to show that they wanted hockey to stay. Die-hard fans are great, but they have to support the game. They have to financially support the game over 80+ games. I remember reading articles at the time that stated many Winnipeg fans resented millionaire players, didn't want to raise taxes to support a new rink, etc. Where were the big business players in Winnipeg at the time? Die-hard fans are great, but they have to also afford the ticket price. They couldn't. That said, I am not unsympathetic to Winnipeg fans. Years ago I used to see many fans with Jets jerseys at Coyotes games. I did feel sorry for them. But when hockey left town in Winnipeg, this market was making a 20+ year or even lifetime decision relative to NHL hockey. Love for the game from these fans are great, but it takes economics now. Are the players more interested in economics or are they still in it for the love of the game?

The Jets didn't move from Winnipeg from Phoenix because of a lack of fan support. Winnipeg was one of the few cities in North America where an NHL team could attract 16,000+ fans per game even in mediocre years.

The Jets would moved from Winnipeg from Phoenix even if there were zero hockey fans in Phoenix -- because no matter how you slice it, a metropolitan area of 4 million people will always represent a larger potential television market than one of 600,000 people. The lure of lucrative television contracts literally infected the National Hockey League in the 1990s. An NHL franchise might have been worth $60 million in Winnipeg, based on the economics of the NHL at the time (in which gate revenue and local advertising represented the largest components of a team's revenue). But someone who thought he might be able to generate a lot more television revenue in Phoenix went out and paid $80 million for that $60 million franchise -- in the hopes that it would be worth $100 million a few years down the road.

Well, guess what -- the television contracts are gone, and now that Phoenix franchise is probably worth no more than $40 million or so. How ironic will it be when someone pays $40 million for the Coyotes and turns it into a $60 million franchise by moving them back to Winnipeg?