NHL fans are the most loyal group of supporters in sports, maybe even to a fault.
They came back to the league following a lockout that wiped about half of the games from the 1994-95 season, they filled arenas in huge numbers following the shocking developments of the 2004-05 lockout that led to a canceled season, and they once again returned to the sport this year after a third lockout in 20 years threatened the 2013 season.
For a group of people whose loyalty and passion are taken advantage of time and time again by the greed and petty agendas of the teams and players they love most, hockey fans care about their game too much to watch it suffer when lockouts threaten its growth and popularity.
"We have great fans. There's no doubt about that," said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman before Game 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final (via Kukla's Korner). "You see their passion. You see the way our buildings are night after night, more alive than the fans in any other sport."
Bettman continued:
I believe our fans tend to be, and the research shows this, our fans are more connected to this game than th ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Nicholas Goss
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