Hockey 2010-2011

[smc]

Originally Posted by ila

I've heard that too. There is a lot of interest in Hartford to get another team, but from what I understand, from reading news reports, they have a long way to go before the NHL will consider Hartford again.

Halifax is an interesting idea. There have been occasional rumblings about a team going there, but nothing ever seems to happen about it.

Halifax has a substantial Bruins fan base, probably in part because of the strong overall connection between the city and Boston dating back to the famous Halifax Explosion in 1917, when the city was devastated. A French cargo ship loaded with explosives collided with a Norwegian ship in "The Narrows," a section of Halifax Harbor. The explosion killed about 2,000 people and injured 9,000, and destroyed lots and lots of buildings. Massachusetts sent a relief train, and beginning the year after and every year since, Nova Scotia has donated a fabulous Christmas Tree for the official City of Boston lighting ceremony. I've been to bars in Halifax during the hockey season and one feels a very strong Bruins presence.

Plus, it's less than two hours to fly between the two cities.

During this year's Stanley Cup finals, there were several articles about Halifax fans of the Bruins in the local press here, in part because Brad Marchand is from Halifax. Apparently, the Nova Scotia minister of transportation is a big Bruins fan, and told The Boston Globe that he is probably better known for that than as a member of the government. He recounted how he has a tradition at home of taking his false front teeth out whenever the Bruins are in the playoffs. Obviously, once he took them out this year, the Canucks were finished!