The North American Obsession

[Enorama 2,039]

I've gone over this same conversation with people here and in other sim leagues multiple times. Why is every sim league infatuated with North American cities? Look, I get it, the easy answer is that 90%+ of each league's members are based in either Canada or the U.S., but why does that mean that all of our teams need to be from here too? We argue back and forth over getting teams in Vancouver or Philadelphia because a small subsection of our user base lives there, then we relocate (RIP Quebec White Nationalists) or expand (hello death-bringers or whatever your name is) and all that does is dispel these conversations for a week or two - at best. Next thing you know, we'll have those dirty Frenchies crying over not having a team in La Belle Province or some disgusting Marchand-lover asking why the true breeding ground of New England doesn't have a VHL or VHLM team.

 

My point is that although we love to keep our teams on this side of the Atlantic because it's our home, it'll never be good enough, so why bother placing teams where they are for that reason? I believe that teams should be placed based solely on the city itself. We have an amazing thing with sim leagues, we don't need to worry about time zones or travel, so we can place teams literally anywhere on the globe without any question of logistics and yet here we are with 8/8 VHLM teams and 5/9 VHL teams being based in North America next season. That's nearly 80% of our teams being based in a region that only holds about 0.5% of the world's population (Canada + the US, feel free to double check my math on that one, big numbers hurt my head).

 

With that being said, here are some places that I think are underappreciated and deserve a look for relocation. Full disclosure - none of the logos here are my own, just representative of the style that could be achieved from the culture of each city.

 

1. Mexico City, Mexico

This one has been a personal campaign of mine for a while. Mexico as a country has so much rich culture and history that would be great to incorporate into a logo and team atmosphere. 

 

2. Shanghai, China

 

Another one that I've brought up multiple times. China is way too big of a country to not have representation on the global stage, and similar to Mexico, the culture and history around the city and country is astounding.

 

3. Sydney, Australia

 

I've always been personally interested in visiting the land down under, but the costs of just getting there have turned me off thusfar. Luckily, all of our players would be able to visit just fine because they can magically appear there to play a couple of games of hockey!

 

4. Singapore

I unfortunately couldn't come up with a logo for the city-state of Singapore, but I think it could be a worthwhile look for a team. The blend of Southeast Asian and British cultures is interesting (thanks colonialism) and the city has a very unique position for success.

 

5. Ljubljana, Slovenia

 

Ryan Kastelic's birthplace! Of course it had to make the list. Slovenia is a beautiful country with plenty of rich history and actually managed to ice an Olympic hockey team in each of the past two winter Olympics! They even beat the U.S. in Sochi (let's move every American team to Slovenia, I think they've proven their worth).

 

 

 

586 words

[Hybrid1486 577]

...you know that Mexico is part of North America, right?

[Enorama 2,039]

9 minutes ago, Hybrid1486 said:

...you know that Mexico is part of North America, right?

 

At one point I focused down to Canada and the U.S., I know the title doesn't actually reflect it.

 

You get the idea anyways  

[Nykonax 1,569]

Still no North Korea

 

F

[Victor 11,039]

It was a battle to put us on the path to resurrect the European Conference, so baby steps.

[Banackock 8,154]

Could be worse... USA, USA!

 

 

 

Though, Mexico would be neat. As the league expands in the future, which I'm sure it will, there's a strong chance of once again branching off.

 

Time will tell