why would florida not be competative in hockey, simple, play the games at the jacksonville minor league facility. ocala produces olympic medal speed skaters, not much ice in ocala, they just transition from rollerblades to ice skates, ice not needed
There is not culture of kids playing hockey on frozen lakes or outdoor rinks at the local park where they flood the football field in the winter. I get what you say. I have a nephew that played travel hockey in Texas and adjoining states. He also played roller blade hockey at the national level. IIRC his team lost the national championship game at some junior level. But kids in Texas want to play football and not hockey. Some want to play baseball and not hockey. Kids in Canada want to play hockey. It is a cultural thing. There are NHL teams in the Miami and Tampa Bay area mostly due to retireees from up north. Some are kids that grew up there and landed jobs down here. I grew up in Chicago and played a little hockey. During my junior year of high school my parents moved to an exurb of Chicago to a housing development where in the winter all the guys played hockey. I played a few times and I was in WAY over my head. The kids had even built a rink with boards close to a creek and bought a sprayer for making good ice. One of the kids went to Bemidji State to play on scholarship and back then that was a big deal. Probably still is. My point is that there are some facilities in Florida but the hockey culture with kids is not here. And without that we really don't have a recruiting base to put a competitive team on the ice. We could kick the ass of Cornell on the gridiron, diamond or basketball court but they would take our lunch money on a hockey rink.
