[hfx_chris]

Absolutely right. I love seeing that chart that shows the number of people within certain driving times of Moncton. They only really surpass Halifax once you get to 3 hours - and even that number includes Halifax. Well that's neat and all, but unless you're talking about a one-off event like AC/DC or Bon Jovi, the number of people who are willing to regularly drive more than (I would hazard) 1.5 hours for a game drops off significantly. The only ones you're going to be attracting beyond that point are the die-hard fans, and the once-a-year crowd.
I would be willing to guess the majority of folks who turn up at the Metro Centre for a Moosehead game are NOT die-hard hockey fans, they're the casual fans - or the folks who go for the social experience. And the number of people within an hours drive of Halifax is one of the reasons I would guess that the Mooseheads have one of the highest attendance numbers in the QMJHL.
You need that large population number within an hour drive, those are your bread and butter attendees. And I just don't think Moncton has those numbers.