NHL season officially cancelled

[Huge Bean]

Originally Posted by RoyalTea

http://An NHL team owner who is requ...ory?id=1983362

How is that offical cancellation? They're still talking. And yes, there are very few games left but not giving out a Cup for the first time in almost a century and not being the first major sports team to loose a complete season is something I'm sure they are very well aware of.

Has anyone ever asked Goodenow what happens if the NHL refuses to back down --- ever? The owners really do have the advantage of time on their side if they want it, the NHLPA doesn't. Sure, there will be lots of fans lost, and maybe some folded teams, but i don't think it'd be much worse for the league if there two or more seasons cancelled rather than just this one. The biggest hit would be the loss of the first season, each following season should have a lot less impact, imo.

[Josh H]

Originally Posted by Lateralus

Hockey players get paid way to much fucking money.

Totally, the players are 100% at fault for this IMO. They have to wake up and realize they can't expect to be paid like players in football, baseball or basketball as hockey doesn't remotely compare to the popularity of those sports. TV ratings suck, attendance sucks, who do they expect to pay those huge salaries?

[solipsta]

Originally Posted by Josh Hinkle

Totally, the players are 100% at fault for this IMO. They have to wake up and realize they can't expect to be paid like players in football, baseball or basketball as hockey doesn't remotely compare to the popularity of those sports. TV ratings suck, attendance sucks, who do they expect to pay those huge salaries?

So what? They're offered a huge contract and they're supposed to refuse it because it's bad for the game?

"Whoa! I can't accept that. You don't have the revenue base to be offering me that. I'll take a third of that much, thank you."

The owners of each individual team is supposedly a businessman and should be setting a budget for his GM to follow. They're grown men. They shouldn't need the handholding of a salary cap to keep their house in order...

[wildcatlh]

Originally Posted by solipsta

So what? They're offered a huge contract and they're supposed to refuse it because it's bad for the game?

"Whoa! I can't accept that. You don't have the revenue base to be offering me that. I'll take a third of that much, thank you."

The owners of each individual team is supposedly a businessman and should be setting a budget for his GM to follow. They're grown men. They shouldn't need the handholding of a salary cap to keep their house in order...

That always gets said, but in truth, if it ever got put into action, and the owners started offering less money across the board, the players would be marching into court screaming "COLLUSION! COLLUSION!"

[nickdawgy]

Originally Posted by Josh Hinkle

There is a god.

x2

[nickdawgy]

Originally Posted by KnightLerxst

Agreed.

so badmouthing hockey is bad, but badmouthing the NBA is good?

[RMSpuhler]

Originally Posted by Dr_Evil

With the warm weather teams that can't draw fans out of the system,

You mean teams like Pittsburgh (dead last), Chicago (27th), the Islanders (26th) or New Jersey (23rd)?

Tampa Bay was 12th in attendance last season. San Jose outdrew Boston and Chicago. Florida outdrew San Jose. Oh, and Ottawa finished 13th.

So, of the seven teams you mention you want contracted (Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Atlanta Thrashers, Nashville Predators, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks), three - maybe - desrve the ax due to lack of fan support.

And the Los Angeles franchise that you so mercifully will allow to stay finished 11th in attendance, while Dallas finished 8th.

So please drop that "warm weather team" garbage, at least until 1/3 of the Original Six gets its shit together.

Now, this does not mean that attendance is the only reason to drop a team - Ottawa may have to go because it's already damn near broke. But Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Washington would join my list as the four teams most likely to go away - all four are in serious financial trouble.

RS

[Canadian Bacon]

Originally Posted by nickdawgy

badmouthing the NBA is good?

yes

[KnightLerxst]

Originally Posted by nickdawgy

so badmouthing hockey is bad, but badmouthing the NBA is good?

I don't jump into basketball threads badmouthing the sport, I was just firing back...

[Flashback]

You would never know it here in Chicago, since they do not televise home games for the Blackhawks. For some reason the owner thinks that more people will come out to the games if they cannot see it on TV. Of course this is BS and probably lost many fans since you cannot follow the team.

[nevermind]

Originally Posted by Flashback

You would never know it here in Chicago, since they do not televise home games for the Blackhawks. For some reason the owner thinks that more people will come out to the games if they cannot see it on TV. Of course this is BS and probably lost many fans since you cannot follow the team.

I haven't given Dollar Bill Wirtz one cent of my money in 6+ years. There's a reason nobody goes to Blackhawks games besides no home televised games - the team is run like shit are tickets are wayyyyy overpriced. You can sit on the glass at a Wolves game for about $40 a ticket and have a great time. For the Hawks, $40 gets you upper balcony in the first 10 rows I think, watching a bad team in a one-third full stadium. They only sell out when the Red Wings are in town, and that's because of all the Red Wings fans making the trip in.

Fuck 'em.

[RoyalTea]

talk about a mandate:

[KnightLerxst]

So sad.

[Flashback]

Originally Posted by nevermind

I haven't given Dollar Bill Wirtz one cent of my money in 6+ years. There's a reason nobody goes to Blackhawks games besides no home televised games - the team is run like shit are tickets are wayyyyy overpriced. You can sit on the glass at a Wolves game for about $40 a ticket and have a great time. For the Hawks, $40 gets you upper balcony in the first 10 rows I think, watching a bad team in a one-third full stadium. They only sell out when the Red Wings are in town, and that's because of all the Red Wings fans making the trip in.

Fuck 'em.

No doubt the team is not very good and tickets/concessions/parking are very expensive but I cannot believe an owner would purposely kill any fan base (especially getting kids involved early so they become lifelong fans) by refusing to air any home games. My guess is that it would force people to go to the UC...obviousely that doesn't work. And yes Wirtz is a complete ass.

The Wolves (a Chicago (IHL?) team) does very well. Great prices, a decent game and marketed very well.

[LorenzoL]

Originally Posted by RoyalTea

talk about a mandate:

That poll proves what everyone suspected with the recent NHL lockout, that most Americans don't really care about hockey in general and if they actually cancel the season, they will kill the sport in the US.
When baseball cancelled the World Series in 94, they were America's pastime, but even they had a difficult time in recuperating from it. I could even say that the NFL has replaced MBL as the top league in North America.

Hockey doesn't have the luxury to test this theory (they were never as popular as the major three sports) and is idiotic for the both sides to take a stand without coming to an agreement and drag the league to ruins.

I believe that both owners and players are at fault. Both sides have smart people doing the negotiations which is why it puzzles me that they cannot see the general apathy in the US (both media and fans) that the lockout has had. Blame it on egos, who knows but Bettman and Goodenow, need to smarten up fast.

Even in Canada, I feel that there will be a major backlash once hockey returns.

[Gcomeau]

Let these morons get REAL jobs..Wait till their fund$ starts to dry up. If they can't live on last seasons' salary they're so screwed. Too many teams.....WTG Bettman. They should have stopped after Ottawa(1992-93?). There was 22 or 23 teams at that time and that was perfect. Wish i could take a steal chair to these players and everyone in this mess. Maybe scrambled brains would help!!!

[Timber]

Probably half of the owners are coming out ahead by not having the season. I don't know exact figures but aren't about half of the owners losing money? I don't konw what the players are trying to accomplish with there stand against a salary cap. It helped the NFL and the NBA which are both bigger and more watched the hockey. Just accept a cap and be done with it.

[nevermind]

Originally Posted by Flashback

The Wolves (a Chicago (IHL?) team) does very well. Great prices, a decent game and marketed very well.

Yeah they were in the IHL which I think went under. Now they're in the AHL.

[LurkerDan]

NHL season officially cancelled

An NHL team owner who is requesting anonymity said he is expecting the league to make an announcement canceling the rest of the NHL season either after Thursday's meeting or Friday, EJ Hradek of ESPN the Magazine has learned.

The NHL is in danger of becoming the first major North American sports league to lose an entire season to a labor dispute.

[stevevt]

Originally Posted by LurkerDan

Was gonna say the same thing.



And how are those speakers working out?

[TheNightFlier]

here's something a little interesting...but i doubt it holds any weight....

"SabresInsider.com has learned that the NHL and NHLPA have negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement and will announce as soon as tomorrow that the league will begin a 28-game season. According to sources, Tampa Bay Lightning player Tim Taylor has told NBC affiliate WFLA in Tampa of such plans by the league. This comes on the heels of a report from ESPN that an NHL owner expected the season to be officially cancelled tomorrow.

The teams I see folding or being contracted if it ever happens...

Carolina
Anaheim
Florida
Pittsburgh(hope they make it through)
Columbus
Nashville
Chicago(an original six team run into the ground)

And whoever said my Islanders would fold....not a chance...they're owned by Charles Wang a multi-billionaire who's founder of Computer Associates. The guy spent a couple million just fixing up the Nassau Coliseum. He's also planning a quite ambitious project to build up the surrounding area with a new hotel, housing, and arena...Checkout the link http://www.lighthouseli.com/

[kevin75]

a short season is a joke.

[Dr_Evil]

Originally Posted by RMSpuhler

You mean teams like Pittsburgh (dead last), Chicago (27th), the Islanders (26th) or New Jersey (23rd)?

Tampa Bay was 12th in attendance last season. San Jose outdrew Boston and Chicago. Florida outdrew San Jose. Oh, and Ottawa finished 13th.

So, of the seven teams you mention you want contracted (Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Atlanta Thrashers, Nashville Predators, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks), three - maybe - desrve the ax due to lack of fan support.

And the Los Angeles franchise that you so mercifully will allow to stay finished 11th in attendance, while Dallas finished 8th.

So please drop that "warm weather team" garbage, at least until 1/3 of the Original Six gets its shit together.

Now, this does not mean that attendance is the only reason to drop a team - Ottawa may have to go because it's already damn near broke. But Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Washington would join my list as the four teams most likely to go away - all four are in serious financial trouble.

RS

So Tampa Bay wins a freakin Stanley Cup and only brings in the 12th best attendance in the league? Yep, they really love that team. Tell me how was Tampa Bay's attendance in their first 5-10 years in the league when they sucked big time. These are the definition of fair weather fans. Sure if the team is good they will show up, but otherwise forget it. How was Carolina's attendance this year compared to their run to the cup?

You can't base attendance on one year. Almost all of the teams I mentioned have fair weather fans. The reason I "mercifully saved" Dallas and Los Angeles is because their fans have been fairly strong over the years in support of their franchises. Having Gretzky in LA for all those years definitely helped to bring fans to that franchise, and the Stars have not really been a bad team since they moved to Dallas ($$$$$$ to spend).

As for the other teams you mentioned
Pittsburgh - They have the oldest arena in the league, and cannot compete without a salary cap and slot revenue. If a salary cap were in place and a new arena were built with gambling revenue as has been proposed, then this is definitely a viable situation for a franchise. Without revenue from the slots this franchise is dead (sadly the team I root for).

Chicago - They have the worst ownership in the league and have consistently traded away good talent, when they participate in a market that could easily support a team with a higher salary. They need new ownership, and the fans (rightfully so) are not going to keep paying to see an inferior product due almost entirely to ownership.

Islanders - Eh, I don't have much of a strong case on this one. They had GM/ownership issues for many years with poor decisions being made (trading Luongo, not signing and keeping their good players). They seem to have righted the ship somewhat in recent years. This is a storied franchise from the 80s that would probably be able to redraw from their fan base if there was a salary cap, making them more competitive.

Devils- Agree on this one, get rid of them. They can take their damn trap with them.

Here's why a salary cap is important: fans in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and some of these smaller markets, are not going to spend ridiculous amounts of money on hockey. They will definitely support their team at a reasonable price(check out attendance figures in the years before the current CBA). With salaries blown so out of porportion, only major market teams are going to have the population base to actually somewhat fill their arenas.

I see your point, but I think that if the economics of the game were changed the attendance figures would change and be more in support of my argument. When Tampa bay has a last place team, will they still be 12th in the league in attendance? No.

[SuprVgeta]

Good, I'm glad it's official. I hate having to wait through lame NHL highlights while waiting for NBA highlights on Sportscenter

[Tandem]

This will kill the NHL for me. I started to get interested last year after seeing a few games in HD but there's a lot more other HD programming on now so I might not be back.