The NHL Lockout...does anyone REALLY CARE?

[POJO_Risin]

The fact of the matter is that Hockey at one point was making a play to be a major sport...now it falls somewhere around Arena Football...

they have the SAME TV deal...

they have to figure out a way to get a TV deal that's realistic...

fix the schedule so that rivalries are pushed...

fix the rules so guys with awesome offense...are rewarded...and defenders have to learn how to defend again...and not tackle...

Hockey's fucked...lmfao...

[ALinChainz]

Television would make a huge part of any deal because the revenue sharing would give all teams an equal cut.

The cap would only be the first step. Rule changes would be up there.

The Wings won a record 62 games in what '95? Then played the Devils who employ the "Left Wing Lock" system. They stopped the high scoring Wings dead and every team after that went to similiar systems.

[ALinChainz]

Originally posted by POJO_Risin
The fact of the matter is that Hockey at one point was making a play to be a major sport...now it falls somewhere around Arena Football...

they have the SAME TV deal...

they have to figure out a way to get a TV deal that's realistic...

fix the schedule so that rivalries are pushed...

fix the rules so guys with awesome offense...are rewarded...and defenders have to learn how to defend again...and not tackle...

Hockey's fucked...lmfao...

In a nutshell bro ... exactly. That deal they currently have with NBC is a joke.

[POJO_Risin]

Well...it's not a contract deal...is it?

it's a base deal...and NBC can put them on whenever they want to...

it is the SAME EXACT DEAL THEY HAVE WITH FUCKING ARENA FOOTBALL...

lmfao...

[ALinChainz]

Yep, and the NHL basically gets dogshit for NBC broadcasting the playoffs and Cup finals.

Being a long time fan myself, I never understood why it wasn't a more popular TV sport, the facts are as they are. It isn't.

They do most of their money making at the arena.

[POJO_Risin]

1. people can't say the names

2. people don't KNOW the sport

3. there isn't enough scoring

simple

[Nickdfresh]

The trap killed Hockey, turning it into soccer on ice. The NHL was definitely more popular with less teams, about 25 years ago when teams could go end-to-end without being impeded, or at least drawing an obstruction powerplay.

[Lou]

This whole thing is really unprecedented. When MLB went on strike in 1994, and the NBA was locked out in 1998-99, you knew eventually they'd come back. A couple years ago, when MLB's agreement was up, you knew they'd strike a new one without any work stoppage, and they did.

Here, you really have no idea when it's coming back and more importantly HOW it's coming back. The other sports didn't involve drastic change as to how they operated. The NBA put a ceiling on salaries but it wasn't like going from no cap to a cap. Honestly I don't even remember what MLB's thing involved but the changes weren't really noticeable. Here it's like shifting your form of government, like going from capitalism to communism. Really, really hard to do.

Baseball was hurting for awhile, I'd say a good three years and then that bogus, steroid-induced HR chase brought people back. I think the large markets will come back, given that their fan bases are loyal. These other towns though that don't have a historically loyal fanbase though, I don't know how they recover. Columbus, Nashville, Atlanta, the Florida teams, Phoenix, teams where the fan base isn't guys who've been die-hards for the last couple of decades, who are just really non-chalant about hockey, I think in those towns the damage is going to be brutal.

[Matt White]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
The trap killed Hockey, turning it into soccer on ice. The NHL was definitely more popular with less teams, about 25 years ago when teams could go end-to-end without being impeded, or at least drawing an obstruction powerplay.

And the fact that EVERY goaltender now is a butter-fly style net-minder. Remember how revolutionary Roy & Belfour were when they came on the scene?!?

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by Matt White
And the fact that EVERY goaltender now is a butter-fly style net-minder. Remember how revolutionary Roy & Belfour were when they came on the scene?!?

And of course their expaned equipment makes them about the approximent size of Disney theme park Characters.

[Rikk]

Towns like TORONTO are no worry. Me? I could give a fuck. But almost every person I know in this city is dying for next season now. (I'm happy watching football and golf...and I don't like shelling out $100 a ticket for nosebleed seats...Toronto has the most expensive seating in the league.)

But look at all these other towns that don't give a fuck. Strikes like this remind someone that they don't actually like the support. Hell, I watched more non-Steelers football this year than I normally would. And I watched more golf that I used to. And I realized how much more I enjoyed it than hockey.

In Toronto, it's almost like a cult. If you are lower, middle, higher class...you have to care about the Leafs. And I know next time they're in the Playoffs, I'll start to care again. But truly...it's a cultural thing. I just can't analyze the game or each move or play or even each player or each coach the same way I can football.

[Nickdfresh]

True Rikk, I miss hockey, but not nearly like I though I would. Plus, the anticipation for the restart, whenever that is, will be greater than ever.

Bring on the scabs I say! Just like the NFL was saved in 87' by LT crossin' the ol' picket line, so will Hockey. I think there is a lot more discord in the NHLPA than is generally known.

[Matt White]

I'll be stoked when the NHL gets back to work. I'm not one of those clowns who thinks "the regular season doesn't matter". Try tellin' that to a team that hasn't seen the playoffs in years.

[ALinChainz]

Super Mario says players misled him last Saturday in New York

February 27, 2005

PITTSBURGH (CP) - Mario Lemieux has echoed Wayne Gretzky's statements in describing what went wrong during last Saturday's meeting between the NHL and the NHL Players' Association, telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the two hockey legends only agreed to be part of the session because they were told by the players there would be an offer.

"The only way that Wayne and I would have gotten involved is because we believed there was a new proposal coming from the Players' Association," Lemieux said in Sunday's edition of the newspaper. "We were told by some of the players we were talking to that there would be a new proposal on the table at the $45 (million) level."

Lemieux feels he was misled by the players, even though he hasn't figured out their motivation for doing so.

"It's a mystery to me," he said.

His primary reason for agreeing to attend the New York meeting, Lemieux said, was to "help bridge the gap" between the NHL's $42.5-million salary cap offer and the $45-million proposal he expected the players to submit.

Even if the NHLPA had made such an offer, however, Lemieux isn't convinced it would have led to an agreement. He can't guarantee league officials would have been open to discussing it.

"I'm not sure they would have been," he said.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I'm still puzzled how it turned from ESPN reporting that a deal was imminent to absolutely no deal, in fact farther apart than before....