On The Pond -- The Army NHL Thread

[Big Troubles]

Calgary took the game? Cool. I was working until 9 and was just gonna check the highlights.

so how come you dont have any more votes yet MGA?

Beg people. Begging is cool.

[Full Bug]

Originally posted by Big Troubles
Calgary took the game? Cool.

Damm right, the cool part is if they win on Saturday they get to do it in Calgary, if I had the money I would fly out there just for the party, lol...And I have been to Calgary, believe me they know how to party.....

[Bob_R]

For some reason I think it's going 7.

[ZOSO]

We'd better not blow this thing...Believe it or not, I think we can actually pull it off considering we have the army of HULKAMANIA on our side!(The one and only himself was at the final TB vs. PHI game when I attended it. Really got the crowd going too)

2 words: BULIN WALL!!!

[Mr GrumpyAss]

LOL I've never been to a NHL game but it lookes like a hell of a good time! The atmosphere must be incredable. But I think (I hope) the Bulin Wall comes crashing down on Saturday. It's time to bring the cup to Canada and with one more game that dream can become a reality.

GO FLAMES GO!!!!

[ZOSO]

Wow, what a great game. There were times when I thought we were dominating Clagary, and others where I prayed we'd make it through. But here it is, game 7, winner take all. This has EASILY been one of the most exciting seasons of hockey in some time now. Regardless, I hope my home team can pull it all off, especially since we're playing on home ice now.

THE CUP NEEDS A TAN!!!GO BOLTS!!!

[tobinentinc]

Tampa Bay has the momentum going into game 7. Let's hope the lighting can take the cup.

[Bob_R]

Originally posted by EVH FANATIC
For some reason I think it's going 7.

Words of wisdom.

[Full Bug]

Originally posted by tobinentinc
Tampa Bay has the momentum going into game 7.

Not sure about that, Calgary outplayed Tampa for most of the game last night, plus both teams havent won 2 in a row this series, I would say Calgary has the momentum....

[Full Bug]

Originally posted by EVH FANATIC
Words of wisdom.

Nah, you just stuck that horseshoe a little higher up your butt then most.....

[Mr GrumpyAss]

Very good game, strong effort by the Flames who dominated a good percent of the game.
Calgary would have been holding the cup if they reviewed the tape sooner. The puck was clearly across the line beside Bulin's pad, but sence the play happened so fast no one caught it till it was to late. Now we go to the dreaded game 7.

GO FLAMES GO!!

[tobinentinc]

Game 7 Tomorrow!!! I can't wait.

[ALinChainz]

Is Game 7 the NHL's last game for foreseeable future?



By ALAN ROBINSON, AP Sports Writer


June 7, 2004

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Finally, after a six-month season and two more months of exhausting and totally unpredictable playoffs, the NHL entered Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals Monday night not knowing what next season holds.

As of Tuesday morning, all 30 teams -- including the champion -- will be firmly united. How long they stay that way may determine what hockey in North America looks like the next time the NHL plays a game that counts.

The other pro sports leagues will be watching with great interest this summer and fall to see if the NHL, in what would be a first, can negotiate considerable givebacks from its players union during labor talks that threaten the 2004-05 season.


``These negotiations are not just about next season, it is next season and all the ones that follow,'' NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. ``It's about the future of our game.''

Bettman has all but said training camps won't open if a deal is not in place by the Sept. 15 expiration of the current agreement. Some teams are expected to lay off front-office employees if it appears that negotiations will drag on, as they did when half the 1994-95 season was lost to the NHL's last major labor dispute.

This time, if predictions from both sides are correct, the impasse could be far longer, endangering not only one season but, much like the 1994-95 major league baseball labor strife, the start of another.

``It doesn't look good now, but we hope both sides come to terms and we can have a season next year,'' defenseman Brendan Witt of the Washington Capitals said. ``But I don't think there's going to be a start of the season in October and I hope both sides don't waste a year come January.''

January is seen as the deadline for the season can be saved. If a deal isn't reached by then, it's unlikely training camps could be held and enough games played for a season to be anything but a mockery.

The NHL's problem is, well, that it doesn't have only one problem, beginning with an unbalanced economy in which many teams say they are losing money at the same time players are averaging $1.8 million in salary.

The NHL, much like Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll once said of a fumble-prone running back, has many problems and they are great:

-- The sport has struggled to grow new fans, partly because scoring has dropped to a soccer-like level, from eight goals per game in 1981-82 to 5.1 this season.

-- NFL teams get about $77 million a year in TV revenue, compared to about $2 million each NHL team is due next season, yet top-tier players in both leagues often have comparable salaries. That's why NHL owners are determined to negotiate a hard salary cap that could dramatically rein in free spending by richer clubs such as the New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings.

-- To make up for the TV revenue imbalance, the NHL traditionally has some of the highest top-end ticket prices in pro sports. But as ticket prices steadily increased, some middle-income fans bailed out. Now, to draw those fans back, numerous teams are lowering ticket prices, which, in turn could mean lower revenues and lower franchise values.

-- Even when the hockey is good, as it sometimes was during these playoffs, incidents such as Todd Bertuzzi's on-ice attack of Colorado's Steve Moore leave some with the impression the sport doesn't care if it's perceived to be nothing more than pro wrestling on skates.

Hall of Fame goalie Ken Dryden, who recently left the Maple Leafs' front office to run for political office, said the all-out commitment to defense has caused the game to become far too physical -- essentially, an extreme sport.

-- The league has spent years developing hockey interest in nontraditional markets such as Atlanta, Nashville, Phoenix, Anaheim and Tampa Bay, and not very successfully in some cases. Now, if the sport vanishes from the sports landscape for a long period, it may have to start again in cities that have had teams for years.

-- And what about Washington, Chicago and Pittsburgh, teams that were losing fans even before the labor talks? Will they come back in 12 or 18 or 21 months if they perceive the product they will watch is no better than that they saw before?

-- Will the sport ever build a TV audience beyond those in its cornerstone markets? The ratings for the finals have been anemic, with Games 1 and 2 among the lowest-rated Stanley Cup games on ESPN since 1990, and the rest of the series on ABC not faring much better. If the sport disappears for a considerable period, how many casual fans or viewers will notice when it comes back?

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

did u wirte that/ THATS AWESOME!

[ALinChainz]

Oh hell no, I just thought it was interesting to put in this thread, not one of it's own. But Hockey is in for a long off-season, no dooubts about it.

Watching the game, at 5:34 of the 2nd, just back from commercial, the stadium cranks "And The Cradle Will Rock" before the faceoff.

Just like 15-20 seconds later, Fedetenko scores his second.