Like A Mofo Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 I think there is more than enough support in traditional hockey markets for the NHL to blossom. It's a terrific game live that translates horribly to television (especially now that the boards look like they've been puked on by a coupon eater). There are big problems that they have refused to address for as long as Bettman has been the commish. 1. Ticket prices. They have basically priced real hockey fans out of the arenas. Why the hell would I pay $80 or more per seat to see mediocre regular season hockey when I can watch passionate AHL or AA level hockey for less than $15? 2. Still entirely too much clutch and grab. Removing the red line from the game (and therefore the 2-line pass) will go a long way toward eliminating that. 3. Put in the tag up offsides rule. It speeds up the game exponentially with NO downside. 4. Get rid of the ridiculous instigator rule. You are NEVER going to make the game better by eliminating fighting and it has encouraged more of the European dirtiness in our game. It certainly hasn't brought more fans than it has cost. 5. Why are NONE of the new rinks built over the last 10 years Olympic configurations? 200x100 should have been the standard and it makes the game totally different. Want to eliminate the neanderthals who can't skate from the game? There's your answer. We have it in Anchorage and it makes the professional game that much better. 6. Shorten the schedule. I'm sick of watching the players skating on mush in the Stanley Cup playoffs because it's 98 degrees outside the Arena. Ridiculous. 7. Call a penalty EVERY time the goalie freezes the puck outside the crease. You know, like it's written in the rule book. 8. Shorten the length of TV stoppages. 9. Reduce goalie gear even further. It should only serve as protection. These guys are FAR too good now to get such an advantage. 44518[/snapback] Man do we think alike, I had a previous post with many of the same suggestions, I like your idea of the shortening of TV stoppages, the flow of the game is hurt with such long delays...and the goalies too have a big advantage, that also may be because of the size of the d-men nowadays too, but reducing the goalie gear will help the offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevestojan Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 I love hockey. LOVE it. But after i moved to Florida, i realized i am in a minority as far as that goes. Nobody gives a flying crap about it. BUT, the real problem is the players. They demand salaries euqivalent to that of NFLers. Well, guess what? The NFL TV budget is somewhere in the neigbothood of $3 Billion dollars a season. The NHLs? HAAHAHA ... they barely televise the playoffs. Once the players realize their sport simply isnt as popular as the NFL (and, popularity is, unfortunatly, what brings the money in), then the NHL is billsfanone to crap like this. I for one will miss the season terribly. But if the players could just realize their role, play for what they are worth, and stop bitching, maybe more people would watch, and the positive cycle would continue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleTheWagons Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 A-Fuggin'-men. I hate Gary Bettman and the rest of his cronies (YOU TOO, WAYNE!) for what they've done to the game and their refusal to make changes. 44348[/snapback] AD - please refrain from disparaging the Great One. Otherwise it would be my duty as a Canadian to blather on about Gretzky like he's Christ on Skates until you admit that he embodies everything that is good in the universe. Don't think I won't - I've got all winter with nothing to do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like A Mofo Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 I love hockey. LOVE it. But after i moved to Florida, i realized i am in a minority as far as that goes. Nobody gives a flying crap about it. BUT, the real problem is the players. They demand salaries euqivalent to that of NFLers. Well, guess what? The NFL TV budget is somewhere in the neigbothood of $3 Billion dollars a season. The NHLs? HAAHAHA ... they barely televise the playoffs. Once the players realize their sport simply isnt as popular as the NFL (and, popularity is, unfortunatly, what brings the money in), then the NHL is billsfanone to crap like this. I for one will miss the season terribly. But if the players could just realize their role, play for what they are worth, and stop bitching, maybe more people would watch, and the positive cycle would continue. 44545[/snapback] Excellent post and the players DO need to realize the $ just isnt there, but remmeber athletes today have NEVEr heard "you will all have your salaries cut across the board"....they are $poiled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realist Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Once the players realize their sport simply isnt as popular as the NFL (and, popularity is, unfortunatly, what brings the money in), then the NHL is billsfanone to crap like this. 44545[/snapback] That's the main problem with the players, for some reason they think they should get as much as the other top 3 sports. The owners have nearly no revenue coming in, how can the players justify getting multi million $ contracts (Not talking about the 1 or 2 million). It can't happen and that's what the owners are trying to get across to them. Not that the owners are blameless, but the players have to give in on the salary cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 I know... that's a misconception that people don't realize. The year they went to the Stanley Cup finals, I was in line at 6am for tickets. By 7:30am the tickets were all sold out and I was no where near the front of the line. 44458[/snapback] 6am? That's nothing! Last year, my wife camped out at 9pm for tickets that went on sale 9am the next day. She still didn't get all of the games that she wanted... (I still think she was crazy, but she REALLY wanted to go to a lot of games ). CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevestojan Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 6am? That's nothing! Last year, my wife camped out at 9pm for tickets that went on sale 9am the next day. She still didn't get all of the games that she wanted... (I still think she was crazy, but she REALLY wanted to go to a lot of games ). CW 44579[/snapback] I was #77 in line ( i will never forget that). I waited ALL NIGHT. They told everyone after the first 150 people that they MAY not get tickets. So i figured i was good. Nope. No ticket. Not 1. If you got there at 6am, you had to have been like #3000 in line. seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Man do we think alike, I had a previous post with many of the same suggestions, I like your idea of the shortening of TV stoppages, the flow of the game is hurt with such long delays...and the goalies too have a big advantage, that also may be because of the size of the d-men nowadays too, but reducing the goalie gear will help the offense. 44540[/snapback] That makes you a brilliant traditional hockey fan. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Awesome!I've always wondered if I wasn't the only one who hated Wayne for his role in the league's overexpansion and held him partly responsible for the NHL's downward spiral. Whoring himself out to the US dolllar turned him into a major catalyst in exascerbating so many problems that this league is dealing with now. I will never forget or forgive him for it and I'm glad to know I'm not just some lonely crotchety old man snifing his own farts and mumbling about how some guy ruined the good 'ol days. Thanx! 44537[/snapback] If I'd been standing there when he said "we have the best commish in sports" during the playoffs, it'd have taken Marty McSorley to get me off him. He's nothing more than a fuggin' bureaucrat now. Bastard. If he was playing now, the rules and physicallity would make him nothing more than a bug on a windshield. Then he'd be whining about the instigator rule appropriately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 AD - please refrain from disparaging the Great One. Otherwise it would be my duty as a Canadian to blather on about Gretzky like he's Christ on Skates until you admit that he embodies everything that is good in the universe. Don't think I won't - I've got all winter with nothing to do 44563[/snapback] Wayne the player = Great One Wayne the bureaucrat = RJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerJ Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 The reality is two thirds of the teams in the NHL cannot be profitable under the terms of the recently expired CBA. I don't know that closing down just a half dozen teams would fix it. If you shut down all 20 money losing teams, the remaining ten don't have the critical mass necessary for a viable league. It may be that the current situation is the fault of the owners in the big market cities who overpay players, but they cannot and will not excercize the necessary restraint fro the league to survive. Nor will they ever agree to revenue sharing. Either the players agree to some sort of cap, or the NHL is effectively dead. It's conceivable, perhaps even likely that eventually in its stead another league will arise, maybe even with some of the current owners, in which a cap is part of the ground rules from the get go. It'll be strictly minor league quality for a while, but I think that may be the best chance for the survival of professional hockey in North America. The current high priced superstars will all end up earning pennys on the dollar for their national teams and will keep complaining that the owners were really making money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campy Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 IMO opinoin hockey is the greatest sport on the planet. But as it is a niche sport, the money that you see in baseball, basketball, and football just isn't there. The players have to understand that. The big money is in the States, and the passion Canada has for the game is greater than here. Until the players realize that they are getting the chance of a lifetime to get off the farm in ALberta, and stop treating the NHL like some entitlement program (see baseball, basketball, and football), there are going to continue to be labor/pay issues. I hope they get this thing settled soon. The game deserves better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CentralVaBills Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 I can think of 5 teams from the get go that would be canned ahead of the Sabres. Phoenix Columbus Minnesota Nashville Carolina Get rid of these teams. It helps consolidate the NHL more in Canada where the bigger interest is. Then, contract the schedule to maybe 72 or 65 games - make playoff games best of 5, not 7 - and the wildcars are best of 1. 44134[/snapback] No way Minnesota gets canned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleTheWagons Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Wayne the player = Great OneWayne the bureaucrat = RJ 44698[/snapback] Even Wayne the bureaucrat led the Canadians to Gold in 2002 Olympics and the recent World Cup. As punishment for questioning the great one, please tuck only the right side of your shirt in for the rest of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taterhill Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 never talk bad about the GREAT ONE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spun Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 A few points some of which have already been made. Minnesota will not lose their team again unless their owner punks the city like the North Stars owner did. It wasn't that they don't love hockey and won't support the game. It was the fans who collectively didn't wish to be held hostage to the man. Minnesota has great college hockey - they had an alternative. I did read that Minnesota didn't sell out all their games for the World Cup. Is that true? I lived in Columbus when you couldn't even get the scores on the 11:00 news. Now, even though Columbus has a very bad team, it is supported by the community. The downtown arena is great and it has served as a catalyst for downtown development. As for Florida and Carolina there are a lot of Northeast transplants in those areas who still support hockey. Hockey doesn't have anything to do with the desert but Phoenix has not done that bad. Winning changes a lot. While parity can seem dull on the surface knowing one's team has a chance at the championship maintains interest. If you look at the NFL during the last few weeks of the season there is always a handful of teams that have a chance at getting in and doing something with the opportunity. Go with the salary cap. The owners and players need to wake up. But mostly, the players need to realize that a salary cap is good for the long term growth of the sport and the sustenance of all the teams. Canada would be better able to keep its teams with a cap. And yes, Canada keeping it's teams is good for the sport. Once the players start aching for $$$, they will cave. In the meantime support college, minor league and junior hockey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spun Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Hockey cartoon from the Montreal Gazette: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgaz...islin/0923.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CajunBillsBacker Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 I dont understand the why people reach the conclusion that this is going to kill the NHL. Its not like they havent striked before. I think there is a chance that some teams may go under because of this but to me thats a upside. There are too many teams as it is in cities that have no business having one. If 4 or 5 teams go down so be it. It will improve the quality and depth of the other teams. 44088[/snapback] It will kill it for me. I've just recently became a big Hockey fan in the last 10 years. If they do away with the season, then i'm done. Those who know me, knows I still have a grudge against the MLB and refuse to watch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 It will kill it for me. I've just recently became a big Hockey fan in the last 10 years. If they do away with the season, then i'm done. Those who know me, knows I still have a grudge against the MLB and refuse to watch it. 45046[/snapback] I have never gone back to being a fan of MLB after the last strike, even though I will take an occasional peek in the playoffs if the NYY are on the brink of elimination. B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 No worries JP. With any luck the NHL as a league will fold and the vacuum will be filled by a league that cares more about the game than it does it's American TV demographic.The NHL has been virtually unwatchable for several years now. Between the 7 extra teams, the tiny rinks, the use of centerred for anything but icing and the refusal of zebras to keep a handle on the 150 undertalented waterskiers who don't even belong in the big league, the league has become nothing mroe than a poor imitation of the world's second greatest sport. I, for one, hope the small-minded, lawyer-infested, short-sighted NHL never ever returns. If I have to go w/o pro hockey for a couple years to get a fresh start, then so be it. Cya 44226[/snapback] Agree with you in part. The tiny rinks have nothing to do with it though. If the NHL enforced interference, holding and general clutch and grab the game would be great again. Get rid of the center ice line and all will be good. Also, Bettman must go. His focus on securing the holy grail that is a lucrative national US tv contract is putting the cart before the horse. He has totally ingnored the game itself in the pursuit of marketing. First the NHL must get its game watchable again and shore up regional ratings. Then try selling it nationally. To do that they have to let the skilled players play and forget the europeon trap clutch and grab style of play. JMHO Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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