NHL Deal in the works? (Merged threads)

[Cave Carson]

Topcat!

Only the NHL could do this, but who cares. At least we have Hockey!

Well you're right about the "Who cares?" part. As far as the second part, on which planet have you been living? There's lots of hockey being played right now - with emphasis on the sport as opposed to the business. If the businessmen in the NHL have opted not to play, so what? Good riddance, their kind isn't good for the sport.

Why any hockey fan would return to pay the outrageous ticket prices the league will continue to ask is beyond me. I certainly won't be going. In the meantime, I've just bought a London Knights Jersey and two AHL jerseys,

Incidentally, do any of you hpelessly besotted Leaf fans out there still think that the Leafs organization and players care about you and other fans?

I hope they stay out indefinitely.

 

[Cave Carson]

Jimmy Coldplay!

Why do people even care about hockey? It's such a second rate sport behind NBA, NFL, MLB.

No Americans watch hockey.

You've just answered your own question. We're not Americans up here.

Few TV stations want to pick up hockey as part of their programming.

I could give you a whole list of stations whose call letters start with a C proving you wrong but I strongly suspect that you wouldn't be sufficiently bright to catch my point.

I predict hockey will be a dead sport within 3-5 years.

Those of us who love the game in the Great White North sincerely hope it is dead in such markets as Nashville, Carolina, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Florida, Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Jose etc. within 3-5 years. It was nothing other than the greed of the NHL owners that put teams in places where there's no natural constituency for hockey.

 

[21pro]

NHL is in a contractorary period... the players have to realize this.

I think Bettman is doing a good job holding his ground. The problem with the Players Association is that they have a mentality of thinking they have to 'win'- ie. No Salary Cap... Well, that is a piss-poor strategy for negotiations because, frankly, they would only truly 'win' if they were playing hockey right now. As I repeated before, the best deal the players could have made was the deal that would have had them playing already.

When a business or industry contracts, it is not up to the workforce to determine if jobs are lost or salaries are cut. That is to be determined by the owners. Yeah, the owners may have been stupid in the '80s and '90s, but they are entitled to correct their mistakes.. that's their right in ownership. It was the owners of Nortel, Celestica, JDS, etc. that were stupid in expenditures in the 'bull run from 95 to 2000... And in 2001 and so on, it was also the owners that had the power to decide on how to restructure. The players have to acknowledge that they are the workforce, not the managers of operations!

 

[papasmerf]

PAPA playing taps for the NHL, this year.

 

[scubadoo]

In response to a question about the NHL offer of a 42.5 million dollar cap Ted Saskin of the NHLPA replied "I can't see anything worse than what they put on the table today."

Well Ted, if this is true, you a Goodenow must be sniffing crazy glue at the NHLPA headquarters. Trust me, it will get worse and your gonna lose some Association members as I am sure we will see some teams folds. Some of the weker teams folding and player costs getting in-line are good things IMHO.

 

[shack]

Regardless of any deal the NHLPA accept, Goodenow job as excutive director is over.

They probably won't dump him right away, though. They'll probably let him stay on for a while after an agreement and then he'll "retire" with some reason about how he's ready to pursue other professional interests.

 

[n_v]

They probably won't dump him right away, though. They'll probably let him stay on for a while after an agreement and then he'll "retire" with some reason about how he's ready to pursue other professional interests.

That is true. But from a fans view it's nice to see the NHLPA executive (Linden et al.) lately gets proposals and talks started. They see that Goodenow is loosing effectiveness in this process and running out of ideas.

 

[topcat]

Topcat!



Well you're right about the "Who cares?" part. As far as the second part, on which planet have you been living? There's lots of hockey being played right now - with emphasis on the sport as opposed to the business. If the businessmen in the NHL have opted not to play, so what? Good riddance, their kind isn't good for the sport.

Why any hockey fan would return to pay the outrageous ticket prices the league will continue to ask is beyond me. I certainly won't be going. In the meantime, I've just bought a London Knights Jersey and two AHL jerseys,

Incidentally, do any of you misbegotten Leaf fans out there still think that the Leafs organization and players care about you the way you've cared about them?

I hope they stay out indefinitely.

Cave Carson: what I was referring to, there is no professional Hockey
being played. We all know Saturday night,s from fall to spring is Canada,s
night for this showcase. Anyway I know there is other Hockey out like
OHL, AHL, but it,s not the same. Sure they play "for the love of the game"
But it,s minor league. In the end they all want to play in the NHL. But your
right about the business side of the NHL. They have "destroyed it" This season being cancelled will be there ultimate undoing, and I don,t think it
will be repaired.

 

[Cave Carson]

Jimmy Coldplay!

I think that hockey as a sport and the NHL as a league is in big big trouble.

You're half right. The NHL is in big trouble. But you're making a big mistake in equating the NHL to the sport of hockey. The NHL is the business of hockey.

Yes I know that we are not Americans but it is the U.S. that is where the home of the big dollars are to make a sport thrive or die.

No. It is the big dollars of the U.S. that determines whether a business thrives or dies. Sports can thrive with only modest dollars.

Yes the Raps stink right now but the sport will grow faster than hockey.

The business entity calling itself the Raptors will soon be as extinct in Toronto as are the Grizzlies in Vancouver. The spoiled mamma's boys in the NBA don't like playing in a country where it snows in the winter....

Topcat!

... there is no professional Hockey being played.

Actually, leagues like the AHL, UHL and ECHL are professional insofar as the players are paid - and a very decent salary indeed in the case of the AHL.

Anyway I know there is other Hockey out like OHL, AHL, but it,s not the same. Sure they play "for the love of the game" But it,s minor league.

But that's precisely what I find troublesome. Why do you insist on embracing the spoiled big leaguers to the exclusion of the other hockey being played? It's the brainwashing of the mass market media that's ingrained this habit in far too many of those who style themselves as hockey "fans".

But your right about the business side of the NHL. They have "destroyed it" This season being cancelled will be there ultimate undoing, and I don,t think it
will be repaired.

On that point we entirely agree.

 

[methodman]

In response to a question about the NHL offer of a 42.5 million dollar cap Ted Saskin of the NHLPA replied "I can't see anything worse than what they put on the table today."

Well Ted, if this is true, you a Goodenow must be sniffing crazy glue at the NHLPA headquarters. Trust me, it will get worse and your gonna lose some Association members as I am sure we will see some teams folds. Some of the weker teams folding and player costs getting in-line are good things IMHO.

Its going to get so bad, that owners will push for a hard cap with linkage at $30 million dollars. Players need to be educated from their agents that NHLPA is not advising them properly. What happened to democracy...let the players vote?

If you cant believe, Wayne Gretzky admitting of the financial troubles of the world....then who the fuck has more credibility.

IMHO, Bob Goodenow has damage the value of a Harvard Law degree.

Let the Bill & Ted bogus journey continue...