End of NHL season may signal the end for aging stars

AP ^ | 2-16-05 | Larry Lage

[Dan from Michigan]

This is not the way a great career like Yzerman's should end.

[headsonpikes]

One career that should end is Bettman's.

Another would be Goodenow's.

Hanging's too good for them.

[speedy]

Concur. None of this had to happen.

[Alberta's Child]

I would add Scott Stevens to that list, too -- especially in light of the uncertainty surrounding his concussion-related problems that cut short his 2003-04 season.

If nothing else, I hope the NHL (or its successor) seriously considers cutting at least 10-12 games off the regular-season schedule. These seasons are too long as it is, and it's got to wear these players down prematurely.

[thoughtomator]

It's a pathetic game anyway, we ought to give it back to Canada and say "keep it!"

[jolie560]

Everyone got what they deserved in this fiasco.

[spinestein]

["I'm sure the fans want to see the future Hall of Famers go out in a different way, too."]

No kidding.


Nobody wins this year.

Hockey loses FOREVER.

[hosepipe]

Hockey = What one does when sick and all you're all stuffed up..

[hoppity]

My best friend works in the season ticket office for the Kings. Told me he's lost at least 20% of his income this year. He and one other guy are the only ones who have stuck it out. Now he's stuck selling track meet and tennis packs.

No one is talking about the support employees getting screwed over this. Just the fans.

[quantim]

Be assured that Yzerman was in lockstep with the player's union and was just as culpable for his own demise as anybody. I could be wrong, but doubt it.

[Dan from Michigan]

I blame Bettman more than any of them.

[cherry]

I never want to be in the position to defend these millionaire players, but didn't the players fold on most issues and aren't the team owners the ones who closed the door?

[ambrose]

Cut the size of the league in half, 60 game season, make tickets affordable. Hockey is a great sport that is being run into the ground by way of mismanagement.

[ambrose]

One article said that Bettman issued his final offer by way of an AP release...

[Alberta's Child]

What I find utterly baffling is that the city of Newark, New Jersey is charging full-steam ahead with a plan to build a new arena for the Devils -- with no other major tenant -- despite having no assurances whatsoever that the freakin' team will even be in business in a couple of years.

[Alberta's Child]

I like those ideas. And I would implement some kind of system that would allot a big chunk of revenue to be divided among the players on the conference champions.

[ambrose]

Hockey needs another Wayne Gretzky to capture people's imaginations. Barring that, I see the NHL drifting back to the status it enjoyed in the 1970s, when it basically enjoyed about the same status as Roller Derby.

[longtermmemmory]

I still say they should have just let the fans REPLACE the players.

[sinkspur]

but didn't the players fold on most issues and aren't the team owners the ones who closed the door?

Bettmann should have threatened to cancel the season in October. The cowardly players union would have folded back then.

[quantim]

What you are seeing is a classic exercise in free-market capitalism, and why union membership continues to decline.