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Posted on 03/06/2005 10:17:14 AM PST by Hat-Trick
March 6, 2005 -- PROPOSED: A clean slate under which negotiations for a CBA would be conducted exclusively between Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow when bargaining resumes (or perhaps more accurately, begins) within the next couple of weeks.
1. A signed contract between the NHL and NHLPA guaranteeing an agreement in principle no later than May 15. Failure to consummate a CBA by that deadline would result in the dismissal of each lead negotiator. Further, failure to reach an agreement by June 1 would result in daily $1 million fines assessed against the each of the league's 30 teams and the PA, with all monies directed to hockey-based charities and or foundations, such as Hockey in Harlem.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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PING.
Bloody hell I have missed Hockey!
I hope someone starts listening. Brooks is right. If they don't then the NHL is a gonner. All there is left to do is bury it.
Prayers for sanity in the NHL!
The league was on a roll in 94-95 and this expansion was pointless. I liked the idea of having teams in the south, but it was ill-fated and happened too fast.
I wish hockey would catch on in a big way in the US, but, like soccer, it just isn't going to happen.
Just so long as Columbus can hang around. The people in Columbus seem to genuinely like having the BlueJackets there I think...
I am a Detroit fan but live in Columbus. I like having a hockey team here....
I agree. I've heard estimates of 8 or 10 teams that have to go, but I think the actual number is closer to 3 or 4. I don't think the NHL or the NHLPA wants contraction, but it might be an economic necessity. I think they will look at relocating teams first, but finding solid homes for some of these teams will be very difficult.
Agreed. In sports and entertainment, absence does not make the heart grow fonder.
And the Blue Jackets were a team that was heading inthe right direction ... this crushes any momentum teams like Columbus, Atlanta, Nashville and Tampa Bay may have had.
Which ones do you feel are almost certainly going to fold up?
yeah....and I think the owner wants to keep it going here too...
teams like Carolina (Hartsford) Nashville, Florida and Phoenix need to be pulled back.
tampa won the cup. I think that guarantees them a place to stay IMO.
hehe they may also want to look at contracting Colorado :-P
I may be considering a move to South Carolina and it would be nice to have a team located nearby to cheer on, if a state away.
yeah....
you would still have Atlanta...I think Atlanta will work out actually....
Nashville was on the ropes and so was Carolina....
Phoenix has the great one, but its struggling too....Florida barely has a locate TV contract...
As long as we keep the Wild.
We have just been treated to a most-excellent State high school tournament here, in Minnesota, so the withdrawls aren't too bad.
The lockout is only a smokescreen for hockey's real problems. The reason for the lockout is that the owners were losing money. They were losing money because the sport has lost much of its appeal. It is primarily a skating and stick-handling sport, and those two aspects brought real excitement to the game.
In order for hockey to survive, there must changes to open up the game again for skating and stick-handling. Defensive strategies, first started in 1995 by Jacques LeMaire have ruined the appeal of hockey. If hockey can find a way to put the skating and stick-handling back into the forefront, everybody will make alot of money and there would be no need for a lockout.
Hockey in Harlem!
Sorry, that's completely backwards. The defensive systems (neutral-zone trap, left wing lock) are based on the defensive schemes used by the Montreal Canadiens back in the fifties and sixties. They're nothing new.
The fact of the matter is that, with the influx of Russian and European players, the game has become MUCH faster than it used to be. If you doubt me, see whether you can catch '70's hockey games on ESPN Classic, or suchlike. It's light night and day.
The reason why those old-school defensive schemes work so well today, and seem so radical and new, is because of the recent (since 1990 or so) dominance of European-trained players. These no-contact ballerinas can put up a hat trick every game, as long as they have open ice. But let them face a traditional, NHL, Canadian-style checking line, and they suddenly can't find the net.
Then a lot of the post-1990 fans start carping about how traditional hockey is ruining hockey.
Luckily here in Michigan, we still have the Ontario Hockey League games to watch and go to, so withdrawal here hasn't been as bad as if there wasn't any OHL action.
My solution to the budget woes: Major contraction.
The union will never go for it, but it's needed.
Contract These Teams:
1)New Jersey- I know, they are pretty successful, but for all of their success, I've read that they struggle to fill the seats.
2)Anaheim- Need I say more?
3)Carolina- Sorry, they just aren't a hockey market.
4)Florida- The panthers just don't attract the fans
5)Tampa Bay- Yeah, they won the cup. But having two teams in florida while true hockey markets (North Dakota, Wisconsin) don't have any just doesn't make sense. Those two teams wouldn't have to contract, just relocate. North Dakota just hosted the World Junior Championship so they could attract the fans.
6)Colorado- What can I say, I live in Michigan! Avs suck.
If Gretzky can't see hockey who can? I never thought it would catch on in the desert anyway.
you would still have Atlanta...I think Atlanta will work out actually....
Yeah, after they lost the Flames I thought that properly marketed, hockey still had a chance to catch on in Atlanta.
Colorado {SPIT} sucks.
I've been watching hockey since the mid 60's. The name of the game then was to skate over the blue line and set up a play or on sheer speed to beat your opponent down ice on odd man rushes. Only once in a while, would you see a team shoot the puck in to the other team's end and go chase it in a corner scrum. This style, unfortunately, has become the essence of hockey and it is not pretty to watch. It is true that during the playoffs, on the road if Montreal grabbed the early lead they would use the trap the rest of the game. But it was still a relative rarity.
Since LaMaire instituted it for the NJ Devils, who that year won the cup, all the other teams followed it as a winning formula, and it made the sport much less exciting.
As for the speed of European players nowadays, it is completely neutralized by the close checking and the trap. The scoring opportunities now, are much fewer than they used to be. This must change to revive the sport.
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