[SamAdams76]

The season is toast for the NHL. The owners set a deadline for this weekend to get a new labor agreement in place but it's really just academic at this point. Even in the off-chance that the players cave and accept the salary cap this weekend, the earliest the season could start is early March as it would take at least 3-4 weeks to get the players into training camps and back in shape. That would mean about a 20-game season - a joke. The season would be shorter than the playoffs!

Pitchers and catchers report to training camp in 10 days. You think anybody is going to care about hockey at that point?

[mikrofon]

The NHL has come a long way since the days 30 years ago when I used to stand on the vendor's empty beer cases in the standing-room bleachers at the old Aud in Buffalo to catch a game -- the wrong way...

With the lockout and the recent collapse of the Empire Sports Network that used to carry most of the Sabres' home games (fallout from the Adelphia/Rigas scandal), no one around here seems to care much about pro hockey any more.

[TheForceOfOne]

the squid are happy! lol

[Libloather]

What is surprising is that many actually responded. Were they giving away free cars?

Do hockey fans really have anything else better to do right now?

[devane617]

Sick and tired? If play resumes the fans will fill the stands every night.

[mysto]

BLAME CANADA! BLAME CANADA!

[GiveEmDubya]

Like you said, pitchers and catchers are reporting soon--some teams (i.e. Yankees) will start as early as next Tuesday. By March 3, ESPN will be airing some Spring Training games due to the NHL strike. Last baseball season was a doozy...there's going to be a lot of excitement going into this one. The NHL's lack of presence has caused most sports fans in the US to move on to other things, like football and that fast-approaching baseball season. So to answer your question, no one cares about hockey RIGHT NOW, let alone when ST officially starts.

[Petronski]

I hope the ice cracks and they all fall through and drown.


(just kidding)

[Centurion2000]

The owners should FIRE all the players and just announce they are re hiring the next crop of players. 500K is MORE than enough.

[auboy]

Frozen hockey pucks… I miss the NHL. It's too late to melt the freeze out this year. Both sides are losing money and goodwill that will take a long time to recoup, if ever.

[Peace will be here soon]

Rugby !!! Already fired up !

[MarkL]

I've never been much of a hockey fan (although I really loved watching games where Gretzky or Roy were playing), so the strike really doesn't affect me. However, it's funny that you mention baseball. I lost all interest in baseball during the last strike. I used to be something of a rabid fan. I loved the Royals in the AL, and the Mets in the NL. I would wear my Mets # 17 jersey if I happened to be in St Louis, just to piss them off! I remember Strawberry before the drugs. Howard Johnson and Mookie Wilson, and Gary Carter! George Brett, Frank White, and Brett Saberhagen. Lou Pinella, Freddy Patek, and Cookie Rojas!

But that all changed with that last baseball strike. I have no doubt that there are a lot of (former) NHL fans that feel the same way.

Mark

[Uncle Vlad]

Pitchers and catchers report to training camp in 10 days. You think anybody is going to care about hockey at that point?

Hockey? YES! The NHL? Perhaps later, but not now. Those of us who love the game have disconnected from the NHL, because the NHL has disconnected from us. Instead, we go to our kids' games, play ourselves, or watch college and minor league hockey. We'll get through this season without the NHL just fine, thank you, and oh, by the way, you're right--pitchers and catchers report to training camp in just 10 days, and that is a beautiful thing.

[1L]

The NHL needs to contract to the Canadian cities and (mostly) northern cities where fans actually give a darn about this. That may or may not include Dallas, but I've had it with the thugary in hockey, so at this point, I really don't care.

[Lancey Howard]

But in recent years, it has gotten so that the only people who can afford to go to watch them play are rich and well-connected themselves.

That's the problem in a nutshell.

The days when me and my brother would shoot down to the Spectrum on a whim and watch Dave Schultz and the Bullies are long gone. That place used to be so loud ALL the time that you couldn't help but have chills down your spine throughout the whole game. Those were amazing days of hockey.

But now, I haven't been to a Flyers game in years. Way, way too expensive - - it's become the realm of the snotty elite. You half expect the people to break out in polite applause when the Flyers score. I've actually lost interest. It's a real shame, too, because I played hockey for years and I absolutely love the game.

[Hat-Trick]

Hockey Ping!

Freep mail or ping me if you want on or off the Hockey Ping List.

[Fruitbat]

I think that in keeping with their playoff structure, they should wait until sometime in May, announce a one-game schedule with the winners of each game going on to the playoffs. One game first round playoffs, and 3 game 2nd and later round playoffs.

What the hell, introduce something new into the game as well. Start letting the ice thaw at the start of the game. When it becomes to slushy to play, the game is called with the winner being the team that's ahead.

[TexanToTheCore]

Actually, I think the NHL will fold and new league replace it. Bad TV contracts go away, any old business just disappears including overly paid players.

I would like to see hockey do the following:
Drop ticet prices to the level of say.. baseball.
Drop the BS over fighting and let the guys duke it out as they used to. No pansies allowed on the ice please.

[Pete'sWife]

Eddie Shore!

[foreverfree]

bump

[NativeNewYorker]

I still have my framed front page of the NY Daily News from June 15, 1994 on the wall of my office.

NIGHT OF GLORY

Mark Messier, in Rangers' home white, holding The Cup.

The Rangers have sucked since then, their owners are almost as bad as those of the Mets, and ticket prices up to $140 each are just a joke.

You can't save someone from themself, and that applies to entire industries. This is proof.