Posted on 02/16/2005 10:04:46 AM PST by Loyalist
Gary Bettman makes it official: 2004-05 NHL season has been cancelled.
Damn you.
"It's for the best, that hockey is dangerous: if the ice cracks they might all fall through and drown
It's true, but that doesn't happen very often. In most of the new buildings the water underneath is only about 20 feet deep, making rescue's a lot easier than they used to be. In my hometown rink, we lost 2 zamboni's and the drivers last year."
I hope the hockey illiterates realise you're being sarcastic. I honestly knew a person that thought that they would drown in an indoor icerink if the ice broke.
True. Which is great for me otherwise I'd never see any college hockey since there are no college teams anywhere near by.
The Gophers color guy (Frank Mazz-something or other) is great. "Smaagaard with a blast!"
Agreed. The beautiful game.
No.
The league will go with replacement players, and some of the locked-out players will cross the picket line.
The owners will go to the wall to break the union. The NHLPA has already conceded a salary cap after Goodenow spent months screaming that hell would freeze over first.
Not that the union didn't need to be taught a lesson, but the owners have been looking to the players to absolve them of the consequences of their bad business judgment.
Screw 'em both.
I agree...It's a damn shame.
On the other hand, I happily volunteer to babysit the Stanley Cup at my home until the next season! ; ) For FREE!!
I think they had an unrealistic view of being able to expand the fan-base beyond Canada and northern USA. They tried putting it on Fox on Sunday afternoons with a "flaming puck" so novices could see where the puck was at all times. It flopped. The Atlanta Flames flamed out and had to move to Calgary. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Kings and the Ducks leave So Cal in the next few years. (How they've been able to keep teams in places like Dallas and San Jose I'll never know.)
Teams have been successful in the South and Southwest only in big cities where there are a lot of transplants from the Northeast and Upper Midwest. They will never bring in the local natives in NC (where I'm from), Georgia, Louisiana, Arizona, etc., for the simple reason that growing up in the South (like me) you don't have ponds that freeze often enough or thick enough to go out and play on it.
Hockey will always be a regional sport, at least in the US.
Do they show AHL games on TV where you all live? That would be cool to watch till the NHL gets their act together.
In fairness, the NFL does that too. I live in supposed Cardinal territory. Though Phoenix is more than 100 miles away, they claim Tucson as their area of influence and black out the games. I don't know how many people would drive up there to sit in 100 plus outdoor September days, but that blaclout is madness because a lot of people still might buy the team's gear. They even black out satellite dishes.
So the only time the team is shown on local TV is a road game that pre-empts a more attractive game. Brilliant marketing, folks.
Oh, and Bettman should be fired for expanding too quickly and for not getting enough interest (ie:ratings) for a big-time TV deal that he was promising in the beginning of his tenure.
So, here we are. Maybe if Bettman went, the players would be more willing to negotiate in a timely manner. Sorry, I just don't think players like Yashin or even a truly great, but at times unhealthy, player like Lemieux deserve the kind of contracts they were given. Grant it, it was some stupid owner who OK'd those amounts, but you can't tell me the sports agents and their clients weren't playing a bit of poker bluff to get there and now won't budge.
Not here in TX. I wish they did.
lmao! that picture always cracks me up, thanks for the laugh!
I'm hoping someone will take the bait. I'm not happy about this news and need to have some fun.
There are a lot of fine parents with children that play hockey but there are so many idiots with kids playing with dreams of NHL forced on their kid. Maybe this will snap them into reality and they will actually let their kids play for the fun of it.
What do you think the chances are that some teams fold as a result of the season now being cancelled, or perhaps move?
Guess you aren't a Wing's fan.
I know you soccer guys are passionate about your sport, and I have heard the arguments that soccer is the world's most popular sport, BUT I find nothing appealing about the game. It's just my personal preference. I am a college football fanatic. I don't care who is playing, I will watch it. The game could be between the Sonoma School for the Blind, and the Santa Fe institute for the Deaf, and I will be on the couch with my Coors and pork rinds yelling at the Refs.
this is the worst part of the year in my opinion, all I have is Arena Football and ESPN Classic Drive In games to watch. I am going through serious detox right now.
Very true...not every family can be like the Sutters!
So the only time the team is shown on local TV is a road game that pre-empts a more attractive game. Brilliant marketing, folks.
The blackout rule has always been ultra-super-stupid. The most bassackwards idea in the history of marketing: alienate the fans who can't afford the ticket or the gas to drive that far. But this is why God invented NFL Ticket...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.