I Want My HOCKEY

[mossym]

give it up..sharks all the way, they had the best young team when the league stopped...stanley cup going to the bay area!!!

 

[Mike Veitch]

Two thoughts on this, really not happy with a bunch of overpaid millionares who can't understand the whole concept of TV revenue. Its not hard boys! Figure it out...when bowling has a larger TV contract in the US yet you still expect $12 million a year?
Now they are even more screwed than they were because they have lost what little fan support they had in places such as Nashville. Bettman is a dumb***** and Goodenow is right behind him.
And of course they will receive even less from TV than ever. Great job people, way to sell the sport!!!!! A--holes!!!!

Man what a sacreligous thing for a Canadian to say eh? One word.....wankers!

On the other hand....Canucks Canucks Canucks (hopefully without gorilla goon Bertuzzi who should have been traded after we lost to Minnesota in 03)

A not so happy hockey fan....
Mike

 

[MikeC]

My thoughts on this. First, what moron thought that hockey should be in places like Florida and Nashville? MLB has already proven to the world that not every city with a population above 300,000 needs a team. Second, in order for hockey to succeed in parts of the US, mostly Southern and Southwest, you have to get African-Americans and Hispanics to come to the games. I can tell you, in DC the Caps haven't. How do you do that, I don't know.

The rule changes that I have heard proposed are terrible for someone who saw their first game in 1970. The game is moving from what traditionalists like to something else in an attempt to lure people who currently don't like the sport.

The NHL will never be in the same class, in my opinion, as MLB, NBA or NFL in many parts of the US. Accept that and provide a quality game for those who LOVE the sport.


BTW,yes, I think MLB should kill three teams to save the rest.

 

[bnajdrovsky]

My thoughts on this. First, what moron thought that hockey should be in places like Florida and Nashville?

Ummm, my guess is that would be Bettman. The expansion fees sure were nice for the league at the time, and partially, one could almost see the justification in some cases. Hockey IS an exciting sport, and fans CAN be created in non-hockey areas. Where I am, Dallas, is probably the best example of that. 12 years ago, when the Stars came here, nobody had a clue about ice hockey. Now, this is one of the strongest markets in the league. This is with some of the highest ticket prices I might add, though they just anounced some significant price cuts on a lot of seats (since their expenses will go down). One thing that could probably explain the growth of hockey in Dallas are the demographics here. There are a lot of transplants from the northern part of the country, who moved here due to the high-tech jobs (telecom, semiconductors).

On the other hand, I just don't see places like Nashville really surviving for the long haul. I wouldn't be all that surprised if they ended up moving to some of those franchises to the northern cities that lost NHL in the first place, such as Hartford and Winnipeg. Those may have been small markets, but with a lot of dedicated fans.

The rule changes that I have heard proposed are terrible for someone who saw their first game in 1970. The game is moving from what traditionalists like to something else in an attempt to lure people who currently don't like the sport.

Well, nothing is concrete yet. IMNSHO, they should just adopt international rules, and be done with it. Watching the Olympic competition every 4 years reminds me what exciting hockey is all about. Unfortunately, our useless U.S. media don't even air the annual IIHF World Championships, despite the fact that there is some top flight talent playing in those events, so many U.S. fans probably aren't even aware of the differences. (It always kills me to see some lumberjack competition on ESPN, when they won't show world class hockey, but that's for another thread.)

The NHL will never be in the same class, in my opinion, as MLB, NBA or NFL in many parts of the US. Accept that and provide a quality game for those who LOVE the sport.

In the short term, I tend to agree with you, but as the old saying goes, never say never.

 

[Snowbear]

The majors may have lost some fans, but around here, the minors sure gained a few! There was very little squawking to be heard as long as there was an Aces game to watch

 

[jiveturkey]

The rule changes that I have heard proposed are terrible for someone who saw their first game in 1970. The game is moving from what traditionalists like to something else in an attempt to lure people who currently don't like the sport.

I don't like the idea of all the shoot outs. They're just wrong for hockey. It's a terrible way to lose or win a game. I'm also very wary of the idea of calling more penalties. We'll have to wait and see on that one. I'd rather they get rid of the 3rd man in penalty

I think getting rid of the red line is a great idea. It serves no purpose than to slow down the game. Tag up off sides:good, no touch icing:good, and smaller goalie gear:good.

 

[Hockeynut]

We never lost real hockey in these parts.