NHL Strike

[Iuz]

Well, as they've been predicting for years the strike is here. And big questions are looming.

When will it end ? :\

Will there be a season this year ?

Will all the franchises survive ? :\

Will some of the European players go home, never to return ?

Will some of the older players not be able to come back after a year or more break ?

 

[Jeff Wilder]

It's just so dumb of the players.

I remember back in the early '90s, hockey was poised to finally become huge in the United States. Mario Lemieux had led my beloved (and now decimated) Pens to two Cups, displaying pure artistry with the puck. People who'd never seen a hockey game before could talk about the shot Lemieux banked in -- off Roy -- from behind the goal. You could actually feel the mania growing. Then what happened?

Strike.

It was like an axe falling on hockey's chance to go truly mainstream in the U.S.

Obviously, the situation is not the same today as it was back then, but if they keep doing this, it never will be. I'm annoyed by sports strikes of all kinds, but at least baseball players know they're not gonna lose enough of their fanbase to really hurt. That's just not true for the NHL. People will get involved in other activities, and quite a few of them won't go back to watching or attending games, at least for quite a while.

 

[Iuz]

On that note here's a clip from the local paper.

Both the owners and the players should mull that over. Instead of being the fourth sport in the U.S., behind professional baseball, football and basketball, hockey has now fallen way down the ladder, behind NASCAR, arena football and even professional wrestling (which isn't a real sport) not to mention bowling - at least when it comes to TV ratings.

 

[jonesy]

Will some of the European players go home, never to return?

Many (well many of the few who've been asked) of the Finnish NHL players have said that they are going to come back to Finland to play on our national league (the SM-Liiga). Many of (the many of the few of) them have then continued by saying that as soon as NHL continues they are going back.

...not to mention bowling - at least when it comes to TV ratings.

Going on a slight tangent here, but...bowling? On TV? Seriously? And people actually watch it?

 

[Crothian]

It pisses me off...I have season tickets!!!

I really hope they get it worked out, but from I read and hear that is not going to happen.

 

[Teflon Billy]

It pisses me off...I have season tickets!!!

I really hope they get it worked out, but from I read and hear that is not going to happen.

I was wondering who the guy who bought Bluejackets season tickets was

 

[Crothian]

I was wondering who the guy who bought Bluejackets season tickets was

Ha ha, very funny. We might have a very bad team, but its still fun to go watch Hockey.

 

[devilbat]

I was wondering when someone would start this thread.

Here's my take on it. Keep in mind I am a huge hockey fan.

I hope the strike lasts all season. I even hope it goes into the following season. I hope the owners eventually bring in replacement players, and break the Union.

IMO, this is suicide for the NHL. The players ignorance is amazing. They play a sport that is regularly beaten in U.S. television ratings by arena football, Nascar, college football, and yes, bowling. Yet they think that the sport is healthy, and an open market is the only way to go about business. The American television contract they do have is a farce. In essence, they're paying ABC to televise games.

Yet, the thought of a salary cap, is an absolute no no. It works for the two most succesful sports Leagues in North America, the NFL and NBA, but it's not right for the NHL.

This is what happens when you make Canadian prairie boys millionaires, and you convince them to start expressing their opinions. (Before anyone freaks out, I am a Canadian prairie boy, thus am allowed to make the derogotory comment, and yes I did have hockey hair at several points in my life).


How can Trevor Linden keep a straight face when looking at the TV camera and saying that he "Understands how the fans feel". Sorry Teflon Billy, but I hope Bertuzzi punches him in a scrimmage this winter. Maybe it will knock some sense into him.

It pains me to say that I side with the owners. They're the ones that caused this problem by paying marginal players obscene amounts of money. There is no way a third line forward or fifth point man should be making in excess of a million dollars a year. Hearing John Ferguson JR. complain about the state of the league is hilarious considering his teams payroll.

BUT, they had to do something, some time. Now I just hope they show the solidarity that the players are spouting.

Instead of being the fourth sport in the U.S

Bettman wishes he was the fourth ranked sport in the states. Hockey's farther down the ladder then that.

Oh and to answer the original questions:

the Europeans will all come back after the strike. They want the same as Cuba did from his agent, "show me the money".

Some players will retire. Mike Keane, Mark Messier and James Patrick off the top of my head.

I predict the franchises will all survive, unfortunately.

 

[devilbat]

On a off topic, off topic note.

Did anyone else see Stu Grimson on TSN's "Off the Record" yesterday?

I hate seeing a guy who squeezed every penny he could out of the NHL as a goon, go on TV and rip the people that enabled him to become a fairly wealthy man, to afford to go to college, and to buy a nice suit.

What a jerk.

 

[Maerdwyn]

Last season on TV, nationally in the US, hockey was beaten on three separate occasions, head-to-head, by NBC's broadcast of curling tournaments.