NHL Strike

[DClingman]

So I hadn't weighed in here on this issue. I am a bigtime Pens fan and have been watching and playing hockey for years.

It's really sad to see things decline into this state. I am thinking of how the Pens were (and might still be for all I know) close to bankrupting the team. The profit margins in sports are just not what they used to be. There are too many distractions and I think that people are getting alot more wiser with money.

Everytime I cram my big butt into a seat and say "ahhh this is what $50+ dollars buys me", I get pissed. The peanut man (who in our case looks like OJ in Orlando) comes around and wants 5 bucks from me... He doesn't want to give me peanuts, just get 5 bucks.

This stuff is crazy expensive these days... It's just not fun anymore, even at its best. Who is getting screwed here? The Fans. The people who kept this sport alive when the WHAlers were in Hartford and the Nordiques in Quebec. Back when hockey wasn't even this known, the fans stayed the course because hockey knew its roots. It came from legends like Bobby Orr, Rocket Richard. Those guys got ripped on pay, but played for the love of the game. I don't say that people shouldn't be paid for the skill, but geez.....

I went to see Rush a few weeks ago on the 30th anniversary tour. Great show, but I paid $70 to stand in the rain to see them play. They didn't know it was going to rain, and I was covered a bit, but I had to keep thinking about that.. Maybe I need to quit making RPGs and get a real job so I have some money to spend..

Back to Hockey... If we get scabs.... PLEASE let them be the Hanson brothers from Slap Shot. Now THAT is something I would pay $50 to see.

Dustin

 

[Knightfall]

...are the Bluejackets semi pro?

Wow, that just shows how obscure some of the NHL teams are. And if you want to know who the semi-/minor pro teams of the AHL are:

Official site of the AHL
http://www.theahl.com/

Here's the main new item from the page...

Thu, September 16, 2004
AHL teams getting stocked for new season
With NHL teams locked out effective Thursday morning, all 30 organizations are continuing to make sure their AHL affiliates are ready to go for the 2004-05 season.

The biggest name to find himself en route to the AHL is future Hall of Fame goaltender Dominik Hasek, who will begin a conditioning assignment in Binghamton when the Senators' training camp opens on Sept. 26. Hasek, a six-time Vezina Trophy winner, two-time NHL MVP, 2002 Stanley Cup champion and 1998 Olympic gold medalist, signed with Ottawa in July after missing much of the 2003-04 season due to injury.

Ottawa has also assigned defenseman Anton Volchenkov and 2003 AHL All-Rookie forwards Jason Spezza and Antoine Vermette to Binghamton.

The Chicago Blackhawks have sent 22 players to Norfolk: goaltenders Craig Anderson, Michael Leighton, Adam Munro and Michael Brodeur; forwards Rene Bourque, Brandin Cote, Matt Ellison, Matt Keith, Alexander Kojevnikov, Quintin Laing, Travis Moen, Igor Radulov, Tuomo Ruutu, Pavel Vorobiev and Mikhail Yakubov; and forwards Anton Babchuk, Scott Balan, Michal Barinka, Vladimir Gusev, Duncan Keith, Nick Kuiper and Jim Wisniewski.

The Providence Bruins announced that six players have been assigned to the club by the parent Boston Bruins. Goaltender Hannu Toivonen, defensemen Kevin Dallman and Milan Jurcina, center Brad Boyes and wingers Martin Samuelsson and Colton Orr have all been added to the Providence roster.

Late Wednesday, the Columbus Blue Jackets assigned the following players to Syracuse: forwards Steven Goertzen, Tim Jackman, Tyler Kolarik, Greg Mauldin, Joe Motzko, Mike Pandolfo, Raffaele Sannitz, Brandon Sugden, Alexander Svitov, Matthias Trattnig and Nikolai Zherdev; defensemen Aaron Johnson, Prestin Ryan and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen; and goaltenders Pascal Leclaire and Andrew Penner.

Zherdev, 19, was the fourth overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He recorded 13 goals and 21 assists in 57 games for Columbus last season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs assigned the following players to St. John's: goaltenders Mikael Tellqvist, Jean-Francois Racine and Todd Ford; defensemen Brendan Bell, Carlo Colaiacovo, Dominic D'Amour, Jay Harrison, Regan Kelly, Tyson Marsh, David Turon, Ian White and Andrew Wozniewski; and forwards Nathan Barrett, Chris St. Jacques, Ben Ondrus, Jeremy Williams, Matt Stajan and Kyle Wellwood.

The Ottawa Senators assigned nine players to their AHL affiliate in Binghamton: forwards Brandon Bochenski, Derek Campbell, Danny Bois, Arpad Mihaly, Grant Potulny, Greg Watson; defensemen Neil Komadoski and Jan Platil; and goaltender Kelly Guard.

The Dallas Stars have assigned goaltender Dan Ellis, defenseman Trevor Daley and forwards Steve Ott and Antti Miettinen to the Hamilton Bulldogs, and goaltender Mike Smith, center Marius Holtet, left wing David Bararuk and right wing Junior Lessard to Houston.

The 24-year-old Ellis, 20-year-old Daley, 22-year-old Ott and 24-year-old Miettinen combined for 117 NHL games with Dallas in 2003-04, while Lessard won the Hobey Baker Award as the top collegiate player in the United States in 2003-04, playing for the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The Stars will be assigning players to Hamilton and Houston this season, before launching a full affiliation in Iowa in 2005-06.

Also Wednesday evening, the Tampa Bay Lightning signed right wing Andre Deveaux to a standard rookie contract, and assigned him to Springfield along with four-time AHL All-Star center Craig Darby, left wing Steve McLaren, center Jarrod Skalde and right wing Shane Willis.

Deveaux, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound native of Freeport, Bahamas, was an invitee at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament which concluded Tuesday, and recorded two assists in three games. Originally drafted by Montreal in 2002, the 20-year-old center played four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with Belleville and Owen Sound, recording 42 goals, 71 assists and 431 penalty minutes in 249 games.

The Buffalo Sabres have assigned 12 players to Rochester: Paul Gaustad, Ryan Jorde, Sean McMorrow, Ryan Miller, Jiri Novotny, Nathan Paetsch, Daniel Paille, Jason Pominville, Derek Roy, Michael Ryan, Chris Thorburn and Thomas Vanek.

Paille, 20, was the Sabres’ first-round pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He spent the past four seasons with Guelph (OHL), and tallied 80 points in 59 games a year ago. Vanek, 20, passed up his final two years of eligibility at the University of Minnesota to sign with the Sabres earlier this month. He was the fifth overall pick in the NHL draft after helping the Gophers to the NCAA title in 2003.

The Carolina Hurricanes sent 13 players to Lowell on Wednesday, including forwards Ryan Bayda, Gordie Dwyer, Colin Forbes, Chad Larose, Eric Staal and Mike Zigomanis; defensemen Sean Curry, Brad Fast, Danny Richmond, Allan Rourke and Bruno St. Jacques and goaltenders Cam Ward and Rob Zepp. Staal (2nd in 2003) and Ward (25th in 2002) were recent first-round draft picks by the Hurricanes.

The defending Calder Cup champion Milwaukee Admirals have received 19 players from the Nashville Predators: goaltender Brian Finley; defensemen Dan Hamhuis, Andrew Hutchinson, Kevin Klein, Andrei Mukhachev, Ryan Suter and Greg Zanon; and forwards Paul Brown, Vernon Fiddler, Simon Gamache, Darren Haydar, Tony Hrkac, Libor Pivko, Brandon Segal, Cam Severson, Timofei Shishkanov, Wyatt Smith, Jerred Smithson, Jordin Tootoo, Scottie Upshall and Jeremy Yablonski.

The Edmonton Oilers assigned 17 players to their AHL affiliate, the Edmonton Road Runners, including four -- Mike Bishai, Doug Lynch, Tony Salmelainen and Jarret Stoll -- who skated for the Oilers last season. Lynch was an AHL All-Star and a member of the league's All-Rookie Team in 2004.

Also assigned to the Road Runners were forwards Dan Baum, Kyle Brodziak, Ed Caron, Joe Cullen, J.J. Hunter, Brock Radunske and Brad Winchester; defensemen Jason Platt, Mathieu Roy, Kenny Smith and Jeff Woywitka; and goaltenders Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers and Mike Morrison.

The Los Angeles Kings, the parent club of the Manchester Monarchs, on Wednesday assigned 13 players to Manchester. On the way to the Monarchs are forwards Mike Cammalleri, Matt Ryan, Yanick Lehoux, Noah Clarke, Scott Barney, Dustin Brown, Greg Hogeboom, Petr Kanko and George Parros; defensemen Tim Gleason and Denis Grebeshkov and goaltenders Barry Brust and Adam Hauser.

The labor disruption in the NHL will have no discernible effect on the AHL, which will see team training camps open on Sept. 26, the preseason kick off on Oct. 1 and the 69th regular season in league history get underway on Oct. 13. The AHL has its own collective bargaining agreement with its players’ association -- the PHPA -- effective through 2007.

 

[Tom Cashel]

I can't believe how ignorant this thread is. It's a LOCK OUT, not a Strike. A strike is triggered by the union. In this case, the OWNERS have LOCKED OUT the players. Got that? The owners have decided there will be no season, so that they can unilaterally change the CBA. THEN the strike will happen.

Sorry for the capital letters, but given the erroneous thread title, it bears repeating that the owners have locked out the players who offered to give back 5% of their salaries for the coming season.

Yes, the owners and the players' union both sicken me. It sickens me that there won't be any hockey. It sickens me that they couldn't reach an agreement. It sickens me that they don't realize how their trap-happy, clutch-and-grab, mediocre hockey has just about killed the sport in the U.S.

But keep in mind that the players were the ones willing to make concessions, at least.

(And the idea that the NY Rangers are responsible for driving up salaries is so beyond anything resembling common sense I can hardly comprehend it. If that's the case, be sure to get on the Red Wings' case too--their salaried contracts amounted to more than the Rangers' last year. Also, if the TEAMS are responsible for this mess...how can you be on the side of the owners??? It does not...make...sense.)

 

[Umbran]

It does not...make...sense.

Sense? You want sense?!? Whatever made you think sense has anything to do with it?

You're talking about a situation where a bunch of people get payed obscene amounts of money to play a game (or to manage the stuff around playing the game) and then bicker over exactly how obscene the amount should be.

Sense when out the window when folks figured it'd be more fun to watch the game than to play it themselves

 

[Stone Angel]

You know when I first read this page I thought that hey they are not on strike because I had just read an article on ESPN.com about it. Then I started reading the thread and got caught up in it. Must be why I call the telemarketers to give them a piece of my mind and end up buying something.

Anyway I am not a big hockey fan but I love going to see my Indianapolis Ice play. So that is why I asked Crothian if the Bluejackets were an amatuer team, being so close and never seeing them play. But I don't really watch hockey on TV untill the race for the cup and then maybe only if the series is good.

The Seraph of Earth and Stone

 

[devilbat]

I can't believe how ignorant this thread is. It's a LOCK OUT, not a Strike. A strike is triggered by the union. In this case, the OWNERS have LOCKED OUT the players. Got that? The owners have decided there will be no season, so that they can unilaterally change the CBA. THEN the strike will happen.

Ummmm...yes and no.

Yes it is a lock out. No there is no CBA to be unilaterally changed. The previous existing CBA expired midnight Wednesday.

it bears repeating that the owners have locked out the players who offered to give back 5% of their salaries for the coming season.

How generous. The average salary in the league is 1.8 Million. Five percent of that is ninety thousand dollars. What a bunch of humanitarians that are wlling to drop the average salary to 1.791 million a season.

It sickens me that they don't realize how their trap-happy, clutch-and-grab, mediocre hockey has just about killed the sport in the U.S.

Hey, there's something we can agree on.

But keep in mind that the players were the ones willing to make concessions, at least.

1.8 million average yearly salary to 1.791 million. Yep, let's not forget about that.

(And the idea that the NY Rangers are responsible for driving up salaries is so beyond anything resembling common sense I can hardly comprehend it. If that's the case, be sure to get on the Red Wings' case too--their salaried contracts amounted to more than the Rangers' last year.

Yep, add the Blues, Maple Leafs and Avalanche to the list.

Also, if the TEAMS are responsible for this mess...how can you be on the side of the owners???

Easily. I love hockey, and I want to see it survive. I want to see it played in places where many people appreciate and support it. The truth of the matter is that it is not a major sport in the U.S. as a whole, and never has been. And I don't believe the league can survive in it's current incarnation.

 

[Iuz]

I can't believe how ignorant this thread is. It's a LOCK OUT, not a Strike.

While I will admit err on this point, I don't think it is as big a deal as you make it, and you certainly could have been more polite.

But keep in mind that the players were the ones willing to make concessions, at least.

Both sides have offered "consessions" though in both cases what they have offered is not in the same ballpark (arena?) as the other.

Also, if the TEAMS are responsible for this mess...how can you be on the side of the owners??? It does not...make...sense.

Teams are responsible for driving up salaries the same way middle class parents are responsible for driving up home prices (everyone wants a better life for their kids so the demand for homes in nice neighborhoods drives prices beyond what anyone can afford)

I think the NHL has made many mistakes in the last 15 years, but I do not blame them for high salaries (except in so far as the settlement they reached with the players in 94). After all, who wants to be the Edmonton Oilers (who have let go every player that demanded higher wages since winning the cup in '90).

 

[Piratecat]

Please don't be rude, folks. Even if you're upset about the lockout, there's no reason to be nasty to other fans.

 

[Piratecat]

That's because curling is awesome

I don't know, man. I usually get bored about the time they put the hot rollers in.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

So here are my opinions on this entire mess, some of it contracdictory I know:

The owners: Yep, the greedy made this mess by paying players an unreasonable amount of money in an effort to buy a championship. Unfortunately having put themsleves in this situation, what can they do? Negotiate with the players, break the union or declare bankruptcy. They do need to find a way to drop ticket prices and put more butts into seats. Nothing looks worse on TV than a game where most of the seats near ice level (the $$$ seats) are empty.

The players: Just as greedy as the owners are - maybe even more. Quit whining and play! Your choices are: play hockey in North America for less money, hold your ground and not play at all - and not get any money, or go play somewhere else for less money.

The game: The trap has done more to kill hockey than just about anything. I don't think you can make an enforcable rule against it (like illegal defense in the NBA), so maybe the game should change to be 60 minutes of four-on-four hockey (added bonus of reducing payrolls as well!).

The playoffs: The NHL needs to shorten the season some so they are not competing with the NBA for playoff airtime. In addition the number of teams making the playoffs needs to be cut back - make the regular season meaningful.

The fans: Its expensive, but try and make a game or two (when they start playing again, that is). And when you are there - whoop it up! I know it isn't always easy and certain new arenas make it tough (Fleet Center - it was so much louder in the Garden), but make the game sound like it is exciting for fans watching on TV. Try and recruit new fans to the sport. Let your local station carrying the games know you are watching - let sponsors know you saw their ads during the game - help the game generate revenue. And if you can, don't forget those poor guys at the local restaurants and bars near the arenas who won't have people showing up before games.

P.S. KnightFall - thanks for the info on the AHL, I was trying to find out if they were affected as well, but had not found the right source (cause going to that league's website is not obvious ). Looks like a trip to Providence might be in order.