| 0 |
Subject: Is hockey really back?
Posted by: Bond, James Bond
- [44649135] Wed, Jul 13, 2005, 21:38
Sounds like an agreement has been reached. 'Bout time. I suspect they have taken a huge public relation hit that may never be forgiven. What would it take for you to support the NHL once again? |
| 1 | smallwhirled
ID: 324361621
Wed, Jul 13, 2005, 21:43
|
Nothing, I'm ready to start following hockey as soon as it starts.
|
| 2 | Toral
ID: 53422511
Wed, Jul 13, 2005, 21:45
|
Nothing. They got a long-term deal and cost certainty so at least the whole fiasco wasn't pointless.
|
| 3 | wolfer
Sustainer
ID: 18639422
Wed, Jul 13, 2005, 22:40
|
Same here.
|
| 4 | The Beezer
Leader
ID: 191202817
Wed, Jul 13, 2005, 23:44
|
Count me in the "ready to go" column.
|
| 5 | R9
Leader
ID: 02624472
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 03:57
|
Nothing here either. Probably was easier for us Canadian fans to understand (even if it was harder to live with), as it was our teams who struggled the most with escalating salaries and the constant shipping out of top talent.
A group of 8 of us are trying to buy a season package of two tickets, and we'd rotate home games. We're hoping the Habs announce a cut in ticket prices like many other teams have, although they're one of the few who could probably sell out anyway without it so we're not holding our breath...
|
| 6 | The Dienasty
ID: 132591
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 08:28
|
I'll be back, more intense than ever.
Go Canucks!
|
| 7 | J
Leader
ID: 049346417
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 10:04
|
I'll definitely be back in full force...
What do you guys think about the new proposed rule changes...
Four more teams in the playoffs: Two teams from each conference play a best-of-three preliminary round.
(The top 8 from each conference are in, now I guess the 9 and 10 seeds from each conference play each other to get in? But that doesn't make sense because that would leave 9 teams from each conference after that???)
Four-minute, three-minute and shootout overtimes: If the game is tied after regulation, there’ll be a four-on-four OT for four minutes. Should the score still be tied; the lads will play three-on-three for three minutes. The Shoot-out will be invoked if the game is still deadlocked.
(ie - no more ties! 4-on-4 overtimes are usually really exciting with all the open ice, 3-on-3 would have even more open ice, I dont know if its any more exciting. And I'm not really a fan of the shoot-out. Sure its fun to watch, but should it really decide wins and losses? Thats like having a home run derby after 11 innings)
|
| 8 | philflyboy@work
ID: 5152167
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 10:09
|
Nothing Can't wait for it to start. I think the OT format will be exciting but not sure it is the best solution for ties. Gives the better teams a chance to win and the underdogs who played hard all game easier chance to lose with less skilled people on the ice.
I heard there could be 500 free agents before the season starts so it should be exciting from now until the first face off
GO FLYERS
|
| 9 | J
Leader
ID: 049346417
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 10:29
|
The draft will be interesting too:
Each team will have a chance at drafting first overall - a departure from recent years when only the bottom five teams in the league from the regular season were involved in the lottery for the No. 1 pick.
This time around, teams' chances are weighted according to the following formula:
- Each team starts with three balls and loses one for each playoff appearance in the last three years but only to a maximum of two, assuring each team will have at least one ball.
- The teams which had the first overall pick in each of the last four drafts also lose a ball. Florida loses two for having the first pick twice - in 2002 and 2003 - even though the Panthers traded the first pick in both cases, and Washington (2004) and Atlanta (2001) lose one each.
That puts a total of 48 balls in the barrel with New York, Buffalo, Columbus and Pittsburgh each having a 6.25 percent chance of landing the first pick. Anaheim, Atlanta, Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville and Phoenix each have two balls and a 4.17 percent chance. The remaining 16 teams have one ball each and a 2.08 percent chance.
Clubs will draft from 1 to 30 in the order the balls are picked. The first-round order will be reversed for the second round and flip on an alternating basis through the nine rounds.
|
| 10 | kev
ID: 3155515
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 11:10
|
Think of the race for next years rookie of the year- 2 years worth of stacked rookies....
What a year to have a new draft format. Sidney Crosby, probably the best player to come out in 10 years, and a team like Tampa has a better shot than usual to get lucky and get the #1 pick.
|
| 11 | Silentz
ID: 479231410
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 12:28
|
Nothing for me to get back into it, either. I'm too much of a fan to hold a grudge. I think the deal they got done will be good for the sport. It may be interesting to see who ends up where after all of the free agency issues run their course.
|
| 12 | Dec
ID: 20537310
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 14:13
|
What are you doing if your Crosby? Play in the NHL for a maximum of 850K/yr for the next 4 years or take the Swiss offer (10M/3yr) and play 40 games/year.
|
| 13 | blue hen
Leader
ID: 710321114
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 14:29
|
NHL. Hello endorsements.
|
| 14 | barilko6
ID: 146131414
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 15:14
|
Agreed. All of Crosby's endorsement contracts are directly tied to his playing in the NHL. If he goes to the Swiss League, he loses them.
Add up the endorsements and that makes the NHL much more lucrative that going to Europe.
|
| 15 | C.SuperFreak
ID: 33628711
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 15:29
|
Crosby will get the 850K. But I'm guessing that they'll be able to skate around the base salary by adding ridiculous performance bonuses.
|
| 16 | barilko6
ID: 146131414
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 15:31
|
Actually, according to the stuff I am reading, the days of ridiculous performance bonuses are gone too.
There will be an opportunity to earn performance bonuses, but they will much harder to attain than that of previous years.
|
| 17 | Filthy Rich
ID: 35119816
Thu, Jul 14, 2005, 15:35
|
Right now, I don't really know what to think. I'm not excited by any means that it's back but that is mostly due to it still being ball season. I usually never would get excited till closer to the season anyways and I imagine this year will be the same. I've just never been able to get interested enough in basketball or football beyond casually watching so hockey won't have much competition for my interest once it starts back up. Most of my friends only follow hockey and are already starting to get antsy so I won't be able to escape the excitement once the season starts even if I was to try and hold a grudge.
Does anyone play any hockey fantasy other than Smallworld? I think a deep draft league like the Rotoguru Invitationals in the other sports could be pretty fun.
|
| 18 | The Dienasty
ID: 132591
Fri, Jul 15, 2005, 04:57
|
Four-minute, three-minute and shootout overtimes: If the game is tied after regulation, there’ll be a four-on-four OT for four minutes. Should the score still be tied; the lads will play three-on-three for three minutes. The Shoot-out will be invoked if the game is still deadlocked.
I'm not a fan of the shootout concept in the NHL.
Could you imagine a team signing a banged up Pavel Bure just because he's money on penalty shots? I could see that happening in some form, where a player who would otherwise not have place on an NHL club being a hired gun just incase of a shootout...
|
| 19 | isles72
ID: 395412514
Sun, Jul 17, 2005, 17:30
|
rookie cap 850 k , and theres a template for bonus money
|
| 20 | Motley Crue
Dude
ID: 439372011
Thu, Jul 21, 2005, 10:32
|
Maybe all of this will fall through at the last minute, and hockey will still go away forever, like I was hoping 6 months ago.
|
| 21 | J
Leader
ID: 049346417
Thu, Jul 21, 2005, 13:37
|
if you dont have anything nice to say....
|
| 22 | Tree
ID: 9362211
Thu, Jul 21, 2005, 15:40
|
Is hockey really back?
the follow up question should be: and does anyone really care?
if TV Ratings are any sort of indication, it's a resounding no.
when the NHL, and its owners realize that the sport is very localized, they'll do better for themselves. when they stop trying to compete with the NBA, MLB, the NFL, and dare i say MLS, they'll figure out their niche, and work within the confines of it.
hockey honestly doesn't have a lot going for it.
while you can play football, soccer, or baseball, with not much more than a field, a ball and a stick (in the case of baseball), and you just need a ball, a wall and a milk crate or a public park to play hoops, you need a lot more to play ice hockey, not the least of which is ice.
the other 4 can be played year round, anywhere in the world, by anyone, regardless of financial strata. hockey, on the other hand, is a whole different animal in that respect.
i liked hockey for a few years. when i went to school near boston. it was fun to hit the local bar with my buds and watch the bruins in the playoffs.
after nearly 10 years, i moved away. and for a season or two i checked the standings. and then i just stopped, and realized, i didn't miss hockey at all.
|
| 23 | Die_Habs
ID: 26211512
Thu, Jul 21, 2005, 17:03
|
Tree - Hockey is played year round in Canada and I am sure arenas in the states must have differetn leagues going throughout the year.
I think for starters just watching the Bruins play at a local bar doesn't put you in the category as hockey fan.
However it is people like yourself that the NHL would like to go after.
I am looking forward to this season, I actually really missed watching and missed my fantasy hockey
Personally, I think more grass roots approaches need to be taken. Get more people playing the game at a younger age and wait for people to want to watch the game. No sport should try and force people to watch it.
|
| 24 | Tree
ID: 31642120
Thu, Jul 21, 2005, 21:17
|
i didn't just watch them play at the local bar. i went to games, i watched every game on tv. i was quite passionate about them. i was pointing out that some of my best college memories involving the Bruins.
but when i left boston, that was that. instead, when i moved to NYC, i embraced a second baseball team, and now am a mets fan to go with being a rangers fan (the team i grew up watching)...
i go see the Mavericks when they play the Knicks. i'm not a big fan of freezing my ass off, so i dont see the cowboys when they play the giants, but i'm probably more passionate about my love for the silver and blue now that i'm leaving here with all these heathens.
but hockey? meh...it's just not that great. it's a game filled with thugs, neanderthals, and really bad haircuts.
|
| 25 | Tree
ID: 31642120
Thu, Jul 21, 2005, 21:17
|
i didn't just watch them play at the local bar. i went to games, i watched every game on tv. i was quite passionate about them. i was pointing out that some of my best college memories involving the Bruins.
but when i left boston, that was that. instead, when i moved to NYC, i embraced a second baseball team, and now am a mets fan to go with being a rangers fan (the team i grew up watching)...
i go see the Mavericks when they play the Knicks. i'm not a big fan of freezing my ass off, so i dont see the cowboys when they play the giants, but i'm probably more passionate about my love for the silver and blue now that i'm leaving here with all these heathens.
but hockey? meh...it's just not that great. it's a game filled with thugs, neanderthals, and really bad haircuts.
|
| 26 | kev
Donor
ID: 043111845
Thu, Jul 21, 2005, 22:28
|
just like Tree's family reunion!
hehe
|
| 27 | Die_Habs
ID: 26211512
Fri, Jul 22, 2005, 15:10
|
Thugs, neanderthals and really bad haircuts? You obviously must not like the NFL then. I am sorry, but please go back to watching NASCAR.
I have never thought Hockey represented thugs or neanderthals, this could be the difference between growing up watching Hockey I guess. I only see a fast action pacted game.
|
| 28 | Tree
ID: 9362211
Fri, Jul 22, 2005, 16:18
|
1. don't watch NASCAR. it's almost as boring as icing.
2. i was a sports reporter. hockey players, particularly college hockey players, were the most annoying athletes i ever had to deal with.
|
| 29 | smallwhirled
ID: 1669227
Fri, Jul 22, 2005, 16:30
|
WOOOOO, hockey is back, go Penguins!!
|
| 30 | The Left Wings
ID: 6142019
Sat, Jul 23, 2005, 01:36
|
I'd like to think that I'm ready for hockey pools again. But the fact of the matter is that after taking the winter off, it was hard for me to rebegin taking care of pools.
I lost interest in the TSN pools, and I'm not even leading any of these Yahoo roto baseball pools. I lost my touch. I think I'm gonna sue the NHL and NHLPA for this. =(
|
| 31 | KrazyKoalaBears
ID: 126402420
Sun, Jul 24, 2005, 23:36
|
What would it take for you to support the NHL once again?
Nothing. They got a deal in place that makes sense. The thing I hated most about MLB's work stoppage was that it didn't solve any of the problems that caused the work stoppage. At least in this instance player's salaries are tied to revenues and there is a min/max cap that looks like it should work quite well.
People always jump on Bettman, but I think he got a CBA in place that is the most beneficial to the long-term health of the NHL.
|
| 32 | Tuques
ID: 36622510
Mon, Jul 25, 2005, 11:05
|
Nice talking about Hockey again, I'll be there, I can't wait for a new Hockey season and especially for another Pool season.... I have to admit I missed more the Pool then the game...
Tuques
|
| 33 | wolfer
Sustainer
ID: 18639422
Thu, Jul 28, 2005, 22:58
|
Just curious. Did anyone else get an email to take this survey?
|
|
|
|
Post a reply to this message: (But first, how about checking out this sponsor?)
|