I'm not a big NHL fan, but looks like NHL lockout starts at midnight tonight. Training camps etc that were supposed to be going on tomorrow cancelled .... Any predictions on how long this one will last?
mateo.. lol. that's the only reason I even realized it was going on lockout tonight.. heard them on nashville news talking about it... we should steal the predators away from them anyways...
Watching the NHL regular season is pretty blah...but playoff hockey is a completely different beast. While the trophy and title may not be as popular in America as the Superbowl or World Series, IMO, hockey players give so much more effort during the Stanley Cup playoffs. I will miss playoff hockey. I think this might put a stake in American (south of the Canadian border states) hockey's heart! RIP NHL!
My understanding is that the owners have decided that they are going to fix the problems rather than have them continue on like they have in baseball. They are prepared to shut down this entire season and go into next year shut down if they have to. They're digging in their heels.
Thankfully it will not affect the Aeros or the Wildcatters (the team in Beaumont). I'll miss the NHL but I'll get my fix in other ways locally. One request, If you don't like Hockey that is fine, but please don't post if you don't have an opinion on the lockout. I get tired of reading posts that say "Hockey Sux". It is a waste of time and bandwidth [/soapbox]
exactly...longer highlights for the sports i actually care about is gonna be nice. of course really this just means longer pieces on the red sox and yankees and then laker-heat when nba season comes along.
As much as fans suffer from a lockout.. if it fixes the problems long term I guess it might be good in the end... interesting that the nashville team came out and said they didnt lose as much as some of the teams. and they arent leaving. no contraction blah blah. and like a year or so they were running ads that said. the rumors you hear about us leaving aren't true.. if you have to run ads saying you aren't leaving town.. thats not a good thing I wouldn't think
No, actually it means longer, MTV-style commercial breaks to fill up time since ESPN might be forced to lower their ridiculously high ad space during SportsCenter. Either that or more SportsCenter music series bull****. I think the lockout is actually kind of sad since it's treated close to as low as soccer in this nation. I think hockey is a great sport, but Bettman is an absolute dumbass. Overexpansion to ****-markets, no attempt to expand their game to the youth like football, abseball, and basketball, and not having an NHL team in Houston, a place with a GREAT hockey-loving sector. I still love the Aeros even though I don't follow them anymore; the Turner Cup in '99 was some of the most exciting sport I've ever witnessed (still have my ticket stub and those 'I WAS THERE -- GAME 6 1999 TURNER CUP FINALS' rally shakers they made assuming a win; they won the next game. Man I have a really ****ing amazing memory to remember something so insignificant! Anyway, the NHL needs to seriosuly regroup and regress. What I mean by regress is they should follow the former Major League basbeall system. Split teams up into two (or more) independently run regions or leagues funded by [unfortunately] LOTS of advertising and comfortably rich owners. The multiple league system would make it easier for money lost to be recovered in my opinion and release a lot of pressure on a central office. There needs to be more weekend games, but a shorter season. Have it start when NBA starts instead of ridiculously earlier. Like it has been stated, PLAYOFF HOCKEY IS ****ING INTENSE!!! Suspend play or erase poor or bankrupt franchises; move/erase teams away from Columbus, San Jose, Buffalo, Sunrise, FL (Miami area), etc. While they are great hockey-loving communities, how can the average fans relate to teams in those regions? Move teams BACK to Canada. With one pro basketball and one pro baseball team remaining in all of Canada, it's time for an old school revival for the hockey mothercountry. Put MULTIPLE teams in thriving areas (Montreal, Toronto). Have AT LEAST 10 Canadian hockey teams for a strong backbone if wel-planned out; for example: hockey NEEDS a sole team that dominates and controls the market like the Yankees to keep interest in the sport and give fans a place to hate and want to follow. Oh, and if I had a choice of which 3 teams to erase (none would for historical purposes), they would be: Blackhawks, Rangers, Penguins. Rule changes: no-touch icing, smaller goalie pads...I forget what else. Any ideas? Man, I'm loving this Sport Administraion major even though I only have one sports-related class, Sport Management. Friday we discuss/debate anything in sports such as Title IX an sports monopolies (Yankees). Any brilliant ideas?
Move the game back home if there's no resolution within the next year - it would be great if they could keep all the teams - but lets face it, many of them are struggling, so move the teams back home-- canada and northern states. add teams in kelowna, victoria, saskatoon, winnepeg, quebec, halifax, charlottetown, st. johns, and maybe one or two other places. now...comments on rule change proposals: -goalie equipment must have tighter restrictions -no touch icing would save injuries and speed up the game. -delayed offsides is better...less whistles. if they go offsides, they just need to return the puck and start over - very common rule in minor leagues. -DO NOT remove games in the schedule...otherwise the records go out the door forever. even if it's unlikely there will ever be a 200+ point scorer again, there very likely will be another 60 goal scorer soon (Kovalchuk, Nash, Crosby).
Just think... All the hundreds p) of hockey fans out there might turn to NASCAR for entertainment.... It's getting towards the end of NASCAR season so coverage might pick up a bit.
