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Still No Hockey

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by house

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Any hockey fans out there?

The NHL is still in a deadlock pending a solution to the salary cap. In a nutshell, unsuccessful teams are upset that they cannot afford to keep paying for star calliber players while other successful teams have a bigger budget to throw around.

Some people say that the salaries are getting out of hand. You have to understand that even the MLB, NFL, and NBA are all put in the entertainment category as far as business is concerned.

Personally, I beleive that if a team wants to fork out millions of dollars a year for one player, it is their choice. After all, the Yankees did go down this year.

I live in Canada and we have lost a couple of teams already due to bankruptcy - Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques. In fact there have been a lot of expansions and sellouts lately in professional sports, but that is just business I guess.

Are there any die-hards here? And if so do you miss the NHL? Do you think that we will see a season this year? What are your thoughts on the lockout - or any strike in professional sports, for that matter, that revolves around salary caps.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last time that there were no Stanley Cup playoffs, was in 1919; because of the flu.

8 replies

by shorne

OK, it's a sports topic in a tech forum but doesn't the fact that nobody has responded to this post in 4 days tell us something? I think that Gary Bettman and the players association should note with fear that nobody cares that they are gone. The world has moved on without pro hockey and all but a few rabid fans have found something else to do with their entertainment dollar and time. If I were the players, I'd be looking for a deal that will allow the league to survive and regroup, with fewer sunbelt teams - hockey just doesn't work in Tampa (hell they won the stanley cup and half the down didn't notice).

by trockii

82 games and 30 teams. There's not a market for all those teams. I live in Detroit and we were one of the 8 original teams. Every game is a sell out. But like the post before me, even when the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup it wasn't a big deal. If you have grown up in Florida you probably have never seen snow or experienced the cold. Hockey is meant to be played where it's cold. I think if they compressed the schedule to 40 games and did away with about half the teams it would be better for everyone. I think we could do away with Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Florida, CBJ, Anaheim, San Jose and Phoenix. I couldn't even tell you who CBJ is. There's a reason I think this way. NASCAR is HUGE in the south where it's warm and they can race in Feburary. In the north they only have about a 3-4 month window where they can race and not have to worry about cold. NASCAR is an outdoor sport in which the fans have to sit outside and watch. Hockey is an indoor sport. Both have their places. If it's cold outside I don't want to go out and watch NASCAR and if it's nice outside I don't want to go inside to watch hockey.

by house

I know what you mean. It is actually cheaper for me to fly down to Tampa, watch the game, get a hotel, and fly back.... rather than driving 3 hours to Toronto to watch a Leafs game.

I know what you're talking about with CBJ. I was playing NHL2004, where you start out as a farm team and you get bought into the NHL. After a few season games, I noticed CBJ on the schedule and assumed that they were automatically generated into the NHL just like the team that I created. Then I see Columbus Blue Jackets on the news...you've gotta be joking. Why do american teams pick such strange names.

Anyways, too many teams, too many southern states. Cali teams can stay though, they go crazy for their Kings in LA.

by toucan

A corrupt useless organization with overpaid self centered "athletes". Some of that money should go over to NHL (and hopefully not ruin that sport as well)

by house

I agree with your views on the NBA. The NBA is a freakshow and should not even be considered a sport. Basketball is probably the leading example of business and politics in the sports world. Don't get me wrong...I love basketball, but the NBA is not a "basketball" association; it is a money machine.

Being from Canada, and growing up with a solid hockey background, I'm kinda fooling myself by hoping that the heart of the game still exists in the NHL. Maybe it does in the individual players, but certain not as a whole where there are money and politics involved.

by trockii

If we are talking about money time to bring up the MLB. Yankees, largest payroll EVER in ANY sport. They are supposed to have a salary cap and Steinbrener just pays the $25K fine and goes about paying A-Rod $160 million dollars. Meanwhile, small clubs like the Kansas City Royals and Montreal Expos can't compete with the yankees because they don't have the money to throw around like the yankees. I was so happy when Boston beat the Yankees. I think the whole country (except NY) is tired of the Yankees. It just goes to show you money can't buy championships. Along the subject of money buying championships, look at my Pistons killing the overpaid Lakers. Just show up and did their job with no real "superstars".

by house

I was a little upset that the Pistons won. I am not a basketball fanatic, and it is not because I dislike the Pistons (Knicks fan), but did you know that buddy owns the Tampa Bay Lightning too. That one, he didn't really deserve. Fan support for Tampa sucks. Maybe the players did deserve it though.

I'm still laughing about the Yankees too!

by trockii

2003 WNBA Champions: Detroit Shock
2003 NBA Champions: Detroit Pistons
2003 NHL Champions: Tampa Bay Lightning

All have the same owner. Bill Davidson. Never has the same person owned 3 professional teams and won 3 professional championships in the same year. I think the man knows how to run his business.

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