I've always loved hockey and will pay attention. I like the way they do it no scabs.

I love hockey....

...but this is a joke. I havent followed the lockout much like I did the last one when the season was wiped out. If that season and deal didnt work...think there was a 24% rollback in salaries, then I dont know what will.

The problem is that they wanna be paid the big bucks like NBA, NFL and MLB players and the revenue just isnt there. The TV deals nationally pale in comparison.

I am goin out on a limb as I dont know what the whole deal is..but the players need to suck it up and agree and go play.

Hockey is killing itself

The Detroit Red Wings coach today said that if Hockey is not careful it could end up like Bowling.

A new poll showed that 58% of Canadians (where Hockey is to them as the NFL is to us) don't even care if there is a season.

I think everyone in the NHL, from the players to owners, is going to look back on this whole situation with tremendous regret as to the damage they caused this sport.

How in the world can you lose a season and a half to a lockout, and then 8 years later and lose at least another one?

The only way they are going to solve this problem is to contract about 8 franchises and live with the fact they willl never be more than a regional sport.

The owners want an impossible scenario of a huge TV deal that requires having a league with 30+ teams like they have, but don't want to revenue share sufficiently to make hockey financially feasible in markets they know without significant support it isn't. You just can't have both.

The players gave away the store 8 years ago in those negotiations, and now were essentially being asked to bend over again even though league revenue has shot through the roof the past 7 years.

If the league can't be proftiable for all but a few teams supposedly even at a 50-50 revenue split then it is time to start contracting teams until you get to a point that even the most challenged market can make money at that split.

If it dies, I wonder if my 20 year old rangers jersey/sweater will be worth anything.

The NHL should contract to 16-20 teams, expand the rosters by 3 per team and shorten the playoffs to only 4 per conference. Many of the rules could be "tweaked" to better suit an understanding by the fans. With that said, the NHL made some good changes after the last lockout.

People will continue to support the sport. Attending hockey or even watching an intense game is exciting, just for casual sports fans. Realizing this is not trying to compete with the MLB, NBA and NFL, which is too far gone, will be beneficial. There will be some casualities, both owners and players. With that said, it's bound to happen and they are in-danger of EVERYONE becoming a casualty if they don't watch out.

IggyPride00;1347488 wrote: A new poll showed that 58% of Canadians (where Hockey is to them as the NFL is to us) don't even care if there is a season.

Kind of oversells the negative, as a far lower percentage of Americans watch the Super Bowl. As hard as it is for sports fans to believe, more than half our population doesn't care at all about football.

F*ck 'em. Let the stars go play for some Russian team. They make millions but end up dying young when the team plane crashes.


Old article but lots of good info on the Russian pro hockey league.
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/winter02/hockey/story?id=1326249