[jacksonpt]

Well, at least the 2 sides are talking again. The players offered a new proposal this week, the heart of which was a 24% cut in salaries across the board. While I think the owners are looking for something long term, I do think this is a good sign as it implies that the players are away of the relatively poor financial condition of the game.

Anyones else see this as progress?

 

[I Are Baboon]

I'm a hockey fan, but honestly I am not even paying attention to this. If they play this season, fine. If not, I don't care. They piss me off. Damn greedy millionaires.

 

[biggins]

I'm a hockey fan, but honestly I am not even paying attention to this. If they play this season, fine. If not, I don't care. They piss me off. Damn greedy millionaires.

same way with baseball players

 

[I Are Baboon]

same way with baseball players

Baseball players are not (currently) on strike or in a lockout.

 

[MTB_Rob_NC]

some type of Salary Cap/Luxury Tax is the only thing that is going to get this done.

 

[gschuette]

I just want to see some hockey. I don't care what it takes i want this thing settled now.

 

[biggins]

Baseball players are not (currently) on strike or in a lockout.

it was more in reference to the greedy millionaire comment. the baseball players go on strike all the time for more money.

 

[MMcG]

I just want to see some hockey. I don't care what it takes i want this thing settled now.

There is plenty of good hockey out there and it's cheaper to go see than an NHL game - where do you live? If you live in the Northeast do yourself a favor and go catch a division 1 college game or two or three. Damn good hockey, great atmosphere, and it won't break the bank either.

I personally do not care if we see an NHL season this year. Let em start fresh next fall and play a full season.

 

[jacksonpt]

There is plenty of good hockey out there and it's cheaper to go see than an NHL game - where do you live? If you live in the Northeast do yourself a favor and go catch a division 1 college game or two or three. Damn good hockey, great atmosphere, and it won't break the bank either.

Yea... minor league hockey is pretty decent too. We've got the Senator's minor league team in town and they've got a handfull of NHLers. Saw them play the Devil's club a few weeks back... lots of names I recognized at that game.

 

[Skookum]

Do you hear that sound? That's the sound of people not caring....

Biggins the players got locked out they didn't go on strike. There's a difference. But i gotta say ANY sports unions make unions in general look bad and i hate it. Unions are supposed to be there for the united workers to bargain for a FAIR paycheck, but when you get people making millions and being set for life, these rich-man unions just make common man unions look bad.

NHL is stupid, even though i personally think hockey sucks, i realize it has it's following. But not for long as people get pissed at this. They are all gonna lose big time. Baseball could have died as well and it's the U.S.'s most popular sport! Why do you think owners had a blind eye to all the players taking steroids after the 95 season(Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa Breaking Homerun Record). They filled the seats and now they're back on top. What's hockey going to do to bring people back to a sport where they were a distant fourth in popularity and will probably get passed up by NASCAR and PGA now....

 

[Brian HCM#1]

Baseball players are not (currently) on strike or in a lockout.

This week

 

[manziman]

Yea, i'm a pretty big hockey fan. I would call into the local sports show (KNBR) and bitch about how I miss hockey. I finally just resorted to listening to AHL games on the internet. it gets the job done.

 

[llkoolkeg]

I really love hockey and am a rabid Caps fan- something pretty hard to admit sometimes- but I gotta agree:

FUGG 'EM!

I would've ignored baseball for longer than I did had it not been for Cal Ripken. Who's gonna resurrect hockey from where it has now sunk from it's highest point in the basement of professional sports???

 

[fuzzynutz]

I'm a hockey fan. I've played hockey most of my life, and I've always watched the NHL. These lockouts are no fun. Personally it seems like the hockey players just want to play hockey. But, the owners are the ones that have the problem. They aren't making money, so they don't want to pay their players to skate. If you can't get fans to watch the games, then sponsors aren't going to put their adds on during hockey games, and if that's happening then owners are losing money.
Part of the "getting fans to watch" problem, seems to be the "fans" themselves. Many people don't like hockey because they can't follow it, or they don't know the rules. I've you've never played hockey can you explain to me what icing is? Probably not. When I played, I recieved that complaint all the time from relatives and friends. What's icing, why did play stop, why are you in the penalty box all the time? Maybe the NHL needs to educate it's fans first.
Another big problem is the fast pace. In other sports there are rests between plays, and fans have a chance to sit back and relax for a few seconds before play continues. But, with hockey that's not a choice, and a lot of people become confused trying to follow the tiny black dot (the biscuit) on their t.v screen. FOX tried to fix the problem with the tracer pucks, but I'm not sure how well that went over.
Anyway, this post is getting long. I don't think we'll see an NHL season this year, and possibly next year also. So lets all start our own league, we can all play for bike parts or beer or weed, and everyone will be happy. Outdoor rinks, indoor rinks, anywhere we can find ice we'll have a game. Fans will come out, people will cheer, it will be great.

 

[Skookum]

Anyway, this post is getting long. I don't think we'll see an NHL season this year, and possibly next year also. So lets all start our own league, we can all play for bike parts or beer or weed, and everyone will be happy. Outdoor rinks, indoor rinks, anywhere we can find ice we'll have a game. Fans will come out, people will cheer, it will be great.

Haha i'll be a fan of that! Winner gets premium lager loser get piss water, makes all the scraps seem justifiable then.

 

[GeoffW]

I'm also a big hockey fan, played junior for a couple years and still enjoy it. But...I right now, could care less if they get a deal or not..the hardest hit guys? The refs..they make on average of ~80K a year. Their the one's hurting the most I feel.
Ya know what I'm looking forward to? World Juniors. Starts Christmas day, the country gets completly pumped for it. It's awful funny up here in Canada though, Easterners are making quite ht fuss, as ~75% of the team is from the WHL, or Western Hockey League, meaning West of Manitoba.

 

[MMcG]

I'm also a big hockey fan, played junior for a couple years and still enjoy it. But...I right now, could care less if they get a deal or not..the hardest hit guys? The refs..they make on average of ~80K a year. Their the one's hurting the most I feel.
Ya know what I'm looking forward to? World Juniors. Starts Christmas day, the country gets completly pumped for it. It's awful funny up here in Canada though, Easterners are making quite ht fuss, as ~75% of the team is from the WHL, or Western Hockey League, meaning West of Manitoba.

Oh yeah World Juniors Baby! Isn't the US the defending Champs?

 

[fuzzynutz]

hey skookum....did you lift that name from skookum jim? He was one of the initial 3 men to "discover" gold in "Alaska". The gold was actually in the Yukon territory, but we Americans like to claim it all.

 

[biggins]

i thought his name was from the trail Skookum flats? now there is a bike i think made by redline or someone called skookum, and a bike called big'ns from gary fisher.

 

[gschuette]

There is plenty of good hockey out there and it's cheaper to go see than an NHL game - where do you live? If you live in the Northeast do yourself a favor and go catch a division 1 college game or two or three. Damn good hockey, great atmosphere, and it won't break the bank either.

I personally do not care if we see an NHL season this year. Let em start fresh next fall and play a full season.

Well I lived in St. Louis for a shile and there was plenty of good hockey there. Then I moved to east Tennessee and there is no hockey there. Now I live in the SW part of the mormon state so I can ride. i have not found any hockey around here. I just want the NHL so that the games are regularly aired on big networks. TV is the only way I can see it.

 

[Enginerd A2]

Here in the suburbs of the D, Fox Sports Detroit is airing old redwings games, which really irritates me. There's tons of awesome CCHA, WCHA, and OHL games. I guess I have to make it to some U of M games and National Development Team games sometime soon. (Team USA NDTP is located in Ann Arbor) Televise more amateur hockey!! Maybe some Euro games, too. Swedish and Swiss leagues are rife with superstars right now playing on bigger rinks with little or no clutching/grabbing/trapping crap. It must be awesome. Yeah, televise that. Are you listening, ESPN? Maybe just a few games?

 

[Rip]

Minor League Hockey is still going so I'm happy.

 

[Hawkeye]

Well I go between both sides. I understand the league hurts for money and the players make too much. The owners paid the players that much now they have to face facts.

The 25% pay cut is a start, but the tax scale they have is not aggressive enough. It needs to be more like 50% for the first 3 million 75% to 5 million and 100% for over 5. Then a aggressive fine system for teams that break cap after 1 or 2 years.

The player’s proposal is a good start, but it will take weeks for Buttman to come to terms on not getting his precious hard cap. I really feel that this season is gone, and hopefully Buttman with it.

The problem is the owners are making more money no having a team on the ice than they do when they field a team. That makes it hard to get them to negotiate.

I play with several NHLer's a couple of times a week and they really do want to get out on the ice because they see that the fans are going to leave the game if they don't start playing again. Owners don't have the passion the players do and until the NHL gets owners who understand the passion of the game the league will never be right.