stevo

We'll see how I feel when football season is over. I'll probably just watch more college hoops. For some reason hockey doesn't interest me like it used to.

Blackthorn

Simply put: NOPE!

Living in the 'nati I'd have to say no. We still have the Cyclones and the Mighty Ducks but no I don't miss the NHL.

__________________
What are you willing to give up in order to get what you want?

Loup

I thought that I would be missing it by now, but my honest answer is: Nope.
Shame on me

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"If you cannot lift the load off another's back, do not walk away. Try to lighten it."
~ Frank Tyger

splck

I miss it.
Football sucks, basketball sucks..what am I to do?

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nice line eh?

absorbentishe

I really really miss it. I've been to three ECHL games so far, which is about all I've gone to in the last 5 years. The quality is no where near the same, but it's hockey. I miss the Wings on TV more than anything. I've been watching more Basketbrawl this year too, but that isn't the same to me.

runtuff

Nope can't say that I do. Maybe the NHL will just fade away.

LIMilf

I didn't think I would miss hockey, but with the NFL only playing twice a week, and Basketball becoming basketbrawl, I would like to see some hockey. At least until April when my White Sox start up again.

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My goal is to be rookie of the year...

Lefty04

I'm a pretty serious sports fan, but I didn't even realize that it was hockey season.

Fly

I agree,wholeheartidly with every word Ace...........



FUCK YOU GARY BETTMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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BASTARD

SterlingStudios

Daoust

I agree with this wise and well worded agreement.

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I have faith in a few things - divinity and grace
But even when I'm on my knees I know the devil preys

JustDisGuy

I can't say that I miss it. I've felt like the fans have been at best a secondary thought for years. I've decided as a result of the current bullshit that I'm never buying anything that sports an NHL logo again. That's the "vote with your dollar" power that is the only power fans have.

I'd rather watch junior (or senior) hockey than these dolts that think they're worth bazillions of dollars a year.

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"Act as if the future of the universe depends on what you do, while laughing at yourself for thinking that your actions make any difference."

dragon2fire

uh whats the nhl

Ace_O_Spades

Personally I'm more of a "Fuck you Bettman AND Goodenow"

can't forget that it takes two to tango.

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Feh.

vox_rox

Man, this made me laugh at loud. And, who knows?

But in reality, I find it very sad that such a great sport is in the hand, players AND owners, of people who no longer have a passion for the game and instead have a passion of business and finance.

Bring back the Jets, bring home the Nordiques, let Saskatoon, Halifax, Regina and Victoria have a team as well, and bring this thing home to where it belongs!

Either that, or it's time to watch some lacrosse.

Pierre

Zephyr66

I miss it, but if it was here, I'd miss forsberg just as much, so either way doesnt make a difference

Andrew

I'll miss it once the playoffs come along.

holtmate

You do know that the 'Clones have suspended operations, right?

No NHL really hit me a couple of weekends ago. My friends and I take a trip out to St Louis every November, and we have recently started going to a Blues game each time. We had a hotel right by the arena this time, and it was depressing to not be able to see them.

Like most of you, I'm just furious that the sides aren't talking. It's crazy.

Jimellow

I miss the NHL in that hockey is a great sport, that is very exciting and fun to watch.

However, with it not being played right now, I just watch more basketball instead. In a way, the lack of a NHL season has helped me get into basketball more, and I consider that a good thing, because I do like the sport, but just haven't been as "into" it in years past.

Also, now that the season isn't being played, I really hope they hold off on playing again until they "fix" everything and not just the bare minimum.

This is a nice opportunity for the league and its players to get everything worked out, and if done right, and completely, should result in an improved game all around, especially the fans. And that's ultimately what should matter, as they are the ones paying to watch these guys play.

Bratwurst

Hockey is one of my favorite sports, since I used to watch the Univ of Arizona icecats college/club team back in school. I absolutely fell in love with the game. It didn't hurt that you could get glass seats for $5 and they sold beer at the games.

When the NBA locked out I stopped being a fan and I haven't watched the NBA really since. I don't think i feel that same way about the NHL but it really does piss me off that the two sides are not even talking. I don't know what to think of it, but they better put in some kind of salary cap and they better find a way to keep prices down for the fans. As it is now, I can barely afford to go to 4 or 5 games a season and there is no way I can sit in the lower half of the MCI center. Its out of control.

alpo

I'm glad to hear that the NHLPA and the NHL will be meeting again. I don't really expect any agreements in the near future, but you can't come to any agreements if you aren't even talking.

alpo

So the owners and players are sitting down again today. I don't expect the owners to give in on their demands for a hard salary cap at all. Unfortunately I think this is the last hope for saving the season. DAMN THEM ALL!!

alpo

So, what does everyone think of the player's offer? I think the salary tax is fair. It does not link player salaries to league revenue as the owner's would like, but I think a fairly punitive salary tax is a reasonable compromise. The salary rollbacks will help bring down salaries in the short term, but it's unclear how long these rollbacks are in effect for. If you're Bobby Holik of the NY Ranger$ and you're supposed to make $9 million this year, will you're salary become $8.1 million this year but go back to $9 mill next year?

I'm glad to hear that they'll be meeting again next week. I don't really expect any sort of agreement to be reached that will save the season, but I won't hate the owners and players so much if they are at least talking.

bellzboy

I dont really realize it until I go to a hockey game here at Miami University and realize how long its been since I have seen NHL hockey. The games in person are better than watching it on tv, especially when you're watching the Blackhawks, but hockey is still such a great sport, and I get worked up whenever I watch one of my teams play.

alpo

You've really got to be a die-hard hockey fan if you miss seeing the Blackhawks play .

blitz.fenix

Don't miss it, but it couldn't hurt fo it to be on the tube either :P Went to see St. Johns Maple Leafs vs. Binghamton Senators a week ago. Was pretty good, my first experience going to a pro hockey game...in the ACC!!

CandleInTheDark

As I understand it, the 24% rollback applies to all current contracts until completion. So a 4 year contract has a 24% reduction for every year, not just this year.

I could handle the luxury tax, but this is too lenient.

50 cents over 40 million. 100% over 50. 150% over 60.

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Where there is doubt there is freedom.

thrsn0730

Found a post by someone who understands the situation a little better than I do on a hockey site. Here's his thoughts:

Read the NHLPA .PDF file carefully. There are lots of potential problems I can see, and I've only read it a bit so far.

1) Reduced number of rounds in the draft, making more players free agents. No opting in anymore.
2) Eliminated compensation draft picks.
3) Increased minimum salaries.
4) "modified" waiver and player assignment options. Could be very significant.
5) Reduced training camp, and pre-season games. Costs money.
6) Potential changes to regular season games and *playoff seeding*.
7) Increased per diem, and more free tickets given to players.
8) Increased pension payments by owners.

And my favourite:

9) Player conduct rules dropped. Players can gamble on NHL games if they want, be late for practice, ignore curfew, and no longer have to treat media or fans with respect or courtesy.

tspikes51

I would have missed it more about 5 years ago when the league was still strong.

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"I'm telling you, we need to get rid of a few people or a million."
-Maddox

toniku

here's hoping the latest negotiations will lead to a quick resolution. the regular season doesn't really matter anways. it's all about the playoffs.

shortened season might actually help the blackhawks lol

vengeance

The EXACT reason why I love hockey season, :P (less coverage of basketball on ESPN)

blitz.fenix

Haha, gotta love Brett Hull, "Fuck the fans I don't care what they think" something like that.

Pfhorte

Well, I don't exactly miss it, but I would like to watch the odd game now and again.

Personally, I would like a NEW league started that is 4 on 4 with tweaks to the rules and a reasonable pay structure.

The players do NOT need to make that much. Ticket prices should be lower etc.

Hard8s

Ok haven't been surfing the sports board for awhile, so heres my take. Both the NHL and the NHLPA both need to make some concessions. I agree that ther players salaries are way to high. Personally I thought for a long time that the NHL guys were not being paid enough for the punishment they put their bodies through, especially when a baseball guy can't play because he has a blister on his finger. But, and here is the big reason, the salaries jumped way to fast over the last 5-6 years. Look at Jagr's contract, he's making $8-10 mil a year. There is no way with seating capped in the stadiums and no real TV money coming in that any team would be able to pay that. That being said, what kind of GM does not keep the bottom line in sight??? I think they both need to sit down and talk and not go home without ironing out some sort of deal. Not talking for 2 months is not a real great negotiation tactic if you really want to solve the problem. I'm glad to see the players thought it was a big enough problem that they rolled back salaries 24% but I do not see that as good enough. Give back 30% and really stiffen up that luxury tax. If the GM's can see their way to paying over 30-35 mil a year in salary then make 'em pay a hard luxury tax. Make it $.40 over 35 mil, $.50 over 40 mil, $.55 over 45 mil, etc. If they really want to pay someone $10 mil a year its going to make them look at the bottom line. Its the closest thing to cost certainty they can get withoput a hard cap.

As for the rule changes they are proposing its simple. Go back to the touch up offsides, and make the goalies far game if they go outside the crease. You can make the crease a little bigger but don't make it extend behind the goal line. If the goalie wants to play the puck its on him. I must say the one of the best hits I saw was when Owen Nolan plowed Belfour during the game when he came out to play the puck in the corner. These guys have the most padding on, and loard knows the forward get their fair share of beatings in front of the net (at least I do when i play) and its only fair that the forwards get a chance for payback, legally. No need to eliminate the two line pass or extend the neutral zone, but if that what you want put the nets back in the original place and extend the neutral zone that way.

As far as the guys who don't understand hockey, they just need to try it. The speed of the game is faster than basketball or football, the skills required are alot like baseball and soccer, and your're doing it while skating on 2 1/4" blades on ice!

They say the hardest thing to do is hit a baseball, have they ever tried to deflect a 90 mph slapshot with a 4' stick into a 4'x6' net past a 2'x'6 goalie, while being leaned on by another player dead fixed on you not doing that?

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If ignorance is bliss, then wipe this smile off my face!

Coppertop

Well said.

Serpent

There are some jobs that pay great for little work and some where you ahve to work our ass off to make a few bucks and hockey is one of em.. So if hockeyplayers want to make a boat load they are playing the wrong sport. Until they start playing in areas the size of football stadiums and have prime time television contracts they are not going to get paid anywhere near the amount of a baseball player or a football player.


Guess this changes some in canada, but since the league is predominatly in the US, it is abit more substantial finacially.

Blackthorn

I still don't miss hockey. I would like to not miss the NBA but they seem to somehow still keep on keeping on.

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What are you willing to give up in order to get what you want?

Hard8s

It looks like we might not have a season this year now! I just wish the twop groups would sit down and actually work this damn thing out. They are both acting like little kids. The whole thing is negotiation, you know give and take, not just "its my way or the highway."
Thee biggest problem I have with the NHL side is that the Owners and GM's seem to be asking the players to accept something that makes the Owners & GM's have no resposibility for the leagues problems. I know what my Cap is when I go to buy a house or a car, I don't blame it on the car. Somewhere along the line the owners have to take some resposibility for the mess they are in too. They need to keep their checkbooks in their pockets and just say "No" to the rising salaries. Instead they are trying to make it idiot proof. We can't pay you that amount we are going to be over the cap! Bullshit, we don't think you're worth the money to keep you and the rest of the TEAM together and still be viable, woould be a better answer.

ARRGHHH!!!

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If ignorance is bliss, then wipe this smile off my face!

ledsam

Yes, the owners do shoulder some of the blame for not keeping their spending in check, but there are many factors that also contribute.

What about the owners who have much deeper pockets? The owner of the Rangers is going to have a lot more money to throw at someone like Jagr than the owner of the Blue Jackets, which puts him at an unfair advantage. And then you've got the agents who are looking for the richest contract they can find, so they will gravitate to the richest teams. Not to mention the Canadian teams who have to compete with the American dollar.

At this point it's not really about who's fault it is; the game needs to be fixed. A cap is needed because hockey simply doesn't have enough revenue coming in to pay for these outrageous salaries, and it's too risky to simply rollback the salaries.

Anyways, I obviously miss hockey. I saw the Brad May charity game on Sunday night though. Man, was it good to see Nazzy and Bert back on the ice ...

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"We are always in our own company."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche

Serpent

They could atleast agree on a moderator and talk about it, hard is right though, seems like a bunch of little kids fighting over a toy.

blitz.fenix

After the rejection of the latest offer, I seriously doubt hockey will be played NEXT season. The best thing is for NHL to go down and form a new league. We will see what the players do when they not making 2-5 million per year. They won't go to Europe so they will just sit around and realise how spoiled they are.