Will there be an NHL season this year?

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12-10-2004
Govtcheez

Will there be an NHL season this year?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

The players are making some pretty serious concessions, here, but I don't think the owners will bite until a real salary cap is introduced. The luxury tax is a start, but I don't know if it's the solution.

IMO, the big problem here is that there are simply too many teams. Bettman (the giant moron that he is) has attempted to bring hockey to too many towns that probably shouldn't have teams. Columbus? Nashville? Miami (or wherever the Panthers play - I don't remember)? Freaking Phoenix? These cities probably shouldn't have hockey teams, but the location isn't as much of a problem to me as the number. The league currently has 30 teams, which is way too high. The talent pool is diluted and horribly skewed to certain teams, and this is coming from a Red Wings fan.

I think the league should be cut down to 24 teams or so, and some sort of cap introduced to increase the level of parity. The NFL's cap could be a good model for this; it's done a good job getting parity into that league.

Thoughts?

PS Bettman should also be removed as Commisioner right now. While I'm railing against authority figures in sports, I hope Bud Selig falls off a cliff.
12-10-2004
7smurfs

I just want to see the Wings win another cup :P I don't care how mucH they get payed to do it, as long as they do it.
12-10-2004
Govtcheez

I want to see them do it, too, but I'd much rather see a professional hockey league in America that actually works. There's a point where you have to put the sport above homerism.
12-10-2004
Perspective

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7smurfs

I just want to see the Wings win another cup :P I don't care how mucH they get payed to do it, as long as they do it.

meh, wheres the fun in watching an all star team beat everyone else? id rather see edmonton win another cup ;)

I really hope we get a half season this year, i need some hockey.
12-10-2004
Govtcheez

> meh, wheres the fun in watching an all star team beat everyone else?

I know you ain't dissin my Stevie!
12-10-2004
Perspective

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govtcheez

I know you ain't dissin my Stevie!

nah, i wouldnt dis Mr. Y. I have respect for him, he can come to edmonton and help resurect the good ol' years.
12-10-2004
kermit

Ah, you know I am a little ........ed at the players and the owners. Try and get seats in Toronto - not hard to drop $400 a seat in that arena. I can't blame the players for getting all that they can, but seriously, the owners and the players forget that if there are no fans, there is no money.

As far as the deal the NHLPA came forward with, there were a *lot* of players who were shocked by the offer, and so it seems like the player's association was not exactly in step with the members...

Whether or not the season will happen - I am with cheez, and I don't think the league is gonna bite on this one. Bettman wants nothing less than absolute control, and so it will have to be a salary cap. If this rolls on into the spring, I am not going to be surprised if the league comes forward and squashes all the contracts and we see them start fresh again. The players who don't like it can stay away, and everybody else who wants to play will have to re-sign, for less money, no doubt.
12-10-2004
Perspective

Quote:

"It was shocking for me to hear it," said Dallas forward Bill Guerin, a member of the executive board. "That's a lot of money out of a guy's pocket to be giving up.

("it" being the 24% salary roll back)

he may be a former oiler but he needs a swift kick in the teeth. Hockey players dont need to live like movie stars.... neither do movie stars for that matter. A salary cap and a roll back are totally reasonable IMO.
12-10-2004
Lurker

hahaha, its fun to watch ice hockey in arizona. the new stadium they opened recently is really neat.
12-11-2004
RoD

this year? i doubt it.
12-11-2004
Darkness

The sooner we get NHL back the better. Go New Jersey (been a Brodeur fan since I was a kid).
12-12-2004
Philandrew

I just wanna see the Flames win (like they shoulda last year...) :)
12-12-2004
Govtcheez

The Flames played some of the ugliest hockey I've ever seen last year in the playoffs. They just got lucky enough to have Kiprusoff hot at the right time.
12-13-2004
Sang-drax

I don't mind having Peter Forsberg playing in the Swedish league instead of NHL. :)
12-13-2004
Govtcheez

I don't either - he's really good and makes me feel bad :(
12-13-2004
hk_mp5kpdw

I'm guessing no.

Quote:

ESPN.com news services
The NHL intends to reject the Players' Association's latest proposal and counter with one "consistent with our mandate," NHL executive vice president Bill Daly wrote in a Dec. 12 memorandum to all 30 member clubs.
12-13-2004
Govtcheez

> consistent with our mandate,

Oh goddammit.

Allow me to translate - "we're not going to concede anything at all even a little bit because we don't give a crap about the sport and only care about the thickness of our wallets"

:mad::mad::mad::mad:
12-13-2004
Darkness

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govtcheez

> consistent with our mandate,

Oh goddammit.

Allow me to translate - "we're not going to concede anything at all even a little bit because we don't give a crap about the sport and only care about the thickness of our wallets"

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

How long did it take you to figure that one out? Govt I think you and everyone else on this website with a job should donate your entire salary for a while* so that we can have NHL hockey again.

*276 years