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aloofman said:
except maybe for the NL Central right now. Despite all that money, the Yankees have not won the World Series since 2000, beaten every year since then by teams with lower payrolls.
Don't forget the AL Central, The White Sox are running away with it, Sorry to derail the thread again. :eek:

Ok discuss hockey again.
 
Don't get your hopes up just yet because the players still have to vote on this. This is a tentative agreement.
 
Although this is good news, the damage is pretty irrepairable. Hockey is already being margianalized in mainstream US media, and both sides have to be careful not to start the beginning of the end with declining viewership, and therefore declining advertising revenue and clout.

Grrr.


I have to keep telling myself this is good news.

At any rate,
season ticket holders will be happy again.
 
rickvanr said:
Come on now, every true hockey fan knows that was a fluke. :p
Not with the Bulin Wall in the net. :cool:
And, of course, you can't forget the unbelievable play of St. Louis, Richards, Lecavalier, Fedotenko, Kubina, Boyle, etc. :)
 
No no, every true hockey player also knows it was a fluke that the flames made it past the first round :D
 
Santaduck said:
Although this is good news, the damage is pretty irrepairable. Hockey is already being margianalized in mainstream US media, and both sides have to be careful not to start the beginning of the end with declining viewership, and therefore declining advertising revenue and clout.

I sadly agree. In the last couple years, only the ESPN TV deal prevented hockey from slipping to the level of arena football in the US. It used to be considered the fourth major US sport, but now no one can argue that it's bigger than NASCAR. They've lost a lot of casual fans that will be difficult to get back. I've been a hockey fan for 20 years, but I was seriously considering abandoning the NHL if they used replacement players.

I really wonder if they need some rule changes too. At some point they have to make the game more free-flowing to show how exciting and fast hockey can be. During the early months of the lockout, the local teams' broadcaster was showing "classic" games, which reminded me of how wild and run-and-gun the NHL used to be.
 
dsharits said:
The Lightning will just clean the ice with them again. ;)

Considering the league screwed the flames out of the game-winning goal in Game 6 of the playoffs? The lightning should not have won alst year. The goal their goaly kicked out after it crossed the line should have counted. Jerome Iginla was AMAZING last year.

Just like when Forsberg got screwed out of 2 goals by the refs in the playoffs against LA.

The Avs are about the best all-around team (when other lame teams aren't cheap shotting and injuring their players) out there. Hopefully we can get Forsberg (the best player in the world) back.
 
Onizuka said:
Considering the league screwed the flames out of the game-winning goal in Game 6 of the playoffs? The lightning should not have won alst year. The goal their goaly kicked out after it crossed the line should have counted. Jerome Iginla was AMAZING last year.

Just like when Forsberg got screwed out of 2 goals by the refs in the playoffs against LA.

The Avs are about the best all-around team (when other lame teams aren't cheap shotting and injuring their players) out there. Hopefully we can get Forsberg (the best player in the world) back.
That was not a goal. It was off the ice, making it look like it was across the line. It got to the line, but it never crossed.

With Pavel Kubina on him, Iginla was a non-factor.
The real amazing player was Nikolai Khabibulin. Without him, the lightning wouldn't have gone anywhere. I though he should have gotten the Conn Smythe, but I was happy to see Brad Richards win it.
 
aloofman said:
I really wonder if they need some rule changes too. At some point they have to make the game more free-flowing to show how exciting and fast hockey can be.

Definitely. Too much congestion at center, and too much dumping it in.

On that note I miss seeing Larionov & Makarov play together.

A rule change could go a long way toward increasing the appeal of the game.

Heck make the net bigger =x
 
dejo said:
The fact the Flames made the playoffs? Sure. ;)

Well, first I will admit that I was suprised by their playoff run. That said, they played in more playoff games than any other team and went the distance in the finals. Sadly, all those games took a toll and they ran out of gas, but they had a legitimate shot at the cup, which is more than Flames fans have been able to say for years.
 
i'm happy because now i don't have to watch a losing team (new york rangers) any more i can watch the bruins while i'm at school. I need to place my order for tickets.
 
dsharits said:
That was not a goal. It was off the ice, making it look like it was across the line. It got to the line, but it never crossed.

It's 50/50 whether that went in or not. I think it probably did go in, and yes I did see 'FOX Sports' 3-D reconstruction of it. Either way, it was really, really close and play should have at least been stopped then and there to look at.

dsharits said:
With Pavel Kubina on him, Iginla was a non-factor.
The real amazing player was Nikolai Khabibulin. Without him, the lightning wouldn't have gone anywhere. I though he should have gotten the Conn Smythe, but I was happy to see Brad Richards win it.

Iginla was the best player, without a doubt. I wasn't that impressed by Khabibulin. He did his job, nothing more, nothing less. He didn't win games from the Lightning. A handful of other goalies could have played for the Lightning and it would have come out the same. If you take Iginla away from the Flames, you are effectively knocking a leg out from underneath them- he's that good.
 
Meh, whatever, the bulk of these professional athletes are a bunch of overpaid spoiled brats. I used to enjoy the NHL, but now there are too many teams, the talent is too diluted, and the season is too long - there are too many games, which basically render them meaningless. The Playoffs is the only time I would watch, when the true good teams are playing and each game actually means something. But having hockey from August until June, give me a break. I used to enjoy hockey, but not anymore - I'll tune in for the Conference finals and the Stanley Cup, that's about it. That's why I prefer football. Shorter seasons, fewer teams, and each game actually means something as far as the team's record goes. But, to each his own! :cool:
 
aloofman said:
I really wonder if they need some rule changes too. At some point they have to make the game more free-flowing to show how exciting and fast hockey can be. During the early months of the lockout, the local teams' broadcaster was showing "classic" games, which reminded me of how wild and run-and-gun the NHL used to be.


The rule changes for next season are already in place. The Two line passes will be allowed. The other team doesn't have to touch the puck in order for the Ref to call icing on you. Goalie Gear will be cut back. There may be others, but I'm not sure
 
YAWWWNNNN.

Until they make the ice bigger, it is still going to be clutch and grab hockey.
 
kjr39 said:
YAWWWNNNN.

Until they make the ice bigger, it is still going to be clutch and grab hockey.


Well that sounds practical :eek:


The rule changes should improve the speed of the game and result in higher scores. Two line passing opens up a lot o possibilities, as does smaller goalie pads.


Another rule change I forget about is no more ties. I'm pretty sure that one is going to go into effect as well. I think it works like this: Once there's a tie in the third period, you go to the standard extre period. If there's still a tie, you go to 4 on 4. After that 3 on 3. I'm not sure what comes after that though
 
~Shard~ said:
Meh, whatever, the bulk of these professional athletes are a bunch of overpaid spoiled brats. I used to enjoy the NHL, but now there are too many teams, the talent is too diluted, and the season is too long - there are too many games, which basically render them meaningless. The Playoffs is the only time I would watch, when the true good teams are playing and each game actually means something. But having hockey from August until June, give me a break. I used to enjoy hockey, but not anymore - I'll tune in for the Conference finals and the Stanley Cup, that's about it. That's why I prefer football. Shorter seasons, fewer teams, and each game actually means something as far as the team's record goes. But, to each his own! :cool:

Obviously it's the spoiled brats who make the headlines. You don't sell many papers by publicizing the third-string player who does charity work, but won't have a job next year.

I agree with you about there being too many teams, but the season has been the same length for decades. October until June.
 
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