He could end it as a Nordique... you never know.
You always gotta love a player who plays his whole career for one team though. You don't see it much anymore.
I really hope Patrice Bergeron ends up as one of them.
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The NHL 2012 off-season thread. Lockout over!
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He could end it as a Nordique... you never know.
You always gotta love a player who plays his whole career for one team though. You don't see it much anymore.
I really hope Patrice Bergeron ends up as one of them.
When I heard it came down to Phoenix or Vancouver, I was pretty certain he'd stay in Phoenix for two reasons -
1) He's already been through the worst of the ownership situation in Phoenix. Even if Jamison's group falls apart (oh dear), it's already happened before. Just more of the same
2) No other media market has been harsher on its team and its members received more scrutiny in the past few years - at least from an outsiders perspective. Why would Doan put up with that? You know the Golden Boy of Canada bit would end pretty quickly if the on ice performance didn't match expectations.
Now here comes another lockout!
1) He's already been through the worst of the ownership situation in Phoenix. Even if Jamison's group falls apart (oh dear), it's already happened before. Just more of the same
2) No other media market has been harsher on its team and its members received more scrutiny in the past few years - at least from an outsiders perspective. Why would Doan put up with that? You know the Golden Boy of Canada bit would end pretty quickly if the on ice performance didn't match expectations.
Now here comes another lockout!
well it's official no hockey for a while :crying:
I guess i will have to work on Nov 1st. (the rangers opener)
I guess i will have to work on Nov 1st. (the rangers opener)
**** you, jeremy jacobs!
he's like the anti-Bob Kraft.
yeah - he really should just piss off. I'm trying to figure out what sort of boycott we can have. No one wants to give up their season tickets but I might have to consider it in protest.
Right? I didn't even think people down there knew what hockey was.
Today is damn depressing. I hope this doesn't last too long.
Right? I didn't even think people down there knew what hockey was.
Today is damn depressing. I hope this doesn't last too long.
They don't. If they did, they would go to the arenas and watch the games, and the teams wouldn't be losing money.
The Leafs are the only team that hasn't made the playoffs over the span of the last 2 lockouts. Yet they fill ACC for every game and still make a massive profit every year. They could ice a $100 million pay roll and still make money.
Clearly, this shows that it's not the product on the ice that matters. Real hockey fans will go watch regardless. The problem is that there aren't many in Sunrise, FL or the middle of the desert in Arizona.
Yeah, I've had friends move to both areas of the country and they complain about the lack of rinks. And if there are rinks, all the people who play there are ***holes.
I may get some flack for this but here goes-
I am supporting the players for a very simple reason.
This summer, we have seen two small to mid market teams (Nashville and Minnesota) make major and arguably excessive signings. Minnesota gave Ryan Suter and Zack Parise contracts have them both in the Twin Cities for the next 13 years each at an average of 7.5 mill per. We also saw Nashville match the Flyers offer sheet of 14 yrs 110 million.
Minnesota did not have to give those two guys that much money-they CHOSE to do so. There were other players available that the could have tried to obtain at less money. Instead, they chose to handicap their salary cap in order to get two high profile players who may or may not help them win.
Now, you can argue that Nashville had to match the Flyers offer sheet in order to stay competitive in order to keep making a profit-and you are probably right. However, if Nashville was unable to convince Shea Weber to take less money so that they could do whatever they can to surround him with talent, then that is their own fault.
Lets examine Columbus. For nearly 4 months they refused to take any offer that was not for the moon and the stars. In the end, they had to settle for an offer that was, by comparison to what they wanted because they over-valued their asset and no one wanted to pay
My key point is this-small to mid market teams cannot go spend like this and then complain about rising player costs. Minnesota and Nashville showed that they are capable of spending big money, but only when they are pushed into a corner.
I cannot side with someone who's actions contradict their words.
That said-the players should share more with the owners and the sooner they realize it, the sooner they will get paid again
I am supporting the players for a very simple reason.
This summer, we have seen two small to mid market teams (Nashville and Minnesota) make major and arguably excessive signings. Minnesota gave Ryan Suter and Zack Parise contracts have them both in the Twin Cities for the next 13 years each at an average of 7.5 mill per. We also saw Nashville match the Flyers offer sheet of 14 yrs 110 million.
Minnesota did not have to give those two guys that much money-they CHOSE to do so. There were other players available that the could have tried to obtain at less money. Instead, they chose to handicap their salary cap in order to get two high profile players who may or may not help them win.
Now, you can argue that Nashville had to match the Flyers offer sheet in order to stay competitive in order to keep making a profit-and you are probably right. However, if Nashville was unable to convince Shea Weber to take less money so that they could do whatever they can to surround him with talent, then that is their own fault.
Lets examine Columbus. For nearly 4 months they refused to take any offer that was not for the moon and the stars. In the end, they had to settle for an offer that was, by comparison to what they wanted because they over-valued their asset and no one wanted to pay
My key point is this-small to mid market teams cannot go spend like this and then complain about rising player costs. Minnesota and Nashville showed that they are capable of spending big money, but only when they are pushed into a corner.
I cannot side with someone who's actions contradict their words.
That said-the players should share more with the owners and the sooner they realize it, the sooner they will get paid again
Don't even say that. Hockey is the only thing to watch in the winter- basketball and football suck.
I don't know about you guys, but it really pisses me off when I hear about millionaire NHLers going over to Europe/Russia to play hockey. They're taking roster spots away from players who were probably counting on those jobs to make a living. I've heard that a number of non-NHL players were told by teams over there that they couldn't be signed because those teams were waiting for the lockout to start so they could pick up NHLers instead. FU.
These guys want to play to maintain their skills? Then the NHLPA should organize a competitive practice league by region so that NHLers can play with each other.
It also annoyed me to see players dressed in shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops at the NHLPA meetings last week in NY. You guys are businessmen involved in an important business deal- dress the part.
I know that I'm ****ing on the players, but the owners are just as bad if not worse. One day they're signing players to crazy long term multimillion dollar deals, and the next they're complaining that they don't have any money. FU.
I foresee a long lockout.
These guys want to play to maintain their skills? Then the NHLPA should organize a competitive practice league by region so that NHLers can play with each other.
It also annoyed me to see players dressed in shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops at the NHLPA meetings last week in NY. You guys are businessmen involved in an important business deal- dress the part.
I know that I'm ****ing on the players, but the owners are just as bad if not worse. One day they're signing players to crazy long term multimillion dollar deals, and the next they're complaining that they don't have any money. FU.
I foresee a long lockout.
You would think it wouldn't be that difficult. They could also do some additional clinics for us amateurs too. I know I wouldn't mind training with Craig Anderson and some of the Sens again this year, even though I just did in July.
In areas like this there's practically a rink for every hockey player. They should be able to find places to play. You're right- it's silly.
I kind of agree but I see it both ways. For some of these European teams, bringing in an NHL player or two could bring in tons of money and help increase the popularity of their team, even if it's only short term.
Also, it must be a pretty cool experience for the guys on these teams to play with some of these NHL stars. Take David Krejci for example. He's going back to play in his home country (Czech Republic) for the lockout. Imagine what it's like for some of the guys on the team he's signing with, especially the younger guys. This guy was an Olympian for your country and lead the Stanley Cup winning team in scoring just over a year ago. Some of these guys probably idolize him. Getting an opportunity to play with a guy like him, even for just a short time, could be the experience of a lifetime for some of these kids.
Imagine being a young player on the KHL team that Evgeni Malkin is going to sign with.
As with anything, there's both positives and negatives. It sucks that these guys are taking away spots for other players, but hopefully the majority of them will still get an opportunity later this year (if the lockout ends) or next year. It would also suck for the NHL teams if one of their superstars goes over to Europe and gets a bad injury.
I also read an article somewhere saying that the NHLPA was in talks with Hockey Canada to organize an exhibition series to play a few games in places like Quebec City, Hamilton, etc while this lockout is going on.
Agreed here. It doesn't take much effort to put on a nice shirt and some dress pants, but at least it makes you look like you're taking things kind of seriously.
I hate Jeremy Jacobs. He lets his general manager hand out $70 million in contracts in the week leading up to this all while bitching that players make too much. They are approaching the Mitt Romney level of hypocrisy.
I get that the owners like him and the rest of the teams who are making profit don't want to have all this revenue sharing with teams that are running in the red, but trying to get the players to take pay cuts on contracts they already agreed to is just ridiculous. If a team isn't able to make money in one area, then move them to a place where they will. It's only been one season, but it seems like so far the Thrashers move to Winnipeg worked out well.
Unfortunately I do too. The most ridiculous part is the fact that both sides haven't even sat down and tried to negotiate. When the NFL was getting really close to losing games last year, Bob Kraft sat everyone down and told them they needed to come to an agreement because it was in everyone's best interest to not miss any games. Unfortunately, it seems like the clowns running this negotiation are too dense to realize that the same exact thing applies to the NHL here, but it's probably even more severe because the last lockout was not very long ago.
Looks like a bunch of NHL guys went and played at Johnny's Ice House yesterday:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...l-workout-in-chicago-20120917,0,2586052.story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...l-workout-in-chicago-20120917,0,2586052.story
A bunch of the Bruins and some other NHLers who are from this are have been having closed practices at Harvard for the past couple of days too.
At least the players are still committed to getting into and staying in game shape. Hopefully, if they can get this thing resolved, they'll be able to come in and not have lost too much with what could be a very extended offseason.
No one from the organizations are able to be there though. That stinks. I train with one of the Hawks coaches once a month. I'm sure he's not happy right now.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/nail-yakupov-other-nhl-players-facing-iihf-transfer-174309411--nhl.html
Let's hope that the NHL is not torpedoing players ability to play overseas,and that this is just politics between the IIHF and the KHL.
If not, we may have a much more serious problem than we already do...
Let's hope that the NHL is not torpedoing players ability to play overseas,and that this is just politics between the IIHF and the KHL.
If not, we may have a much more serious problem than we already do...
This is a sad day. Wanting to see the Kings repeat!
A lockout should most certainly help the LA Kings, after seeing how awful the Bruins were to start the last season after their Stanley Cup hangover. Hopefully LA lets that hangover die in the lockout.
Hit and miss on those points. The players wanted to look like every day guys, so hence the lack of fitted suits and whatnot. Many of those guys pictured have a wide wardrobe and tons of style. They're just trying to avoid looking rich. It's been the game plan for anyone attempting to look normal since the Big 3 flew into D.C. pre-official Recession on corporate jets for their first round of bailout hearings.
The playing in other leagues bit I'm conflicted on. It shows they do just want to play hockey, but it is unfortunate for those guys. What's probably most annoying is those players/agents making deals to go to other teams pre-lockout.
I forsee a Winter Classic start or bust.
I don't buy that. They could have dressed a little better to show the process more respect. To me, it seemed like they didn't give a **** (but they showed up for a free trip to NY to hang with their teammates/buddies). Did they have to wear $5,000 suits? No. But they could have worn nice pant or jeans, a decent shirt, and nice shoes. Flip flops, shorts, and crappy t-shirts were the wrong choice. And if it was a PA directive, it was a stupid way to go.
If it was a tactic, then I guess they're just as out of touch with the fans/public as the owners are.