Can we start hockey again soon?

[Oaklandblue]

The only good part of there being no season this coming year is that, the Hockey Gods willing, will hopefully cost Bettman his job, which, along with with him screwing up by not giving Winnipeg back THEIR Jets (The Yotes were under NHL management and ownership, the situation in Glendale was toxic and in the end alot of money's going to be burned in any event, so why not pull out shop and right it? Not Bettman, give them the Thrashers instead. That's not bad? Consider that now Atlanta has been screwed out of TWO teams, the Flames, who moved to Canada and the Thrashers. Instead of doing his job and seeing through things that could make teams sustainable, like profit sharing across ALL teams, not just the big cities cause god knows they seriously need the cash O.O, he's concerned about keeping teams in areas they shouldn't be in and other various stupid things.)

I'd give up a year of Hockey to get rid of that dipstick and get someone into his role who is NOT Shanahan who'd make positive changes and help promote the sport. Bettman should be lucky he's kept his job for as long as he has.

[Oaklandblue]

The only good part if it turns out that won't be a season this coming year is that, the Hockey Gods willing, will hopefully cost Bettman his job, which, along with with him screwing up by not giving Winnipeg back THEIR Jets (The Yotes were under NHL management and ownership, the situation in Glendale was toxic and in the end alot of money's going to be burned in any event, so why not pull out shop and right it? Not Bettman, give them the Thrashers instead. That's not bad? Consider that now Atlanta has been screwed out of TWO teams, the Flames, who moved to Canada and the Thrashers. Instead of doing his job and seeing through things that could make teams sustainable, like profit sharing across ALL teams, not just the big cities cause god knows they seriously need the cash O.O, he's concerned about keeping teams in areas they shouldn't be in and other various stupid things.)

I'd give up a year of Hockey to get rid of that dipstick and get someone into his role who is NOT Shanahan who'd make positive changes and help promote the sport. Bettman should be lucky he's kept his job for as long as he has.

[fargoblues]

The only good part of there being no season this coming year is that, the Hockey Gods willing, will hopefully cost Bettman his job, which, along with with him screwing up by not giving Winnipeg back THEIR Jets (The Yotes were under NHL management and ownership, the situation in Glendale was toxic and in the end alot of money's going to be burned in any event, so why not pull out shop and right it? Not Bettman, give them the Thrashers instead. That's not bad? Consider that now Atlanta has been screwed out of TWO teams, the Flames, who moved to Canada and the Thrashers. Instead of doing his job and seeing through things that could make teams sustainable, like profit sharing across ALL teams, not just the big cities cause god knows they seriously need the cash O.O, he's concerned about keeping teams in areas they shouldn't be in and other various stupid things.)

I'd give up a year of Hockey to get rid of that dipstick and get someone into his role who is NOT Shanahan who'd make positive changes and help promote the sport. Bettman should be lucky he's kept his job for as long as he has.

The only good part of there being no season this coming year is that, the Hockey Gods willing, will hopefully cost Bettman his job, which, along with with him screwing up by not giving Winnipeg back THEIR Jets (The Yotes were under NHL management and ownership, the situation in Glendale was toxic and in the end alot of money's going to be burned in any event, so why not pull out shop and right it? Not Bettman, give them the Thrashers instead. That's not bad? Consider that now Atlanta has been screwed out of TWO teams, the Flames, who moved to Canada and the Thrashers. Instead of doing his job and seeing through things that could make teams sustainable, like profit sharing across ALL teams, not just the big cities cause god knows they seriously need the cash O.O, he's concerned about keeping teams in areas they shouldn't be in and other various stupid things.)

I'd give up a year of Hockey to get rid of that dipstick and get someone into his role who is NOT Shanahan who'd make positive changes and help promote the sport. Bettman should be lucky he's kept his job for as long as he has.

I agree with both of these posts.

[WaukeeBlues]

It doesn't even have to be a full season. If we lose even one game over this sh*t that we JUST dealt with 8 years ago, I'm going to light something on fire and do an Indian war cry around it in fury... possibly while wearing the bluenote

[glen a richter]

Understand how many fans will bail out if there's another lockout. They knew they'd lose some traditional fans after the last one, so we got stuck with stupid shit like shootouts and the trapezoid. Now they'll risk losing a lot of those fans too, and who will come back? A lot of smaller market teams will crumble and contract, or the whole league will just be obliterated after a couple seasons of bad attendance. For those people who live by their favorite team, the absolute diehards will still attend, but a lot of people will either cut back or not attend at all. For those of us who live 1000+ miles from our favorite team, I mean the highlight of every season is the one or two games I get to go to and I'll still go, but the extremely casual fans will say screw it. I don't know how it is in St. Louis, but I've been to a number of games here at Nassau Coliseum and MSG featuring a lot of different visiting teams: St. Louis, Anaheim, Florida, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Boston, Detoilet (someone gave me the tickets for free, I wouldn't turn down free tickets no matter who's playing so don't judge me!), Toronto, Philly, New Jersey, Quebec, Montreal, Phoenix... and one thing I can say with certainty is that there are a very decent amount of fans of the visiting team at all of those games. Hell, one time I took the train into MSG for a Blues game and the first person I saw when I got on was sporting the note (and said she was Backes' cousin). You lose even half those fans, there goes a decent chunk of change at the gate too.

If they go through with the lockout, no matter how long, I want to know how in the hell they plan on winning back lost fans... again.

[dmiles2186]

The NHL as a whole, players and owners, will be completely idiotic if it comes to a work stoppage. I understand each side wants to get their demands, but they absolutely CANNOT make hockey fans sit through this again. They are the only league to ever lose an entire season to work stoppage. The Blues organization JUST finally got back on stable footing after the team was gutted and the lockout happened. I think the NHL as a whole has finally got back to a point where it's 'cool' to be a hockey fan again. What I mean is that after the lockout, hockey was a punchline. Now they've got the Crosby's, Ovechkin's, Stamkos', etc. and highlights are making it back to ESPN (not a lot, but still more than 5 years ago).

And let me add this, if they do go through a work stoppage, the owners will blame the players and the players will blame the owners. It's like when cable companies take channels off and they blame each other. I don't care whose fault it is. Really, it's not just one group's fault, it's everyone. So get your ish together and get a deal done. I'm a huge hockey fan, but I'm not sure I can stand another work stoppage.

Also, we all know Bettman's an idiot. He has been for years. There's a reason he's booed every time he goes to a city except for Winnipeg.

[glen a richter]

The NHL as a whole, players and owners, will be completely idiotic if it comes to a work stoppage. I understand each side wants to get their demands, but they absolutely CANNOT make hockey fans sit through this again. They are the only league to ever lose an entire season to work stoppage. The Blues organization JUST finally got back on stable footing after the team was gutted and the lockout happened. I think the NHL as a whole has finally got back to a point where it's 'cool' to be a hockey fan again. What I mean is that after the lockout, hockey was a punchline. Now they've got the Crosby's, Ovechkin's, Stamkos', etc. and highlights are making it back to ESPN (not a lot, but still more than 5 years ago).

And let me add this, if they do go through a work stoppage, the owners will blame the players and the players will blame the owners. It's like when cable companies take channels off and they blame each other. I don't care whose fault it is. Really, it's not just one group's fault, it's everyone. So get your ish together and get a deal done. I'm a huge hockey fan, but I'm not sure I can stand another work stoppage.

Also, we all know Bettman's an idiot. He has been for years. There's a reason he's booed every time he goes to a city except for Winnipeg.

And teh Tarasenko's and Schwartz's!

[Prngr44]

Why on earth do people think Bettman would get fired if he endures a 3rd labor stoppage under his tenure?? He'll likely get a big fat raise.

Fans will come back. They always come back. They're back in record numbers and came back almost immediately after the last lockout. Record revenues every year since the 04-05 lockout. I'd expect the same thing.

[glen a richter]

Not he WILL get fired, he SHOULD get fired.

[sseagle]

If Bettman had just not (Frank) said "LOCKOUT" we wouldn't have to freak out.... yet

[glen a richter]

Well, we have just a little over a month for these asshats to get their crap in order and figure out something that works for the long term.

As a historical aside, 18 years ago today MLB went on strike, wiping out the remainder of the 1994 season and the postseason. Since then, there have been no work stoppages in major league baseball and they've become a model for labor peace in professional sports. Meanwhile, we've had 2 lockouts and the threat of a 3rd in the NHL since then. How about firing Bettman and hiring Bud Selig to replace him?

[sseagle]

They still play baseball?

[glen a richter]

They still play baseball?

They do, indeed.

[WaukeeBlues]

They still play baseball?

They do, indeed.

What's baseball? I didn't see it in the Olympics this year...

[philco_3]

They still play baseball?

They do, indeed.

What's baseball? I didn't see it in the Olympics this year...

That or football.

[glen a richter]

On the topic of hockey, I think roller hockey should be in the Olympics. Hell, I think roller hockey should give a league another go, like the 90's. That shit was fun to watch.

[dmiles2186]

On the topic of hockey, I think roller hockey should be in the Olympics. Hell, I think roller hockey should give a league another go, like the 90's. That shit was fun to watch.

Yeah it was. That was the best! If I'm not mistaken, former Blue Glen Metropolit had a stint in the beach/roller hockey league. Summers off of school would be spent watching those games in the afternoon. I miss that league.

[glen a richter]

Metropolit played for our local RHI team for the one season we had a local RHI team. He was my favorite. This was, of course, way the hell before he ever wore the note. That team was very fan friendly, after games they would let the fans go skating out on the SportCourt and get autographs from the players. Once you roll on that surface, nothing else compares.

[fargoblues]

I have always remembered the Metrolink area with fondness.

[glen a richter]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/crosby-ove ... --nhl.html

Good news, if they can hammer something out by the end of the week that would be a breath of fresh air.