NHL Lockout?

Maybe I haven't been to enough pro games. But I did go to a quarter finals Bruins game a few years back and I was stunned STUNNED by the lack of fan engagement compared to college hockey. Honestly felt like watching pro hockey on television was better than being at a pro game, and this was the playoffs! I understand the talent level is substantially less but I feel college really delivers on the atmosphere. For me, atmosphere trumps skill/talent when it comes to hockey.

I definitely had some good times going to games at UVM when I was a student there and you are right the atmosphere is much better than the pro game. I'm just someone who likes to watch a lot of sports on TV, which is where the collegiate hockey game really suffers.

deadheadskier said:

I definitely had some good times going to games at UVM when I was a student there and you are right the atmosphere is much better than the pro game. I'm just someone who likes to watch a lot of sports on TV, which is where the collegiate hockey game really suffers.

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They don't have that problem in Madison Square Garden in NYC , I have partcial season pass a few seasons ago and the fans were always into the game, and the Rangers were not a good team that year. I like college bit it is not the same. Maybe I should start playing for fun again.

deadheadskier said:

I definitely had some good times going to games at UVM when I was a student there and you are right the atmosphere is much better than the pro game. I'm just someone who likes to watch a lot of sports on TV, which is where the collegiate hockey game really suffers.

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Timmy Thomas was on that team as well. Not that anyone likes him anymore. I remember watching UVM play at the RPI barn. When my father moved to Troy he started doing graphic work for RPI so we always had tickets.

I have to say college hockey holds a special place in my heart. He also did work for the ECAC, so we always had tickets to the tournaments and the Eastern Regionals. I had center ice tickets throughout the Frozen Four in 2001. Watching BC beat North Dakota in person was one of the most incredible hockey experiences of my life. The regional for that year was incredible as well. I think it was BU that played St Cloud State through 4 overtimes. The game ended at 2:30 in the morning or something like that. I never got that feeling from pro games. The old buildings, the students, the bands..it's just different.

I would take the atmosphere of a college game any day. But then again, I'm the guy who prefers a pond over a rink. BUT...the rivalry is no where near as intense in college hockey, and isn't that a lot of the reason we follow sports? I saw Philadelphia play Pittsburgh about 3 years ago. Now THAT is a rivalry, not just between the teams, but the fans genuinely HATE each other. College hockey cannot even come close to anything like that. Boston and Montreal? Forget about it! Philly and the Rangers? I could go on.

I was back home for the 2011 first round, we stayed at the Marriott on long warf. I didn't have tickets but was going to head to a bar to watch, but I was part of a hoard of passionate fans that chased a group of Habs fans out of the lobby. All in good fun, of course. But you won't get that in college. Part of the reason is that it's really hard to visually follow college hockey. The television coverage is horrible. I like to throw a jersey on, get together with some friends and head to the bar to watch the game. In the Albany area, I have a few options to get out and watch a game. I can head to RPI or Union. ECAC games can be really fun. Then there's the River Rats, ugh.

I just hope it's only a few weeks. But the last one didn't turn out that way. I don't see this one being any different. It's absolutely ridiculous a pro league can't go more than 8 seasons between work stoppages.

Bene288 said:

I was back home for the 2011 first round, we stayed at the Marriott on long warf. I didn't have tickets but was going to head to a bar to watch, but I was part of a hoard of passionate fans that chased a group of Habs fans out of the lobby. All in good fun, of course. But you won't get that in college.

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Sure you do. Going on the road and following your college team and wearing your jersey at an away game can get intense. Depends on the teams, the standings, etc. I've certainly been harassed at college away games back when I followed my college team. I've witnessed police taking out hostile home team fans threatening away team fans, parking lot taunts after the game, etc. Perhaps in good fun, perhaps not.

Pre season hockey first week officially cancelled, 4 time in 20 years is just too much!

Scotty said:

4 time in 20 years is just too much!

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Man, you are obsessed! :lol:

riverc0il said:

Man, you are obsessed! :lol:

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Yes I been addicted to Rangers since I was a teenager and when they won the cup in 95 that was and is a amazing moment in my life, also us Rangers fans do not get to see the cup very often on averages.

The problem is that college hockey isn't as available. We used to beat on Harvard fans. But it was always limited to students, I don't think there is quite the hockey rivalry in college, as it's more the school's rivalry. I catch the Christmas tourney at RPI every year. It's over Christmas break and the rink is DEAD. In the NHL you have teams that sell out every game no matter who the visiting team is, no matter what day of the week. Yet the owners don't make enough.

College rinks are always dead during winter break no matter what rink or team. That is not really a fair comparison because 80% of a major metro area's population doesn't move at least an hour further away from the metro area during that time frame. Those are definitely boring games as far as crowd participation goes. But the rest of the year, crowd participation is much higher than what I saw seeing a B's playoff game. It just blew my mind to experience a dead arena in pro playoff hockey.

As far as rivalries at the college level, perhaps they might not go as deep as Bs vs Habs. But they are there. Heck, look at Boston alone with BU and BC going across town and battling out for the Bean Pot which sells out both games every year at the Garden. Add in Maine and UNH and you have four of the top teams in the country constantly playing each other fighting for the division and an auto birth to the national tournament. You start feeling like the playoffs really begin in February rather than March.

Maybe I am biased because I was watching some of the best college teams in the country when I followed HE. I ain't saying the game is at the same level, but college games are fun and might be a good substitute for many fans until the NHL gets its act together again.

riverc0il said:

College rinks are always dead during winter break no matter what rink or team. That is not really a fair comparison because 80% of a major metro area's population doesn't move at least an hour further away from the metro area during that time frame. Those are definitely boring games as far as crowd participation goes. But the rest of the year, crowd participation is much higher than what I saw seeing a B's playoff game. It just blew my mind to experience a dead arena in pro playoff hockey.

As far as rivalries at the college level, perhaps they might not go as deep as Bs vs Habs. But they are there. Heck, look at Boston alone with BU and BC going across town and battling out for the Bean Pot which sells out both games every year at the Garden. Add in Maine and UNH and you have four of the top teams in the country constantly playing each other fighting for the division and an auto birth to the national tournament. You start feeling like the playoffs really begin in February rather than March.

Maybe I am biased because I was watching some of the best college teams in the country when I followed HE. I ain't saying the game is at the same level, but college games are fun and might be a good substitute for many fans until the NHL gets its act together again.

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That's what I am saying. The games over breaks are dead because mainstream hockey fans aren't likely to follow college hockey, in my area anyway. The students occupy the fan base. I know for a fact in my area, the two biggest college teams, RPI and Union have a large local population. You're lucky to be able to catch Hockey East games as that is the strongest league in the NCAA. BC and BU is by far the best rivalry in the collegiate world, but it's virtually unwatchable to places outside of New England. Boston is a hockey hot bed, there will always be good fans there. Unfortunately in my current area, if there's no NHL hockey the sport dies. No one wants to bother following NCAA. As for you going to a B's playoff series and it being dead, when was that? Boston fans hated their team for a long, and still do. I know I was disgusted with the ownership and the management most of my life.

Cant watch college hockey if it is never on tv to watch.

We got our college season tickets (University of Utah, club team admittedly). So we are set for now.

And I'd like to see the NFL refs come back....please...

Hawkshot99 said:

Cant watch college hockey if it is never on tv to watch.

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That was one good thing about NESN. They covered the DIII and DI games.

thetrailboss said:

That was one good thing about NESN. They covered the DIII and DI games.

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I loved NESN. I wish they would make it available for subscription.

These strikes also hurts local bars big time.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...lockout-cba-talks.ap/index.html?sct=nhl_t2_a4 well they are starting up talking again, lets hope for the best.

CNN Money has been talking about this. Apparently Gary Bettman has "locked out" the owners from talking to the media about the CBA issue, threatening fines to anyone who does. You look on the NHL website and there is hardly anything about the CBA agreement. This is telling me that many owners do not agree with the lockout. Why would you want to loose any of the season if you're a market like Boston, Montreal, Toronto or NYC? Those franchises make plenty of money, always have and always will. This whole thing is all about Bettman's love affair with out of market American teams like Florida, Nashville, and especially Phoenix. In Arizona, they practically give 90% of tickets away through promotions just to fill in the building with fans. It doesn't seem like the right way to conduct business. The NHL revenue has risen from 500 million to 3.3 BILLION in the 10 years or so if I remember what CNN said. Why in the world should the players take a pay cut?

This has to stop. Gary Bettman needs to be removed. He's running the NHL like a dictator. 3 lockouts since he's been the commissioner? Give me a break! There are plenty of markets in Canada that are BEGGING for pro teams. Hamilton and Quebec city especially. Look at Winnipeg, they have a not so stellar team and they pack that arena in. How come Florida has two teams and Quebec only has one? Ontario, the unofficial hockey hot bed of the world, has 2 teams, and California has 3. It's absolutely ridiculous. The owners in hot markets need to rise up and stage a coup de tat. A Canadian with the love of the sport should be running the NHL, not an American lawyer.

I read somewhere that one of the issues that needs to be solved before the player-owner issue is tackled is revenue sharing. Sounds like the owners can't agree on that and are fighting among themselves.

If you get - or can get the latest issue of - Sports Illustrated, the former owner/CEO of the Panthers wrote an article about the lockout. It sounds like there is more about the finances of the game that haven't really been reported - at least not that I've seen. If nothing else, it gives a different spin on how one might think about the lockout. Most folks seem to be favoring the players, but it might not be that cut-and-dry.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Want-Hockey/509722762387880 FB page for bringing back hockey, I hear they might have replacement players http://bloguin.com/puckdrunklove/20...ers-could-be-coming-to-an-arena-near-you.html