NHL Lockout?

[Bene288]

God, I hope not. Hope the owners and players can suck it up and come to an agreement. I could care less about the super stars, but I feel for guys like Chris Kreider and Dougie Hamilton. Prospects and rookies can't just up and run to Russia like some some of the more established players. They locked out 7 years ago and fans came back and are still buying tickets. I have a feeling the owners won't budge. I guess I'll be watching a lot more college hockey.

 

[Nick]

I'm not huge into hockey but my brother in law is a high school coach and is really into it. I'll have to ask him his opinion on this; guaranteed he is getting stressed out.

 

[ctenidae]

I haven't watched a hockey game since the last lockout, either live or on TV.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've watched a hockey game since February 22nd, 1980.

 

[Bene288]

I haven't watched a hockey game since the last lockout, either live or on TV.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've watched a hockey game since February 22nd, 1980.

I wish I was around to see that game.

 

[ScottySkis]

I wish I was around to see that game.

I was three was that the Olympics gold metal that US beat Russian?

 

[Bene288]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he was talking about the 1980 Olympics.

 

[JimG.]

I was in the basement TV room of my fraternity at Dartmouth for that game. The whole frat and 2 kegs.

What a party.

 

[ScottySkis]

I hope that they do not have a lockout, last year last very good one for Ranger fans and I really really need hockey to start in a few weeks.

 

[4aprice]

I hope that they do not have a lockout, last year last very good one for Ranger fans and I really really need hockey to start in a few weeks.

Millionaires fighting over what? Oh yea, money. (I do not resent how much they make) As much as I love being entertained by hockey, these guys will cook the golden goose one of these days and become irrelevent. I haven't been to a game in years (in my case since the Devils played in the Meadowlands) but with the prices they charge for 2+ hours of entertainment I can go for a ski weekend up north so guess which form of entertaiment I'm choosing. Love the game and watching on tv but if its out of sight its out of mind and I can be just as entertained watching reruns of the Big Bang Theory.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[kickstand]

I think the owners are really underestimating the backlash this is going to cause. Amazing to me that a group of businessmen, ones smart enough to have made enough money to own a professional sports team, can be so short-sighted. They just had a 25% rollback at the last lockout/strike, now they want to not only decrease the players' percentage, but also shrink the size of the pie they have to divide. On top of that, the owners/GM's are the ones exploiting holes in the salary cap rules, the same ones they are trying to close up. None of it makes any sense. They're idiots. The last 3 seasons, particularly post-seasons, have been amazing. The game is only growing, which means more money for them. The owners lock out the players and they can forget about the game - and their bank accounts - growing. They are going to kill hockey in North America, particularly in places where it isn't part of the culture (i.e. warm weather states).

 

[zakyr]

These people need a reality check.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bene288]

I think the owners are really underestimating the backlash this is going to cause. Amazing to me that a group of businessmen, ones smart enough to have made enough money to own a professional sports team, can be so short-sighted. They just had a 25% rollback at the last lockout/strike, now they want to not only decrease the players' percentage, but also shrink the size of the pie they have to divide. On top of that, the owners/GM's are the ones exploiting holes in the salary cap rules, the same ones they are trying to close up. None of it makes any sense. They're idiots. The last 3 seasons, particularly post-seasons, have been amazing. The game is only growing, which means more money for them. The owners lock out the players and they can forget about the game - and their bank accounts - growing. They are going to kill hockey in North America, particularly in places where it isn't part of the culture (i.e. warm weather states).

If they plan to keep markets going in warmer weather states then they need to get the ball rolling. It's things like this that'll absolutely kill already weakened markets. I don't know why they can't come to a short term CBA for now. The past 3-4 seasons were really strong. The Bruins/Canucks series pulled in the strongest ratings in almost 40 years. And the Kings/Devs series did way better than anticipated. Why wouldn't they want to keep that momentum going? It makes no sense to me. It seems that another lock out would really slow the growth of the sport right down. Unfortunately they know they have hardcore fans by the balls.

 

[kickstand]

Unfortunately they know they have hardcore fans by the balls.

And that's the short-sighted part. The hardcode fans will come back no matter what. We saw that after the last work stoppage. It's the people who are saying to themselves, "I really enjoyed some of those playoff games and the Kings were a great story, I think I'll give the sport a chance next season" that they are going to lose, especially when those folks understand exactly what is happening in these negotiations. It's those folks, as well as the warmer-climate markets (I would say anything south of Philly), they need to be worried about. I haven't tried to figure it out, but I bet 1/3 of the teams are south of that Philly line. It would suck to lose 1/3 of the league.

I admit, my interest in the sport has gone up and down, mostly because the B's ownership group sucked thru the late 90s, early 2000s. But I always watch the playoffs, no matter who is in or out. And in terms of the B's, bringing in Neely has done wonders for management. The GM is now accountable to someone other than an absentee owner.

 

[Bene288]

The two sides supposedly had another
meeting Friday. I haven't heard if anything was accomplished or not. Looks like I'll be following NCAA a lot closer this year. Hopefully BC can grab another one.

 

[ScottySkis]

The two sides supposedly had another
meeting Friday. I haven't heard if anything was accomplished or not. Looks like I'll be following NCAA a lot closer this year. Hopefully BC can grab another one.

I getting tired of strikes in professional sports, after baseball one I rarely watch or go to the games, I like college hockey but it kind like watching hockey in slow motion.

 

[Bene288]

"No CBA negotiations scheduled before deadline"

The NHL will be officially locked out at 11:59. Terrific. It needs to snow a hell of a lot faster now.

 

[deadheadskier]

On top of that, the owners/GM's are the ones exploiting holes in the salary cap rules, the same ones they are trying to close up. None of it makes any sense. They're idiots.

Right?

They want a 5 year max contract limit. What does Jeremy Jacobs do this past week? Sign Tyler Seguin to a SIX year extension! WTF?!? Hell, in the last 8 days, the Bruins have committed $70.5M in future salaries to Seguin, Marchand and Looch.

and on a side note, WTF is up with the Bruins extending Looch today for 3 more years at $6M per? I don't dislike Looch. He's a good player, but IMO one of the most overrated and lazy players in the game. Yes, he's as bad ass and intimidating of a player as there is in the league, which is what Cam and many Boston fans want the Big Bad Bruins to be, but the guy drove me nuts more often than not the past two seasons. He just doesn't play hard enough IMO. They're paying the man like he's Cam Neely. He might be as tough as Cam was, but he doesn't exert that toughness at half the clip that Cam did nor does he have a third of the offensive skills Cam had.

 

[ScottySkis]

I hope this last a few weeks at most, if it becomes half season I really will be done with sports, I stopped watching baseball after their strike in the 90s and I love hockey but this is such BS.

 

[riverc0il]

I hope this last a few weeks at most, if it becomes half season I really will be done with sports, I stopped watching baseball after their strike in the 90s and I love hockey but this is such BS.

You won't miss it! You can always sub pro hockey with college hockey. Not the same level but the rivalries can be much stronger and many old school arenas are way more fun to see games in than the soul lacking arenas of pro sports.

The problem with pro lock outs is that the big name players supported by the union and the millionaire owners have little to loss. It is the lower level players, up and coming players, rookies, etc. and the fans that suffer which the millionaires fight over who makes more money. Athletes have a short shelf life and the players not make much can really suffer during this crap. I left baseball after the strike in the 90s, never looked back. Gave up on other pro sports soon after.

 

[deadheadskier]

Not a chance in hell I'd get into the college game as an alternative to the pro game. The rivalries really aren't nearly as compelling IMO. There is nothing that compares to Bruins vs Canadians. This comes from having a rivalry in my own home with me being a UVM grad and my wife a UNH alum. The skill level in the college game isn't anywhere near on par because it is a rare event that a decent hockey player doesn't go straight to the pros. I was fortunate enough to attend UVM at the same time as Martin St. Louis, which was awesome, but a player like him in the college game comes along maybe once every ten years. We live 10 minutes from UNH, can go to any game we want for free due to a family members job in the athletic department and don't bother.