Have you been to NHL.com lately? Man what a joke. All the content is about old games. The NHL is continuing it's "remember the original six" shit. Yes, I love old time hockey, of course I do and many, many others; that's because that's when the NHL and its players had heart, shit-loads of it. It is all the NHL has to stand on is it's past. I am sure it was good for them at first, nestalga is big with humans, but it never lasts.
I read an interesting article this morning which tipped me into the, "Fuck the NHL" mode again. (more about that later, maybe)
The "NHL Lockout Log" (Yahoo Sports) sited a poll taken by ESPN.com,
"According to a poll on ESPN.com, 73 percent of the 146,514 Americans who voted do not care if the NHL cancels the 2004-05 season."
It is shit like this I don't understand. If I would of taken that poll, I am sure I would of been lumped into that 73 percent.
It isn't the fact that I don't care, I do greatly. It's more that I am completely fed up with all of the bullshit. I have been fed up for years. I would think for most fans that this disgust for the NHL has been growing over the last decade or so. That's a pretty long time to try and turn around quickly. Which is another great recent failure of the NHL and it's players; we fans don't forget or forgive easily. Baseball has never fully recovered from it's last fuckup.
It started for me after the last great league expansion. Lets move a great team (talk about nalstalga...) the North Start to Dallas, Texas (what the fuck, Dallas?) and ADD another damn team called the Minnisota Wild. Who's brain child was this? Then add teams in Florida (again, what the fuck), and Columbus; Oh wait, Pheonix, lots of ice down there. The claim they owners can't affored the teams they have and more and more Canadian teams move into the states because they can't support them (like the Colorado, Avalanch), and they still expand the leauge bigger and bigger thinning out the already thin talent in the NHL. If Canada can't support the teams you know there is problem; Canada is the hockey capital of the world. This also guarentees that your favorite team may never play that great rival (nalstalga again). For me it's the Blackhawks, always has been. In the 2003-2004 season we played the Blues twice and the Dead Wings (ok, Red Wings) twice. I tried finding a 2003 schedule and couldn't (No I didn't look that long) so I don't have actual stats on this. What I do know is that the Blackhawks played at least 10 games against the Wild and Blue Jackets. Now that is going to drive veiwer-ship.
I hate to say this but FUCK THE NHL, I hope they crash and burn. It's time for a new hockey league, this one is so full of burocracy and bullshit it just sucks. I would never like to see the Blackhawks, Red Wings, Blues, Bruins, etc. go away, but if it means bringing back the sport of hockey and demolishing the business of hockey as it is today, lets do it.
Beckman is looking to make the NHL like the NFL, he wants their revenues. I am sure every sport would. Baseball tried, striked, and I'm still not into the game. The NFL plays a 16 game season. That is a far cry from 82, which is a standard NHL season. Then the NHL post season is best of seven, for four tiers. Another huge streach of games that most people don't watch until it's a deciding game. There is a total loss of a captive audience, it just doesn't exist in the NHL. Every Sunday, everyone knows football will be played. Where is the Hockey day. Basically it can be any day, any day at all. No structure, no routine, look for the next game and pray the owner is going to let you watch it.
I have no idea what the answers are, if I did I wouldn't be sitting here wining about this I would be changing it. I have some great ideas, and some really bad ones too. Where it all starts in my mind is having the Owners and Players comming back to reality and reforming the NHL into the great league it once was.
I read an interesting article this morning which tipped me into the, "Fuck the NHL" mode again. (more about that later, maybe)
The "NHL Lockout Log" (Yahoo Sports) sited a poll taken by ESPN.com,
"According to a poll on ESPN.com, 73 percent of the 146,514 Americans who voted do not care if the NHL cancels the 2004-05 season."
It is shit like this I don't understand. If I would of taken that poll, I am sure I would of been lumped into that 73 percent.
It isn't the fact that I don't care, I do greatly. It's more that I am completely fed up with all of the bullshit. I have been fed up for years. I would think for most fans that this disgust for the NHL has been growing over the last decade or so. That's a pretty long time to try and turn around quickly. Which is another great recent failure of the NHL and it's players; we fans don't forget or forgive easily. Baseball has never fully recovered from it's last fuckup.
It started for me after the last great league expansion. Lets move a great team (talk about nalstalga...) the North Start to Dallas, Texas (what the fuck, Dallas?) and ADD another damn team called the Minnisota Wild. Who's brain child was this? Then add teams in Florida (again, what the fuck), and Columbus; Oh wait, Pheonix, lots of ice down there. The claim they owners can't affored the teams they have and more and more Canadian teams move into the states because they can't support them (like the Colorado, Avalanch), and they still expand the leauge bigger and bigger thinning out the already thin talent in the NHL. If Canada can't support the teams you know there is problem; Canada is the hockey capital of the world. This also guarentees that your favorite team may never play that great rival (nalstalga again). For me it's the Blackhawks, always has been. In the 2003-2004 season we played the Blues twice and the Dead Wings (ok, Red Wings) twice. I tried finding a 2003 schedule and couldn't (No I didn't look that long) so I don't have actual stats on this. What I do know is that the Blackhawks played at least 10 games against the Wild and Blue Jackets. Now that is going to drive veiwer-ship.
I hate to say this but FUCK THE NHL, I hope they crash and burn. It's time for a new hockey league, this one is so full of burocracy and bullshit it just sucks. I would never like to see the Blackhawks, Red Wings, Blues, Bruins, etc. go away, but if it means bringing back the sport of hockey and demolishing the business of hockey as it is today, lets do it.
Beckman is looking to make the NHL like the NFL, he wants their revenues. I am sure every sport would. Baseball tried, striked, and I'm still not into the game. The NFL plays a 16 game season. That is a far cry from 82, which is a standard NHL season. Then the NHL post season is best of seven, for four tiers. Another huge streach of games that most people don't watch until it's a deciding game. There is a total loss of a captive audience, it just doesn't exist in the NHL. Every Sunday, everyone knows football will be played. Where is the Hockey day. Basically it can be any day, any day at all. No structure, no routine, look for the next game and pray the owner is going to let you watch it.
I have no idea what the answers are, if I did I wouldn't be sitting here wining about this I would be changing it. I have some great ideas, and some really bad ones too. Where it all starts in my mind is having the Owners and Players comming back to reality and reforming the NHL into the great league it once was.
posted by brettski at 07:28
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