LabattBlue Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 The only way I lose interest is if the owners cave in and continue to hand out huge contracts without the revenue to back them up.
Cugalabanza Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 A little confusing. The question in the subject is different from the one in the poll. I will never come back to pro hockey.
JinVA Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 Hockey to me is just filler for the most boring time of the year. I don't get to wrapped up in salaries etc. like I do with football. So yes I would still watch it, but I'm sure there are some hockey enthusiast that may think differently.
Like A Mofo Posted January 28, 2005 Author Posted January 28, 2005 A little confusing. The question in the subject is different from the one in the poll. I will never come back to pro hockey. 222122[/snapback] Looking at it again, I thought it sounded the same when I typed it but I see how that can be confusing... Now MLB lost the last approx 2 months and the playoffs, still had some games...but the NHL may have zero to show for 2004-05, this has never happened. Basically in a nutshell, will you come back as a fan of the NHL (not so much the sport as a whole) when they (probably) will return next year if this entire season is cancelled?
shibuya Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 I agree with LabattBlue I'll always enjoy hockey, but the league needs to get its finances in order and NHLPA has to take its head out of its ass. No matter what happens though Bettman must go.
stuckincincy Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 The only thing that would me watch hockey again is if they put the cage pipes back and made the crease something less than the size of a new housing development.
Like A Mofo Posted January 28, 2005 Author Posted January 28, 2005 I agree with LabattBlue I'll always enjoy hockey, but the league needs to get its finances in order and NHLPA has to take its head out of its ass. No matter what happens though Bettman must go. 222131[/snapback] Throw Bob "Good-For-Nothing"-Eaw on that firing squad too.
Sen. John Blutarsky Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 I love hockey, but rooting for the Sabres is like rooting for the Kansas City Royals, you know there's no real point to watching them because they'll never win in the current system, which sucks.
Like A Mofo Posted January 28, 2005 Author Posted January 28, 2005 I love hockey, but rooting for the Sabres is like rooting for the Kansas City Royals, you know there's no real point to watching them because they'll never win in the current system, which sucks. 222149[/snapback] Im a Sabres fan too, and most of the time, I think you are right. One thing though: Tampa Bay and Calgary (the last Stanley Cup) had lower payrolls then the Sabres. Minnesota Wild are another team that went far with a low payroll.
Mark VI Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 Football is THE SPORT. Everything else is just cheap filler.
SilverNRed Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 I pretty much assumed all along that they'd have to sacrifice this season to get the changes done necessary to save the game. If they go all the way and fix the game, I'll definitely be back. Hopefully they start on time next season though, even with replacement players.
LabattBlue Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 Football is THE SPORT. Everything else is just cheap filler. 222155[/snapback] Tell that to the Yankee fans who like to inundate TSW with a 100 threads coinciding with the first Yankee win of the season.
Like A Mofo Posted January 28, 2005 Author Posted January 28, 2005 Tell that to the Yankee fans who like to inundate TSW with a 100 threads coinciding with the first Yankee win of the season. 222162[/snapback] So we cannot be passionate about baseball, JUST football?
ch19079 Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 no, i never had an intrest in the first place. i only wanted to watch the fights on sports center. it will come back with some form of a salary cap, and it will be a better sport. ever wonder what happened to those players who signed HUGE contracts just befor the strike?? do they still get the signing bonuses????
Sen. John Blutarsky Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 Im a Sabres fan too, and most of the time, I think you are right. One thing though: Tampa Bay and Calgary (the last Stanley Cup) had lower payrolls then the Sabres. Minnesota Wild are another team that went far with a low payroll. 222152[/snapback] Clearly there will be anomalies, but only a few teams will be able to compete year in and year out. Tampa and Calgary both had to have everything fall correctly for them to get where they got and once their players contracts start running out the ride is over. Sure there are some teams that have high payrolls and suck (The Rangers) but baseball has that too (The Mets). Anyway, there are a lot of things that frustrate me about the NHL now but I'll still watch hockey. BTW: I feel like the end of the "touch-up" offside rule is what doomed offensive hockey. First, it eliminated forechecking. It is impossible to maintain a steady forecheck and forechecking is a cause of offense, on both ends of the ice. Forechecking makes turnovers but it can also create odd man chances going the other way. Instead, they forced play into the neutral zone, and thus encouraged the trap. Neutral zone hockey sucks, you can't score from center ice. That rule change was supposed to make offensive defensemen more valuable and eliminate cementhead defensemen who did little but dump the puck in and fight. Instead, it practically eliminated them from the game, Paul Coffey would be useless and seen as a liability rather than an asset today. Overall the game has less checking, more holding, fewer turnovers, fewer odd man chances and thus less scoring. That one rule change effectively turned hockey into soccer. The game is about possession rather than dynamic offense. Any opinions?
LabattBlue Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 So we cannot be passionate about baseball, JUST football? 222191[/snapback] You can be passionate about baseball, just do it somewhere else TSW is just for football talk and anything OT except for the Yankees.
Like A Mofo Posted January 28, 2005 Author Posted January 28, 2005 TSW is just for football talk and anything OT except for the Yankees. Mets Fan? Sox fan? Anti-Yankees?
Buftex Posted January 28, 2005 Posted January 28, 2005 Football is definitely king, but I do like hockey a lot too. If you grew up in an NHL town, you will understand. I am not sure why it is such a hard sell to a national audience. It is a great game, when it does come back, I think it will be less about 6-8 teams, which would be fine by me. Somehow, I think the Sabres will survive. They may have had their financial woes, but Buffalo is still one of the top tier hockey cities in America. The new owner seems like a good owner (although I no longer live in WNY, I am sure that there are many out there who will set me straight if this is not the case), who cares more about preserving hockey in WNY, than making millions. Once hockey returns to its' regional roots, I think it will be as good as ever. The NHL is just learning a very hard lesson in business management. When the dust settles, and Gary Bettman is no longer the commishioner (a good thing IMO), we will be left with a better leauge. The NHL means so much to one country, and a lot to areas in ours, I don't see it going away...
Like A Mofo Posted January 28, 2005 Author Posted January 28, 2005 BTW: I feel like the end of the "touch-up" offside rule is what doomed offensive hockey. First, it eliminated forechecking. It is impossible to maintain a steady forecheck and forechecking is a cause of offense, on both ends of the ice. Forechecking makes turnovers but it can also create odd man chances going the other way. Instead, they forced play into the neutral zone, and thus encouraged the trap. Neutral zone hockey sucks, you can't score from center ice. That rule change was supposed to make offensive defensemen more valuable and eliminate cementhead defensemen who did little but dump the puck in and fight. Instead, it practically eliminated them from the game, Paul Coffey would be useless and seen as a liability rather than an asset today. Overall the game has less checking, more holding, fewer turnovers, fewer odd man chances and thus less scoring. That one rule change effectively turned hockey into soccer. The game is about possession rather than dynamic offense. Any opinions? Excellent post and agree with all of your points. There are other factors as well: Overexpansion, with thinned out the talent across the board, thus teams attempt to compensate for the lack of pure talent by playing a more defensive style...goalie equipment has become bigger, and goalies are now looked at differently now then they were years ago, it was never really a "glamour" position like it is now. the success of Hasek also assisted with paving the way for an influx of European goalies, so the talent level is higher at the position. Plus the players are bigger, maybe a larger ice surface is needed? Im not sure what the answers are, but something has to be done.
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