My Philosophy On Hockey

[THUNDER HANDS]

Right now the NHL is about as close to a complete collapse as any major sport. After this season the collective bargaining agreement expires and there's a good chance there won't be a 2005 Stanley Cup.

And it's not like most of America really cares about that, which is a bigger problem for the league - and hockey fans as well.

Hockey is in the dumps for a variety of reasons, and NONE of them have to do with what Todd Bertuzzi did, or what his actions represented in the eyes of all those who detest fighting and hockey tough guys.

Hockey is in the professional sports basement because:

(a) The New York Rangers haven't made the playoffs in 7 years. They are the No. 1 market in the country and the decline in popularity of the NHL can be directly timed to the moment after the Rangers won the Stanley Cup. That year hockey was arguably as popular as basketball. Especially after the NY Rangers - NJ Devils Eastern Conference Finals, which was the most exciting playoff series I've ever seen. And I'm an Islanders fan.

(b) Gary Bettman is a pitiful Commissioner. He promotes hockey the way a 16-year old girl would promote a pimple. His biggest fan must be Bud Selig, because Bettman keeps him from being the professional sports laughingstock of commissioners.

(c) Players are bigger and stronger and faster and the rinks are still built for players from the 1920's.

(d) Players are mostly European and Canadian. Don't speak well. Can't sell products in America. Can't compete with the Derek Jeters, Shaqs, Brett Farves, ect. You can't sell a league's players when half of American can't pronounce the names of the top stars.

(e) Expansion killed the talent pool. There is no reason have so many NHL teams. There should be 24 teams and that's it. Get rid of the two Florida teams. Get rid of Carolina. Get rid of any city that can't draw crowds. With the talent coming in from overseas the NHL would be well served to divide that talent up among less teams instead of spreading its tentacles across America and into the South.

Those are the problems with hockey. It'll never be football. It'll never be baseball. But it's a great sport and rough play and fighting and dirty stuff only add to the color of the game. It's what makes it unique (other than the fact that it's played on ice).

[SmileyBoy]

1. Problem (f): The NHL abandoned Winnipeg.

Check out this site: http://www.jetsowner.com and read it carefully. It talks about once the new CBA comes into place, that the Winnipeg Jets WILL BE BACK.

I've boycotted the NHL since 1996 when the jets left, and I will continue to do so until the reborn Jets franchise plays again in the new state-of-the-art 15,015-set MTS centre in Downtown Winnipeg.

This avatar will remain with me until the opening night of the Jets' re-naugural season.

[Shrek]

2. I can't agree about the violence and fighting

I love college and Olympic hockey but the NHL leaves me cold. I like skating and passing and clean hitting, but the dirty play and constant need for retaliation just turns me off completely.

Plus they need cheerleaders.

[camero]

3. Hahaha

Get rid of the Florida teams right when the Lightening are in contention for the President's Trophy.

Bettman is the problem in my opinion.

[Sandpiper]

4. Make the NHL game

More like the international game, which is far more fluid, fast paced, and enjoyable to watch.

Also, get rid of the goons whose only skill is with their fists. Until the League actually comes down hard on the thuggery, the NHL will always be looked at as the WWF of professional sports.

[youngred]

5. Bettman is a schmuck no doubt about it

and I wish there was a way around the potential strike, but I don't see it happening which will mean the death of the NHL.

I agree that expansion has deluded the talent pool, but so has team buying. Look at the all-star lineup put up every night by the Avs, Wings, Canucks, Leafs, Sens, and Rangers (even though they suck ass). There is plenty of talent to go around in the league, it's just been concentrated in a few cities. Further, the Canadian dollar can't compare to the American one, so players in Canada have to be paid 30% more, which is hard on any team. The owners and players need to take a paycut post-haste.

They need to make the rinks a little bigger (yes even at the expense of a few tickets), call obstruction more, maybe open the goalmouth (because Hockey still has a bum rap about low scoring even though most games are usually several goal affairs), get rid of the g-d red line and FIRE GARY BETTMAN AS A DISGRACE TO COMMISIONERS.

I disagree with your assessment that a better Rangers team alone would help the game. They try to be the yankees and spend spend spend on over-priced mis-matched free agents creating what would be a great team on paper, but that never seems to do well on the ice. Look where the hockey is the strongest and best. Minneapolis, Detroit, Denver. All decent cities, but not strong enough to create big market revenues. Lastly, SEND TEAMS BACK TO CANADA. Particularly Winnepeg and Quebec.

[MrSlayer]

6. I believe 8 teams should be eliminated.

Your point (e) is dead on. Inferior players make for inferior play. Teams with players who should still be in the AHL do much more clutching and grabbing and trapping and icing. The way you can hang on star players all the time to hold them takes away a lot of the skill in the game. It is particularly infuriating in the playoffs. I don't want to see Forsberg, Hossa, Yashin or Federov have to carry a no name on his back the whole game. If they scaled back the league to 22 teams or so we would see much better product. The game was at it's peak from the early 80's to the early 90's with 21 teams. You could actually draft yourself a great team like the Isles and Oilers did back then. They have to stop trying to make the NHL into the NBA or the NFL, it's just not going to happen and they stuck themselves with major league salaries. The ticket prices are so high only the Biff and Muffy crowd can attend on a regular basis and they are horrible fans. I liked it better as a niche sport, it was more like a family, more underground. And by trying to make it more "family" oriented they are ruining core parts of the game.