NHL Still in Trouble?

[RJF]

I have, for several years, said the NHL does not belong in warm weather climates. Too many teams for the league to survive, and they need to eliminate the warm weather sites and go to Canada and Northern US cities. Now, the last three cup winners are from Southern California, Tampa Bay, and The Carolinas. That's not right.

I still say the league is in trouble, because not enough people care about it. ESPN would rather carry bowling than Hockey. Don't even think about Poker as a spectator sport. It just don't seem right to play Hockey in Tampa Bay. Am I wrong in thinking Hockey should be a Northern Sport?

[Shop Rat]

I stopped watching afther the lockout and rule changes. When I did turn on a game, it seemed like all the penalties were a big distraction. There were lots of 2 man advantages for small interferences even in the playoffs.

I might get flamed for this, but lately I came to the conclusion that the Gretzky phenomenon ruined pro hockey. Not the man, just the thinking of "Don't touch or interfere with the goal scorer, goals are what the fans came to see." "If we get rid of the red line, limit the goalies movements, and stop fighting, there will be more goals, too." Back in the 80's I would watch with my dad, the defense were really nasty. They would knock a good player down and smother him so he could not get up. Some forwards would make a career out of ticking off goalies and blocking their view. It was great.

Maybe it was the Russian finesse passing that changed the rules, too. That style is what the management wanted.

Konstantinov was fun to watch, there should be alot more defensemen with that style. ( Even though he is Russian, he was gritty, tough and made it clear that anything past the blue line was his.)

Still in trouble? I don't know.

My .02

[ckhanna]

I would rather see a good brawl over a goal anyday!!

[William H Bonney]

I stopped watching afther the lockout and rule changes. When I did turn on a game, it seemed like all the penalties were a big distraction. There were lots of 2 man advantages for small interferences even in the playoffs.

I might get flamed for this, but lately I came to the conclusion that the Gretzky phenomenon ruined pro hockey. Not the man, just the thinking of "Don't touch or interfere with the goal scorer, goals are what the fans came to see." "If we get rid of the red line, limit the goalies movements, and stop fighting, there will be more goals, too." Back in the 80's I would watch with my dad, the defense were really nasty. They would knock a good player down and smother him so he could not get up. Some forwards would make a career out of ticking off goalies and blocking their view. It was great.

Maybe it was the Russian finesse passing that changed the rules, too. That style is what the management wanted.

Konstantinov was fun to watch, there should be alot more defensemen with that style. ( Even though he is Russian, he was gritty, tough and made it clear that anything past the blue line was his.)

Still in trouble? I don't know.

My .02


I blame Gretzky too, but not for the reasons you pointed out. There was 1000 times more hooking, tripping, holding, interference when Gretzky was playing,, they just didn't call it then. All the BS rule changes came into play after he retired. I blame him for "broadening" hockey. If there weren't so many teams, there wouldn't be as many Europeans. Don't get me wrong,, I like a lot of Euro's,,, but 10 to 15 yrs. ago,, you mighta had 1 or 2 Euro's on your team,,, now at least half your team is Euro. The way the NHL is going is the way Europeans play the game. A fast paced, finesse game. When you look back at it,,,, no one before or after Gretzky is putting up numbers even remotely close to his,,,,,, even in this pansy league today. Don Cherry made a good point last night,,,,, Canadian teams make up 40 % of the revenue,, and there's only what,,,, 6 of them??? They need to dump Nashville, Tampa, Carolina, Florida and put a team or 2 back in Canada. Cherry mentioned Hamilton which seems like a good fit,, I say put a team back in Quebec.

Anyway,, you are right,, the NHL is in trouble,, at least with "old school" fans.:(

[ckhanna]

I think it's to late. You won't see Nashville or a few other teams dropped. Today's hockey isn't bad, they just really need to remove the gray area's in penalty calling. I actually like alot of the rule changes. It almost bugs me to go watch a UHL or even College Hockey game due to the slow pace. Just my 2 pennies

[William H Bonney]

I think it's to late. You won't see Nashville or a few other teams dropped. Today's hockey isn't bad, they just really need to remove the gray area's in penalty calling. I actually like alot of the rule changes. It almost bugs me to go watch a UHL or even College Hockey game due to the slow pace. Just my 2 pennies

I don't know about Nashville,,, I think the team was sold and the new owner was considering "relocating".

Again,, you're right,, it is too late. We might as well accept that the good ol' days are gone for ever. Good thing for the internet though,,, at least we still get to piss and moan about it.:lol:

[ckhanna]

That would shock the crap out of me is Nashville moved.:yikes:

[Brown duck]

I agree with RJF - the sport is marketed horribly. Before the lockout, ESPN would have a game or two a week, they'd cover it on SportsCenter, and they had the nightly NHL show (what was it called?) during the season. Then, we could at least find out what was happening in the league. Now, the games are carried only on VS and some of the local Fox sports networks (outside CBC) - VS sucks and I'm sorry to say that I don't live in a Wings market - I'm s.o.l. NBC didn't even carry the first couple games of the Finals! What's up with that? Then you go back to the whole hockey vs. horse pregame fisaco and you find more problems. Any of you watch Around the Horn on ESPN in the afternoon? It's become a running joke that they don't even mention hockey anymore. Maybe they will today, but I'm not holding my breath.

Apparently its more profitable to carry a weekly Arena Football League Game along with a MLS game or two. Before you know it, the Stanley Cup will be melted down and made into rims for some cornerback's Hummer.

[MEL]

I still say the league is in trouble, because not enough people care about it. ESPN would rather carry bowling than Hockey. Don't even think about Poker as a spectator sport. It just don't seem right to play Hockey in Tampa Bay. Am I wrong in thinking Hockey should be a Northern Sport?

i used to go to about 10 games per year at the Joe. After the Lockout hockey just didnt matter to me. Watched a few minutes of Wings game on TV but its now about as exciting as soccer. Cant even find anyother team to watch on TV. If it was drawing the TV rating it should ESPN or some channel would be putting the games on. Was watching channel 7, wxyz news after the Stanley Cup was done and it was the 3rd reported story.
Right after a Tigers story and Pistons story. Win the Cup and its the 3rd story in Hockey Town!!!!
Checked into playoff tickets and the prices were so freakin high i said screw this. I think hockey as we know it is dying a slow death. They are holding a knive to their own throats.

[William H Bonney]

i used to go to about 10 games per year at the Joe. After the Lockout hockey just didnt matter to me. Watched a few minutes of Wings game on TV but its now about as exciting as soccer. Cant even find anyother team to watch on TV. If it was drawing the TV rating it should ESPN or some channel would be putting the games on. Was watching channel 7, wxyz news after the Stanley Cup was done and it was the 3rd reported story.
Right after a Tigers story and Pistons story. Win the Cup and its the 3rd story in Hockey Town!!!!
Checked into playoff tickets and the prices were so freakin high i said screw this. I think hockey as we know it is dying a slow death. They are holding a knive to their own throats.


ESPN was just scared,, after the lockout and rightly so. They weren't gonna shell out big bucks "hoping" fans would still be fans. With the likes of Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Stahl,,,, etc. ESPN will be back sooner or later.

[Chris@hydeboats.com]

It doesn't look like many people care:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/6898726?MSNHPHMA

The NHL needs to go back to its roots to build its fan base. They are trying to reinvent the wheel when they needs to go back in time. Hull had some great points in the intermission with Cherry.

Outlaw large shoulder and elbow pads= less concussions from impact with overly big pads.

No shields unless you have suffered a severe eye injury.

Make goalies wear reasonable pads= more goals

and for god's sake leave fighting in the game. It is part of the game and should remain that way. Watching two guys drop the mits, throw a few hammers, and skate to the box with a grin is a big part of hockey.

[duckjunky]

Hey guys refresh my memory, Did ESPN boot The NHL or did the NHL leave ESPN??? I also miss the old days of two or three NHL games a week on ESPN. Thanks for your help
duckjunky

[Nimrod1]

The tv rights contract was up. Versus, had big plans of becoming a major competitor to ESPN, so they out bid to get the rights. Good for VS, bad for hockey and it's fans.

[redwingsdude]

You guys are either really overblowing things, or you just ignored all these things for years. Anaheim winning finally pushed you guys over the edge? Sounds like you're a bit bitter. Sunbelt teams are not the problem, and what would you have the league do, contract the size of the league so that only Northerners can enjoy it? :rolleyes: That's a bit ridiculous.

Nashville will be moved, likely to Canada, sometime after next season.

No need for fighting to go, Cherry is an idiot and thinks that everyone is against it because he needs the angle to shout his opinions. I don't know anyone who won't let their kids watch/play hockey because of a fight once per game. Though he is right about the instigator, that needs to go ASAP.

Cutting the size of goalie pads another inch isn't going to make it the 80's again, goalies are just too good. It might get us an extra .5 goals per game, but when do you stop restricting them? 9 inch goalie pads?

ESPN was scared, and they're damn right to be so. Ratings for the NHL were abysmal this season, would you pay big bucks to the league so that 500,000 people across the entire country would watch? I sure wouldn't.

Hull is an idiot for wanting to ban visors. Others are calling for every single player to wear one while he wants to outlaw them, they're protective equipment! Hey Hully, there are guys out there who backcheck and go for loose pucks instead of floating around waiting for the puck! If they want to protect them from injury, you're going to tell them "no"?

[Shop Rat]

You guys are either really overblowing things, or you just ignored all these things for years. Anaheim winning finally pushed you guys over the edge? Sounds like you're a bit bitter. "?

I am not bitter. I stopped watching about 4 years ago. Just tonight on Fox News there was a banner at the bottom that showed that the NHL had the worst ratings ever. That was after my original post.

A few years ago, the big deal was that 2/3 of the teams were losing money. The Penguins were going broke. Something had to be done. Get more fans, cut the pay rate, MORE GOALS.

redwingsdude, not to offend you, but something is very wrong with the NHL when they have the worst ratings ever. From what I saw on t.v., the Red Wings did not even sell out any playoff games. ( Michigans poor economy has something to do with it. My bil did not buy the playoff tickets for the first time in 15 years )

[William H Bonney]

I am not bitter. I stopped watching about 4 years ago. Just tonight on Fox News there was a banner at the bottom that showed that the NHL had the worst ratings ever. That was after my original post.

)

:SHOCKED: Worse than TB/Calgary and Carolina/Edmonton??? That's really scary. I'm wondering if Versus is having a direct affect on this?

Ya know what would really boost ratings is if they had some kind of "blue, circle" on the TV screen around the puck and a long red streak of flames trailing the puck after they shoot it. :tdo12: ,,,,,,:cwm27:

[English]

How can the ratings be good? Half the people in the US can't even get the games on TV. Heck the radio coverage has changed so much I can't even get the games on the radio! I used to listen to the game and surf the web but I not anymore. I think the problem with the coverage/ratings is that they have went with the "big" satellite thingy when they should have been staying put!

There's my rant for the day.

Mike

[redwingsdude]

I am not bitter.

redwingsdude, not to offend you, but something is very wrong with the NHL when they have the worst ratings ever. From what I saw on t.v., the Red Wings did not even sell out any playoff games. ( Michigans poor economy has something to do with it. My bil did not buy the playoff tickets for the first time in 15 years )

No doubt there's something wrong, read my post again, I'd agree with you. But what I'm saying is that these problems have beent there for a while, and people are only now bringing it up AFTER the Wings get knocked out. Big pads, losing money, and lack of fighting are not exactly RECENT developments.

[Chris@hydeboats.com]

You guys are either really overblowing things, or you just ignored all these things for years. Anaheim winning finally pushed you guys over the edge? Sounds like you're a bit bitter. Sunbelt teams are not the problem, and what would you have the league do, contract the size of the league so that only Northerners can enjoy it? :rolleyes: That's a bit ridiculous.

Nashville will be moved, likely to Canada, sometime after next season.

No need for fighting to go, Cherry is an idiot and thinks that everyone is against it because he needs the angle to shout his opinions. I don't know anyone who won't let their kids watch/play hockey because of a fight once per game. Though he is right about the instigator, that needs to go ASAP.

Cutting the size of goalie pads another inch isn't going to make it the 80's again, goalies are just too good. It might get us an extra .5 goals per game, but when do you stop restricting them? 9 inch goalie pads?

ESPN was scared, and they're damn right to be so. Ratings for the NHL were abysmal this season, would you pay big bucks to the league so that 500,000 people across the entire country would watch? I sure wouldn't.

Hull is an idiot for wanting to ban visors. Others are calling for every single player to wear one while he wants to outlaw them, they're protective equipment! Hey Hully, there are guys out there who backcheck and go for loose pucks instead of floating around waiting for the puck! If they want to protect them from injury, you're going to tell them "no"?

There is a strong push to eliminate fighting from the NHL. The people involved in the NHL think that it is a possibility. Cherry is a piece of work, but he's not an idiot. Cherry doesn't need things to talk about. I am sure he'll find something.

The goalie pads are double the size they were 20 years ago. It does help them stop pucks. Goalies haven't become that much better. Larger gear helps.

Remember the guys that played without helmets. They had respect for one another to keep the sticks down and not take head shots. Thats Hull's point.

I have no problem with the cup being in Anaheim. I am a bit jealous beacause a former teammate of mine hoisted the cup, but other than that I'm alright. I just don't like seeing things changed that hurt the integrity of the sport.

[William H Bonney]

There is a strong push to eliminate fighting from the NHL. The people involved in the NHL think that it is a possibility. Cherry is a piece of work, but he's not an idiot. Cherry doesn't need things to talk about. I am sure he'll find something.

The goalie pads are double the size they were 20 years ago. It does help them stop pucks. Goalies haven't become that much better. Larger gear helps.

Remember the guys that played without helmets. They had respect for one another to keep the sticks down and not take head shots. Thats Hull's point.

I have no problem with the cup being in Anaheim. I am a bit jealous beacause a former teammate of mine hoisted the cup, but other than that I'm alright. I just don't like seeing things changed that hurt the integrity of the sport.


Good post.

[Itchin' to go]

: Ya know what would really boost ratings is if they had some kind of "blue, circle" on the TV screen around the puck and a long red streak of flames trailing the puck after they shoot it.

Please never speak them words again.:lol: I think what really helps is putting some blonde girl in the middle of the bench so I can hear a coach make same boring cookie cutter statement he's made for the last 10 yrs., Or the shift tracker so I know that Hank is on the ice.

Ryan

[cadillacjethro]

The more they try to fix the game, the more they screw it up. You can't please all the people all the time. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Two lessons NHL leadership should have learned awhile ago. My .02

[JDubya]

The two main reasons why goals will not be scored again like the 80's. 1. The goalies today are much more athletic and just plan better then years gone by. 2. The Dmen are also much better in todays game. This equals less shots on net, less scoring chances, and goalies making more saves when the puck does get there.

Chris, that was great having two CCHA (Ferris and Michigan State) guys winning the Cup although I don't know if Miller will qualify for a ring.