Ice Hockey: Lockout, what's going to happen?

With the Union and Management so far apart on issues, it's safe to say we will have a work stoppage this year. How will this affect hockey in North America? I see the Euro's going home for a year, nice vacation really, here this WHA. That's OK, hockey will still be played, players making WAY less than they did before, my question is, "should we support this?" The bottom line is they have been paying the players way too much for way too long, making the game too expensive for the regular fan. How do we as fans OF THE SPORT react to this? You know WE are the ones they are going to rely on to make this happen. No luxury boxes here. How do we respond?

hockey fans are between a rock and a hard place, it sounds more and more likely that there will not be a season this year, my advice would be to go with your heart and vote with your wallet, go see minor league hockey, or to my mind the most exciting of all good junior hockey....

Originally posted by toejam or to my mind the most exciting of all good junior hockey....

Junior hockey is incredible hockey. I support them completely. How will it be broadcast? This is an unusual situation. Could make for some incredible hockey. Canada will be OK, what about the rest of the world?

Originally posted by truenorth

Originally posted by toejam or to my mind the most exciting of all good junior hockey....

Junior hockey is incredible hockey. I support them completely. How will it be broadcast? This is an unusual situation. Could make for some incredible hockey. Canada will be OK, what about the rest of the world?

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don't know how it will or if it will be broadcast, i am lucky enough to have bothe the everett silvertips and the seattle thunderbirds within easy driving distance, resonable ticket prices and GREAT hockey to watch

I've got the Peterborough Petes. More players drafted than any other team.

I'm not a huge hockey fan, but i went to several Binghamton Senators games last season, and there are the Wilkes-Barre Penguins and the Elmira Jackels, all within an hour and a half.

But what will happen to Lord Stanley's Cup if there is no NHL?

Originally posted by Gibbs Baby!!!
I'm not a huge hockey fan, but i went to several Binghamton Senators games last season, and there are the Wilkes-Barre Penguins and the Elmira Jackels, all within an hour and a half.

But what will happen to Lord Stanley's Cup if there is no NHL?

It will go where it can be appreciated, CANADA. There's a space for it at the NHL hall of fame, right next to the loonie that was graced by the men and women NHLers.



[Edited on 7/21/04 by websurfer]

Originally posted by websurfer

Originally posted by Gibbs Baby!!!
I'm not a huge hockey fan, but i went to several Binghamton Senators games last season, and there are the Wilkes-Barre Penguins and the Elmira Jackels, all within an hour and a half.

But what will happen to Lord Stanley's Cup if there is no NHL?

It will go where it can be appreciated, CANADA. There's a space for it at the NHL hall of fame, right next to the loonie that was graced by the men and women NHLers.



[Edited on 7/21/04 by websurfer]

Yeah, but isnt' that trophy meant to travel the world? That seems kinda sacraligious to me.

The NHL will take a severe blow if there is a lockout.

There will be several teams who could possibly not even survive if they dont start the season. There are alot of teams with financial difficulty already not to mention if there arent fans coming to their building. They've already mentioned teams like Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Calgary possibly being forced to fold.

Another huge thing is if a lockout does happen, the owners and the league cant expect for things just to return to normal, there will be MANY fans who will refuse to go to games and buy merchandise and attendance will no doubt be affected, hence less income for teams. Baseball went through this back in '94 I think it was. It took them a long time to win their fans back, and like it or not, baseball is 5 times more popular than hockey, at least here in the US. MLB didnt really get attendance back to where it was pre-strike until the Sosa-McGwire season in '98, four years later.

Hockey has been getting more and more popular every year and I just hate to think what a HUGE step backwards step this will be for this sport. I've been a die-hard Flyers fan since the '70's so I've always had alot of passion for the sport and I like the direction it has been heading with alot of great new players and so many exciting games. And with this growth, now we get like 5 or 6 games a week on ESPN or ESPN2 as well as all my local Flyers games. This is really bad timing for the NHL.

I guess we just have to hope that the people involved realize the consequences and really put their little heads together and come up with something and soon. I realized the seriousness when a friend of mine who broadcasts Flyers games on the radio was laid off and it was highly suggested to him to look for work. He was promised his job if and when games resumed, but who knows when that will be.

I may be totally off base with this idea. Just hear me out.
A few weeks ago I read in the Toronto sun that the Stanley cup actually is under contract to the NHL. However, if the NHL does not or is unable to compete for the prize then it goes to the next best league in North America. If somebody could find this information I would be eternally grateful. I had the article but it went out in the trash and i'm kicking myself. The sun reporter suggested it go to the CHL or the AHL. My idea, cooky as it may be, would be to contact all the league champs from all the mens leagues across North America. Then have them compete against each other in a best of five or seven game series till theres only one team left, and theres your Stanley Cup champion. Just for one year. Crazy or no?

The only problem I see with this is that pros will be playing amatures, and we know what that's like having our Juniors playing the Soviet Red Army. How about bringing the pro league champs together, you know, ECHL, AHL, etc to determine the Cup champ?

You could make them submit a roster of the players they had on their team last year. Maybe they could take some other players from the league they were in.

Originally posted by Karlsberg
You could make them submit a roster of the players they had on their team last year. Maybe they could take some other players from the league they were in.

Could you walk me through this? I'm only on my 3rd beer but it is 10%, didn't quite follow. Who could submit their roster?

The mens league champs. So pros couldn't sneak onto their rosters.

So the S.C. champ would be an amature team? Never happen. Maybe a hundred years ago, couldn't handle the stigma today.

We all have seen how the pros are acting in the face of a season without hockey. I think watching a bunch of 25-50 something nobody's compete for something they thought they would never get a chance to compete for would be great. I know tons of Canadians who dreamt of winning the cup and only a select few ever do. Its only a game they are playing, but it should be more of an honour. Asking beer league guys if they wanted a chance, I bet they'd all say yes.

Originally posted by Karlsberg Asking beer league guys if they wanted a chance, I bet they'd all say yes.

Sure they would but this would be the only point that the league AND the NHLPA would agree on. Lawyers would crush it. Sorry to be so long, had to make supper.

If the league doesn't compete, then they can't say anything at all, never mind the players. The cup belongs to Canadians. The way I understood the article, by not competing they're forfeiting there rights. Kind of like a lease of sorts. If you take your car for repairs to an unqualified mechanic you can void your warranty.