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[Willco]

... To tell you the truth, I didn't even think the numbers would be that high.

 

[Drensch]

To be fair, 60 million some Americans also voted for Bush.

 

[Willco]

To be fair, 60 million some Americans also voted for Bush.

It was still almost 50/50. Bush didn't win by no 73%!

 

[theo]

sadly, espn has been drawing twice the ratings with filler program than they had last year showing hockey (from 0.2 to 0.4)

 

[kumanoki]

% of fatasses taking the poll

100%

Thanks, Burger King.

 

[Mike Works]

Willco, HOCKEY HAS A MESSAGE FOR YOU...

We've known this for years, so this thread is pretty pointless. And if you make one more thread with a fuckload of caps, we'll convince Gary Bettman to take over for Selig once the guy croaks. That, or I'll take away new thread posting priveledges for you, but I think we know which is worse.

 

[Boogie]

America doesn't deserve hockey anyway

 

[Willco]

Willco, HOCKEY HAS A MESSAGE FOR YOU...

We've known this for years, so this thread is pretty pointless. And if you make one more thread with a fuckload of caps, we'll convince Gary Bettman to take over for Selig once the guy croaks. That, or I'll take away new thread posting priveledges for you, but I think we know which is worse.

So bitter. If the NHL ever comes back the topic will say:

"nhl hockey came back okay"

... I can promise you that!

It's also funny that most Americans think the NHL owners are right about this whole thing.

 

[MC Safety]

Hockey lost all its appeal when the Islanders rejected the Gorton's fisherman and returned to their original jerseys.

 

[Mike Works]

So bitter. If the NHL ever comes back the topic will say:

"nhl hockey came back okay"

... I can promise you that!

If the NHL comes back, I'm fairly certain you won't be the first on the forum to hear and post about it

It's also funny that most Americans think the NHL owners are right about this whole thing.

How's that funny?

 

[calder]

I imagine by "funny" he meant "pretty universal".

 

[kumanoki]

It's also funny that most Americans think the NHL owners are right about this whole thing.

Is that 'ha ha' funny, or 'Willco is a biscuit away from getting banned' funny?

 

[Willco]

How's that funny?

If you've followed the history of American player's unions and professional sports ownerships, it's pretty much common that the player's union almost always has the upper hand in the PR war in declaring the owners of various sports programs as greedy bastards who care about revenue and nothing else.

Except for the '94 baseball strike where Americans got fed up on both sides.

It's rare to see the majority of the public think that ownership is doing the right thing.

 

[Mike Works]

If you've followed the history of American player's unions and professional sports ownerships, it's pretty much common that the player's union almost always has the upper hand in the PR war in declaring the owners of various sports programs as greedy bastards who care about revenue and nothing else.

Except for the '94 baseball strike where Americans got fed up on both sides.

It's rare to see the majority of the public think that ownership is doing the right thing.

But the thing is the majority of Canadians are on the owner's side on this too. As previously mentioned, it's a universal opinion. The fact that Americans share it doesn't really have anything to say about... anything.

 

[android]

ownership is doing the right thing

The ownership is doing the right thing. I think that poll proves as much. The NHL will never be able to support future let alone current salaries.

 

[FightyF]

It's also funny that most Americans think the NHL owners are right about this whole thing.

I think he just made this comment to show us that not ALL Americans are stupid.

 

[Willco]

But the thing is the majority of Canadians are on the owner's side on this too. As previously mentioned, it's a universal opinion. The fact that Americans share it doesn't really have anything to say about... anything.

Canadians aren't Americans and vice-versa. They're easily swayed by persuasive talking heads. I'm glad both countries see it this particular way, but I find it humorous, because the popular opinion goes against almost all history with professional sports in the states.

 

[Mike Works]

Canadians aren't Americans and vice-versa. They're easily swayed by persuasive talking heads. I'm glad both countries see it this particular way, but I find it humorous, because the popular opinion goes against almost all history with professional sports in the states.

Both sides have tried using PR, but the problem is lies in three things:

1) Americans in general don't care in the first place when it comes to who is wrong because it's hockey.

2) Those who do care are either casuals too uninformed to even understand the situation or know enough about hockey to see that there's no way the players are in the right. This doesn't mean they think the owners are in the right, but I find it difficult to believe anyone would consider what the players want to be reasonable. I think a lot of people feel the players have been more open to negotiation in the whole process, but they're also standing on the shakier ground in almost every facet.

3) For those who are susceptable to be persuaded by the talking heads in the first place, as I mentioned earlier, there's really no room for persuasion anyway. Granted, the NHL owners/union have their PR working the same amount too, but when your position is, "You've been paying us more money than we deserve for the past decade because you're idiots and we don't want that to change", no matter how good your PR is...

The owners are saying, "We've been taken advantage of by this mean marketplace and these mean old players (because we're fucking idiots that can't control our money), and now we want to make it right (until we find a way to fuck it up again)."

As Americans have proven of late, they prefer the bumbling idiots who falsely present an apparently honest case to the opposite.

 

[God's Hand]

I miss hockey. I finally moved to a city with a hockey team and I can't even go to a game. Sucks.

 

[theo]

AND I HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOU!

BRASS BONANZA!!!!

i miss hockey

 

[fallout]

I heard this on the radio sometime back. They recently took a poll and apparently most Canadians don't even care if the NHL comes back this season. As far as a lot of us are concerned, it's a lost cause.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

I heard this on the radio sometime back. They recently took a poll and apparently most Canadians don't even care if the NHL comes back this season. As far as a lot of us are concerned, it's a lost cause.

This has to be wrong.

Americans are fucked up.... i mean really Baseball is the national sport? fucking fat Ass babe ruth is in the hall of fame and David Wells is an allstar. What kind of sport is that?

Hockey is a fucking real sport.

 

[Alucard]

I miss hockey but am pissed at the league. I'll watch with mild interest for the first little while when it does finally return. It's going to take a while for this wound to heal.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

It's time to break out the table hockey.

 

[fallout]

This has to be wrong.

I swear, I'm not making it up. And really, think about it, are we as Canadians really that passionate about hockey? My roommates would watch it if it was on, but don't miss it really that much. Only one of the three has a favourite team. Not that my roommates consitute a scientific grouping of data, but I've always had this impression that the majority are a lot more casual about the game when it comes to the NHL (unless something big is happening).

Now, nationally, that's different. If someone said that they were cancelling Olympic hockey, there might be an outcry, heh.

 

[Kabuki Waq]

Maybe the new generation is too much into their bling to care about the greatest sport on the planet


also Jaques Lemaire didnt help.

I think alot has to do with us fans being to bitter but once hockey starts again and our favourite teams start playing against each other i think things will go back to normal. Atleast in Toronto.

 

[Fei]

The poll, sadly, is pretty expected. The lockout really sucks for the fans. I live in Buffalo, which loves the Sabres, and I am utterly surprised at how people really don't seem to mind the lack of hockey.

 

[Alucard]

It would be the same deal if any of the major sports was cancelled though. Don't you think that if over half the NFL season was over and a lockout was looming, people wouldn't care as much as they would when the lockout first began?

I'm mostly pissed because my Penguins are losing a year to develop the talents of Ric Jackman, Lasse Pirjeta, Konstantin Koltsov, Ryan Malone, Jon Sim, and I think that Aleksey Morozov is about ready to come into his own and become a regular 30 goal scorer. He's out in Europe for the year though.

 

[Mike Works]

I swear, I'm not making it up. And really, think about it, are we as Canadians really that passionate about hockey?

Wow.

10 bucks says that poll either interviewed a very small amount of Canadians or was worded like:

"How do you feel about the current lockout situation"

1) It's necessary
2) I don't even care anymore

You've got to be fucking joking, or pretending to be Canadian for some absurd reason. Saying there'd be an outcry if there was no Olympic hockey but Canadians don't care if there's no NHL is one of the dumbest, most ignorant things I've heard on this whole issue, excluding anything that's come out of Bettman or Goodenow's mouth.

 

[Joe]

Hockey lost all its appeal when the Islanders rejected the Gorton's fisherman and returned to their original jerseys.

oh god why did you have to remind me of those jerseys. thank god they switched back.

It's time to break out the table hockey.

man that thing owned. had so much fun with that back in the day.

 

[SickBoy]

A lot of Canadians are pissed, hence poor polling numbers (also, a lot of reported poll results tend to be of the non-scientific "poll on a website sorts"). But I think even in a scientific poll, the numbers would be pretty poor. There are people there who are bitter, say they'll never watch the game again, and they'll be back on it like crackwhores after three weeks.

But I do think interest has faded in Canada to a degree. Because I think once you get the game played again, people are aware that there are other problems besides where team revenue's going...

 

[Socreges]

Haha, just on seeing the thread title, I knew it was by Willco. Not sure if it was the use of capslock (there ARE lower-case letters, which would usually indicate someone less sensationalist) or who would be most likely to post something about America and hockey.

Anyway, it's seems about right. In fact, I bet it's not far off in Canada. Most people have just lost interest and/or would almost rather not have a season begin this late.

 

[calder]

The only reason I'd want them to start a season this late is simply because if they don't settle this year there won't be any incentive for either side to start negotiating again until next December and we'll have to put up with this shit all over again.

I'm sure that poll is right, there are plenty of Canadians who don't give a rats ass about hockey and combine them with all the hockey fans who think it's way too late to have a meaningful regular season (I'd be one of them) or those embittered ones who will take time to come back around and I have no trouble believing that poll.

 

[Nerevar]

This has to be wrong.

Americans are fucked up.... i mean really Baseball is the national sport? fucking fat Ass babe ruth is in the hall of fame and David Wells is an allstar. What kind of sport is that?

Hockey is a fucking real sport.

here comes the trolls ....

and for the record, baseball sits third in national tv share in America (behind football and ... nascar ....), so calling it "America's game" is pretty outdated. In fact, a godo 50% (at least) of young baseball talent is coming from South / Central America.

 

[Thaedolus]

This has to be wrong.

Americans are fucked up.... i mean really Baseball is the national sport? fucking fat Ass babe ruth is in the hall of fame and David Wells is an allstar. What kind of sport is that?

Hockey is a fucking real sport.

Oh no you di-int!

I'd like to see you hit a 90+ MPH fastball. If you can even see it.

Baseball is a lot more interesting than your standard "Here's a goal, there's a goal, put the ball/puck/whatever in the other goal" type of sport. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate hockey for what it is. I'm shedding no tears for the lack of a season this year, but I recognize it's a pretty hardcore sport. But don't go dissin the greatest sport ever to somehow reassert your view of hockey.

 

[sefskillz]

This poll is skewed, obviously hockey fans wouldn't be checking espn.com for polls when there's no hockey being played!

 

[SickBoy]

Oh no you di-int!

I'd like to see you hit a 90+ MPH fastball. If you can even see it.

Baseball is a lot more interesting than your standard "Here's a goal, there's a goal, put the ball/puck/whatever in the other goal" type of sport. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate hockey for what it is. I'm shedding no tears for the lack of a season this year, but I recognize it's a pretty hardcore sport. But don't go dissin the greatest sport ever to somehow reassert your view of hockey.

I believe you meant to say "greatest pasttime ever."

 

[theo]

interesting fact:
the last year the stanley cup wasn't awarded was 1919...a year in which the red sox were fresh off a world series championship.

 

[bishoptl]

My disdain for any 'sport' that holds up David Wells, Kirby Puckett, or Moe "I Store Gravy In My Leg" Vaughn as stars knows no bounds.

That said, the NHL can kill the entire season and I won't care - if that's what it takes to restore fiscal sanity. They'll also be in a more receptive mood to changing some aspects of the game to make it more entertaining. I'd hope that more teams would want to emulate the run 'n gun style of the Lightning - hell, it got them a championship - but as long as we continue to suffer the fallout from the Lemaire trapping-style, there's no reason for half the teams in the league to change. And that sucks.

Nuke Anaheim, Florida, Carolina and Buffalo for starters. Transfer at least one of those teams to a city that deserves it, like Winnipeg. Hell, I'd even support moving a team to KC - they have a rich tradition of minor-league hockey and they're chomping at the bit to get NBA and NHL tenants for their new stadium.

 

[SickBoy]

I think the season is done. I agree with bish, though. My biggest fear isn't losing the season, it's seeing a contract that sucks continue to suck the life out of the league.

I also think killing some franchises isn't a bad idea (and restoring a team to Winnipeg is a good one -- as well as exploring other possible Canadian markets). I do, however, take exception to the idea of icing the Sabres. Take Phoenix, Nashville or some other non-hockey city if you're going to pack someone up... the Sabres averaged 15000+ a game (with a crappy team) last year.

 

[bishoptl]

I'd support moving Nashville over Buffalo, sure. It appears the shine of "HOCKEH" has dulled somewhat in Tennessee over the past couple of years. Phoenix isn't going anywhere, though - not as long as Gretzky is involved with the team. Contract Atlanta too.

edit: Speaking of Atlanta, Dany Heatley's case has finally been resolved.

ATLANTA -- Atlanta Thrashers star Dany Heatley was sentenced Friday to three years of probation and must give 150 speeches about the dangers of speeding after pleading guilty in the death of teammate Dan Snyder in a car accident. In exchange for Heatley's plea, the only felony charge -- first-degree vehicular homicide -- was dropped, as was a charge of reckless driving.

"I'm sorry for what I did," Heatley said at the sentencing. "The mistake I made that night was speeding. This mistake will stay with me the rest of my life."

He pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular homicide, driving too fast for conditions, failure to maintain a lane and speeding in connection with the Sept. 29, 2003, car crash in Atlanta that killed his 25-year-old teammate. Snyder's father, Graham, and brother, Jake, both testified that they didn't want Heatley to go to jail or lose his hockey career. The judge took that into consideration.

"As a parent, it's hard to explain how you feel about losing your son. My pride in Dan was immeasurable," Graham Snyder said. "We will all miss him. So how do we move on from here? Forgiveness in our hearts has helped us move on. We forgive because Dany has shown remorse to his family."

"Dany has a burden that he will carry for the rest of his life," he added.

Jake Snyder said in a statement that Heatley was someone his brother counted on.

"I know he never intended for this to happen. I don't want to see my friend go to prison, I know Dan would feel the same way," Jake Snyder said.

I'm not sure how I feel about this, but the Snyder family has been steadfast in their desire not to have Heatley prosecuted for the death of their son....which is so amazingly selfless I find it hard to believe in this day and age. Wow.

 

[Gregory]

Hey, Canadians. What about this sport?

The world championships are going on now, I think Canada played a game today. I would think bandy would be the second best thing for you canadians, especially now.
Does Bandy get any coverage in Canada at all? Is there a bandy league btw ?

 

[Malakhov]

9+ hours meeting yesterday and they scheduled another meeting for today.
After like 4-5 hours today they get out, Goodenow says there was asbolutely no progress in the last few days, WHAT THE FUCK YOU MOTHERFUCKER?!

Man I'm pissed, I AM SO FUCKING pissed right now. My last once of hope just got shattered there.

 

[dem]

Bandy doesnt exist here as far as I know.

Anyway.. theres some uh.. Swedish Elite League games on tv sometimes. I watched one last night. Greg Millen is still the biggest dolt in the game. He must have called Bergeron "Bergevin" about 50 times before he corrected himself... and then went on saying "Bergevin" some more.

 

[Gregory]

Bandy doesnt exist here as far as I know.

Anyway.. theres some uh.. Swedish Elite League games on tv sometimes. I watched one last night. Greg Millen is still the biggest dolt in the game. He must have called Bergeron "Bergevin" about 50 times before he corrected himself... and then went on saying "Bergevin" some more.

Doesn`t exist? I found your national team right there it seems. Suprised it isn`t popular in Canada since it`s quite popular in Sweden, Finland and Russia especially. And because it`s so close to hockey.

 

[Fei]

Nuke Anaheim, Florida, Carolina and Buffalo for starters. Transfer at least one of those teams to a city that deserves it, like Winnipeg. Hell, I'd even support moving a team to KC - they have a rich tradition of minor-league hockey and they're chomping at the bit to get NBA and NHL tenants for their new stadium.

Whoa.. wait a minute here. You mention the Sabres before Columbus, Nashville, San Jose, or even Tampa Bay? At least in Buffalo there's plenty of tradition and a consistent fanbase. You might as well pluck another Canadien team while you're at it.

 

[theo]

I'm guessing their meetings will get them nowheres. Bettman has the upperhand. For christ sakes Goodenow needs to bail out of his sinking union and accept a cap already. The league will not start without a cap. Bettman has his hand on the trigger and is not afraid to cancel the season. He wants to cancel the season. It will get rid of the weak teams, and improve his product. The union is going to lose a lot of players when this is said and done.

 

[maharg]

Fuck the NHL. I want a Canadian league. Kill the CFL to make it happen if we have to, who the fuck cares about football.

 

[6.8]

HAHA BUT THE WASHINGTON EXPOS WILL SUCK WILLCO YOU KNOW IT

 

[Mike Works]

Yeah, Buffalo is a pretty awesome hockey market bish, especially given the support they've shown their basement team over the years.