2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

[GreatLakerMohawk]

Continue.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

Obligatory "Bettman Sucks!" post to get this thread off to a proper start.

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

Obligatory "Bettman Sucks!" post to get this thread off to a proper start.

Especially since he is talking about not having NHL players in Sochi. I hope he realizes that people are talking about hockey due to the Olympics. Wise up and commit to it.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

Especially since he is talking about not having NHL players in Sochi. I hope he realizes that people are talking about hockey due to the Olympics. Wise up and commit to it.

Oh, no, he can't tip his hand. It might prevent him from expanding to Mexico.

[walrus]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

After watching last nights game, the NHL is going to be a let down, isn't it?

[GreatLakerMohawk]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

After watching last nights game, the NHL is going to be a let down, isn't it?

I think regardless of your rooting interests, yes it could be.

Maybe the NHL will allow two teams no one cares about to make the Finals again like they did in 2006 to make it easier to be let down.

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

Oh, no, he can't tip his hand. It might prevent him from expanding to Mexico.

To follow up your point, Mexico did try to qualify for the ice hockey tournament.

Mexico Tries to Qualify for Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

Maybe the NHL will allow two teams no one cares about to make the Finals again like they did in 2006 to make it easier to be let down.

But, but...Edmonton/Canada is HOCKEY CRAZY!!!

[bigblue_dl]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

To follow up your point, Mexico did try to qualify for the ice hockey tournament.

Mexico Tries to Qualify for Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament

And they kicked the crap out of Turkey!

[bronconick]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

You guys realize that Sochi is 8 friggin' hours ahead of the Eastern time zone, right? By 2014, we'll be getting video updates on our fingernails telling us Olympic scores. The Russians want to go home and play. I understand that. The Euros will like it because the games will be on at 10am/1pm/4pm or so.

America? Yeah. Based on this year's schedule, the late game will be starting at 4pm. Early games? 7am and 11am. In Minnesota? 6/10/3. Out west? 4am.

The 2014 Olympics are utterly worthless to the NHL. No one remembers jack squat from Torino or Nagano because the games were on at ****ty times, not just because the Americans and Canadians blew goat balls. Why you guys are expecting Bettman and the owners to bend over and take it in the *** on this is confusing to me, aside from the entertainment value of that venture.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

You guys realize that Sochi is 8 friggin' hours ahead of the Eastern time zone, right? By 2014, we'll be getting video updates on our fingernails telling us Olympic scores. The Russians want to go home and play. I understand that. The Euros will like it because the games will be on at 10am/1pm/4pm or so.

America? Yeah. Based on this year's schedule, the late game will be starting at 4pm. Early games? 7am and 11am. In Minnesota? 6/10/3. Out west? 4am.

The 2014 Olympics are utterly worthless to the NHL. No one remembers jack squat from Torino or Nagano because the games were on at ****ty times, not just because the Americans and Canadians blew goat balls. Why you guys are expecting Bettman and the owners to bend over and take it in the *** on this is confusing to me, aside from the entertainment value of that venture.

How exactly are they losing money? I didn't see them take games off the 82 game schedule.

[OvahInDovah]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

Placemarker for new thread only.

[bronconick]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

How exactly are they losing money? I didn't see them take games off the 82 game schedule.

They lose money because they used to run the Canada Cup/World Cup of Hockey and take all the ticket money and cfrom that and put it in their pocket. Now, the IOC and IIHF takes all the ticket money because the players want to be in the Olympics.

That doesn't count the fact that there are a finite amount of arena events to fill in the two weeks that 29 or 30 arenas sit dormant.

Now that I've answered your question, you can explain to me why the owners would voluntarily agree with no strings or profit attached to sending their meal tickets across the globe to play games on MSNBC or whatever cable network they get shoved on by whoever buys the 2014 and on games at 6 in the morning. You'd call it utterly stupid if they had the Swedish/Czech NHL games next year on at 7am Eastern, so why is it genius and a chance to "show off" the game if we put flags on them?

All that said, I expect that they'll be in Russia in 4 years. But it'll cost the players a year of free agency or something, because it's not in the NHL's best interest.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

They lose money because they used to run the Canada Cup/World Cup of Hockey and take all the ticket money and cfrom that and put it in their pocket. Now, the IOC and IIHF takes all the ticket money because the players want to be in the Olympics.

That doesn't count the fact that there are a finite amount of arena events to fill in the two weeks that 29 or 30 arenas sit dormant.

Now that I've answered your question, you can explain to me why the owners would voluntarily agree with no strings or profit attached to sending their meal tickets across the globe to play games on MSNBC or whatever cable network they get shoved on by whoever buys the 2014 and on games at 6 in the morning. You'd call it utterly stupid if they had the Swedish/Czech NHL games next year on at 7am Eastern, so why is it genius and a chance to "show off" the game if we put flags on them?

All that said, I expect that they'll be in Russia in 4 years. But it'll cost the players a year of free agency or something, because it's not in the NHL's best interest.

You sound a little bitter and anti-Olympics and pro-NHL-Betteman-Owners. Hockey is an international sport. This event brings pride and good will to all the nations that supply America/Canada with their talented players to play hockey. I've got to imagine the PR of allowing Ovechkin and Crosby to play for their country in the Olympics has got to be worth more than having their arena dormant for a couple of days (book a concert or two?).

I fail to see how this isn't in the NHL's best interest. Course the NHL under current management thinks that hockey is an American sport even though all their talent comes from somewhere else.

Probably like most things just a lot of whiny billionaires.

[GreatLakerMohawk]

Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Part 3: After The Gold Rush

I do wonder if the NHL owners are still harboring bad feelings over the 1998 Olympics in Japan, although I would've thought that would've been taken care of in the Labor wars of 2004.

Obviously the time aspect throws things off, but picking and choosing which games to have the NHL participate in seems awfully petty. Sometimes the benefits of the sacrifice outweigh the issues.