GreatLakerMohawk
Mushroom Cloud-Laying Mofo
Re: 2009-2010 NHL Season Thread 2: Its all going up in flames!
Any interview with Herr Bettman about whether 2014 will have NHLers now is fruitless. The players, especially the Russians, are going to be very powerful Players Association opponents come 2012 and CBA renegotiation. Alex Ovechkin has already been saying a lot of things that make it sound like he'll be a strong voice within the NHLPA and none of those have anything to do with future Olympics. Hopefully the NHLPA can get out of their own way to put the squeeze on these moron owners.
My position on this is, if the league thinks a masturbatory All Star Weekend helps sell the NHL and the game of hockey better than the Olympics, they're out of their friggin mind. Sacrificing an all-star game every four years is OK when you've got the biggest stage in the world to show the games to.
Of course, it also helps to have a broadcast partner involved that wants to help you out/help itself by showing hockey in the best light possible. The Olympics aside, NBC has been a God-awful media partner to the NHL and while part of that is because the NHL had to "give in" a bit after the lockout, examining other routes to go for network coverage (be it Fox or CBS) should be a priority for the league. If you're going to stick with NBC, they'd better make sure they're actually getting something out of it.
Any interview with Herr Bettman about whether 2014 will have NHLers now is fruitless. The players, especially the Russians, are going to be very powerful Players Association opponents come 2012 and CBA renegotiation. Alex Ovechkin has already been saying a lot of things that make it sound like he'll be a strong voice within the NHLPA and none of those have anything to do with future Olympics. Hopefully the NHLPA can get out of their own way to put the squeeze on these moron owners.
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I don't blame him and the owners for being less than enthused about the Olympics. You shut down for two weeks, probably 3 if you go in 2014, your games are shown on cable channels that are right around where VS is anyway, or on tape delay to half the country, risking injuries to their star players, you make no money, in fact, by doing the Olympics instead of the World Cup of Hockey they used to have, they're losing money and handing it to the IOC and IIHF.
I think they'll still end up going, but there's a reason why the players will have to negotiate for it instead of getting it for free from the owners.
My position on this is, if the league thinks a masturbatory All Star Weekend helps sell the NHL and the game of hockey better than the Olympics, they're out of their friggin mind. Sacrificing an all-star game every four years is OK when you've got the biggest stage in the world to show the games to.
Of course, it also helps to have a broadcast partner involved that wants to help you out/help itself by showing hockey in the best light possible. The Olympics aside, NBC has been a God-awful media partner to the NHL and while part of that is because the NHL had to "give in" a bit after the lockout, examining other routes to go for network coverage (be it Fox or CBS) should be a priority for the league. If you're going to stick with NBC, they'd better make sure they're actually getting something out of it.