Cern

But that's my point. These are teams that have won the Cup, yet their organizations can't even give enough tickets away to kid themselves into thinking they'll ever get a sellout crowd for their games. With maybe the exception of Dallas, their playoff accomplishments (almost always followed after by mediocre/poor performances, BTW) make the large-scale regional apathy towards the teams in question all the more glaringly obvious. Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa didn't even need to win the Cup for their respective cities to go absolutely bazonkers during their respective deep playoff runs. Vancouver and Minnesota haven't gotten anywhere close to winning a cup in ages, yet have had sellout streaks lasting years. The Ducks actually win the be-all-and-end-all of hockey and can't even get the newspapers to care about it more than Paris Hilton's drug problems, much less any kind of tradititional celebration like a parade. It just feels like a waste of the game.

My dad and my brother (who are from Calgary) went to Phoenix for a couple days last month. They went to a Coyotes game on a whim, they picked up the cheapest tickets available. They estimated there were about 5000 people in attendance and were able to move from far-end nosebleeds seats to lower-bowl tickets near center ice without the ushers caring in the slightest. I've heard similar stories, albeit with numbers not quite that low, from a friend who works as an usher at Honda Center. A team that just won the Stanley Cup, and they can't even eke out anything close to a sellout crowd. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. 'The now' is over a decade of 'non-traditional market' hockey, and people aren't giving any more of a damn than they did before.

His only real argument seems to be "If we had 20-team playoffs, the Capitals would get in", which is not only an asinine argument but probably a moot point seeing as how Washington is poised to take over top spot in the Southeast. As for this talk of reducing the league itself, I got into a bit of a discussion about this in another forum. Basically the thought was to remove Atlanta, Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Florida in the East, and LA, Phoenix, Nashville, and Columbus in the West. Moving one franchise in each conference would allow for a grand total of 24 teams. The way we had it organized was to have four six-team divisions (although these could obviously be split up different ways): PACIFIC -Vancouver -Calgary -Edmonton -Anaheim -San Jose -Colorado CENTRAL -Detroit -Chicago -St. Louis -Minnesota -Dallas -Winnipeg?/Wisconsin?/Kansas City? NORTHEAST -Toronto -Montreal -Ottawa -Boston -Buffalo -Quebec?/Hartford? Atlantic -NY Rangers -NY Islanders -New Jersey -Pittsburgh -Philadelphia -Washington

try myp2p. Quality unfortunately leaves something to be desired, but it works. Make sure you have VCL and SopCast edit: Aaaand my over-eagerness to reply before reading the entire thread nips me in the bud

Is he seriously suing somebody for not explicitly stating that sucker-punching a guy in the back of the head might not be a great idea? LOL, OH WOW.

Not to jinx it but I'm partially hoping for a round against the Canucks so I can finally watch a live Wings playoff game.

ie, it's yet more rule changes indirectly geared towards making these ridiculous 'non-traditional' markets pay attention to hockey in places where uber-offensive sports (like football) are king. Which isn't going to happen regardless, hockey is still a joke to most people down there, and the fact that we even HAVE franchises that far south in the first place is ridiculous. Fair enough to standardize the equipment a little better, but when you're inflating the size of the net what the hell is the point of the goalie anymore? It'll just wind up being more weak, flukey, trashy goals that aren't entertaining to watch purely for the sake of a couple numbers on a score sheet. If it goes through, in a few years the term 'sniper' is going to be replaced with 'shotgun'.

I'm talking more about larger nets than streamlined equipment. But all of it is yet more of Bettman's mantra of 'more goals, more goals, more freaking goals'. Next he'll probably be pushing to make the butterfly a penalty-causing infringement. I love nothing more than a good goalie battle or a multiple-overtime playoff game (more so than these ridiculous 8-6 goal-every-five-minutes kind of games), and those games are pretty much never going to happen anymore because you're going to have way more net and way less goalie.

If this season is any indication, Pascal LeClaire. Dunno if he'll end up being consistant, but this season has been ridiculous for him.

Hurrah for a future when goalies' GPAs will hit an average of 6-7. Goals are supposed to be something you work hard to achieve. If I wanted to see easy, constant scoring I'd watch basketball.

I'm more inclined to dislike Crosby because he's the poster child for everything that sucks about the 'new' NHL

I find the funniest thing is that the opposing goalie dosen't make any kind of attempt whatsoever to brace himself when he gets approached. "Oh hey Roy. Man, crazy game toniOH WHAT THE s***?!"

It's good that San Jose is becoming a threat, actually. The last few years the Wings have waltzed into topping the league they've had early exits in the playoffs. Last season they struggled even to top their own division for most of the season, lost out on the President's Trophy, and went the deepest they've been into the playoffs since they last won the Cup. If anything a change in perspective going into the playoffs (ie - second place) might be exactly the kick they need.

Hasek will undertake highly experimental surgery to develop Terminator-esque groin muscles of steel, making him impervious to injury and therefore near-invincible.

During the 2004 playoff run there was a really weird trend where the Oilers would score whenever my dad left the TV to get chips or whatever, it would happen at least once a game. It got to the point where he would leave and return regularly during game 7 in the hope of it turning the tide of the game

Next year when the Wings play here again I'm making a point of waiting around to get a Lids signature.

I'M DIFFERENT

I'm hoping it'll be Vancouver just so that I'll be able to watch a Wings playoff game in person XP

I love it when people have said stuff like that about the last few Cup winners . I hate these deep-south 'new-market' teams, but the Ducks had the most Canadian players of any team in the league. Saying they're canada-us rivalries is absurd given that over half the league is Canadian anyway. I also like to quasi-cheat and think of Detroit as being a half-canadian team anyway. It's right across the water from Windsor, right?

I wasn't in a bar. I was on 17th to pick up some skateboard bearings or something, I can't remember exactly. Walked by a few bars though, including that big one with the open garage doors that face out onto the street (Melrose, I think) which is pretty much the epicenter of the Red Mile. I could pratically feel the daggers being stared into me but I couldn't stop grinning like an idiot. Had my headphones on so if people were talking trash I didn't hear it.

I got a sarcastic 'Better luck next time' at GM Place at the last Wings-Canucks game (Wings lost 4-1). Otherwise I haven't gotten much flak. Also I was in Calgary last summer. The day after the Flames were knocked out by the Wings I went down 17th Ave (aka The Red Mile) wearing my Lidstrom jersey. Soooo many dirty stares, and I savoured every one.

SO WHEN WHEN WHEN DASTYUK SHOOTS THE THE THE THE PUCK AND IT CROSSES THE GOAL THE GOAL LINE, THAT'LL COUNT AS A GOAL.

LOL, the Nashville radio commentators were discussing how they're going to win this game "Well, we're going to get a shorthanded goal to pull us within one. Then we're going to wait for Hasek to do something stupid..."

Sidney 'Horse Face' Crosby once again showing himself to the the poster child of hockey...

lol, I'm listening to the radio coverage of the game. At least five sentances leading up to the goal were "Franzen *action*"