Coolio Mendez

Why are we haters? BTW you forgot to mention why the Pistons sell more tickets and get more coverage here in Detroit. Numbers don't lie http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/attendance?year=2008 http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance?year=2008 But when playing away the Wings do have the most away fans out of any other team out there.

Minnesota for one. The team has been selling out year after year despite there boring style of play and lack of stars.

* Pittsburgh Penguins' franchise record for assists in a season by a rookie (63) * Pittsburgh Penguins' franchise record for points in a season by a rookie (102) * First rookie to record 100 points and 100 penalty minutes in a season * Youngest player in NHL history to record 100 points in a season * Youngest player in NHL history to record 200 career points (19 years and 207 days) * Youngest player in NHL history to have 2 consecutive 100 point seasons. * Youngest player to be voted to the NHL All-Star Game * Youngest player in NHL history to win the Art Ross Troph * Youngest player in NHL history to win the Lester B. Pearson Award * Youngest player in NHL history to be named to the First All-Star Team * Youngest player in NHL history to be named a full team captain (In January 1984, Brian Bellows of the Minnesota North * Youngest NHL captain to lead team to Stanley Cup Finals Overrated? Scary thing is hes only 21.

This isn't the Wings im used to watching, this defense is SLOPPY. Im off to bed, gotta be up early wake me up when Maltby and McCarty retire.

1) NHL revenues are at their highest level ever ($200MM ahead of 2003-04) 2) Arena attendance is at the highest level ever 3) American local television ratings are at their highest ever 4) Player salaries are at their highest level ever 5) In October 2007, the owners voted 30-0 to give him a 5 year extention 6) In November 2007, the players voted 98.3% to support that extention (and yes, Chelios was one of the 5 dissenters) He joined a league with 26 teams (Florida and Anaheim started play in his tenure but were named as franchises by John Ziegler)............now it has 30 So why is he hated, and why do fans want him out of the game? (Besides the banning of the octopus)

Beautiful!

DING, DING, DING WE HAVE A WINNER JIMMY TELL HIM WHATS HE'S WON.

:clap: What people fail to realize is that there are at least 15 teams further east than them: Boston, Buffalo, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Atlanta, Carolina, Washington, Florida, and Tampa Bay. Of the Western Conference teams, the Columbus Blue Jackets are actually the furthest east. So Detroit wouldn't even be the 16th team. Why you say that?

Sid's favorite player growing up was Steve Yzerman, it's kind of ironic how he was put in the same position to lead his team at a very young age. Me personally I hope to see Sid succeed, theres a huge load on his shoulder. I think if the Pitt organization gave the "C" to, say Gonchar, everyone would STILL be looking to Crosby as the team's leader. The expectations are so high for him that the C adds almost nothing to them.

That list was displaying Crosby's accomplishments, I didn't make it up.

Apparently the C is just too old for Sidney Crosby. Notice that there are many expectations of the Captain, but there is no specific age requirement. No matter what age or amount of experience people deem "too young" for captaincy, the fact of the matter is... the Penguins are Crosby's team. They were last season. Most importantly, the people that count see Crosby as the one and only captain of the Pens: his teammates and the coaching staff. Those are the people that matter because they're the ones working together to win games. I think the biggest thing is leading by example- Sid has done that. Also, Crosby is 20 but is ahead many years of his age in hockey sense. Put it this way, there are probably many 20 year olds in the US that could run the country better than the leader we have. The same can be said for hockey. I think Sid is and will continue to be a great leader for the Pens....every season he will mature even more. So what do you think about Jonathon Toews named captain?

Like I said before I don't know what happens in the locker room! From what I have seen it seems his teammates respect the kid. Answer this, why do you think he's not a good leader? (Please don't answer, he's a cry baby, and whines).

Your telling me Jeff Finger is not the best defenseman in the NHL?

I can't specifically find an article stating "The NHL has the highest T.V ratings ever" but i can show you signs of improvement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratings_for_The_NHL_on_NBC

I must not understand what your saying. The average NHL salary is 1.9 million this year. Higher then ever. I'm looking for a more reliable source but in the meantime check this one out. http://proicehockey.about.com/od/collectiv...hl_salaries.htm

Other then the fact that we lost 1 year of hockey what was so bad about the lockout? Hockey was at its all time low before the lockout, from the business side of things, I think it was worth it. From a financial standpoint the game is much healthier now than it was pre-lockout. Prior to the lockout, there were several smaller market teams that struggled financially. The only one that I recall having any serious issues since the lockout has been Nashville.

Yashin was overrated right? How can a player be underrated when he's being paid top dollar? I should of expanded my bad.

Bettmen didn't bring in any Florida teams, John Ziegler did. Tampa Bay was an excellent expansion doing better then most northern teams.

I believe he is the highest paid defensemen in the league

Because us Americans like European athletes so much right? If the game was dominated by European players Americans would NOT watch the game. Hence Soccer the most popular sport in the WORLD, but no American superstar= No American popularity. In order for hockey to be big there would have to be an American player who dominates the game. Crosby is the closest player to it.

Why the hell does that matter? The fans got to start somewhere, there not going to come out of the blue telling you the history of the game.

Ill answer you questions, first since I've read a lot of people with simialr questions to yours. 1) The other guy above you says "the Canadian dollar is stronger" which is the reason for higher revenue sales. Not necessarily the Merchandising sales in the US are higher than ever. The recent deals signed with Gatorade, IBM, Anheuser-Busch and Nike are the biggest the league has ever had. 2) Heres a link enjoy. http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&a...rticleid=359473 3) http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3177745 http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2008...tory?id=3427572 http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2008...tory?id=3417433 These are all signs of good things to come. 4)http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2492286 keep in mind this was set in 06', were now in 08' which has gone up higher. 5) Don't see why they wouldn't vote him back in. Check links above, also the addition of the Winter Classics has pulled in some new viewers. We got to start somewhere.

Don't be surprised when you see Nashville moving to Las Vegas in a few years.

ESPN and hockey shouldn't be in the same sentence. They bailed on the NHL years ago, and refuse to show more than :30 of hockey come hockey season. The national spelling bee award gets more air time then hockey. If thats not a kick in the nuts I don't know what is. Why should Bettman ditch Versus when ratings are at there all time high. Lets watch ESPN suffer and see what a great sport there missing, and will come crawling back in a few years.

I've seen that before on one of those Japanese shows. I still find the game entertaining to watch, and don't see any downfall to the game besides Dan O'Halloran of course.