King Crane

There have been a lot of videos about similar protests (some going back to when the lockout was a mere threat). While I am in complete support of the idea, I do not think it will make much of a difference. Regardless of the campaigns, revenue is going to take a hit next year (just as it does after every lockout). The problem stems from the fact that the current leaders of the NHL and NHLPA are much too worried about their own bottom line than the growth of the sport. The administration needs a change, and I'm afraid that monetary losses will hurt the sport and fail to solve this problem. Don't get me wrong, I'm participating just in case it does work, but do not confuse the "league's" selfishness with the selfishness of the few at the top.

No season = No ticket sales and decrease in commodoty sales = No profit ...that simple. The contents of the contracts are irrelevant when the theory stems from simply trying to starve weak teams. The theory behind any expansion is that they saw a potential market and took a chance. I think the owners bit off more than they could chew. They thought that (A) the debt would be short term, and (B) the expansion would grow the popularity of the sport by giving more people the opportunity to attend games. In reality, a lot of owners were hesitant to include more cities. Additionally, they carried out the expansion poorly, going back to the pitfalls of the NHL marketing team. "Gee where is a good place to play ICE HOCKEY? The desert? The tropics? GENIUS! ...oh wait...dumbest idea ever". I think they expanded to places that already had good sports franchises, but didn't fully consider the idea that people from those areas might not know the sport well enough to care. Florida and Arizona could have been successes, but the NHL needed to be more popular before they planted teams there.

Forgive me if this has already been discussed, but I wanted to relay an interesting theory I heard from a friend of mine who works closely with the Red Wings Association. The owners are purposefully creating this lockout and have no intention of resolving negotiations anytime in the near future. Why? Force out the weak franchises. As most of you know only 8 teams were profitable last year. Why not just cut the 6 least profitable teams? That would involve costly buyouts of the current owners. The lockout will hurt all the NHL teams, but the more successful owners are willing take a temporary hit and force out the weak teams by strangling the last of their worth. A lot of owners feel they are currently subsidizing the weak teams and need a long term solution. The lockout is an alternative solution, albeit a desperate solution, to eliminate teams without having to abide by league rules in regards to franchise closings. This is not meant to be a rumor or a conspiracy theory. I just thought it was an interesting rational to why the owners would risk lost profits for another dissolved season. I don't think it really answers the question of why the owners are taking on the risk of losing fan support, but nothing in the NHL organization seems to make much sense lately. As NBA is on the rise, the NHL continues to completely misunderstand their target audience; fixated on gimmicks and specific players. Thanks for reading, can't wait to hear your replies.

I am SUPER proud of the Red Wings. I will always root for them in good times and bad. But it's OK to be sad or frustrated after a loss. Playing theory-hockey is a way of coping with the loss, so please do not judge LGW so harshly right away. Yes, they had a home streak record. Yes, it is always better to have gone to the post season and lost, then to never gone at all. But forgive me for crying. It was a a hard loss for a few reasons: -Nashville fans don't support their team like we do -The outplayed the preds the first four games, but did not seem to show up in game 5 -They didn't leave Detroit with a win. The last four game they played were all losses in the Joe. -Lastly, and the reason I broke down: This was potentially the last game of Nick "The Perfect Human" Lidstrom's career. Reserve judgement for a few days. Allow everyone to cool off and regain focus and appreciate the GREAT season the Wings had this year.

Can't + this enough. It is a depressing observation, but entirely true. In Babcock's interview he even said he was surprised the team had done so well and disbelieves they were ever truly #1 in the conference and feels they struggled to make the playoffs

Al: WHAT'S ALL THIS LYING AROUND s***?! LGW: Season's over man, Bettman won. Al: Over? Did you say "over"?! Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? HELL NO! LGW: Germans? Pasha: Shhh, he on roll Al: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go! LGW: Al: What the hell happened to the Detroit fans? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Al, we might get hurt again." Well just kiss my ASS from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Weber, He's a dead man! Rinne, dead! Trotz - Hank: DEAD! Al's right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part. Al: We're just the guys to do it! LGW: LET'S DO IT! LET'S GO RED WINGS!!!

I think this has been their problem since game one. Too many one timers from the outside. I think what Babcock is seeing is the occasional drive to the net, but I haven't seen hardly any, if any, plays where there have been solid passes in front of the crease. I see the Preds performing centering shots, but I have seldom seen any by the Wings.

The question becomes, "How bad does the team want it?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDkUdidasHg

Al: WHAT'S ALL THIS LYING AROUND s***?! LGW: Season's over man, Bettman won. Al: Over? Did you say "over"?! Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? HELL NO! LGW: Germans? Pasha: Shhh, he on roll Al: And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...the tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go! LGW: Al: What the hell happened to the Detroit fans? Where's the spirit? Where's the guts, huh? "Ooh, we're afraid to go with you Al, we might get hurt again." Well just kiss my ASS from now on! Not me! I'm not gonna take this. Weber, He's a dead man! Rinne, dead! Trotz - Hank: DEAD! Al's right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part. Al: We're just the guys to do it! LGW: LET'S DO IT! LET'S GO RED WINGS!!!

1st line: Datsyuk Zetterberg Hudler (Hank and Pasha NEED to be on the same line again) 2nd line: Franzen Bertuzzi Cleary (This has proven to work in the past) 3rd line: Filpula Abdelkader Miller ‎4th line: Emmerton Holmstrom Nyquist

My heart says yes, my balls say yes, my head says no. 2-1 victory, I think yes, they can win. Everyone needs to step it up, especially in the 3rd (they outplayed preds in first 2 periods). I think Babcock needs to step back and readjust the lines and game plan. It looks like the Wings are too predictable as of late. The lines I would try: 1st line: Datsyuk Zetterberg Hudler 2nd line: Franzen Bertuzzi Cleary 3rd line: Filpula Abdelkader Miller ‎4th line: Emmerton Holmstrom Nyquist

Completely agree. He was that back-up kid with the horrible rebounds. He has really shown what hard work and determination can do. On top of that I think Howie exemplifies the Red Wings spirit. As I have posted in my sig, "I'll smile in June" - Jimmy Howard. WOW! And that isnt a prepared statement, it's his whole mentality. He's a serious player. If the team does poorly, he take the blame, if the team does well, he is first to give credit to whole before himself.

AAAAAAND there it is. You've convinced me Still like Holland, but...yah, that was a poor decision

Eh, agree to disagree. Hindsight is 20/20. You've convinced me what Holland should have done, but I'm not compelled that he made the wrong choice giving the circumstances at the time

I second this

Can you link me to your blue-collar comedy special?

Did Holland know Hudler would say "f*** off" and take more money from the KHL? In that case YES, Holland made a mistake, otherwise, I think his choice was justified by the numbers Huds and Filp had that post season

Ericsson looked pretty good too, but everything is relative Would rather see wht the Black Aces can do

Yah, ok i can see that. The thing is though it seems hard to judge Franzen. Sometimes he is a massive presence and can be a superstar. Other times it looks like Homer 2.0 out there

Ok thats not fair, reg season vs playoffs. My main point is that its not that the players arent good enough/try hard enough, its that the lines currently are not meshing well. here is wht i hope to see next game: 1st line: Datsyuk Zetterberg Hudler 2nd line: Franzen Bertuzzi Cleary 3rd line: Filpula Abdelkader Miller 4th line: Emmerton Holmstrom Nyquist

I'ld take two great players over one super awesome player any day. Good thing you picked Huds and Mule, they strengthen my argument. Those two were the two top goal scorers on the team this year. Plus, look at Dats. Pasha is arguably the greatest player on the ice, but he is part of a TEAM. If the chemistry isnt right, it doesnt matter how good a single player is. (check how the Wings did in the '09 playoffs, Hossa was behind Hank, Franzen, Lids, and Filp in points, and was 10th on the roster for +/-)

OMFG, finally a little optimism