WpgMikos

Yahoo did an interview with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly at Joe Louis Arena on Thursday. (Full article, read here) What caught my eye was this statement by Daly in response to the question: Yahoo Sports: "Are you concerned by some of the early attendance figures" in Phoenix: Daly: "...I will say we’re light years better than where we were last year at this time in terms of how the fans have responded to the club." I cannot comprehend what he's referring to. When I looked at the early numbers, comparing last season to this season, they look almost identical (with last year actually being a tad better). What does "light years" mean to you? It obviously isn't just Phoenix. Attendance is down (or so it appears when watching the games on TV) across the league. Bottom 4 teams are all averaging below 12,000 and we know actual fans in the stands are a lot less. The late 80's song by Cinderella "you don't know what you've got until it's gone" really is true. After we lost the Jets in 96', I didn't see a good live hockey game (I'm trying to forget the snooze fest in 98' I saw in Anaheim against the Flames) until Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004 in Calgary. When I moved to Lansing, I was already a Wings fan courtesy of Stevie Y & the $1 man Kris Draper. I made the effort to attend every Wings game I could get to and still pass school. I averaged about 7-10 games per season (including Game 1 of the 09' Stanley Cup Final). As I said above, I'm not impugning the hockey fans in other cities, but if they don't want to see their team up and leave, they had best buy tickets and support the product because you can be sure there are plenty of places salivating at the chance to do so.

I was kinda hoping he'd play forever, ever, ever ,ever!! (Still feel bad for Cloutier, never recovered after giving up that goal)

Was asking questions. Wasn't suggesting that there was just one variable although I did think gate was a major factor. Via Forbes.com #4: Detroit Red Wings Revenue $130 mil Operating Inc. $27.4 mil Player Expenses $55 mil Gate Receipts $58 mil In Detroit's case it would appear that almost half (45%) of Revenue was generated by Gate. The other major factor is that the Wings TV deal with FSN Detroit(started in 08' and shared with the Tigers/Pistons) is worth 1 Billion over 10 years. It appears the Coyotes aren't as fortunate (Phoenix Business Journal). Truth is because team's don't open their books we can never know what sort of nifty accounting tricks are being done to bring the numbers into line. Clearly there are multiple factors involved in ascertaining a team's revenue streams, but it wouldn't appear to be an unfair characterization, that some team's (i.e. Phoenix) remain heavily reliant on the Gate. 4th Home Game Tonight's crowd was 8171. Last year's 4th game they had 11,938 although that should be qualified by the fact that they were playing the Wings.

Was anyone at the game last year (I believe it was the 4-2 win vs. Nashville in Januray) when the Wings did their "fan of the game" promo with a season ticket holder and they asked the guy who his favorite player was and he said, "Jimmy Howard. It's so nice to have a goalie you can trust in net". With Osgood sitting on the bench. First time I've heard one of those season ticket holder's get booed. hehe. Only goalie who I think might be used for trade bait is a guy like Edmonton's Nikolai Khabibulin. He's a veteran presence who has won a cup. His numbers aren't great this season which could be attributed to playing on such a young team or his age. He looked pretty solid yesterday in the win over the Hawks (I think Oilers were outshot 12-2 in 3rd and 41-22 overall). I've always been partial to him from his days as the Bulin Wall in Winnipeg. Who can forget that Game 5 performance against the Wings where he stopped 51 shots of 52(ironically he beat Ozzie). Haven't seen Ozzie play this year. Has he really been that bad in the back up roll?

I think my problem with the comments is they are so far past reality. While they are obviously not going to be "doom & gloom" as they attempt to sell this 165 million dollar albatross, they would do well to stop trying to sell ice to an Inuit. Doc - Isn't the NHL a gate driven league? Wouldn't that suggest that the very measure of success is how many fans are in attendance?

The young gun Oilers looked pretty good tonight. Eberle looked really good. Paajarvi & Hall also had a good game. Going to the game against Edmonton on November 11th. Should be a good one.

Meant to post this awhile ago. Took in my 1st ever NFL game (Eagles/Lions). What a great game. Nobody wanted to go with me, so I made the drive down, got parking for $10 near Ford Field. About 15 minutes before game time I was approached and sold a $85 (face value) ticket for $20. Turned out to be pretty good seats (goal line, 38th row). Vick played a pretty impressive game. The Detroit Pride relegated to the stands. With the Lions down 17, and with about 6 minutes to go, fans started streaming out, but due to years of watching CFL football, I figured you never know what could happen. Lions recovering the onside kick: It was too bad they went 4 and out to start the series. Overall a really good 1st game.

Last year I was at the Wings/Bruins game (2-0 Wings win). During the 1st period, everyone at the Joe was given a Hockeytown, No Limits poster to flash as they filmed the crowd for some rando NHL commercial. Couldn't find anything online if they used it for a commercial. I did read on MLive that a picture of the fans from that game were used as the "Frozen Moment" of the day. However I couldn't find any commercial with video footage from that game. (although I did come across this one, which is brilliant). Does anyone know if the No Limits footage from that game was used for anything?

My personally autographed Gretzky jersey (which he smudged):

His condition has been upgraded:

Russian newspaper Sovetskiy Sport talked with Atlant GM, Andrei Verevko:

Back in 2007 he said: Looks like he's accomplished his goals!! Sawchuk had 447 all time. Currently Osgood is 10th. He will likely slip into 8th this year. Right now he sits behind: #10 Chris Osgood - 727 Games/397 Wins/2.48 GAA #9 Grant Fuhr - 868 Games/403 Wins/3.38 GAA #8 Glenn Hall - 906 Games/407 Wins/2.49 GAA #7 Tony Esposito - 886 Games/423 Wings/2.92 GAA *numbers courtesy of StatsHockey.

Was reading this thread on another forum and thought it would be cool here. Does anyone have first and second hand experiences with the pros. Wasn't sure if we should keep this solely to the Wings or NHL wide. Feel free to post either. Mine: Eddie 'the Eagle' Belfour - my uncle was a teacher out past Carman, MB. He knew Belfour's parents, and he drew (he's a great artist) a few 8 x 10's of the Eagle. He personalized them for us. Pete Langelle - many moons ago I worked at a bank and he used to bring in his nhl retirement cheque and we'd chat about hockey from his time (40's) in the NHL. Really nice gentleman. A few weeks after we began chatting he brought me an 8 x 10 of him and signed it. (he scored the Stanley Cup winning goal against the Wings for the Leafs in 1942). Bill Lesuk - He also used to come into the bank with money from all over the place as he was Director of Scouting (I think) for the Coyotes. Nice guy. Would chat about hockey and traveling all over Europe to scout. Wayne Gretzky - Knowing the 'Great One' received tons of fan mail, and wanting to stand out, I had the same uncle draw on an envelope which contained an 8 x 10 overhead shot of him from the game when he scored his 50th in 39. Wrote a letter and sent it off to the Rangers. Forgot about it and then a few months later I received something in the mail from WDG. I thought "who do I know in L.A. with those initials". Quickly dawned on me. Also have an Oilers jersey that he personalized for me. Love that guy. Tyler Arnason - Buddy of a buddy. Nice enough guy. Head is in the clouds. Ken King - During Game 6 of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals he came up to the nosebleeds for those of us who had rush seating and were there a few hours early and thanked the crowd for supporting the Flames. Kelly Hrudey - Super nice guy. I've never, ever heard a bad story about him. I spoke with him for a few minutes at Game 1 of last year's Stanley Cup Finals in Detroit. Nick Lidstrom - Was in the Wings dressing room during the Flyers exhibition game against the Wings this summer and he was hilarious. Took time to answer questions from everyone. Gordie Howe - Very brief encounter with him in the bowels of Joe Louis Arena. I needed directions, he told me where to go, patted me on the back and cracked a joke.

TSN is also reporting that it might be Laviolette. My thought is that perhaps the Flyers are hoping for a Penguins like renewal.

Understand the sentiment but I just don't think there is a city with a big enough population (Grand Rapids - 197,800) left in Michigan to support an NHL team. Plus the Wings are special, no need for another team. (in my opinion). As much as I dislike the city, Toronto could easily support a 2nd team. With an obvious Winnipeg bias, I'd like to see NHL return there.

Rather than start an entire new thread, I figured I'd leave the Yotes topic alone hoping the crowds would pick up. Well they haven't. A buddy of mine took in last night's Coyotes/Flames game and took pictures which really shouldn't come as a big surprise. The announced crowd was 9868 (season average is 9911) but as can be seen from the pictures, that seems generous. He paid $40 for center ice box seats. $40!!!! What are the chances Coyotes remain in Phoenix past this season?

This is crazy. Watching the game online. Saw some pictures and it looks empty. For more pictures, Where is everyone? It's too bad since it was a pretty good game. Thought Jovo put the OT goal in off his glove, but meh. If Jovo scores in OT but nobody is there to see it, does it count as a goal?

Time to go back to 21 teams. No need for expansion. This is just Bettman being Bettman. Trying to appease everyone.

Hotdog Hockey: Should Eric Lindros be a Hall of Famer? Ezzy compared the numbers between Lindros and Neely and they are pretty close. I was never a big fan of the E-train (didn't like his Quebec shenanigans) but he will likely get in. I cannot believe that Bure has been eligible since 2006 and still isn't in. That is a travesty. Guy was lightning on ice.

Better give yourself 60 minutes at least. Traffic around the Joe isn't too bad. There really aren't alot of places within walking distance and eating at the Joe isn't great. You could always go to Cheli's or Hockeytown. I believe they have shuttles that leave from there to the Joe. Enjoy the game.

Oh boy. That's not going to be good for business. And thanks for the link.

Just walked in. What happened to Kronwall?

Why is Larry Murphy laughing at a joke that isn't funny? Also what happened to Kronwall?

About time, Mike Murphy, the NHL's Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations

Did not expect that. Wow. Tall dude should have realized stick wasn't for him but still, hardly worth pummeling someone over.