StevieY9802

Looking foward to the awards on Thursday. Would be great to see Lidstrom win another one. Its always fun to look back on the year too.

I'll give you that. That was a new low for the NHL, not like it was their fault just a low for them as a whole, when game 5 of the Sabres/Sens was interupted for that. And it wasn't even the race it was the pre-race. Lets watch the jockies walking out with their horses.

How so? Like what do you think should be in the deal? You can see I am hard at work today.

I don't think the ratings would change much if they are still on Versus. I want to see hockey back on ESPN and ABC and see where things go. All the other 3 major sports are on ESPN in one way or another. ESPN and ABC did a much better job with the NHL then FOX did before them and what NBC and Versus are doing now imo. Thats why I think the NHL needs to do somethings first and see where ratings and other stuff goes before moving to a place like Vegas. Just puting a team in Vegas won't boost the ratings over poker. Now the rumors of Michigander Jerry Bruckheimer wanting to put a team there I like.

He also thinks Bert will only get 750k. Now I agree he won't and shouldn't get close to his 5.2 mil last year but under a million while Hasek would get 5.5m? Yeah right. Sometimes his stuff is fun to read for entertainment purposes but other times its just so out of no where. His rumors at one point had Haske to TB. And if he read anything he would know it was retirement or Detroit for Dom. And last years deadline, after the Wings already had Bert and Calder he had a rumor posted that Lapointe could be coming to Detroit. Don't know how that would have worked with the Wings being inches from the cap after getting those guys.

How much of that revenue had to do with ticket prices going up this past season? Ticket prices were up 5.9% on average around the league. Paid attendance rose only 0.2%. ( according to sportsbusinessjournal.com) Yes the NHL is better financially than it was before there is no doubt and the cap has helped that because you don't have those teams, like Detroit, trying to buy a cup and spending more than they should. As well as other factors. And the state of the NHL meaning that no one watches it so why should there be more teams? Show me where the interest is in those cities and I'll believe you. I love this sport and if people in the US cared about it then yeah bring teams into those cities. But game 5 of the cup finals ratings were 28% lower than last years game 5. Thats not showing me that people in this country want more of it. More people watch poker in this country according to the ratings. I agree that those cities should top the list of where teams could show up there no doubt. But I don't think they should do it anytime soon unless interest spikes over the coming few years.

I agree. I like the Lidstrom-Markov pair in the playoffs. But I don't see him sticking around sadly. Would love to see: Lidsrom - Markov Schneider - Kronwall Lebda/Lilja - Chelios We'll see soon enough I guess. I have more faith in Holland than ever before. I never doubted him before the cap but to me he's done a great job adjusting to the cap and getting guys that fit in at the right price.

Fair enough but you didn't really answer my question if you would put a team in any one of those cities you mentioned before? Right now that is. With the state of the NHL. I wouldn't right now. They want to grow the game I know but try to get national interest with the teams you have now and then bring teams into other cities if it ever reaches that point. Tables on the concorse? no. Slots? Very possible knowing that city. Well not really because I don't think they would want that many people out of their seats.

Would you go to any of those cities you mentioned? I don't want to see this league expand. They need to try getting people excited and to the arenas in the cities they're in now. As for the gambling it is one reason why pro teams are staying away from there right now. They could make a law that says you can't bet on the local teams, like you said they can't bet on UNLV, and David Stern said he would like to see that if he would put a team there. I also found an article last night that says a bigger reason is that it is such a small market. Its not a big TV market and a large part of the people going through that town are visitors. A nice read I thought. http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/23/commentary...tsbiz/index.htm

Hasek is the best option for the Wings. Howard has only been in the minors two years so they are going to take their time with him. don't want to rush him along. And they seem ok with Howard as the future so they don't need to go sign a guy to a 3 year deal. Hasek will get one year and will give them a chance to win. He played great in the playoffs. I am not worried about his groin. Last year I was but it seemed to hold up this year so as of right now its not a worry for me.

If thats the case he's wrong that alot of people would agree with him about not wanting to see them move. The feeling I get from people in here and elsewhere is that they would like to see the Wings in the East. I for one am sick of all the travel.

I agree with everything but the no salary cap part. More free agents would go to bigger markets keeping them away from the small markets. Would you rather big money in Detroit or big money in Columbus? Paul Kariya doesn't end up in Nashville without a Salary Cap. It made it so he couldn't go to the big markets because they had the same amount of money to spend as the smaller teams. By your arugment that without a cap would make it easier how come the Blue Jackets were competitive before the cap? As for getting off of Verus yes I agree. They need something that will promote the game better and get it out to more people which ESPN would. But at the same time ESPN needs to give more love to them then they did before. NHL2Night like once a week at midnight isn't enough. But having something like that and sports center is better than what versus has. And about Vegas I agree too. I thought that was a big reason why pro sports weren't there already. I know they have minor league stuff for sports but thats not the same. And why would the Wings be moving anywhere? The best team in the west and still one of the most popular teams would be moving?

But there is a difference at least with Winnipeg and Quebec. Those two teams could draw a crowd and the Jets had some success on the ice and Quebec was atop the Eest before losing in round one in 95. Both those teams had financial problems was the big reasons. Atlanta and KC and no success on any level. The couldn't draw fans in, especially KC, and I don't think the Scouts ever made the playoffs and the Flames could never made it out of roound one. And I think the big argument is that at least Quebec, Hartford and Winnipeg are hockey markets. The Jets and Nordiques left fans behind at least. The Flames left behind nothing and the Scouts left behind KC and Denver along the way before landing in Jersey. With the cap maybe some of those cities could afford it now. I would rather see the NHL try it back in any of those 3 markets before trying KC again or going to Las Vegas.

Putting a team back in KC would make sense for Bettman. A team couldn't make it in Atlanta so lets put a team back there. A team couldn't make it in KC so lets try that too. Unless they are expanding to the Northeast or back in Canada there are no other markets that should have hockey. Unless possibly the Northwest with either Portland or Seattle but to me thats even pushing it. I would love to see the Wings in the East but it's not going to happen ever sadly. And the league does not need any more teams. And I don't know about only going down to 20 teams but 24-26 teams would be ok. some teams getting axed and some relocating.

That is very embarrassing. What happened to all the Ducks fans saying they really do have a big following? And yes the Honda Center holds between 17-18k I believe. And this was a Saturday night. Not like it was a week day, which people in this town still came out since all 3 parades were on weekdays and there was over a million people at those. I was thinking maybe 40-50k would show up. Which is still bad but less people than your arena holds? Come on! Big following there guys! And some people were asking why the NHL shouldn't be in certain markets. This is a great example.A team wins the cup and no one is there for the rally. What excuses can the big Ducks fans use now?

Doug Weight said he would probably go back to St. Louis anyways so I don't see how the cap has anything to do with that honestly. All the cap does is make you have to be smart with your signings. The Wings will be able to resign Bert with a cap and after some success. Why? Because they aren't over paying guys to have them stick around. You can't go and give a guy like Marty Lapointe 5.2 million anymore and I am quite fine with that. The smart teams will be able to get it done. If you have to let guys walk because they want more money then fine. If you know what you are doing you can find guys to replace them somehow. The spending got out of control. If your players want to stay they will. Datsyuk probably could have gone out and got more than he got here after finally having a good playoff. The Ducks will probably have to let Giggy walk and with Bryzgolov(sp?) behind him I don't think they mind. But him leaving won't hurt them that much because Burke will move pieces in and out to make them successful. Look at the New England Patriots in the NFL. They've let a lot of guys go because of their salary cap and they are still at the top of the league year in and year out because they know what will help them win. You can be successful even with guys leaving if you know what you're doing. And teams had to dump players after success even before the cap. The Wings dumped Mike Vernon after he won the cup because they felt it was better for the teams future.

How can you say that the cap does this when the cap has only been around one year? Theres no evidence to that yet in the NHL. And even if you go with the last 4 Cup champs, the Canes were the only one of them that didn't make the playoffs the following year. The Canes had an awful year this year but a lot of the guys who won it for them were still there. Weight and Recchi(don't think I spelled that right) were gone because they were rent-a-players with no intention of staying. And if teams that win it have a smart GM they can be just fine. The Lightning handcuffed themselves by signing Richards to such a big deal so that has hurt them from contending still because they don't have money to get a goalie.

Its even. Both teams won on this one. If I remember right there was all kinds of talk about Hossa being on his way out of there. Heatly had a great playoff and yeah he had a bad final but who on the Sens didn't? Like someone said when the team struggles your best players will struggle too.

I agree with most of this. They need to do something about marketing and tv. I think Versus was a mistake and they need to get out of it. And as for the schedule, I dont see what was wrong with the old system pre-lockout. You played your divsion teams what 6 times each? And then the rest of the conference 4 times each, which left 18 games to be played against the other conference. The Wings/Ducks rivalry is better than the Wings/Preds rivalry any day. Even though I have to say some of the games between the Wings and Preds were pretty good since they were playing for the division but I think they still would have been even if they only played 6 times each. As for the Lightning, Canes and Ducks not "deserving" it I don't believe that.They were all great teams and played great hockey to win it all. Now do those markets really need a team or when it started did they deserve it? I don't think so. I think they league, and this was before Bettman was there, saw what Gretzky was doing in LA and thought if those teams can get good look at all the attention they could get but they didn't realize that the bigger reason was Gretz. If the Kings would have just been a good team the way they were without Wayne would it have been as big of a deal? I don't think so.

I think he helped a lot to that team but its hard to tell if he was the "missing piece" because they were in the west finals last year. Whos to say Giggy doesn't step in and be dominant like he was and they still win? This team as a team played a lot better than last year. Different guys stepped up every night. He was a great addition no matter what though.

I agree but question if they would do it. I mean one of the reasons Toronto moved to the East was the 3 new Western teams from 98-2000. I would rather see 18 teams in the Easts so the Wings and Jackets could be out East. Who knows what they'll do. Next step move Fla and the Yotes and probably a few others.

I was wondering what would they do to the conference alignment? I mean Hamilton be in the west but be 45 minutes or so from TO and about 90 minutes from Buffalo? "Oh we've got an Eastern matchup against the Leafs tonight boys, just drive yourselves there." I think the Wings are stuck in the west for a good while. An east teams need to move for the Wings to move over. And now if Nashville goes to Hamilton and THEN an East team moves out west they would be the first team to move not Detroit. That would suck. I hate those 10:30 starts in the playoffs.

Talk about the opposite of years past huh? The Wings don't need Sammy. I honestly can't even say what they need yet. They need to see who they sign of their own first.

Yeah that was good, and so were games 3 & 4 against the Canucks. But even that year I was more confident. When you have doubts and they prove you wrong, ain't nothing better than that.

This has been the best playoff run in a while I think. Better than 98 or 02. I didn't see this run coming and when you don't expect it is when its the most fun.