2458 replies to this topic

[Jedi]

I just have to say, that's an awesome avatar.

Hehe, thanks! Had that and my signature ready for weeks. I think they're awesome too, but damn I was hoping I'd never actually have to use them.

They're staying up for the duration of the lockout. Which better not be long, because (as some members no doubt have discovered) I change avys and sigs more than some people change socks.

[Wings10]

Meh honestly as long as football is on, I really don't care. The NHL is in no position for a 3rd labor stoppage, congrats to Bettman on being the worst commissioner in pro sports.

[13dangledangle]

So.. does anyone know of a reliable source for watching KHL and European league games?

Please? I can believe there is another lockout which shouldn't bode well for Bettman, though unlikely he must go.

[vladdy16]

The last lockout wasn't even a blip on my radar once the next season began. Things will be much, much different this time around. My financial contribution to hockey will be inversely proportional to how long the lockout lasts - the longer they are locked out, the less I spend after hockey starts again. If they've killed the Winter Classic this year, I cannot be held responsible for my actions. Maybe we should start a bail fund now....

[brett]

i knew the nhl would be destroyed once lids retired

[cusimano_brothers]

The owners love Uncle Gary.

From CBC:

...
So who do you believe?

Edited by cusimano_brothers, 16 September 2012 - 12:06 PM.

[PavelValerievichDatsyuk]

Time to start watching AHL games. Look at this...the Oilers's farm team just got Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi, and Justin Schultz.....and Taylor Hall soon to follow when he gets off IR.

Go OKC Oilers? LOL

Kind of a shame that the Wings don't have any younger regulars.

Smith, Nyquist, and Brunner will be there. That will be pretty entertaining to watch them. I think the fact that Brunner will get some time on the North American size rink before the NHL should end up to be one postive out of all of this.

[BottleOfSmoke]

I hate everything right now.

Does anyone know of a good source to watch the Griffs games streaming online? Might as well get to know our prospects better while I'm being denied my Wing fix. As much as I would love to give a big middle finger to the entire league and pledge that they will never get another cent out of me, the reality is that I've bled this team since I was a kid, and I just can't imagine turning my back on that. It will certainly affect my decision to spend money on gear and things I don't need, but my ass will still be in the seats for whatever games I actually get this year. One of those hopefully being the Winter Classic. I can only hope that the public disgust at the behavior of both the league--and now, increasingly, the players--will put some pressure on them to come to an agreement before too much of the season (and fan loyalty) is destroyed. And I realize how naive that sounds as I literally laughed out loud at myself as I typed it. Whatever.

[Nev]

If I'm the NHLPA, the first thing I do before I start any negotiations is demand the immediate resignation of Bettman. How can they negotiate in good faith with someone who has locked them out 3 times?

[haroldsnepsts]

It's staggering that in spite of a 50% increase in revenue since the last CBA 7 years ago earning the league over a billion dollars more in revenue, there's a lockout.

This should have been the least dramatic of all CBA negotiations.

[cusimano_brothers]

Short of "My dog ate my last copy of the CBA", Uncle Gary used every excuse he could think of.

The following message to fans was issued by the National Hockey League on Sunday:
Despite the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the National Hockey League has been, and remains, committed to negotiating around the clock to reach a new CBA that is fair to the Players and to the 30 NHL teams.
Thanks to the conditions fostered by seven seasons under the previous CBA, competitive balance has created arguably the most meaningful regular season in pro sports; a different team has won the Stanley Cup every year; fans and sponsors have agreed the game is at its best, and the League has generated remarkable growth and momentum. While our last CBA negotiation resulted in a seismic change in the League's economic system, and produced corresponding on-ice benefits, our current negotiation is focused on a fairer and more sustainable division of revenues with the Players -- as well as other necessary adjustments consistent with the objectives of the economic system we developed jointly with the NHL Players' Association seven years ago. Those adjustments are attainable through sensible, focused negotiation -- not through rhetoric.
This is a time of year for all attention to be focused on the ice, not on a meeting room. The League, the Clubs and the Players all have a stake in resolving our bargaining issues appropriately and getting the puck dropped as soon as possible. We owe it to each other, to the game and, most of all, to the fans.

[BottleOfSmoke]

"the National Hockey League has been, and remains, committed to negotiating around the clock to reach a new CBA"

BULLS***. If they were comitted to negotiating around the clock, then they would be, you know, NEGOTIATING AROUND THE CLOCK. There was absolutely NO urgency to any of the talks, or they would have been burning the midnight oil for months to avoid the current situation, not throwing around the word LOCKOUT with a month to go in negotiations. Good faith my lily white ass.

Excuse me while I go rage some more...

[GoWings1905]

Gary Bettman is a disgusting person. I am 100% with the players. The owners and Bettman created this system entirely seven years ago to their liking and now it doesn't work? I can't express how disappointing and pathetic this entire situation is. Revenues and attendance through the roof (except in the lousy markets this fiasco surrounds) after missing an entire season and the fans reward is to get s*** on by a bunch of greedy billionaires.

I've said this before, but if I didn't love the Red Wings, I would run away from the NHL and never look back.

Edited by GoWings1905, 16 September 2012 - 01:05 PM.

[haroldsnepsts]

"the National Hockey League has been, and remains, committed to negotiating around the clock to reach a new CBA"

BULLS***. If they were comitted to negotiating around the clock, then they would be, you know, NEGOTIATING AROUND THE CLOCK. There was absolutely NO urgency to any of the talks, or they would have been burning the midnight oil for months to avoid the current situation, not throwing around the word LOCKOUT with a month to go in negotiations. Good faith my lily white ass.

Excuse me while I go rage some more...

It's telling that the league would say that less than 24 hours after saying there was no point in meeting.

[evilmrt]

Smith, Nyquist, and Brunner will be there. That will be pretty entertaining to watch them. I think the fact that Brunner will get some time on the North American size rink before the NHL should end up to be one postive out of all of this.

Yeah, thats true...I am looking forward to Brunner play for GR. He will only benefit from it, instead of jumping right to the NHL.

It's rumored that NBCSN is working out a deal to air AHL games? Any truth to that?

[haroldsnepsts]

Gary Bettman is a disgusting person. I am 100% with the players. The owners and Bettman created this system entirely seven years ago to their liking and now it doesn't work? I can't express how disappointing and pathetic this entire situation is. Revenues and attendance through the roof (except in the lousy markets this fiasco surrounds) after missing an entire season and the fans reward is to get s*** on by a bunch of greedy billionaires.

I've said this before, but if I didn't love the Red Wings, I would run away from the NHL and never look back.

That's the thing Bettman is counting on. That the fans love hockey more than they hate his guts.

[HadThomasVokounOnFortSt]

College hockey>>

[GoWings1905]

That's the thing Bettman is counting on. That the fans love hockey more than they hate his guts.

Sad, but very true. Thing is though you may be able to pull that off once (which he did somehow wiping out an entire season), but I'm pretty sure that won't be the case again with an extended lockout. There are enough fragile hockey markets as it is, let alone infuriating the strong fan bases that keep getting asked to pay good money so billionaires can fight over revenue every seven years. Hockey, as a whole, doesn't have the massive following like the NFL or MLB to keep expecting a loyal following when it just feels like we're getting jerked around in the name of greed.

It's bad enough Bettman's answer is always a lockout, but to be arrogant enough to think hockey fans are just going to come back happily again when this all ends is absolutely pathetic. Throwing "Thank You Fans" on the ice and telling us ticket prices will be lower (which they never ended up being) won't appease people this time around.

[ami]

Are you aware how much Don Fehr and his little brother were making?

Well above 2/3 of hockey players.

And his sole purpose of existence - to negotiate new CBA. He failed.
I very much dislike what Battman is doing, but from business perspective his done an OK job until yesterday, while Don Ferh is complete failure.

Edited by ami, 16 September 2012 - 01:31 PM.

[sleepwalker]

"the National Hockey League has been, and remains, committed to negotiating around the clock to reach a new CBA"

BULLS***.

Yeah, its ridiculous, and pretty much just another insult to the fans. Especially since the players wanted to try to have one last sit down yesterday with the league, and flew out there and everything, just to be told by the league to piss off, and that the league would most definitely not be interested in anything they had to say unless it was the players giving in to all of their demands.

It's bad enough Bettman's answer is always a lockout, but to be arrogant enough to think hockey fans are just going to come back happily again when this all ends is absolutely pathetic.

Maybe it is actually us who are pathetic. I mean, he is right. The fans have come, not crawling, but enthusiastically running back every time. And will again after this lockout too.