frankgrimes

I heavily and respectfully disagree, sorry.

Unless both sides are seeing a massive dropoff in fan interest and therefore lost merchandise, attendance we're going through this crap every 5 years. A message needs to be send to both parties and on top of that, this time even the hockeysupermad markets like Toronto and Montreal have stopped to care, usually this should ring a bell in the ears of Fehr and Bettman, but I highly doubt.

Never take a person for granted, it is the same with your girlfriend if you take her for granted chances are you are going to lose her, the NHL does the same thing. They believe fans will be  back whenever they decide to come down to earth, meanwhile other leagues are starting or getting closer to the playfoffs and fans are pissed -> a gamble I wouldn't bet on.

The MLB had to learn it the hard way, so will the NHL.

It's quite possible that Fehr is fine with losing this season - only to introduce a luxury tax for the 2013/2014 season...Maybe - just maybe some of the more profitable franchises push for this as a means to avoid losing 2 seasons in a row?

EDIT - truth be told - I'd love to see a luxury tax.

That is the sort of RS I like, franchises like the Wings are still paying for others but the gain something from it -------->more space to sign great players and put a winner on the ice. There is a reason why the MLB is working like a charm since Fehr introduced the luxury tax.

If it takes a season or two to finally get in, count me in the game will be better than ever, without the stupid cap and player rights restrictions.

That guy took the art of effectively  screening a goalie to the very next level.

A great piece of the whole puzzle and a warrior for over 1.000 games.

Very glad to have seen him play, way to go Holmström!

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The BOG ors hould I say midgets ******* can go eff off. I hope the league will never recover from that and we'll see the rise of a new one, without a workstoppage every 5 years.

This time there are no superstars in the making, no big games to be played...fans and sponsors are pissed. I highly doubt the NHL knows what they are doing. This freaking lockout is also not for the better of the game, if the great game of hockey would really coun't, there would have been a lot of different moves.

Midget will need tons of bodyguards whenever hockey is back thats for sure.

This lockout to me at least is just bogus. Players offered to continue under the old CBA till a new one is finalized, league declined add to that the shameful lowball starting offer, I don't even have to think about whom to side with.

I watch the players not a bunch of havanna smoking CEO types, who aren't in this business to win it but to make a quick buck. I am glad the best owner in all of sports is against RS and all that crap just shows us how lucky we as Red Wings fans can be, to have such an outstanding person running the show. Let's not forget this is an owners - BOG? - lockout.

Yes, the money has to go to someone but I'd rather see it going to the guys who are giving their all each and every night, risking injuries and are working their asses off just to entertain us, instead of a bunch of "we are losing money" guys who at the same time are buying secondary mansions worth 20 m$.

Those poor players, getting paid millions to bang super hot chicks (as many as they want), skate around playing hockey for 15 years and retiring at 40. That must really suck.

It's a good thing someone pays them to do this sort of thing. Otherwise, working at Arby's , getting zero ***** and getting sodomized in a bar by a burly Canadian fellow in a restroom at the local watering hole seems like the only alternative.

Seriously guys these players are nuts. The only thing they can do is play hockey. They get paid well with lots of perks, I'm pretty sure most of them want to play the game. This union nonsense has to stop. The union rep,doesn't care about that it's about $.

It's about time we got this season started.

They are the 1 % best hockeyplayers worldwide so for sure they are going to want a rfair deal and not an insulting one presented by a guy, who has absolutely no atlethic or negotiating skills and is the exact opposite of everything, hockey should be.

If the NHL wants the players to give up money, they have to at least honor their contract rights simple as that.

I don't even know wo Justin Bieber is but seriously, why is that such a big story? Couldn't care less about what type of music the players like.

Someone please kick the effin midget out, so the players actually agreed to his stupid 50/50 and thats still not enough? If I were Fehr I'd ask them for acceptance of going nuclear and put this little undersized idiot to nuclear war, by proposing either accept the deal or create a luxury tax instead of the stupid cap system.

Also I couldn't care less what people like Spector think.

And all that crap because some very questionable teams are "losing money", rather have a 15 teams league without a lockout every 5 years and an antihockey guy ruining the show for everyone else.

If there is revenue growth the fans deserve a lockout when the new CBA expires

I hardly see a revenue grow, sponsors are pissed off so are fans, second lockout in 8 years and on top of that even the hotbed media in Toronto and Montreal stopped caring, this time it is really different compared to 2004/5.

The NHL will be lucky to see 3,3 billion revenue after 5 years again, it will take a loooong time to recover (if it ever does).

Well there is no way the players are going to give up money and their contract rights. So at some point the NHL has to face the reality here, nobody and really nobody forced Nashville to match the offersheet they did so and now have to pay a huge junk of money for an elite defenseman, a guy who could easily become the next Chara.

I mean think about it, you are getting drafted by a team you don't want to play for for whatever reason, most players have to wait for years to get out (becoming UFA), why would they accept to lose another year of their career playing fo r an unwanted team? If the players bite on the 50/50 crap, the NHL should keep the status quo in terms of contracts otherwhise there is no deal to be made anytime soon.

The whole sage reminds me on a great Linkin Park video labeled I've become so numb...

Seriously, I am at point where I don't get care about this crap any longer. Bettman, Daily, Jacobs and the rest of these hardball clowns can jump off a bridge. The NHLPA already agreed to a freaking split and yet these idiots continue to ask for more. Negotiations are a two way street, so if the players share is dropping by 7 % at least honor their freaking rights and contracts. you know give and take for once?

The players are the product, they are generating the revenue, revenue which is then used by the owners to pay for mr. anti hockey himself and fatback Daily, keep franchises in non hockey markets and spend millions of $ for buying pro owner posters on some boards...

Go nuclear, fold the league, start from scratch or whatever but at least stop all this PR bulls*** I don't even read it anymore one thing tough is for sure, if mr. AntiHockey is keeping his job after  this I really don't know what to say, the guy needs to be gone.

Sakic class act, great player role model
Y the captain, class act, role model turned this franchise around thanks to Mr. Illitch.

but this discussion should only take place in a non detroit or denver enviroment.

To me personally the outcome doesn't matter, the smallest "major league" in NA has been shut down more often than all others right now, fact.

I wish people would stop bringing up the TV contract, growing the game and why RS is needed so mickey mouse clubs or wellfare clubs can get beat us in the first playoff round, screw that!

I am a fan of the Detroit Red Wings, if teams like Dallas, Anaheim, Ottawa and whatever can't support themselves too bad, either spend less, relocate or fold. There is absolutely no reason to ask owners of well run franchises such as DRW to help them out with their own money. You don't see family companies getting help in order to defend themselves against soulless, greedy global players...but in PRO sports it should be that way? Give me a break, I'd rather see a 15 team league without the stupid CBA, RS and a free market it would be may more competitive, exciting and UFA, Trade Dead Line would actually mean something again, not just the first days.

As a fan I don't gain anything from TV contracts so why should I care about them? Especially in the age of the internet I'd rather pay 200 $ for quality livestreams and be done with it, I don't need ESPN, NBC you name them to watch hockey.

Bettman is a moron if he truly believes, this growing the game crap.

Think about a league built up with the Original 6 + Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Philly, Buffalo, Washington, Edmonton

sure some teams could be argued about but in the end the NHL would be left with crap and I'd bet my house, the new league would gain the fans.

The way to grow a game is done by creating the good ones and the bad ones, just look at the WCW or former WWF after they've introduced the New World Order as the "bad" ones ratings took off like a rocket. So why the f*** can't the NHL have superteams again? Just because some teams don't want to spend, well how about not forcing them to spend for once?!

Yes, this is a rant but seriously the midget has done  n othing for the game, other than allowing mickey mouse clubs to play hockey and punishing teams with an established fanbase by heavily limiting them.

After the "50/50" deal the NHL proposed, I'm not surprised.  Considering where both sides are at the moment, they're certainly not going to take anything on faith.

It all comes down to if the math (and legalese) is in line with what they're claiming.

Another PR move and I am sure some of the ,,I only read the headline - because my attention span is that small" guys will pretty much fall in love with those greedy bastards again. Fehr is right, let's see the numbers first and how they are trying to tweak it again...

Either start serious negotiations or keep your mouth shut, I am sick of this PR back and forth moves.

Another great job done by our great commissioner, I hope whoever owns the Leafs now and Illitch are going to speak up finally against this undersized idiot. God job of killing yourself NHL what a s***job.

Isn't it funny? The by far best WC logos are the ones without the damn BS logo on them *lol*

but whatever the league just shot themselves in the foot even more. I hope it was  worth it for some of the crying poor owners and their midget, f*** the NHL seriously. I didn't care that much about the WC itself but seeing the perfect human one more time would have been great.

This ******* has now cost us:

- WC
- 1 year of Y
- 2 years of Datsyuk
- 2 years of Zetterberg
- 1 year of the perfect human
- Wings owner millions of $ so he can pony up his stupid sunbelt and micky mouse clubs