NHL likely to officially cancel season by tomorrow...

maddoc1979 · Post by **maddoc1979** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:32 pm

For those of you who held out any hope, looks like the season may officially be over now. Here's a link from ESPN.com.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1983362

Doc

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:36 pm

who cares. F THEM ALL.

jimd · Post by **jimd** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:40 pm

My anger and bitterness is slowly turning into indifference...but I'll give them one more "F*** THEM ALL!!" for the road.

rubba19 · Post by **rubba19** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:44 pm

*yawn*

shocker

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:44 pm

I'm so pissed off, this is such b.s. I can't say I'm surprised though.

GROGtheNailer · Post by **GROGtheNailer** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:58 pm

I miss my double-header Saturday night hockey.

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 4:59 pm

requim for a dream had the best double header ever.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 5:17 pm

And most of the NHL markets will respond with a YAWN.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 5:31 pm

As dozens mourn.

Dimmu · Post by **Dimmu** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 5:36 pm

Sudz wrote:requim for a dream had the best double header ever.

LOL I'll agree, at least in a "mainstream" movie.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 5:37 pm

And the announcement will be made on Super Bowl Friday, so it will be buried even deeper in sports pages, sportscasts and Web sites in the U.S.

Maybe the NHL and NHLPA are doing that by design, crawling away in anonymity due to becoming the first North American sports league to cancel a season due to labor issues. Then again, the NHL was pretty anonymous in the U.S. before the lockout, sadly.

Take care,
PK

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 5:47 pm

They're both wrong but I still put a big part of the blame on the players. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the owners let the salaries get out of hand. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the owners f#$%ed up during the last lockout by settling for anything other than a salary cap. The reality now is the players know damn well that the owners will not settle for anything less than some form of a salary cap and with that knowledge they killed the season. I'll be back in the fold if they ever play again but I'm really pissed right now. I really thought the players would play. I really was under the impression that they cared about the sport of hockey. I'm more let down by them right now than anyone.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:22 pm

Regardless of which side is right or wrong, I think the players really f*cked themselves. I hope it was worth it.

Some of the teams like the Penguins probably lose less money *not* playing than if they played the season and paid all their salaries.

There is probably a good chance at least half of next season will be cancelled as well.

RiverRat · Post by **RiverRat** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:31 pm

pk500 wrote:And the announcement will be made on Super Bowl Friday, so it will be buried even deeper in sports pages, sportscasts and Web sites in the U.S.

Maybe the NHL and NHLPA are doing that by design, crawling away in anonymity due to becoming the first North American sports league to cancel a season due to labor issues.

I pretty much agree with you. This is pretty sad, but I don't really miss it, and a Blues fan, I can't say I'll miss going out in the first or second round again for the 20-somethingth year in a row (not literally true, but pretty darn close). If they miss a second season, that will border on hysterical.

Interestingly, my hometown league, the UHL, is starting to pick up a few NHL guys. I think Chelios and Draper have signed on to the Detroit team on a limited basis.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:32 pm

I also read where only a few teams have dipped into the NHL war chest to help cover operating expenses during the lockout. Looks like the owners can hold out for quite awhile.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national ... 50127.html

Take care,
PK

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:39 pm

I might have more sympathy for the players if they weren't going and taking jobs in leagues like the UHL, CHL, etc. Here's a guy like Chelios who has made millions in his career that will now get paid hundreds of dollars a week. Great, except for the guy who had the roster spot who probably lost his apartment and the needed cash. That's real solidarity within the hockey player fraternity.

F that.

maddoc1979 · Post by **maddoc1979** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 9:27 pm

I just feel bad for the fans that are out there. Here in Minnesota, the Wild tickets are almost as hard to come by as Vikings tickets, and they play 34 more NHL games here every season as football games. The Wild have sold out every single game in their existence. It was a huge bummer for everyone here when the Northstars left and I know the hockey fans here just love the Wild. It must be a bigger bummer for them. Oh well...there's always the amazing High School hockey tournament to look forward to.

Doc

skidmark · Post by **skidmark** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 10:32 pm

I really didn't have much hope for this season happening, but this does suck. I've been getting by with some local hockey, but I sure do miss the NHL. What's funny about this whole thing from the player perspective is that one of the reasons I enjoy hockey is that I find the players to be less full of crap than in other sports.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 11:44 pm

Can they contract the whole league?

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 11:44 pm

I didnt miss the season ...but I will miss the playoffs

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:39 am

It's the owner's who locked the players out, so I blame the owners. To me, a salary cap is simply the owners trying to protect themselves from themselves. Plus, they have the worst commissioner in the history of sports. I bet that Bud Selig is loving this. He is looking better and better.

But ultimately, the blame has to go to the owners. Bottom line is they locked out the players. If it was a strike the blame would be on the players.

Of course I am biased. My father retired with a full pension. Now, you have to look 'pension' up in the dictionary to find out what it means. I have a 401K that hasn't done s*** for the past 3 years and my company only contributes to it if they have a good year. And I'm supposed to support management against labor in the NHL dispute? F that.

In fact, F 'em all, every damn one of those rich bastards whether they wear a suit or a uniform.

ubrakto · Post by **ubrakto** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:02 pm

Dave wrote:I might have more sympathy for the players if they weren't going and taking jobs in leagues like the UHL, CHL, etc. Here's a guy like Chelios who has made millions in his career that will now get paid hundreds of dollars a week. Great, except for the guy who had the roster spot who probably lost his apartment and the needed cash. That's real solidarity within the hockey player fraternity.

F that.

I can't speak for them all, but based on what's reported in the Detroit media, the Wings who joined the Mechanics (Hatcher, Draper and Chelios) did so only under the condition that no players are cut from the team to make room for them.

Now, they will be taking up the ice time from other players which does suck for those players and a few have been vocal about that. But *nobody* is losing a paycheck. Also, at least in the case of the Mechanics, the franchise is floundering, with an average attendance of about 1500 in an arena that seats about 4500. They played a game the other night in which only Hatcher was in uniform and the place was standing room only, so in the short term it is good for that franchise.
---Todd

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 1:06 pm

Todd, thanks for passing that along. I can only hope that other NHL-ers join with the same stipulations.

I've worked for a team at the UHL level (maybe just below, unless the U has upped it's talent level), and none of the players were in any way prospects or had a chance to be anything beyond an AHL 3rd or 4th liner. But a major part of the player compensation was an apartment and I'd hate to see players at this level dumped on the street so a millionaire can play. Can't blame the owners though, as evidenced by the attendance increase.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Fri Feb 04, 2005 1:17 pm

kevinpars wrote:It's the owner's who locked the players out, so I blame the owners. To me, a salary cap is simply the owners trying to protect themselves from themselves. Plus, they have the worst commissioner in the history of sports. I bet that Bud Selig is loving this. He is looking better and better.

But ultimately, the blame has to go to the owners. Bottom line is they locked out the players. If it was a strike the blame would be on the players.

Of course I am biased. My father retired with a full pension. Now, you have to look 'pension' up in the dictionary to find out what it means. I have a 401K that hasn't done s*** for the past 3 years and my company only contributes to it if they have a good year. And I'm supposed to support management against labor in the NHL dispute? F that.

In fact, F 'em all, every damn one of those rich bastards whether they wear a suit or a uniform.

Actually the lockout is just as much the players fault as it is the owners. You're not really looking at the whole picture. Why is there a lockout? Because there is no Collective Bargaining Agreement between the players and owners. The players know full well that they can't report to work without a CBA signed. It's not really a case of the owners locking out the players as it's a case of a mutual strike since neither side is willing to come to terms on a new CBA.

With that said I put the blame on the players at this point because, as I said earlier, they know the owners will not accept anything shy of a salary cap like they did last time. It ain't gonna happen. When/if they do resume the NHL it will be under a salary cap and wasting a season will have done nothing but deprive fans (the few that remain) of watching hockey.

I can understand supporting actual laborers, but athletes are as pampered as they come. Hell, you've got athletes like Latrell Sprewell claiming he can't feed his family on a mere $8 million a year or whatever he was making. That's the mentality I see from the NHL players right now. The greed is on both sides but the owners have more power.

First play the sport and then we can fix it by getting Bettman's ass out of there.