Beating a dead horse?

[Hipcheck]

Attendance down across the league and if you thought the NHL made for good TV before you probably question it now.

Case in point-Last nights Calgary vs Phoenix game. Calgary has a healthy lead and the Frustrated Yotes start taking the body and Calgary starts responding back in kind. But not wanting the game to "get out of hand" the refs start calling every ticky tack penalty they can find completly killing what little enjoyment there was in watching the final 5-10 minutes of the game including the worlds worst hooking penalty called on Roman Hamrlik. If Hooking is defined as "having ones stick in the general vicinity of an opponents leg" then I guess it was a great call.

I really see the NHL as having the worst case of timing of any sport. When it was the 70/80s they just didnt get the exposure that other sports got in spite of the scoring/physical play./rivalries the game offered.

Once Gretz and Lemieux came to to forefront it brought added exposure and interest but once again there just wasnt enough coverage to pay dividends. I remember sitting in a sportsbar in 1988 watching the Hartford Whalers on satellite and considering myself lucky since this was a rarity. Remember the Hextall/Chelios incident? How about the Isles/Rangers grudge match? Well you probably dont remember unless you shelled out the cash to pay to get ZTV/SportsChannel. The brilliant decision to give the NHL playoffs to a pay tv service which also pre-emtped hockeys game to show preseason Clippers basketball.

Fast forward to the 90s expansion and a wide open game brought arguably the most interest to the NHL ever. The game had a nice balance of toughness and skill which made it great to watch. Fighters like Bob Probert/Marty Mcsorely/Joey Kocur were as popular as Gretzky and Yzerman. The National Sports Newspaper had extensive features about the legendary Probert/Troy Crowder fights.

Using this as a springboard to expansion and a cash grab the NHL overexpands-thus seeing players with no business being in yesterdays NHL all of a sudden thrust into the limelight; Scoring Plummets. Coaches with an eye on the bottom line of Wins and Losses simply start playing a counter punch/trapping style to stay in games.
Surprise Surprise people start losing interest as the trapping clutch and grab lies in direct contrast to the high flying 80s/early 90's brand of hockey.

Then hopping on the politically correct bandwagon-the powers that be somehow think that ramping up scoring and eliminating fighting may somehow bring NBA style results of viewership to the NHL-while diehard fans are left with a shell of a former great game and diehards fans expressing less interest in games(me included.)

In a time when the UFC/Pride Fighting/Nascar are ratings winners-the NHL takes one of its most marketable aspects out of the game. In a time when the NHL is trying to bring in new fans and new viewers-it adopts a policy that actually makes the game harder to watch for the casual fan and less enjoyable for the diehard fan.

Someone said it in another thread-the solution to the NHLs problems wasnt adopting a salary cap; it should have been contraction. Take 4 teams out of the NHL and disburse those 4 teams players amungst the rest and you would have an across the board raising of the overall skill level that by itself would have increased scoring without resorting to calling 20 minors a game simply to boost Power Play scoring.

The NHL historically has had horrible timing and the new rules changes reflect that. In an era when the UFC is selling out staples center and making gazilions through pay per view the NHL has teams that are forced to buy their own air time. Go figure.

Thats my rant for the day. Thanks for reading.

[PPharoah]

and when they ask Commish Bettman about the low attendance he said,

"It's too early to tell!"

How long do we think he will keep that up, end of the season? LOL

[WhoThePuck]

PETA called and they would like you to use a different title for your threads in the future.

[Hipcheck]

Originally Posted by WhoThePuck

PETA called and they would like you to use a different title for your threads in the future.

From the Office of PETA;

We the Chairpeople of PETA hereby acknowledge the tremendous strides the NHL has made in removing the violence and barbarism from its game. With the new NHL showing respect and gentleness to its players, PETA is proud to annouce its affiliation with the NHL. In conjunction with the NHL, PETA will continually work to a better world with peace, understanding, and nonviolence.

[Albsterina]

G' post!

[Puckman]

the number one problem with the NHL has been the repeated labor problems.

The NHL lost all of their steam with the 94-05 lockout.

[Fielddog]

Originally Posted by WhoThePuck

PETA called and they would like you to use a different title for your threads in the future.

Brilliant!
Well said Hipster...

[drivelikejoewho]

Originally Posted by Hipcheck

Well you probably dont remember unless you shelled out the cash to pay to get ZTV/SportsChannel.

That is what it was called before the "Sports Channel". It was the Z channel! Didn't they play movies as well? I think I saw that movie Cherry 2000 like 2000 times on that station.

My Dad bought the channel specifically for hockey. I remember watching the playoffs in the late 80's on that channel. I think Doc Emrick did a lot of games for that channel or maybe they were just showing a lot of Flyers or Penguins games. Not sure which team he was calling the games.

The Chelios/Hextall incident.. was that in the '89 playoffs? I don't remember what happened exactly but I think that was the first year I watched the all the playoffs. I was 9 years old.

[Dr. Naysay]

Originally Posted by Hipcheck

the casual fan

THAT is the #1 problem facing the league right now (in my "humble" opinion)

The insistance that somehow somewhere in America there is a huge untapped market of casual fans who will wake up one day and ignore the last 20 years (if not more) of their newspapers, friends, televisions reporters, radio personalities, SNL sketch writers and all around general concensus telling them that hockey is a joke.

I am (I suppose) what could be called a "Casual Fan" of Baseball, Basketball, Football and Soccer. What that means is that I will watch some highlights, read some online articles and watch PTI everyday and generally keep abreast of what happens in the "wide world of sports". Ocassionally if I've nothing better to do I will actually watch a full game. The fact that I have cable (I suppose) puts some money in the coffer of professional sports but I haven't been to an NBA game or NFL game in YEARS and I only attend the odd baseball game if someone scores some great seats.

The NHL relys on attendance to make their money and they are CONSTANTLY alienating the (eeeevil) "purists" in the hopes that they will find the right equation for a high television audience. Well an extra 2 or 3 power play goals a game ISN'T going to do it and neither is less fighting. NOT when you can open any newspaper, turn on any television or radio or walk into any bar in America and hear some ignorant jack ass talking about what a joke hockey is and how nobody cares about it.

I've asked it before and I'll ask it again... I know why the owners care.... but why the **** do we as fans care how popular the sport of hockey is? With the internet and cable for a price you can watch pretty much any game you want now.

Nuts to the "Casual Fan", NUTS to Gary Bettman and NUTS to anyone that thinks the league needs 30 teams.

[dodg3rsball]

hockey is the worst damn sport ever created!! people gotta watch golf more often.. now that's the true "barbaric" and manly sport!!

[Butch 19]

Originally Posted by PPharoah

and when they ask Commish Bettman about the low attendance ....

Can Hipcheck be the commissioner?

I agree with everything he wrote.

And the #1 problem is mega-expansion. There are simply too many teams that carry marginal-talent-players. I would go farther though, I would dump 6 teams minimum.

The #2 problem is that if you're not on ESPN, you're not viewed as a national sport, period. Either that, or Vs. (what a stupid name) needs to become a basic cable service to someday become a "recognized" sports network.

I bumped into ESPN last weekend, and they were showing some playground-gangsta-style basketball w/ rap music in the background.?? WTF??? ESPN should be embarassed to show shiat like that and the NHL should be embarassed that they let ESPN slip away to broadcast stuff like that.

Over the long haul, ESPN exposure is worth so much more than more OLN $$ before the 05-06 season.

[Stemmer]

The NHL is a horse **** league. If it really wanted to entertain the audience it would give us a fast tempo 4 on 4 hockey. Power plays would be more effective because their would be more room to roam and much less traffic. And the goaltenders would handle much more rubber which would lead to more shell shock,which is a good thing. Fans that think that the NHL would be better dumping 6 clubs aren't living in reality. It will not happen. There are solutions out their but that is not one of them. I wish that another rival(WHA) league would start up that came up with some innovative ways to spice things up .Seems the NHL has run out of ideas, except how to make the game close and screw the fans out their hard earned money. Their is a sucker born every minute they say... Make every free agents and lets scrub the draft everyone that has a mind knows the talent is never dispersed evenly...so let the CAP talk and let free agency mean free...then and only then would we see even steven hockey(of course there has to be 4 on 4 too)...

Thats funny. I start thinking about how to reconfigure the league too when the Kings are playing like crap. Glad I'm not the only one.

Guess I'll get on my soap box too: The perfect NHL would have two conferences with two divisions in each conference and six teams in each division for a total of 24 teams. The top four teams in each divison make the playoffs where its 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 in every division for the first round. Second round is for the division championship. Third round is for the conference championship. Fourth round is for the Stanley Cup. There is only one referee, stick checking is legal, and you're allowed to protect the front of the net.

Sounds like the NHL before Gary Bettman to me. At least I have tapes of old games to watch.

[jcharris99]

Absolutely, Bettman's "expansion-itis" was terrible. There is no way there should be more than 24 teams in the league. Cut the teams, expand the rosters by 2-3 players for each team and grant the players free agency after four years in the league. Oh, and get rid of the TERRIBLE instigator rule.

[Biggdork]

How would you feel if LA was one of the contracted teams? Would it make the NHL better by spreading our talent around to other teams? I mean, the largest (or second largest?) media market in the US can't support (American) FOOTBALL, why do you think it could, or should, be able to support hockey? Sad to say, but I think LA would be one of the first to go if the league contracted by 4 teams, and almost certain if by six.

There are just too many options for your entertainment dollar around these parts that hockey, of all things, is the LAST thing the new Casual NHL Fan is going to be interested in.

That being said, I think things would be fine with some MORE rules changes, or rather, rules rescinding, the first being the God forsaken instigator rule.

Very good points about the UFC/PRIDE popularit and casual fan vs. 'real' fan and what they mean to NHL success.

[jerseydevil]

i think the best way to sum up bettman's murder of our sport...an exclusive deal w/ xm radio(starting 2007). xm is to satellite radio as beta was to home taping. and a deal w/ versus instead of espn. so, a game or two wedged in between cattle wrestling and noodling contests and the constant scorn of espn personalities and sportscenter highlights relegated to bottom feeding moments. sounds like a solid business plan. add to that the f'd up scheduling...where you get sick to death of local rivalries and out-of state fans(like me, GO DEVILS!!!!) only get to see their teams locally once every 3 years. way to go gary! how 'bout you go poke out your eyes w/ a spoon and go kill yourself? way to single handedly guarantee that we remain a "niche" sport and the butt of everyone's jokes. oh, and d'ya ever notice the only time the mainstream media takes notice of our beloved hockey is when some retard(bertuzzi) goes way outta line. all of a sudden it's all hockey talk...f#gs!:vampire: