It is official, the fans dont care anymore.

[Mess]

All the press and breaking news coming from TSN is so pointless now, everyone knows that a season is impossible now.

Not impossible, just unlikely based on where both sides sit firmly entrenched at the moment.

Bettman is on record as claiming they will not play less that 48 game season (~approx 1/2) and for that to happen a new CBA must be in place by mid January or so to fit that type of schedule just like what happened in the 1994/95 shortened season.

So there is still a limited amount of time remaining, and the damage in fan response to this lockout would be lessened by a partial season than no season at all. I think both sides know this all to well.

 

[pooleboy]

Considering i'm such a huge hockey fan I never thought I would come to the point of not caring if a season is cancelled or not, but this has become my state of mind. I couldn't care less and am waiting for the MLB season to begin.

This. Who cares about the nhl, april can't come soon enough!

 

[pooleboy]

If it was up to the Leafs ownership, there wouldn't be a lockout.

Therefore, I will resume my regular NHL watching habits once they return. I'm not going to deprive myself of something I love in order to send a message that really won't be received by anyone.

And this is the thinking bettman has too.

 

[draeko17]

Is it official? I suppose. Personally, I'm not angry at any of them. It's their business(es), their lives. My life doesn't have guarantees in it that I will be entertained in the manner I would prefer (which is really too bad...lol). And yeah, knowing that the Leafs are one of the teams that would prefer to be playing gives me some solace. I am looking forward to when they get it figured out.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to WJC's, enjoying Marlie's hockey and totally entertained by the wizardry of Alex Anthopolous.

But make no mistake, the first chance I get to watch the Leafs on the ice, be it pre-season practice, pre-season game or a regular season game, I'll the there. And completely unapologetic about it as well.

 

[Razz]

I can only speak for myself and I have certainly lost interest in following this thing. The disclaimer of interest sealed the deal for me. I'm not really caring anymore.

 

[Liferleafer]

I can only speak for myself and I have certainly lost interest in following this thing. The disclaimer of interest sealed the deal for me. I'm not really caring anymore.

I totally agree....and if the fans of this team (who are loyal to the point of insanity, myself included) feel this way, can you imagine the damage done to the teams who have a much looser fanbase?

 

[cup67]

once the season starts again, all the leaf fans will jump back on the MONEY bandwagon.
they will all pay what ever money to get tickets, they will pay big bucks for leaf products.
the owners will laugh all the way to the bank, greedy owners.

leaf fans must all be Gemini's

 

[Jatt]

Me and some friends usually do a couple of trips each season to watch the Leafs play on the road (Pittsburgh, Chicago, NY, Boston, Philly) etc. etc. Even if hockey comes back this season, we're saving the money to head to Dunedin in March. I couldn't care less if the NHL comes back this season, it stung not having it in 04/05 but between the Leafs stinking up the joint since the previous lockout, having already been through it, and witnessing the sheer level of cockiness by owners and dumb-as-a-post-stubborn-as-a-mule players, who really cares?

 

[SarcazemKadri]

It's official the fans don't care anymore.

Posted on a Hockey Forums board, talk about irony.

 

[contour]

Yea I don't really care for the lockout now, except for the draft. I just hope we don't get screwed over at the lottery again.

Jays are keeping my mind off hockey. And the Raptors, well, are the Raptors.

 

[Stephen]

Give Mackinnon and I could do without another losing season.

 

[Frankie]

The GMs and coaches must be going crazy during the lockout.

i actually ran into gerard gallant back in early october. got talking to him, and he was going crazy back then. he said, "i gotta get to work!". can only imagine how they're all feeling now, especially someone like him starting a new job.

 

[I am Canadian]

With all of this are they still on the issue of revenue splitting? Has there even been any talk of ending front loaded contracts or maximum contact lengths or anything of that sort?

 

[Liferleafer]

With all of this are they still on the issue of revenue splitting? Has there even been any talk of ending front loaded contracts or maximum contact lengths or anything of that sort?

NHL wants 5 year max deals with a 5% variance in salary...PA wants 7-8 year max with 15% variance.

 

[Jatt]

NHL wants 5 year max deals with a 5% variance in salary...PA wants 7-8 year max with 15% variance.

Go 6 and 10% and call it a day, but there's way too much pride on both sides to actually resolve this without torching the league into oblivion.

 

[darrylsittler27]

No, that is not the irony.

It's official the fans don't care anymore.

Posted on a Hockey Forums board, talk about irony.

The irony is the players have now lost more than they can gain...period.

 

[Persuasion]

I care about hockey.

I care about the Leafs.

I care about the NHL.

I do not care about these players.

Every day that goes by a player says something completely stupid and disrespectful to the fans. I try to remind myself that most of these guys didn't even finish high school but they continue to just amaze me with the selfish acts they pull.

I am just happy that the only Leaf that's in the media is Lupul, and he's a UFA soon enough.

 

[anderson3133]

The irony is the players have now lost more than they can gain...period.

The players were never going to gain anything financially to begin with and accepting a deal for the short-term benefit of recouping one year's salary is a horrible approach.

They're in it for the long haul now.

 

[nsleaf]

Just how far do these clowns have to go before the fans actually revolt and stop attending games and buying thier crap? Is there a line in the sand? I doubt it because hockey is a beautiful game to watch despite the fact that the owners and players are a bunch of.........

 

[Persuasion]

Just how far do these clowns have to go before the fans actually revolt and stop attending games and buying thier crap? Is there a line in the sand? I doubt it because hockey is a beautiful game to watch despite the fact that the owners and players are a bunch of.........

I doubt any of the canadian teams will see an attendance drop off. Especially here in TO. I expect a sell out regardless of how long it takes for the game to return.

 

[indigobuffalo]

I'm not going to boycott the games, but I welcome all those that do, because I wouldn't mind putting my name down for season tickets once they start accepting names for the Jets' waiting list.

This entire lockout is a measure to ensure long-term success for the business of the NHL. I support the players in wanting to make sure their rights weren't trampled to make the owner's pure profit, and I support the NHL for locking out the players to make sure they got what they wanted out of the CBA to make it so the Sunbelt teams aren't losing as much (if any at all) money.

If the Sunbelt teams are able to allocate more money to advertising, marketing and promotion, that will make them more successful. If the Sunbelt teams become successful, fans will grow in number in those regions, leading to more and more kids growing up being fans of hockey.

Then that will lead to more and more potential NHL calibre players, and better and better levels of competition.

Eventually making room for more and more teams, or even leagues.

So all in all, missing a few games or even a season, just isn't so bad in the grand scheme of things...

 

[nsleaf]

Sunbelt teams being succesful?? That is a big if.

 

[R McD]

Gruber pretty much says it all.......

 

[Leafidelity]

I hope the NHL loses so much money it has to contract.

 

[Duke Silver]

I've become numb to the entire process, really.

When the season starts I will meet it with a half-hearted "yay."