Lafleur wades in, thinks the NHL should declare bankruptcy...

[Digger12]

...and start over.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=102849

Oh man, I could just imagine the shower of lawyers the NHL would be hit with if they tried this.

I wonder how many other former greats from yesteryear are going to weigh in with similar rhetoric.

Click to read more...

 

[Chili]

I don't know about the bankruptcy part (that's for lawyers to decide) but I agree with the rest of his sentiments.

 

[X8oD]

...and start over.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=102849

Oh man, I could just imagine the shower of lawyers the NHL would be hit with if they tried this.

I wonder how many other former greats from yesteryear are going to weigh in with similar rhetoric.

What can the lawyers do?

To declare bankruptcy, the books would have to be opened in according to Bankruptcy laws. Then everything would be settled. If The Owners are lying or fudging the books, it will be found and they will be fined and almost FORCED to accept the status-quo. If the Owners are telling the truth, the bankruptcy judge will tell the NHLPA to "get bent."

I dont understand why the NHL isnt "leaking" possible news like this. They could force the NHLPA's hand if the NHL is ready to go infront of a judge and say "we cant survive"

either way, all these players coming out, past and present, saying the NHL is in trouble is putting the NHLPA WAY behind in the public relations wars. Not only that, but every one of thier statements could be used against the NHLPA in court.

 

[triggrman]

Save the small market teams in Canada, screw the small markets in the US.

 

[X8oD]

Save the small market teams in Canada, screw the small markets in the US.

well, thats 1 point i agree with the NHLPA..

There should be no such thing as a small market US team. Because most of the "small markets" are all in expansion cities. And its the NHL's fault for putting them into places were they didnt make money quick enough.

 

[Kickabrat]

Best observation in the article:

"He can't understand why so many pro players are skating in Europe for a couple of hundred thousand dollars but won't play at home for a couple of million."

Someone should ask that question to Bob Goodenow.

 

[silver_made*]

Save the small market teams in Canada, screw the small markets in the US.

by those standards, one of the 6 small US markets to go would be your predators.

as for lafleur's statements, even he sees the hyprocricy in nhlers taking european jobs for 6 figures, yet whine about an nhl life with a ceiling in the low seven-figures. the whole filing for bankruptcy comment was made, i think, with little or no understanding of law, so i basically ignored that part. he said it: no one would starve under the cap; not the owners, not the small markets, and not the players. heard that, goodenow? again, just more proof of the nhl's overpaid trying their damndest to hang on to their inflated salaries. the prongers of the world couldn't give a damn about the kolniks of the world, and the nhlpa's refusal of any sort of cap is proof.

 

[nomorekids]

by those standards, one of the 6 small US markets to go would be your predators.

as for lafleur's statements, even he sees the hyprocricy in nhlers taking european jobs for 6 figures, yet whine about an nhl life with a ceiling in the low seven-figures. the whole filing for bankruptcy comment was made, i think, with little or no understanding of law, so i basically ignored that part. he said it: no one would starve under the cap; not the owners, not the small markets, and not the players. heard that, goodenow? again, just more proof of the nhl's overpaid trying their damndest to hang on to their inflated salaries. the prongers of the world couldn't give a damn about the kolniks of the world, and the nhlpa's refusal of any sort of cap is proof.

i think trig was being sarcastic.

 

[triggrman]

thank you

 

[silver_made*]

thank you

many apologies. knew it was too obvious/easy. still believe nashville doesn't deserve a franchise.

 

[I.am.ca]

The NHL can't afford to lose any more Canadian teams, they need the Canadian teams.

Anyways which teams would end up folding?

I know most ppl will say Pittsburgh, other than them who else?

 

[Bicycle Repairman]

The NHL can't afford to lose any more Canadian teams, they need the Canadian teams.

Why? They did just fine for decades with only two.

 

[Onion Boy]

The NHL can't afford to lose any more Canadian teams, they need the Canadian teams.

Anyways which teams would end up folding?

I know most ppl will say Pittsburgh, other than them who else?

Carolina, I would imagine is at the top of everyone's list, even higher than Pittsburgh.

 

[mackdogs*]

Why? They did just fine for decades with only two.

Probably because Canadian markets don't really dwindle, we cheer for our teams regardless of how bad they are. I think I.am.ca means that U.S. markets should fold before Canadian ones because our markets, which may have less potential, are extremely consistent.

Of course, his user name also answers your question.

 

[Epsilon]

I don't see how the NHL could declare bankruptcy when it's the teams themselves that are the business entities. Unless the league's corporate operating money is totally used up, which I somehow doubt.

 

[triggrman]

many apologies. knew it was too obvious/easy. still believe nashville doesn't deserve a franchise.

To each his own.

Tell me though. Why do you belive that?

 

[PecaFan]

I don't see how the NHL could declare bankruptcy when it's the teams themselves that are the business entities. Unless the league's corporate operating money is totally used up, which I somehow doubt.

Many a league has folded while some constituent franchises were healthy.

 

[nomorekids]

many apologies. knew it was too obvious/easy. still believe nashville doesn't deserve a franchise.

That's just fine, neither does LA.

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

many apologies. knew it was too obvious/easy. still believe nashville doesn't deserve a franchise.

What deep thinking led you to that belief?

 

[I.am.ca]

Probably because Canadian markets don't really dwindle, we cheer for our teams regardless of how bad they are. I think I.am.ca means that U.S. markets should fold before Canadian ones because our markets, which may have less potential, are extremely consistent.

Of course, his user name also answers your question.

Hey i wanna change my name, but thats a different topic.


Thats what i meant. In Canada, you would see the people wearing hockey jersies more than you would see an NFL, MLB, or NBA jersey.
In the states, its the opposite. Hockey is life down here, a crappy team will still get fans coming to games, but when the canadian teams are winning, you'd be s.outta.luck to get a ticket.

But yeah, he said what i was trying to get across, nothing more than that.

 

[triggrman]

Vancouver didn't start averaging over 16k a game until the mid 90's. They had a stretch of 5 years where they barely drew more than 11K, some of those years they barely broke 10k.

Edmonton in 1992 averaged 14797 1993 - 13478 1994 - 13124 1995 - 12335 in fact Nashville's first 3 season averaged a higher attendance than Edmonton in those same 3 years.

Now some other strong markets.

Boston from the early 80's to the mid 90's rarely broke 14k in attendance

New York Islanders, have they ever averaged more than 15K, Carolina repeatedly outdraws the Islanders.


Pittsburg, struggles more on the GL and in attendance than Nashville.

Chicago, do I really need to address them?

 

[Poignant Discussion*]

Vancouver didn't start averaging over 16k a game until the mid 90's. They had a stretch of 5 years where they barely drew more than 11K, some of those years they barely broke 10k.

Edmonton in 1992 averaged 14797 1993 - 13478 1994 - 13124 1995 - 12335 in fact Nashville's first 3 season averaged a higher attendance than Edmonton in those same 3 years.

Now some other strong markets.

Boston from the early 80's to the mid 90's rarely broke 14k in attendance

New York Islanders, have they ever averaged more than 15K, Carolina repeatedly outdraws the Islanders.


Pittsburg, struggles more on the GL and in attendance than Nashville.

Chicago, do I really need to address them?

Very good try. I give you points for creativity.

The problem is the attendance in Nashville is NOT paid attendance. And considering some things like 2 for 1 specials at your local fast food place it really scours the real numbers which are scary in Nashville (might improve after they tasted the playoffs)

Alot of the poor attendance teams offer the same things so just because your team has 13,000 in the stands don't mean those 13,000 are paid for.

 

[nomorekids]

Very good try. I give you points for creativity.

The problem is the attendance in Nashville is NOT paid attendance. And considering some things like 2 for 1 specials at your local fast food place it really scours the real numbers which are scary in Nashville (might improve after they tasted the playoffs)

Alot of the poor attendance teams offer the same things so just because your team has 13,000 in the stands don't mean those 13,000 are paid for.

What exactly are you talking about? Are you pulling guesses out of mid-air?

If anything, the attendance drop is LARGELY due to corporate interest dropping as the team was getting progressively more and more awful. The walk-up sales have stayed pretty consistent over the six years...and season tickets, at the end of last season, were higher than they had been since year one(for this coming year). As the team gets better and better(which it seems to be doing, with its best days still ahead of it) the corporate box sales will go back up...and you'll see attendance back to averaging around 16,000. No one in the organization seems to doubt it, and with the money in Nashville, I don't either.

 

[triggrman]

Very good try. I give you points for creativity.

The problem is the attendance in Nashville is NOT paid attendance. And considering some things like 2 for 1 specials at your local fast food place it really scours the real numbers which are scary in Nashville (might improve after they tasted the playoffs)

Alot of the poor attendance teams offer the same things so just because your team has 13,000 in the stands don't mean those 13,000 are paid for.

Please show me where I could have went to get these discounted tickets in Nashville.

Nashville like NMK said had dissapointing corporate support, not individual ticket sales. According to CL our individual ticket sales where up over the 60% mark, making it one of the top figures in the league, which is pathetic but shows that the actual fan support is still there.

 

[triggrman]

Throwing things out there without support doesn't do a lot of good.

I could swing the arguement back and say maybe Ottawa should have given more tickets away it's first 5 years, when it struggled to sell 15k, pointing out that it was year 4 before they broke the 11k mark in ticket sales, having one season of less than 10,000, but I'd assume that it's much like Calgary in that it first moved into a building that didn't house more than 12k. The point is still, it didn't sell out, and even after moving into a new building it still struggled some. I'd guess that being an expansion team still developing a fan base would have somthing to do with that, much like Nashville is trying to do. Although our first 3 season we played to larger crowds only in our last few seasons did losing really catch up to us. This past offseason though Nashville has had it's best season ticket drive to date, so see, winning helps. Let this market taste some winning before you start with the contract Nashville crap.