NHL Lockout: The Best Thing To Ever Happen?

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blitzkriegs

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May 26, 2003
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One thing I hope to see is 60+ minute rule enforcement. No more throw out the whistle let the circus act begin in the last 5 mins of a close game.

Does the NBA still call fouls in a 86-80 game with 2 minutes left; the MOST critical time of the game? YES. :clap:

Does the NFL call pass interference at 1:40 left in the game w/the offensive team down by 7 while throwing in the red zone? YES. :clap:

Do baseball umpires call a balk with the bases loaded in a 4-4 game in the 8th inining?
YES. :clap:

Do NHL referees call hooking/slashing/elbowing/tripping/ holding in the offensive zone against the defensive team that is trying to hold onto a 2-1 lead w/3minutes to go in the game?
NO. :madfire:

Because supposedly the NHL needs to 'let the players play and not make calls that can decide the game.' Obviously, the above 4 examples ALL can decide the game when called & are called in their respective sports except the NHL. Players play w/n the rules, not the artificial last 5 minutes rule the NHL has. :dunno:
 

Spungo*

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blitzkriegs said:
One thing I hope to see is 60+ minute rule enforcement. No more throw out the whistle let the circus act begin in the last 5 mins of a close game.

Does the NBA still call fouls in a 86-80 game with 2 minutes left; the MOST critical time of the game? YES. :clap:

Does the NFL call pass interference at 1:40 left in the game w/the offensive team down by 7 while throwing in the red zone? YES. :clap:

Do baseball umpires call a balk with the bases loaded in a 4-4 game in the 8th inining?
YES. :clap:

Do NHL referees call hooking/slashing/elbowing/tripping/ holding in the offensive zone against the defensive team that is trying to hold onto a 2-1 lead w/3minutes to go in the game?
NO. :madfire:

Because supposedly the NHL needs to 'let the players play and not make calls that can decide the game.' Obviously, the above 4 examples ALL can decide the game when called & are called in their respective sports except the NHL. Players play w/n the rules, not the artificial last 5 minutes rule the NHL has. :dunno:

Well said, brah.
 

Brewleaguer

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Jan 31, 2005
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The only good thing about it is it will make the league profitable, the rest is a bailout of weaker market teams.
 

reckoning

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Brewleaguer said:
The only good thing about it is it will make the league profitable, the rest is a bailout of weaker market teams.

If there was a significant increase in revenue sharing then Imight believe that the lockout was meant to help small market teams. Instead it was only about making Jeremy Jacobs happy.
 

A Good Flying Bird*

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Is the lockout the best thing to ever happen to the league?

Stating what I think about the thought process that even brings one to ask such question would probably get me banned for a week.

So I'll let this one go.
 

Bring Back Bucky

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Newsguyone said:
Is the lockout the best thing to ever happen to the league?

Stating what I think about the thought process that even brings one to ask such question would probably get me banned for a week.

So I'll let this one go.


Sounds like you took a deep breath and put the "WWBD" mantra into action and it has kept you from blowing your top unnecessarily. Well done :handclap:
 

A Good Flying Bird*

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Bring Back Bucky said:
Sounds like you took a deep breath and put the "WWBD" mantra into action and it has kept you from blowing your top unnecessarily. Well done :handclap:


I'm not sure who B is in the WWBD thing, but I LOVE that avatar.
Lafleur and Robinson. Wow.
 

Bring Back Bucky

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Newsguyone said:
I'm not sure who B is in the WWBD thing, but I LOVE that avatar.
Lafleur and Robinson. Wow.


The "B" is Bobby, as in Bobby Hull, magnificent commissioner of the fantastic WHA, who is going to put the drizzle back in the shizzle while the NHL fizzles.

Help yourself to the avatar, Guy and Larry rocked. Larry is forgotten for how damned tough he was. He was one of those guys so tough he didn't even need to be tough after a while..
 

A Good Flying Bird*

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Bring Back Bucky said:
The "B" is Bobby, as in Bobby Hull, magnificent commissioner of the fantastic WHA, who is going to put the drizzle back in the shizzle while the NHL fizzles.

Help yourself to the avatar, Guy and Larry rocked. Larry is forgotten for how damned tough he was. He was one of those guys so tough he didn't even need to be tough after a while..


I remember in the 90s, when Ray Bourque was winding down, every boyd was making top 10 lists, with Bourque at number 2 behind Orr.

Bourque over Robinson??

Not in a million year.

Robinson did EVERYTHING you want a defenseman to do. And he did it all in ALL Star fashion.
 

NJD Jester

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Patman said:
The English fluency of the stars means very little and even then its not a large problem. The NHL's power is not in star appeal, never has been. The problem is the league has been explicitly selling the stars of the league and that's the problem. Hockey's history talks much about the teams and not the individuals and the reflects back on the nature of hockey as a team sport. It was the team as an extension of the people and fans of that team. The NHL forgot what gave them power and that was the teams and the players that gave them character, but the teams were secondary. Only a few super-stars transcend that team status, Gretzky, Lemieux, and Messier (mostly by age) are a few players that can overcome that divide but there aren't too many players that will.

I agree that selling the franchises rather than the stars would be a welcome change, and obviously one that could piggyback on a return to a heavier divisional schedule.

But "English fluency of the stars" is a major problem in the context of marketing through endorsements, commercials...hell, even appearances on sitcoms. Not so much in the sense that foreign players can't speak English -- hell, listen to Shaq for a few minutes and Bobby Holik's no longer that hard to understand -- but in the sense that their obvious English-as-a-second-language dialect reminds American fans that they're watching someone else's sport. And the Gary Bettman Casual Fans don't like doing that.
 

Gary

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In some aspects I believe you are correct. The NHL finally woke up and realized the casual fan didn't give a rats tail. They saw their real value to the sports world and realized they had to make some changes

Well said. I think the NHL wanted to make changes to the sport to make itself more popular *but* did'nt realize exactly how bad of shape they were in until there was a full year off. Players mostly IMO-I say this for one reason...In the old CBA you heard alot of "NHL is the best game in the world", and "We deserve what the market will pay us (insinuating they were worth huge coin)." Couple that with the fact that MANY played overseas for pennies on the dollar and alas-They've seen a year off of the game where people *for the most part* are saying "Who gives a rats ass if hockey is on or off"...Couple that with statistics (Poker and Lawn Bowling bringing in higher ratings lol) and all the sudden the players are signing a different tune. All the sudden they realized BG was full of ****. They wanted to see the books because they suspected maybe the owners were'nt lying about the shape of the league given all the outside data they had. Now players are saying "We need to do what's best for the game", and "We need to come to a agreement ASAP".
 

Gary

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Bettman's failure is to not understand his product and not understanding what brought itself success in the first place in the early 1990s

AWESOME point. Rivalries, Tradition, and allowing huge salaries all lead to the leagues detrimise

In its prime, rivalries were damnright FEROCIOUS. Now, they're far and few inbetween. Wales Conference/Campbells Conference-The league had an identity of its own back then. Now the Southeastern/Northsouthern/Westeastern Conferences which mimic all the other U.S. Major sports leagues. Huge salaries-He let them esculate to the point where guys where getting paid a un-freaking believable GUARENTEED amout that their desire to play (UNTIL A CONTRACT YEAR) deminished in almost every instance. Well thought of post...
 

Master Shake*

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futurcorerock said:
Alright, so I understand the thread title will spurn some of you on to state some of the other instances in which the game has flourished (Gretz to LA, Olympic participation), but for the sake of the argument could we stick to the question at hand: Has this NHL Lockout been the best thing to ever happen to the league?

Granted there are going to be some "no's" and "you're an idiot's", but consider the facts:

The prospect of rule changes have been discussed over the past few years, little has been done to make the sweeping reforms that may be needed to the game. With the lockout, the NHL has assured us a brand new scoring-friendly product. From the obvious (Goaltenders' Pads, Obstruction) to the questionable (Shootouts, Nets), many of the innovations had been within the spectrum of the hockey realm for a number of years, but had not been acted upon. No new innovation occured to spurn on the new movement other than the lockout's duration and the desire to win back fan support

The economic framework of the new NHL promises to be one that could be considered one that offers teams and players a fair deal. The owners will get the much needed salary cap to help control escalating salaries around the league and help improve the competitive balance on the market. Though the players could be seen at a loss, they will see free agency ages drop by a few years, linkage and will keep some of the bells and whistles of the old CBA such as Arbitration. Through the modest setback, it's ensured that the salary cap will be able to rise in future years alongside the growth of the league and allow the players a stake to their former claim... and more

Marketability has come up again and the NHL has seen the error of it's ways in alienating itself from the players. Infintely bound, the players and teams both carry the load of promoting itself to the sports world, not one or the other. Before, it was hard to find an NHL commercial featuring it's best players. Now, there's been a considerable buzz that the NHL will be able to launch itself again with the help of veterans and youth alike.

So my take on it? I think the lockout is going to be one of the most defining moments of the NHL. If all the changes do occur as stated above, the NHL is going to have the lockout as a launching pad for it's game, being able to repackage a busted product and put it back on the market. The lockout itself can be better seen as a hibernation for the NHL to collect it's image and plot a long-term strategy to ensure the health of the league and further promote the sport throughout North America

oi!



Yes
in the end this will be the best thing that could have happened. The game will finally be truly fixed.
 

doc5hole

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It's the best thing to ever happen if it ultimately results in the closing of franchises in non-hockey markets. Even in an owners' victory, this is possible, especially with a low salary floor. Carolina, Nashville and Florida will gravitate to the floor and whatever fan interest is left could completely die off, forcing them to relocate. Such a plight would be the best thing because it would ultimately bring the NHL back to hockey fans and, in the process, save the game from poor stewards who would corrupt it with gimmicks like the shootout (in the playoffs) and whatever else a U.S. TV network would demand.
 

Patman

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blitzkriegs said:
No maybe you don't, but did you see ANY progress in affecting the changes you state in the past 3-5 years? Answer = NO.

Call obstruction - the NHL tried over and over again; players whined over and over again.

take out the redline - subject of much debate, but never serious debate until Shanahan's conference, then the league's conference, then the rules camp

reduce goalie equipment - the NHL tried several times, only to be jammed by the PA w/grievances.

So, let me ask you. Where was the force, pressure, inertia going to come from to overcome these obstacles?

Shanahan took his own initiative during the lockout to try top find to make the game better while his union boss had done nothing to help the cause for years. Why? because stalling the NHL for on ice-issues helped (at least he thought) his cba bargaining position.

The lockout has allowed much desired reflection by all sides that would have never happened absent this lockout b/c the sides were too adversarial and too involved in bargaining power, not the state of the on ice product.

There's a small issue left unsaid here. Rules changes in their nature are meant to encourage or discourage certain events. This means change, this also means that some players will not be able to perform as after the change. Clearly it would mean that it would not be to the advantage of the current PA membership as some of those players would fall out of the league. The PA is looking out for its members as it should but it also means that change will be made difficult. For instance cutting down on leg pads to 10 inches would mean that certain goalies would have to change their entire style or become either less effective or former-NHLers. The PA protects the current players as the current players are the union members but they also fear that salary won't maximize.
 

reckoning

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Icey said:
Sometimes you need to go in reverse before you can go forward. Ever try putting a car in reverse when your still driving forward? Kind of difficult.

This league needed to totally shut down in order for them to take a long hard look at the product. And they realized it wasn't pretty. I think this lockout will produce a better on ice product as well as a better off-ice product. This league will be 100% better when they return in October.


It`s the league`s job to constantly monitor the on-ice status of the game to see what needs to be changed. The fans have been complaining for the last ten years that the game was becoming more and more boring- instead Bettman looked at the glass as being half full instead of half empty, and refused to acknowledge that the game needed fixing.

Now supposedly the lockout has opened the NHL`s eyes???? Did Paul Tagliabue or David Stern have to shut down their leagues for an entire season in order to see what needed to be improved?- NO!!!! If Bettman and the NHL owners did than that`s the most conclusive proof of their incompetence shown yet.
 
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