Air Canada threatens to pull sponsorship from NHL over headshots

Kikizaz

Registered User
Jan 15, 2008
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Victoria BC
The league had no problem surviving when it was .70 on the US Dollar. Do not confuse the current strength of the Canadian dollar with the Canadian teams(or one Canadian team in particular) being able to dictate the rules of the game on the rest of the league.

the league survived those days on the backs of 12 new teams, each paying many millions, starting from 1991.

good luck trying to add more expansion teams.

don't confuse the number of american teams with the health of american teams.
 
Apr 1, 2006
3,280
2,432
Montreal
A childhood friend of mine who's a pilot for Air Canada told me last summer that the company was getting concerned regarding the increasing number of serious injuries in the NHL (his wife works for one of AC's top guy, couldn't say which dept. though). So it's probably a case of them being concerned over those "hockey play" being associated with their name. Last night was obviously the last straw for them. Will they benefit from it? Absolutely. But at least someone is doing something about it.
 

Davebo*

Guest
The league had no problem surviving when it was .70 on the US Dollar. Do not confuse the current strength of the Canadian dollar with the Canadian teams(or one Canadian team in particular) being able to dictate the rules of the game on the rest of the league.

Newsflash - the us dollar is in the toilet these days, as well as your economy. Do not confuse the date. This isn't the 90's, no matter how much you wish for it.

If a major sponsor of the NHL withdraws, who do you see stepping up in this economic climate?
 

Egil

Registered User
Mar 6, 2002
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And kids get severely injured in the juniors, in NCAA hockey, in the NHL as well.

It is a violent game.

Let me ask you this, if Hal Gill puts the exact same hit on Patrice Bergeron....and Bergeron has the exact same injuries.....Air Canada doesn't do a darn thing..do they?

This has nothing to do with hockey, it has to do with Montreal fans feeling wronged. And it is hilarious that the people running a major airline are running their business based on that.

Pretty good and extremely cheap marketing strategy if you ask me. No real risk in most of the country while strongly playing to the Quebec market.
 

btn

Gone Hollywood
Feb 27, 2002
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You mean games played in the Air Canada Centre? haha

It wasn't called that when Tie Domi, Darcy Tucker, and Gary Roberts were playing there, was it. That is certainly not the kind of image that Air Canada would want to associate themselves with.

Again, the new found faith of Air Canada in protecting the health of NHL players is refreshing if it wasn't soley based upon a member of their hometown team getting injured.
 

Pruch025

Registered User
Mar 21, 2007
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This could just be the final straw. Just because they didn't come out with a statement before this doesn't necessarily mean they weren't concerned beforehand.

But it also doesn't mean they WERE concerned, just because they say it now. This isn't something that just started happening 4 weeks ago. Headshots have been a problem for years. Remember Scott Stevens? Now all of a sudden, they are "taking a stand"? Gimme a break. They are trying to capitalize on lunatic Habs fan outrage. First rule of marketing is all press is good press.
 

Jack Tripper

Vey Falls Down
Dec 15, 2009
7,250
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Perth, WA
air canada holding their head office in montreal tells you all you need to know

disingenuous corporate bandwagon jumping at its finest
 

swiftwin

★SUMMER.OF.PIERRE★
Jul 26, 2005
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Go watch the Youtube video posted on page 1. There are a ton of turnbuckle hits in there, and nobody was whining and crying foul then. Suddenly there's an injury and Montreal is involved and it's the worst thing to happen to hockey since one of the most blatant cheap shots in recent memory?

No.

So? There were many blind-side hits many moons ago, but not anymore, the NHL is cracking down on that stuff. This is the same thing. Its still a headshot, just a different kind of headshot.

Who cares what Hunter did in the 80's. Goalies used to not wear masks, players used to not wear helmets. The game evolves, and hits like that are completely unnecessary.

Oddly enough, Bruins fans were the ones talking like this last year, now that their player is the agressor, their tune changes. Unreal...
 

RECCE

The Dog House
Apr 29, 2010
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It is not like the league specifically put in rules banning direct shots to the head this year, right?

The idea that the league is doing nothing about headshots is absurd. This was a normal hit made at the worst possible place it could have happened on the ice, what do you want to do? Ban any kind of checks within 10 feet of the stantions? Ban checking?

Yes it is, BTW who said that?

Yup, pretty normal, pushing, guiding (or directing or whatever you want to call it) a player's head into the stanchion.

I don't want to turn this into a "Chara hit on Pacioretty" thread, there's one of those already.
 
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MillerTime2181

Registered User
Nov 3, 2010
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And what does the NHL gain from bowing to a corporate sponser? The get the headline of "Top 4 major league submits to corporate sponser" label. That's it. If Air Canada was serious they would have broached this subject incidents ago. The league handed down their ruling they aren't going to cater to a sponser last minute.
 

Pruch025

Registered User
Mar 21, 2007
422
0
A childhood friend of mine who's a pilot for Air Canada told me last summer that the company was getting concerned regarding the increasing number of serious injuries in the NHL (his wife works for one of AC's top guy, couldn't say which dept. though). So it's probably a case of them being concerned over those "hockey play" being associated with their name. Last night was obviously the last straw for them. Will they benefit from it? Absolutely. But at least someone is doing something about it.

Oh well then it MUST be true hah.
 

Pruch025

Registered User
Mar 21, 2007
422
0
If Air Canada pulls out, you can say goodbye to atleast one failing American franchise. They put ALOT of money into the NHL.

Then let it happen and Habs fans can be responsible for ruining the game even more than they are right now.
 

Koss

Registered User
Go watch the Youtube video posted on page 1. There are a ton of turnbuckle hits in there, and nobody was whining and crying foul then. Suddenly there's an injury and Montreal is involved and it's the worst thing to happen to hockey since one of the most blatant cheap shots in recent memory?

No.

I have happened to watch a lot of turnbuckle videos today too from past seasons. They have been everywhere.

You know what's interesting about watching similar hits, is that the guy hitting the player into the turnbuckle either lets up before the impact or the player finishes the hit when it's clear the head is not going to be taking the brunt of the impact. The difference with last night's hit is that the hitter made damn sure the guy he was hitting was going to take the turnbuckle right off the bucket. You just don't see that in any of the other hits.
 

Darth Bangkok

Registered User
May 17, 2006
7,168
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Mogadishu
I think its becoming the last straw for more and more people and groups. The debate shouldn't be about the technicality of whether Chara's hit violated any particular rule in the rule book. Obviously there is no clear cut answer as there are people arguing about it all over the place. But the real issue is the recklessness with which some players are playing these days. In the case last night, Chara's job was to keep Pacioretty from getting the puck. He didn't have to almost kill him to achieve that. These uneccessary injuries have been happening more and more frequently and they are getting worse. You'd think all the **** with the preivous Bruins/Habs game, the Isles/Pens game, the overreaction to the last Gillies hit that this topic would be on players minds. I've been expecting them to start saying to themselves at some point "what the **** are we doing to ourselves?". Because every time a player does something like this and gets away with it, they are putting every other player in the league in danger, including themselves and their teammates, because things don't go backwards. The envelopment is always pushed and every incident gets worse than the last.

I'm tired of talking about injuries and concussions. I want to keep track of goals, assists, and saves. not body counts. Something needs to be done and its got to start somewhere. If it needs to be some ****** corporation, so be it.
 

kassian

Registered User
Sep 27, 2010
5,044
0
Montreal
Then let it happen and Habs fans can be responsible for ruining the game even more than they are right now.

You should thank us, Habs fans. Hopefully one of those crappy American franchises that couldn't sell 50% of their arena tickets to save their lives get relocated to a Canadian city.

It's a lot more fun to see a game with a capacitive crowd.
 

Davebo*

Guest
Any airline that wants to make major inroads in Canada against a competitor.

Not being a smart ass here, but you need to go research the laws regarding foreign flagged carriers operating in Canada.

Do you think Air Canada would last this long if it wasn't protected? :laugh: You've never flown them - I can tell ;)
 

Kikizaz

Registered User
Jan 15, 2008
1,995
0
Victoria BC
And what does the NHL gain from bowing to a corporate sponser? The get the headline of "Top 4 major league submits to corporate sponser" label. That's it. If Air Canada was serious they would have broached this subject incidents ago. The league handed down their ruling they aren't going to cater to a sponser last minute.

They will if more do the same, remember that Molson/coors are a Big NHL sponsor... guess which Family owns th Habs.


this is the best news ive read all day. Call us whiny if we take our puck and go home., Children learn early to avoid trouble, this whole league is in trouble.

How many teams turned a profit last season?

How many were CDN?
 

Kyle McMahon

Registered User
May 10, 2006
13,301
4,352
Yes it is, BTW who said that?

Yup, pretty normal, pushing, guiding (or directing or whatever you want to call it) a player's head into the stanchion.

I don't want to turn this into a "Chara hit on Pacioretty" thread, there's one of those already.

This type of play does occur with some regularity. One of the threads in the main board has a lengthy video post showing numerous incidents, some of them where the intent to injure was extremely obvious. I don't recall hearing a peep out of Air Canada after any of those...
 

WhereIsIt

alongtheboards
Jan 21, 2010
3,042
0
Calgary
www.alongtheboards.com
When was the last time a sponsor pulled out of any of the other major sports leagues because a player on their favorite team got hurt and the guy that hurt him didn't get suspended? That's all this is. If this hit was in an Edmonton-Ducks game Air Canada (which is headquartered in MONTREAL) wouldn't give a damn. It's pure unprofessionalism on the part of the people running Air Canada, it's not a business decision at all. Nobody is going to look at that hit and then decide that they won't fly Air Canada anymore because they are one of the NHL's many sponsors.

Air Canada, stop letting your personal feelings about your favorite sports team get in the way of business. It's embarrassing.
 

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