Hockey in the 21th century: Canadian Pro League

[Papa Smurf]

Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa will NOT relocate. Your statement is false.

 

[Gnashville]

Winnipeg and Quebec would still have teams under this CBA. Bettman Probably saved the Oilers and Senators at least. The people that blame him for the Jets and Nords moving is just looking for a scape goat. The reason for their relocation lies in those cities' governments and Canada's government overall. Bettman never ordered them to be moved as some people have claimed.

 

[Resolute]

Indeed. If Bettman wanted the Canadian teams gone, he would not have pushed for - and succeeded - in getting the American teams to agree to the currency equalization plan.

 

[Injektilo]

the only way something like this happens is if hockey goes the way of horse racing and boxing in the US and just completely falls off the map.


I like the idea, but it's not exactly feasible, and there's nothing wrong with sharing the game with people who actually appreciate it.



just recognize that the NHL and hockey are not the exact same thing, and hockey is doing quite well and still did quite well when the NHL was gone for a year.

 

[Montrealer]

I think that people who think the NHL should only be in Canada (as it was before 1924) but don't want the rover position to be reinstated, or even know what a rover is, are bonafide hypocrites.

You'd think after eighty-one years the ones that can't handle American NHL teams would've stopped being NHL fans instead of constantly whining about it incessently year after year after year ad naseum until everyone else's ears bled.

 

[A Good Flying Bird*]

Thanks so much for your not so subtle America bashing, which is clearly exceeded by a lack of understanding of population growth, economics and practicality.

America bashing?
Where?

The fact is this: Americans, en masse, don't give a flying fig about hockey.

If they did, some network would have bought the rights to the draft and they'd be hyping it all week.

Instead, you need a seeing eye dog and a metal detector to find any evidence on American television that the draft, featuring the most hyped prospect since Mario Lemieux, takes place tomorrow.

The NHL is actually considering a contract with the OUTDOOR LIFE NETWORK ...

In Canada, HNIC on Saturday Night is practically as holy as church Sunday morning.

That said, I don't think a Canadian Super League works.

I'm to the point where'd I'd like to see the league fold.

 

[salty justice]

Why not just go to AHL games Phil?

 

[Hoek]

The fact is this: Americans, en masse, don't give a flying fig about hockey.

The fact is this: Americans, en masse, don't give a flying fig about soccer either.

The difference is you don't have other countries (including England, the creator of the sport) wishing MLS would just die and the U.S. Men's National Team call it quits. Quite the opposite, they tour here and play exhibition matches against our teams to promote it, even though it may ruin their fun in the future to get eliminated from tournaments by Americans, and if it ever reaches critical mass, start drawing their native talent abroad and make more of their small market teams unable to compete.

And you know what? Slowly but surely, soccer is making more progess here than hockey is. Especially when you factor in what hockey did to itself this past year.

What happened to the sense of ambassadorship Gretzky inspired? Did it disappear when his number went up in the rafters?