So Who Is Bummed About The Lockout III ---> Season likely to start on Jan. 19th
- Thread starter GopherState
- Start date
Fel 96
JFC
First home game on Hockey Day in Minnesota. Has to be. It's meant to be. It's written in the stars. It'll be a dream for FSN. They'll advertise the heck out of it. They'll give away towels at the game. There will be lighting effects. There will be little kids with flags on the ice. Nordy will come down from the ceiling. LaPanta will be crying. Herb Brooks will be brought back to life via hologram and exclaim, "Let's Play Hockey." It'll bring the entire state to its knees. Awww....yes......it will be grand!
Sportsfan1
Registered User
Yeah but I was kind of hoping for 50, oh well, just glad the game is back in general and it's over.
Hopefully both Bettman and Fehr will be loooooooooong gone when we have to go through this again.
Hopefully both Bettman and Fehr will be loooooooooong gone when we have to go through this again.
Fel 96
JFC
Hall of Faber
Registered User
I haven't seen a Marco Scandella .gif yet in this thread since the deal was stuck! I think we need one!
Fel 96
JFC
Hall of Faber
Registered User
Every team that comes to town stays at The St. Paul Hotel. I've gotten dozens of autos over there - Sakic, Leetch, Hull, and the Great One, yes, Gretzky, among many others. Leclair was a jerk. Yzerman was a jerk. Iginla was cool. Gabby signed for me outside of the Minnesota Club (he drove a white BMW 745li with damage to the rear quarter panel) when he was still playing for us.
They changed it over there now; they used to never have staff out there but fans were pestering them too much, or the players complained. Now they have it roped off, but drive by the front of it about three hours or so before any given game day and you will still see auto hounds out there.
The majority of players usually just like to get on the team bus but you can occasionally get some that just like to walk through the park.
Jarick
Doing Nothing
I think if I were a star NHL'er I'd probably spend a good 5-10 minutes signing autos a day. Just part of the job, right?
You'll get the occasional Jeremy Roenick that actually goes out of his way to sign. Much more common to get players that don't like to or refuse. Yzerman was weird because he was with Shanny and I walked up to them and Shanny was going to sign and Yzerman gave me a dirty look and said "c'mon Shanny" and they just took off. I've never liked him ever since. Leclair was basically one of my all time favorites until he refused to sign for me. Only American winger ever to have three consecutive seasons with 50 or more goals. I have never really liked him since though.
FWIW, I've found NHLers to be the best signers; my cousins knows where every visiting pro team - NBA, MLB, NFL - stays and even he agrees NHLers are the most fan friendly. Sadly they are the least paid out of the four major sports.
Lastly I want to reiterate what Roenick said after the last lockout (paraphrase): NHL players need to get back on good terms with the fans, sign some autographs, and go out of their way to engage them. Always thought he was the coolest athlete ever after he said that. Maybe their PR guys will tell them to go out of their way to sign more stuff and chat it up. Who knows.
Jarick
Doing Nothing
I've always loved Roenick. Then again I always like the outspoken guys that everyone else hates.
Really gotta get his book.
Really gotta get his book.
Jarick
Doing Nothing
I've heard there are people out there that just don't like JR and I guess I never really saw that. Top three all time American-born NHLer - and the guy is as classy as it gets.
Is that actually real?
Right? ESPN has always shown how much they hate hockey or at a minimum are indifferent to the game.
HobeyBroten
Registered User
Maybe it is because I don't get out of this state much, but it baffles me how much the country as a whole does not like hockey what-so-ever. I have tried watching basketball during the lockout but seriously, I just don't see the same amount of skill that is required for hockey vs. basketball. Baseball?.....Please, the only thing they have going is that they have to play 162 games, but that sport is like golf, you don't HAVE to be in shape to make an impact in the game (Prince Fielder). And the only thing that is as exciting would be football, but I put football fans on the same page as international soccer fans, them people are CRAZY. Plus in football you only have to play one direction either Offense or Defense.
My apologies for the rant, but I love this sport more than anything and I don't like how it is ALWAYS put on the back burner compared to the other big 4, even before the lockouts.
My apologies for the rant, but I love this sport more than anything and I don't like how it is ALWAYS put on the back burner compared to the other big 4, even before the lockouts.
IMO, the majority of people that don't like hockey have never seen a game live. Can't remember the exact year (mid 90s) but I was out in Denver to visit my sister. She loved football but wasn't into hockey. I took her to see the Gophers, with Bonin, Kraft, Crowley, Trebil etc. play DU. She was hooked before the end of the first period. It was funny because there was a fracas at the end of the first period and my normally quiet sister started yelling things I'd never heard her say in public. She's an Avs and Gopher fan now.
Too hard to get rinks and too expensive. Sticks are $300 dollars now? Icetime - I wouldn't have a clue what an hour is at Phalen over here now. It's just NOT a cheap sport and therefore not accessible to the masses. Combine that with it generally being a cold weather sport. Baseball, basketball, football, soccer = all free, basically, just find a group of guys or gals.
HobeyBroten
Registered User
I agree, but for that reason it deserves bad cred? Even before this current lockout when the NHL was at it's "peak", it still didn't get any notoriety from the masses. NASCAR was argued to be at one time the most popular sports in the country. How expensive is it to get into a sport like that?
I've made this point before on FRB, but there is a big demographic difference between hockey fans and the other sports.
First major difference is the combination of education and affluence. Hockey fans tend to be more educated, which leads to having a higher median income. If FRB wasn't completely borqued on this computer... I'd do an archive search. Nevermind, found it.
Anecdotally, I can tell you that I have had conversations with basketball fans who trashed hockey to me. They did this without knowing that I was a hockey fan. I asked them, politely, what attracts them to basketball and what turns them off to hockey.
The typical conclusion, after being pushed, is that they just don’t understand the game. What is icing? What is offsides? Why is it so hard to put the puck in the net?
The saddest part is, that one guy argued with me about the skill that basketball requires is greater than that of hockey. His points were all about how a great basketball player understands the fundamental differences in how the ball will travel based on spins and angles.
I asked him to do a velocity differential based on a deflection off of the boards to hit a moving target, using a counter clockwise spinning puck while having thin blades of metal strapped on his feet.
First major difference is the combination of education and affluence. Hockey fans tend to be more educated, which leads to having a higher median income. If FRB wasn't completely borqued on this computer... I'd do an archive search. Nevermind, found it.
Anecdotally, I can tell you that I have had conversations with basketball fans who trashed hockey to me. They did this without knowing that I was a hockey fan. I asked them, politely, what attracts them to basketball and what turns them off to hockey.
The typical conclusion, after being pushed, is that they just don’t understand the game. What is icing? What is offsides? Why is it so hard to put the puck in the net?
The saddest part is, that one guy argued with me about the skill that basketball requires is greater than that of hockey. His points were all about how a great basketball player understands the fundamental differences in how the ball will travel based on spins and angles.
I asked him to do a velocity differential based on a deflection off of the boards to hit a moving target, using a counter clockwise spinning puck while having thin blades of metal strapped on his feet.
lol@NASCAR
drive over and over again in the same circles at high speeds... NASCAR is popular because a) doing the same thing 200 times is understandable and b) ZOMG the crashes!
this providence
Chips in Bed Theorem
I've sat through many basketball games over a decade or so and I still couldn't tell you why one play was a foul and another isn't. 
I've also heard the "lack or scoring" BS about not getting into it. That doesn't make a ton of sense considering the most popular sport on the planet in European Football and how many times I've seen an exciting and great game in EPL close in a nil-nil tie or 1-nil or very, very little scoring.
ESPN is trying it's hardest to make Hockey vanish from the American Sports scene so they don't have to spend money covering it on espn.com anymore, since they pretty much never cover it on TV at all.
I thought everyone knew that.
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