SPHL player suspended for one year for assaulting linesman
- Thread starter LadyStanley
- Start date
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
An embarrassing player on an embarrassing team in a garbage league got suspended for a year. Huzzah.
No Fun Shogun
34-38-61-10-13-15
Well... that's never good, and that's certainly the case for a very low-tier player that assuredly doesn't have any savings from their hockey career.
Killion
Registered User
- Feb 19, 2010
- 36,763
- 3,215
One of the things that makes minor~pro so interesting & entertaining NFS, stuff like this. Nothing more dangerous than ambitious guys with everything to gain & no fear as what have they go to lose really? By hook or by crook. Let the games begin. Semi controlled mayhem. A little of the old ultra~violence.
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
One of the things that makes minor~pro so interesting & entertaining NFS, stuff like this. Nothing more dangerous than ambitious guys with everything to gain & no fear as what have they go to lose really? By hook or by crook. Let the games begin. Semi controlled mayhem. A little of the old ultra~violence.
Seriously? This? If you want to see crap like this, just go to pro wrestling or MMA. It sounds like you're one of those idiots that just shows up to hockey games to see fights. Why not just take the hockey game out of the equation? You'd probably feel like you're getting better value for your money.
This isn't hockey, and to real hockey fans, this isn't interesting - it's pathetic. This is why these garbage leagues need to go away.
Unfortunately, the people who care about hockey and those looking for any event to go to combine to likely be only enough to keep the NHL and AHL going.
Sports Enthusiast
Not Here To Be Liked
Not even those leagues. In most cities in those leagues they don't have enough diehards for the support.
I don't go to see fights but that one guy is right. The silly gimmicks of minor league hockey on the ice or the silly promotions make it interesting.
I don't go to see fights but that one guy is right. The silly gimmicks of minor league hockey on the ice or the silly promotions make it interesting.
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
I'll agree with that on gimmicks and promotions keeping it interesting.
This is neither a gimmick nor a promotion, nor is it entertainment. This is a mostly worthless wannabe tough guy who's probably on steroids losing his mind and physically assaulting a game official. I hope he enjoys his future career at the factory.
Cyclones Rock
Registered User
- Jun 12, 2008
- 10,605
- 6,530
Your self righteousness and faux morality is off putting, to say the least.
Minor league hockey below the AHL level is dying on the vine because it's so tame. Check out the number of AA and below franchises from the mid 90s to now if you don't believe me.
Am I for assaulting linesmen? Usually not
I am, however, always against faux moralists who don't understand that fighting and occasional pure mayhem is what drove the engine of the growth of the minor league game.For those who think that ECHL games, which feature very few solid body checks and very little fighting, is a good entertainment product then,
Oh, and I've attended over 600 ECHL games over the past 10 years. I know what's happening to the product and it ain't good.
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
Your self righteousness and faux morality is off putting, to say the least.
Minor league hockey below the AHL level is dying on the vine because it's so tame. Check out the number of AA and below franchises from the mid 90s to now if you don't believe me.
Am I for assaulting linesmen? Usually not
For those who think that ECHL games, which feature very few solid body checks and very little fighting, is a good entertainment product then,
Oh, and I've attended over 600 ECHL games over the past 10 years. I know what's happening to the product and it ain't good.
I never said I was against fighting or physical play. I'm all for fights by players who can play hockey.
Sheldrake is not and has never been a skilled player, and his crocodile tears today in the Fayetteville paper ("Absolutely not," he replied when asked if 'goon' was an accurate description. "I can play hockey. I play a regular shift, I'm not out there just to fight. I can and I will, but on the other side, that's not all I am. I play a regular shift, I contribute.") are laughable. This guy has never been a legitimate plus, doesn't play special teams, and is only out there to fight. That's reality, he's just blind to it.
I know what drove the growth of the minor league game - I was there, so to say I "don't understand" is crap. Fighting and physical play were a part of it, as were affordable family entertainment at a time when there was less competition for the entertainment dollar, a lot more disposable income, and capital to be invested in small businesses.
And if you think that more fighting and physical play will improve the product because that's what the product was in the 90s, go ahead and tell yourself that. But that idea completely ignores a shifting entertainment market and economy that is vastly different from where it was 20 years ago. It's a lot more than just blood on the ice that goes into selling tickets, which clearly you don't seem to understand.
Sports Enthusiast
Not Here To Be Liked
Leagues like the Quebec Senior League and the FHL are just ways of keeping the playing dream going. I admire those guys for wanting to play for so little. However the need for them isn't necessary. I'll agree.
The problem with the AHL and ECHL product is the NHL. I know the AHL was always affiliated but now its mostly becoming a league of clones to the NHL. Teams sharing the NHL brand and losing uniqueness. Affiliating with the NHL was a bad idea for the ECHL. You killed off rivalries with this. Players and teams don't stick together anymore. Its all a bunch of little brats who feel entitled who play for the name on the back not the front.
The problem with the AHL and ECHL product is the NHL. I know the AHL was always affiliated but now its mostly becoming a league of clones to the NHL. Teams sharing the NHL brand and losing uniqueness. Affiliating with the NHL was a bad idea for the ECHL. You killed off rivalries with this. Players and teams don't stick together anymore. Its all a bunch of little brats who feel entitled who play for the name on the back not the front.
Cyclones Rock
Registered User
- Jun 12, 2008
- 10,605
- 6,530
I apologize for the tone of my previous message. You didn't direct anything at me....it wasn't my battle to fight.
There's a lot which goes into selling the product. At the end of the day, minor league hockey in a market like Cincinnati is an affordable night out.
I would estimate that over 75% of the attendees at Cyclones games couldn't name 5 players on the team nor either of the affiliates. While many are impressed by the speed of the game, what brings them to their feet are the goals, the fights and the scrums. The physical side of hockey, particularly fighting, is what sets hockey apart as a distinct and enjoyable entity for most of these people. As the fighting as declined, aggregate attendance has declined and the number of franchises has fallen dramatically. Which really should surprise no one who can gauge the enthusiasm of a crowd.
Has minor league baseball suffered a serious decline in number of franchises since the mid 90s? Not to my knowledge. Yet, they have operated under the same constraints you've listed which you claim to have been the causes of the decline of hockey. You may want to rethink the primary cause(s) of the significant decline in minor league hockey franchises.
Hockey will continue to experience decline until it becomes a more physical product. The NHL affiliation model preferred by the ECHL has been most responsible for the change in playing style has not worked at the box office. The league has "capped" the number of franchises it will allow at 30. They'll be lucky to have 20 come the turn of the next decade. The product doesn't "grab" people like it used to. I love the game, but even I can be bored stiff at times by the hitless exhibitions masquerading as hockey games which take place all too often at US Bank Arena. I know of many people who have quit going to games over the past decade due to the decline of physical play-including fighting.
When long term fans start finding the product to be boring on a fairly regular basis, the marketing strategy of the game has failed.
Last edited:
I agree with a lot of what is being said regarding the physicality of ECHL games the last few years. Whether that is hurting attendance I really don't know. The Toledo Walleye seem to be an anomaly in this area. They are no more physical than any other teams yet they seem to pack the arena on a regular basis. Last season they were terrible and yet they still packed the arena almost every game. Many fans at their games are casual fans looking for something to do. I think it has to do with the marketing dept. They tend to market the arena (Huntington Center) instead of the team. They don't tell you to come watch the Walleye play at the Huntington Center but come out to the Huntington Center with the family, eat, drink and catch a hockey game. It seems to work for them.
Last edited:
Sports Enthusiast
Not Here To Be Liked
The Jackals try to lead the league in PIMs every year. I find it embarrassing they try to sell rough hockey. They are the only team in the East with over 1,000 PIM's
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
And yet Cincinnati's attendance is stable and above 4,000, a far cry from when they came back into the league after the Ducks left the Gardens. I think a lot of the people you seem to think are "turned off" may have merely just "aged out;" their kids are older and they've moved on to other pursuits in their free time.
You say that hockey has experienced an attendance decline, yet the reality is that average attendance is higher now than it was 10 years ago. We all know that attendance numbers are inflated, but mere inflation doesn't explain that. Further, you point out that there were more teams in more leagues in the late 90s. Yes, that's true, but that was at a time where non-traditional markets were able to embrace a fad for a few years before mismanagement wore the finances down and the honeymoon ended. I saw it happen in more than one market. For the most part, the weakest markets have died off and the stronger markets have survived. People still come to the games. In that regard, your "no fighting + no physical play = no fans" theorem just doesn't hold up.
As for baseball, MLB actively supports the minor leagues financially, via the terms of the National Agreement, and the NHL really doesn't support the minor leagues in any substantive way. Comparing franchises lost in MiLB to minor league hockey isn't even close to comparing apples to apples, unless you are talking about the independent leagues - and even then it's a pretty big stretch. Major League Baseball has a vested interest in the health of its minor league system - the NHL doesn't.
Cyclones Rock
Registered User
- Jun 12, 2008
- 10,605
- 6,530
The Cyclones should be a Harvard School of Business Case Study for their business plan. I don't know how familiar you are with what they have done since the franchised resumed operations in 2006-07. It's been a remarkable comeback.
As a side note, the Cyclones announce actual attendance. They effectively under report tickets sold. Very atypical.
I know more than a few people who stopped watching the games because of the lack of physicality. They didn't "age out".
Interestingly, last night I took somebody to a Blue Jackets game who hadn't watched an NHL game in 20 years. He commented-without me having broached the subject-that the game wasn't very physical. He's not a big fan (obviously), but I thought it was very telling that someone who had experienced such a gap in watching NHL games commented on that.
Cyclones Rock
Registered User
- Jun 12, 2008
- 10,605
- 6,530
AHL 03-04...5402
AHL 13-14...5594
AHL 97-98..5683
ECHL 03-04...4003
ECHL.13-14....4706
ECHL.97-98..5989
From 10 years ago the AHL average attendance is down, while the ECHL is up. From 16 years ago, ECHL average attendance is down substantially.
The other leagues are way down. Since they don't exist anymore
Sports Enthusiast
Not Here To Be Liked
The NHL product is a waste until April. Its all pretty boy Crosby and co figure skating with a puck on a stick going for the highlight reel. Teams like the Kings and the Capitals are an anomaly to watch. Now a days if you hit a player someone is out there crying to the ref. Like they expect a penalty. Nobody can take a hit anymore. And nobody hits back. Retaliation if any just results in someone grabbing someone. You don't get any Scott Stevens like hits. The playoff product is still good. But regular season games have too much scoring. They've done too much to enhance the offense. Hell goalie can't even leave his little freakzoid and play the puck anymore.
GindyDraws
I will not disable my Adblock, HF
I'm amazed that the SPHL has lasted long. The previous attempt at that region, the Southern Hockey League, only lasted one year.
Personally, I would prefer it if the SPHL was able to thrive a bit and have a 10-12 team league, because the model would work for it. Unfortunately, minor league hockey is a very fickle business, and in the deep South, it shall always be presented as a novelty first and foremost.
IceFlyersRule
Palmtrees N' Pucks
- Sep 15, 2011
- 50
- 8
It irks me that so called ''minor league experts'' or long time fans call the SPHL a joke. Really? this is one isolated incident. this isnt the FHL or EIHL or LNAH. the hockey is good and stuff like this happens every now and again. its a part of the game. simply put. it may not be a part of the game we like. but how do you think fans felt in the 1970s when this stuff happened every other game?
Sports Enthusiast
Not Here To Be Liked
The SPHL isn't a necessary league. I think that's the garbage point of it. Hell the ECHL in terms of the word necessary really isn't. The point is SPHL guys are going nowhere. Maybe some ECHL action if lucky.
Gibbie42
Registered User
Tell that to Scott Darling who has played himself all the way up from the IceGators in the SPHL to the Blackhawks. It's been a slow and steady trip through all the minors. He's currently called back up in Chicago, he's started 8 times and won six of them. You may not like minor league hockey, that's your prerogative, but it does have a place.
IceFlyersRule
Palmtrees N' Pucks
- Sep 15, 2011
- 50
- 8
The SPHL isn't a necessary league. I think that's the garbage point of it. Hell the ECHL in terms of the word necessary really isn't. The point is SPHL guys are going nowhere. Maybe some ECHL action if lucky.[/QUOTE
Thats like saying the Elmira Jackals are garbage because in a couple of years they wont be irrelevant because they are going to end up folding or going single A...... and the SPHL is miles ahead of where it used to be. and it serves a purpose moving players up. look at Darling or Riley Gill. so its kinda of a narrow minded comment to bash a league thats on par with the ECHL of the 1990s. once again the haters overlook facts and throw us in the same catagory as the FHL
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
First of all, Scott Darling ended up in the SPHL because he was a problem child - even he would admit that. He got kicked out (or perhaps was politely asked to leave) the University of Maine, and then washed out of the Coyotes organization before training camp was over. He had to go to the SPHL, and he changed himself and worked his way back.
And to say that the SPHL now is like the ECHL of the 1990s is wholly inaccurate - unless you are referring to the year 1990 specifically. Even early in the decade, the league was getting players assigned down from the NHL, AHL, and IHL. The SPHL doesn't get players assigned, it gets poached for the few guys that can fill a mid-or-bottom pair D role, be an emergency backup or spot starter in net, etc.
