The WHA Draft

[Spiral Architect]

178 Halifax Martin Soonnberg LW

Yep, I'm really impressed by the WHA so far. It's Sonnenberg, you idiots.

 

[Jeffrey]

Patrice Bergeron

what are they thinking ... he was a huge nords fans..
they prefer to select player such as PJ stock !!

 

[Duff88]

Yep, I'm really impressed by the WHA so far. It's Sonnenberg, you idiots.

This mistake wasn't done by the WHA, it was done by the Detroit Gladiators website.

 

[Duff88]

Im very surprised that quebec didn't select nhl stars like Tangay, Lecavalier, Ribeiro


Or Quebec city native like Eric Chouinard, Patrice Bergeron, Alexanre Picard, Steve Bernier, M-A Pouliot, Dany Roussin

Picard, Bernier, Pouliot and Roussin were not available for that draft, they will be available for tommorow's Entry Level, which is for players undrafted or drafted but without a contract with an NHL team.

 

[GKJ]

Halifax probably went with a team they know they will put on the ice as opposed to a team that they hope they can put on the ice if there is no lockout.

 

[EquabaleAce]

Halifax probably went with a team they know they will put on the ice as opposed to a team that they hope they can put on the ice if there is no lockout.

That's what i was thinking, but man, don't the have a really small team

 

[Seachd]

I'm kinda suprised Toronto hasn't selected Rick Nash, home town kid who's yet to sign a deal with a European team incase of a lockout.

Nash isn't eligible. It's a free agent draft.

 

[Jussi]

Rosa signed with an Russian Super League team I thought?

Yep, and will make a lot more monet there than he'd make in the WHA. Then again, his wife is Canadian so it depends what she'll say.

 

[Xavier07]

Halifax probably went with a team they know they will put on the ice as opposed to a team that they hope they can put on the ice if there is no lockout.

Halifax only plans on spending maybe 10 mil.. or less..

 

[zecke26]

ted drury has a contract in kassel (DEL) and will probably stay here, because he was a star last season. why should he move to detroit to play WHA? at least not this season.

 

[Zoo]

Quebec team is looking pretty good. They have alot of local boys on the team and didn't try to pick alot of the top players like Kovalchuk etc...they picked alot of players who would have a good chance of playing for them.

I can see Gagne and Ribeiro playing, they where both huge quebec fans when they where young.

 

[dumpnchase]

Since none of this really means anything. Is the WHA going to draft **me** next.

The whole concept behind a draft is to get players who have agreed to play for the league not just everyone out there if leagues ever did that there would be over 6 billion people drafted.

It should have been simple sign whoever you can get to sign and once the league develops then have a draft.

 

[Tucker316*]

what are they thinking ... he was a huge nords fans..
they prefer to select player such as PJ stock !!

....

They need one grit player. Look at that team. No grit at all, cept that grande-pierre dude.

If I were Don Cherry I'd have some fun here.

 

[RyanM]

I disagree with that last statement. Taking ticket prices and performance into account, those CHL teams that outdrew the Panthers last year were definitely offering better bang for the buck. And that's the bottom line, here. Sports is still entertainment to the fan, first and foremost.

What exactly did Panthers fans have to cheer about last year? To see whether or not Luongo got killed on the ice by flying galvanized rubber? To see whether or not Mike Keenan and Rick Dudley would be placed in an octogon, winner take all???

In pro sports, you have to win. In relatively new markets, where other events take away from the fan's entertainment dollars, it's even more critical. The Panthers have been badly run for several years now, so it's hard to put the blame on fans for staying away.

Funny how Central Florida used to have the same problems just a little while ago.

That's not true at all. Halifax(266,040 over 35 games) and Quebec(207,637) led the Q in attendance and neither was anything special. Halifax won the least amount of games in the Q(17 in 70 games) and Quebec finished in 11th place out of 16 teams. The top teams in this league are consistant with large crowds no matter the product.

 

[Malakian#13]

i guess everyone knew there was no chance in hell they would sign palffy kovalev etc.

 

[PEli*]

That's not true at all. Halifax(266,040 over 35 games) and Quebec(207,637) led the Q in attendance and neither was anything special. Halifax won the least amount of games in the Q(17 in 70 games) and Quebec finished in 11th place out of 16 teams. The top teams in this league are consistant with large crowds no matter the product.

This is damn true. I went to well over two thirds of the Mooseheads' games this year and they lost or tied pretty much all of them. Still, I love the team to death and I'll be at the Metro Centre every chance I get until the day I leave Halifax.

I remember they drew something like 6,500 against Victo at one point this year. A couple of Tigres fans were sitting behind me and they were mentioning that they were surprised at the draw considering the talent level of the two teams.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Point conceded, guys. However, I still maintain that pro sports is a different animal. And when you have ticket prices that are through the roof, you cannot ASSUME that fans will buy into your product. Florida Panthers fans would pack the Office Depot Center if tickets were only $10 U.S., instead of $75-100.

Again, I believe that the onus isn't on the fans but rather on the organization (marketing department, on-ice product, team President) to ensure better attendance figures. The customer is always right, and in the Panthers' case they are demanding more for their buck. I don't have a problem with that.