So there's been some rumblings about a possible hockey lockout this season. If the NHL and the NHLPA (Players Association) can't come to an agreement for a new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) by September 15th, the doors will be shut and no hockey will be played (or so says the NHL).
That's 26 days away.
Both sides are still dragging their feet and waiting for the other side to blink first.
AHL works for me, they hurt themselves when they don't play.
Well and probably Molson/LaBatt's bottom lines.
5 days away now, and they're not even formally meeting.
So... The Stanley Cup was not originally given to or owned by the NHL; in fact the NHL didn't exist in the 1890s when Governor General Lord Stanley donated it to the Dominion of Canada to foster the growth of the sport. (wikipedia tells me that) In 1947 the Stanley Cup trustees came to an agreement with the NHL giving it basically full control over the trophy. Well, during the last lockout a couple of rec players decided to challenge the NHL's control, since the Cup was given to
Canada, not
Bettman's NHL, and since it was intended to be competed for
every year.
The Wayback Machine has a TSN article about this: http://web.archive.org/web/20071216083200/http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=153935&hubname=. Here's the interesting bit:
Quote
A new clause will be included by the NHL in a revised agreement this year with the cup's trustees - Ian (Scotty) Morrison, former head of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and former NHL official Brian O'Neill - allowing them to award the trophy to someone else if the NHL isn't using it.
Reached at his Montreal home, O'Neill said he would have felt ''obliged'' to at least consider finding a home for the cup last year after the NHL season was cancelled - had he been allowed to. The trustees' existing deal with the league, reached in 2000, didn't allow him or Morrison to consider that option.
But O'Neill also said he would have to be convinced any potential recipients performed at a ''very high standard'' worthy of a cup that hockey players past and present consider the sport's ultimate prize.
''We wouldn't want to demean the Stanley Cup by presenting it to anyone we didn't consider to be the best,'' he said.
So if we suffer another full-season lockout, there is now a precedence for having teams from lower levels of hockey compete for the ultimate prize.
By the way, did you know that Kenora, at the time a town of 4,000, has won the cup? That was back in 1907, and it was just a bunch of farmers that got together to play as a team.
The lockout is less than 71 hours away, if they go through with their plan of locking out the players on September 15th at 11:59pm.
Meanwhile, the Katz Group has asked for the city to kick in more money into the arena deal or else the "iconic arena" can't be built (but a less "iconic" one still could): http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2012/09/12/edmonton-arena-more-public-funding.html
Of course, anyone who thought this through knew that there'd be cost overruns and/or requests for more public money.
There is the implied threat that if a newer, bigger arena isn't built in Edmonton then the Oilers might get moved to another city, although there's also rumours of a clause in the EIG-to-Katz sales contract that stipulates the team may not be moved or perhaps that moving it would dissolve the sales contract.
So perhaps we'll continue on with our "ancient" rink that is still newer than most rinks in Edmonton, which the Oilers currently lease for the grand price of a dollar a year. An hour of ice time there for anyone not called the Oilers costs five hundred dollars, or five hundred times what the Oilers pay for it all year. But yeah, it's not good enough, so the city has to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new stadium for the millionaires and billionaires to run their lucrative business in.
I say make 'em play out of Tipton, Michael Cameron, and if we're feeling generous, Castledowns B.
If there is a lockout I honestly don't see why we can't just take this year and reno Northlands, personally I see no reason to build another Arena (other than to line the pockets of developers and raise ticket prices).
As for a lockout I think the deadline will be extended. I saw a good comment the other day that basically said if there's nothing financial tied to the deadline neither the League nor the NHLPA will action on it, they'll push it off again. What they need to be careful of is alienating fans.
I heard someone say that there's some kind of new rule which makes the Colosseum way too small for the NHL, and that a new larger venue had to be built or we could lose the franchise.
I don't get why a billionaire would have trouble coming up with a few hundred million dollars. What's $85m to a billionaire? Nothing. It's pocket change. He could pull that out of a rainy day fund.
The only rules governing arenas that I'm aware of are regarding the play area, dimensions, marking and netting. Nothing about capacity, that's more to do with profitability than anything else.
The reason given for building a new arena instead of renoing the old one is that it will cost a couple hundred million to add seats in such a way that the arena won't collapse. And that's the root reason for wanting a new / different building - they want more seats and especially more skyboxes.
I think the proposed arena would have indeed been wonderful, but the pricetag attached to it is pretty high and Katz is trying really hard to not have to pay for it himself. And I'd rather see a hundred million go into renoing all the football fields, baseball fields, soccer fields, and old rinks around town, then another two hundred million go into extending and improving the LRT, than I would like to see that money go into a building where millionaires play a game for a billionaire.
Yeah, the lockout's gonna happen because no one has any skin in the game yet. I agree that the fans need to spank the NHL, instead of returning in record numbers like they did after the last lockout.
No, there's no rule about minimum seating capacity for an NHL team to play in a rink, otherwise they'd never be able to have those European start-of-the-season games. An NHL game can be played on any properly measured and marked ice surface, including the neighbourhood outdoor rink (yes, really, but that'll never happen). In fact, the rules don't even cover where or how the players' benches and the off-ice officials seating should be arranged. This is why all these different arenas all have such different layouts for their benches and penalty boxes and why in some places the goal judges basically sit in the stands.
Mr. A's spot on - the number of seats and skyboxes desired are purely profit-driven. There might also be some ego involved, with Katz wanting to show that he has the best team and the best venue, who knows.
Yes, a billionaire has a ton of money they can access. But remember that they have that ton of money by getting others to chip in their for projects the billionaire profits on. So he wants the city to pour in the money so that he can later reap a profit.
Yeah, I'm pretty bitter about this whole thing and I have little sympathy for either side of this problem.
They lockout it's gonna be their problem not mine.
Quote from: Thorin on September 13, 2012, 10:17:08 AM
No, there's no rule about minimum seating capacity for an NHL team to play in a rink, otherwise they'd never be able to have those European start-of-the-season games. An NHL game can be played on any properly measured and marked ice surface, including the neighbourhood outdoor rink (yes, really, but that'll never happen). In fact, the rules don't even cover where or how the players' benches and the off-ice officials seating should be arranged. This is why all these different arenas all have such different layouts for their benches and penalty boxes and why in some places the goal judges basically sit in the stands.
Mr. A's spot on - the number of seats and skyboxes desired are purely profit-driven. There might also be some ego involved, with Katz wanting to show that he has the best team and the best venue, who knows.
Yes, a billionaire has a ton of money they can access. But remember that they have that ton of money by getting others to chip in their for projects the billionaire profits on. So he wants the city to pour in the money so that he can later reap a profit.
Yes, I realize he's being a complete greedy douche-bag. Which is why I'm against any public money going into it. Maybe if he was putting more money in, or if we got a fair revenue share. If we put most of the money in, we should get most of the revenue, even from oiler games. Or maybe he can pay much higher rent.
Well, the Oilers rent would go from the current $1 to a proposed $5,000,000 or even $7,000,000... But basically Katz Group is trying to get the city to pay to build the building, then Katz Group will act as the landlords and collect and keep all the monies (game tickets, food sold, parking, concert tickets) and agree to do the upkeep. That last one, though, they don't own the building, so inherently there are going to be things they look at and say, "Why would we spend money fixing that on a building we don't own?"
Quote from: Mr. Analog on September 13, 2012, 10:22:30 AM
Yeah, I'm pretty bitter about this whole thing and I have little sympathy for either side of this problem.
They lockout it's gonna be their problem not mine.
Like I said in another thread, there's lots of other hockey to watch, and if the NHL isn't playing they'll be televising the lower levels - I remember the Roadrunners were televised quite a bit, plus tickets to the Roadrunners were $30 instead of $150+ for the lower bowl. Hell, Oil Kings is $20 for the lower bowl, and those boys are flyin' out there!
While I can appreciate seeing the youngsters in the other leagues and love the game (oil kings are a blast to watch live!!!), I will still be sad to see another NHL season gone due to $$$ vs $$$. And I could have seen my Jets live this year too!
Quote from: Melbosa on September 13, 2012, 11:20:44 AM
While I can appreciate seeing the youngsters in the other leagues and love the game (oil kings are a blast to watch live!!!), I will still be sad to see another NHL season gone due to $$$ vs $$$. And I could have seen my Jets live this year too!
Yeah, that's got to sting.
Likewise I was really hoping to see the Oil start to come together this season, after 3 disappointing seasons I really want to see some development, but if that doesn't happen this year... old players get older and new players don't learn anything.
Just treatin' this as The Hockey Thread now...
This sums up my thoughts on the idea of building a new arena with public money: http://reason.com/archives/2007/05/23/lets-all-give-money-to-the-ric. It's a bit of a long read, but right on the button.
Hmm... Beat the Lockout Blues by watching the BHL? Bikini Hockey League, that is: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/09/24/bikini-hockey-league-could-cure-nhl-lockout-blues?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=recommend-button&utm_campaign=Bikini+Hockey+League+could+cure+NHL+lockout+blues
lol
Gawd I hope they can actually complete a pass, otherwise that'd be a boring hockey game to watch. And apparently some of them have never played the game before but are just athletic young ladies that expect they can pick up the game in an afternoon.
Quote from: Thorin on September 26, 2012, 07:57:19 AM
Gawd I hope they can actually complete a pass, otherwise that'd be a boring hockey game to watch. And apparently some of them have never played the game before but are just athletic young ladies that expect they can pick up the game in an afternoon.
...and I'm okay with that...
Well I watched all the stuff on the BHL, which lead me to the SportsCentre Top 10s, which lead me to this gem: http://youtu.be/WdaYBZJ0hwE
Quote from: Melbosa on September 26, 2012, 08:28:09 AM
Well I watched all the stuff on the BHL, which lead me to the SportsCentre Top 10s, which lead me to this gem: http://youtu.be/WdaYBZJ0hwE
Man!!! These are so good...
...but it makes me want to watch some hockey :C
And then there is: http://youtu.be/zLMPbvHXsa4
Quote from: Melbosa on September 26, 2012, 08:53:19 AM
And then there is: http://youtu.be/zLMPbvHXsa4
LOL! Already watching hahaha
I saw the link on the sidebar and had to check it out
Before you miss hockey too much, though, remember game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarter Finals, with the Pittsburgh Penguins playing against the Philadelphia Flyers: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=627990
It took an hour to get through the first period, with 72 penalty minutes in 20 playing minutes.
It had 158 penalty minutes given out in 60 playing minutes.
It caused two separate player meetings with the Department of Player Safety (one of which was an auto-suspension until the Department had decided on extra punishment!).
It had hair-pulling and Crosby vs Giroux and three fights. At one point in the third period, this 13 minute video was shot (not a single second of the game was played during this 13 minutes): http://youtu.be/zcvzqBdCqH0
Some hockey can be good, other hockey can be a horrendous waste of my waking life. For instance: http://youtu.be/3lpMxc4fZNU
Bill Daly says, "Missing pre-season cost NHL $100 million in revenue", source: http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/hockey/calgary-flames/players+association+resume+secondary+talks/7332255/story.html.
At the same time, Bill Daly and his boss Gary Bettman are the ones causing the missed pre-season. So... he's complaining that he caused the problem and now he has a problem?
BOO HOO
so sad
That was pretty much my reaction, too. If it'd been the players refusing to play and it costing the NHL money, then I could understand the NHL complaining about it. But it's the NHL refusing to allow the games and the complaining that the lack of games is costing them money.
That's about as stupid as the upcoming American presidential debate (see what I did there?)
Agreed!
and yes
By the way, Katz has now said that he had too much Messier and not enough Gretzky in his message to city council (that message being his visit to Seattle and the implied threat that the team might be moved). One of the bloggers corrected that and said it was too much Pocklington and not enough (Cal) Nichols.
Some math (I like math):
41 games x 16,839 seats/game x $100/seat = $69,039,900
From capgeek.com (//http://), Edmonton's payroll: $52,937,500
Oh yeah, I see how they're just bleeding money. Especially what with having such a small media market; I mean they probably only make another $50 million on broadcasting rights...
Some more math:
Northlands Coliseum (aka Edmonton Coliseum, aka Skyreach Center, aka Rexall Place) construction costs 1972-1974: $17,300,000
Same cost in today's dollars: $79,100,000
Estimated cost for new arena: $475,000,000
And you know what the real complaint is about the Coliseum? Not enough room for people to mill about and buy (damn expensive) food and beer. That's right, we need to build a bigger arena for nearly six times what the old one cost (after converting to today's dollars!), because it needs to be easier for people to get fleeced at the concessions. Which will then undercut all those businesses outside the arena that are supposed to spring up and get taxed to support the arena.
Whatever we build let's hope it's a fugly post-modernist eyesore in an amusing shape.
They've got top guys working on that. I can't believe they've spent millions just doing drawings of it already. Has no one heard of Photoshop?
When they put up a design proposal it's for everything; equipment, infrastructure, aesthetics, the whole works, and it has to fit in such-and-such a space and accommodate all sorts of regulations and safety measures.
I could see that running up fairly quickly.
I just wish they didn't always pick something that on the surface looks so tacky.
Yeah, no, the first couple of artist's renditions of the maxipad-with-wings design did not have any of the internals figured out. And they charged over a hundred thousand for that rendition.
In other news, city council has now said that the Katz Group has been more forthcoming and this is being interpreted as city council is finally getting to look at the books to see if the Oilers really have been in an operating loss (especially circumspect since they pay nothing for rent and almost nothing in facility charges as compared to other teams).
...need ... HOCKEY
on the plus side the Jays had a great game last night, hopefully their last game of the season will be as good :)
Quote from: Mr. Analog on October 03, 2012, 09:03:42 AM
...need ... HOCKEY
If you're in Sherwood Park on Sunday, you can catch some midget triple-A hockey at Sherwood Park Arena (on Oak Street). You won't know any players, but I can promise you these boys'll be flyin'! http://www.leaguelineup.com/eventinfo.asp?url=kcpatsaaa&eventid=2864105&startdate=10/7/2012. And I know the KC Pats coach will sit a player if he's doggin' it,
even if he's a star. That guy demands full speed all the time. I don't think the Midget AAA (15-17yo) program charges admission yet, I think that starts at the Junior level (18-20yo).
There's other games listed at http://amhl.ab.ca/schedule.php, too.
Sunday morning will be Turkey hangover so no.
Need some form of Hockey Night... in Canada...
That's Sunday evening, 6:30pm. No self-respecting AAA coach would agree to play games in the AM.
What you need, is sites like Lowetide and Cult of Hockey to keep you in the loop so you know what all our players are doing and where they're doing it :)
Ahh
82 regular season games cancelled between now and Oct 24th. We're marching slowly but surely, inexorably to a full-season lockout.
Yep, not much more to say about it really.
It sucks, but I have no sympathy for either side.
Who knew 2012 would be the hockeypocalypse!
/cry
Quote from: Mr. Analog on October 04, 2012, 03:48:15 PM
Who knew 2012 would be the hockeypocalypse!
Wasn't it the Mayans who predicted it by ending their calendar in 2012?
Meh, there's so many other things we can entertain ourselves with, it doesn't really matter. If/when hockey starts back up again I'm sure we'll end up talking about it again, but I doubt I'm gonna spend any money on pay-per-view games or anything in the next couple of years.
And that's the real problem, there are fans who are getting turned off by this crap and will stop sending their money into the pockets of millionaires and billionaires. At least, that's the real problem for owners and players.
Interesting number crunching that shows that locking out is more expensive than either side caving: http://nhlnumbers.com/2012/10/1/why-the-nhl-lockout-wont-cancel-the-2012-2013-season. Literally, even if the owners accepted the players' offer now, they'd have more money in their pockets than if they lock them out for the season.
This is actually a critical time for a lot of pro-sports because lets face it, they make a lot of money from broadcasting rights and we all know that TV is facing some serious competition from other media (internet, games, etc).
So what happens to CBC's bottom line this year I wonder?
C?BC's Hockey Night In Canada will be broadcasting historic games. So there's NHL-level hockey, it's just not current.
Okay, so with NHL hockey having been put out to pasture, the news shows need to show some hockey, right? So I saw some WHL highlights on CTV News, and then I saw the highlights from Grande Prairie Storm at Sherwood Park Crusaders. That's AJHL (Alberta Junior Hockey League (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_Junior_Hockey_League)), Junior A hockey. See? There's still hockey! It just doesn't cost nearly as much to watch.
Hawk Eee? What is this Hawk E you talk of??
It's the fifth prototype of the wings that Condorman used. Luckily he had Soviet stooges to test all his prototypes; it wasn't until he switched to the Condor mk III before he finally helped a Soviet spy escape to the West rather than plummet to their death.
He switched from letter designations ("A", "B", "C", "D", "E") to Roman numerals ("I", "II", "III") because he was worried about running out of alphabet before having a successful flight.
I think he should team up with Hudson Hawk
Well, games are now locked out through November with no talks in sight.
On the plus side if you are a UEFA Champions League fan (as I am) you will be happy to know they've been showing all the qualifiers!
Manchester United pulled off an unbelievable turnabout victory against Portugal the other day, it was fantastic. At the end of the first half Man U was down 2 - 0 and managed to come back and actually beat SC Braga.
Good stuff...
Hey, so, did you actually get my Condorman reference? It was a movie, I figured you'd know it.
NHL games are getting cancelled, Edmonton's arena deal is getting kicked in the balls (I for one am happy about that because to me its all about a rich guy wanting to get richer), KHL (Russian top league), AHL, WHL, OHL, ECHL are all getting lots of coverage. Meanwhile people are getting to watch all kinds of other sports. Bettman's even implied that the early season games don't matter because of the overlap with summer / fall sports and thus he doesn't care if games are cancelled into December.
Oh, and Katz's claim that Edmonton is one of the smallest markets has been pretty thoroughly debunked: http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2012/10/25/the-final-horse-trading-that-should-lead-to-an-arena-deal-for-downtown-edmonton/ Oh fact-checking, how wonderful an activity thou art! Oh, and Katz claimed to have been funding the team's operating losses but this independent body called Forbes says they've been profitable 12 of the last 14 seasons (well, last season is still unknown but I'm betting it's profitable too), and has been profitable ever since he bought the team.
Yeah, at this point pretty much anything Katz says is BS, like many Edmontonians I'm sick of all the cloak and dagger crap as well. Closed doors deals don't fly when it's our tax dollars they're throwing around, especially after a major recession and ESPECIALLY after all the fluctuation in property tax.
I'd rather see the council put that money to use revitalizing parks and rec projects all over the city.
Additionally if they want to make more money with the club they should, oh I don't know, try making it so the club doesn't suck. I mean if the Oilers are making money as a bottom of the barrel organization imagine what they'd make if they were in the top 3?
For 400 million they could build 4 more rec centers like Millennium Place AND put away 50 million per to cover expected costs for the next 20 years! Rec centers like Millennium Place, Servus Place, Tri Leisure Center, and Terwillegar Center all cost around $50 million in today's dollars. I think they cost about 6 million a year to run, which is then mostly paid for by user fees. Even if they're short 2.5 million per year, that's 20 years covered for 50 million per facility!
Exactly, and if there's one thing we can certainly use more of is rec centres!!
I feel like the few we have don't serve enough people, so they aren't worth going to if you don't have to be there for league.
I can't even remember the last time i was at a public skate.
Well, and they shut down the Clareview twin rinks (closest arena to your place, I think) for renovations. So there's not even something close.
Quote from: Thorin on October 26, 2012, 03:03:34 PM
Well, and they shut down the Clareview twin rinks (closest arena to your place, I think) for renovations. So there's not even something close.
They are making pretty good progress on the expansion. It's getting a library, indoor soccer (I think? maybe? though that doesn't make sense, since theres a large soccer building just down the road), a pool, and some other stuff.
It's going to be pretty cool. I'll probably find excuses to go swimming and maybe to the fitness facilities (if they have one, I assume they will).
Yeah, I'm pretty sure they will have a gym, progress seems a bit slow at the moment though, which is somewhat worrying I guess.
I just wish it was closer to transit.
Quote from: Mr. Analog on October 26, 2012, 03:05:47 PM
Yeah, I'm pretty sure they will have a gym, progress seems a bit slow at the moment though, which is somewhat worrying I guess.
I just wish it was closer to transit.
The non peak bus from here goes right by it. :) well ok, not RIGHT by it. but its only like a minute or two of a walk. There is a bus that goes RIGHT by it. 183 or something.
That's the problem with Edmonton Transit and public buildings, everything's "near" and nothing's "at" outside of downtown or major hubs like malls.
No Winter Classic this year:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=644824&print=true
And with that, the league has signalled that they plan to wait out the players again.
I am so done with the NHL...
Well, on the plus side there's plenty of football and handegg.
handegg - that took me a few minutes to figure out.
:D
Quote from: Thorin on November 02, 2012, 02:36:11 PM
handegg - that took me a few minutes to figure out.
https://encyclopediadramatica.se/Handegg
gotta love the encyc dramatica ... "Not to be confused with Soccer.
Nor to be messed with."
(https://images.encyclopediadramatica.se/thumb/6/6d/Hand_egg.jpg/400px-Hand_egg.jpg)
So the Oil have a great chance at a first overall pick again. After all, we're tied for last place with 0 points so far this season.
lol
OH my lol
IN A NUTSHELL...
(http://i.imgur.com/AKCIm.gif)
Nice Mr. A.
:D
Quote from: Mr. Analog on November 23, 2012, 03:15:40 PM
IN A NUTSHELL...
(http://i.imgur.com/AKCIm.gif)
I've got some Trance streaming from DI.FM -- timing is perfectly synced with this animated GIF 8)
Awesome, which track?
Quote from: Mr. Analog on November 24, 2012, 03:20:41 PM
Awesome, which track?
idk, only shows the last 10 or so (streaming, remember)
http://www.di.fm/classictrance
Katz says team is losing money.
Independent financial magazine puts out yearly listing of NHL teams' revenues, operating incomes, and net worths.
Team had record year in all three even after sucking complete @%&#ing ass for three years and not doing all that much better the three years before.
How can a team be losing money when it's operating income is in the positive? I say Katz is a greedy liar, not a philanthropist who wanted to save hockey. Good luck moving the team.
all from http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2012/11/28/forbes-edmonton-oilers-had-team-record-hockey-related-revenues-in-2011-12/, which links to http://www.forbes.com/teams/edmonton-oilers/ and http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mlh45jdd/no-5-edmonton-oilers/. The best part is that comment on the last link:
"While a dynasty missing the playoffs for six straight seasons would prove disastrous in other small markets, it has had no effect on the Oilers' fans. The team has played to a full capacity crowd since the last lockout. Fans get extra points for greeting the introduction of a female, in-game cheer squad as a hindrance to their game experience."
emphasis mine, as I wholeheartedly agree with this.
I agree as well.
Also, not sure it was posted, but if the NHL locks out the whole season, the Oil have a good chance at a first round draft pick for the 4th year in a row!!!
Quote from: Melbosa on November 28, 2012, 02:33:09 PM
Also, not sure it was posted, but if the NHL locks out the whole season, the Oil have a good chance at a first round draft pick for the 4th year in a row!!!
yeah...
Quote from: Thorin on November 06, 2012, 12:44:06 PM
So the Oil have a great chance at a first overall pick again. After all, we're tied for last place with 0 points so far this season.
And to be serious for a second, they'll probably mix the picks up rather than keep all the teams in the same order...
This has been Toronto's best season in a long time, 0 losses! LOL
Anyway, I'm sure the way Katz is going to frame it based on capacity of other venues, we do have the second oldest rink in the NHL and it was small even at the time of construction (when the Oil weren't IN the NHL).
All that aside we have a suck ass team still pulling in the crowds in a really bad economy.
To paraphrase Arnie: "Quite your whining"
Quote from: Thorin on November 28, 2012, 02:36:40 PM
Quote from: Melbosa on November 28, 2012, 02:33:09 PM
Also, not sure it was posted, but if the NHL locks out the whole season, the Oil have a good chance at a first round draft pick for the 4th year in a row!!!
yeah...
Quote from: Thorin on November 06, 2012, 12:44:06 PM
So the Oil have a great chance at a first overall pick again. After all, we're tied for last place with 0 points so far this season.
And to be serious for a second, they'll probably mix the picks up rather than keep all the teams in the same order...
Well you kinda said it jokingly, I am being a bit more serious, as I think after the last lockout they still kept the odds in the draw didn't they? Isn't that how Pittsburgh ended up with Crosby?
At this point who knows, it would be nice...
Oh Wikipedia, you know everything! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_NHL_Entry_Draft
Teams that were not in playoffs nor had a first overall pick in the previous three seasons had a higher chance of getting picked first overall. So if they follow this again, we'd have a pretty low chance of getting first overall simply because we've had first overall for the last three years.
aaaaand the lockout is over (if you hadn't heard). Why do I feel like nobody won?
The players, the owners and the league lost out big time this year and the fans are stuck with a laughably short season.
Well, at least we have a slightly better chance of playoffs I guess??
If there was ever a year I was less excited about hockey, I can't remember it.
Gets a big ol "meh" from me.
I'm not sure that they have a better chance at playoffs - they have a lesser chance of losing players to injury during the regular season, but they're already down a couple due to injuries suffered during the lockout.
Ryan Jones took a puck to the face, hard, at some practice with a team in another league, or something. Ryan Whitney we're still not sure if he can skate on his ankle. Khabibulin probably still has back problems. Andy Sutton is on the injured reserve list already.
I'll probably end up watching Oil games when I have time this winter, but I doubt they'll get near the playoffs. It all depends on whether Ralph Krueger can figure out how to get Hall and Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins to get around Chara and the like.
Fewer games means each game has more importance, many players hot off of AHL / IHF stuff.
At the very least there will be intensity.
Quote from: Mr. Analog on January 08, 2013, 04:50:01 PM
Fewer games means each game has more importance, many players hot off of AHL / IHF stuff.
At the very least there will be intensity.
I dunno. I expect them to play like the season is already shot.
I think Thorin is more likely correct. Injuries are now going to be huge for any team as missing 3-5 weeks due to one could really hurt your chances for play-offs.
I expect some high injury counts this season