Ok, I didn't mean to start this, I mean, the Johnny Canuck line was just a joke there. Remember, just because it isn't funny, doesn't mean it's not a joke. In reality, the league's problems are entirely from a marketing standpoint, not from a who plays where on what team. With the exception of the continued existence of the Phoenix Coyotes that is. But you have to consider that Canada has proven unable to support more teams, which is why Winnipeg and Quebec had to leave. What was my point? Oh yeah. Breathe deep Canadians. In the end, you guys are just like us but with higher taxes and funny accents.
Not that it makes his argument any less retarded, but the AHL has just as many Canadian teams as the NHL. Just sayin' That being said, hell of a game Canada. If the NHL gains (back) some popularity here in the US because of it, so much the better. After a tournament like this, if Bettman is clueless enough to prevent the NHL players from playing in 2014, it's time for him to go.
As a Wings fan a lot of it came from him beating us in the Cup Finals last year. And also, him being a whiny bitch.
Any thread that asks me to care about hockey and doesn't make me laugh is bordering on getting locked. Pull it together peons.
The time to get rid of that stupid, mongoloid, impulsive, shit stain open-sore of a human being was a long time ago. He has tainted the sport for the sake (of course) of money and the very reason he is even in the NHL is beyond me. I wouldn't give the fucktard a job as a zamboni driver's assistant. He's the very essence of "All Suit, NoGame". Bettman fuck you, suffer from Rabies and die. Of thie "Big Four" sports, hockey is my favourite. It's full contact, has legal bare-knuckle boxing, and you can't run out of bounds. I'm all for making it more bankable, just give Canada back the Winnipeg Jets or let Saskatoon finally have their team. They deserve it more than any other city in North America, because they (literally) have to most rabid hockey fans in the world. There was no real NEED to send Winnipeg to Phoenix in the first place/. They were still getting fans at their games, but they were too "middle of nowhere" for the NHL. So, they stuck a hockey team out in the middle of the desert where it belongs. Don't get me wrong, the Coyotes did okay as a team for a while, but cities like Phoenix, Nashville, Columbus,etc. just shouldn't have NHL teams when you have fans in Canada just DROOLING for a new fanchise (or an old one to come back). The Nordiques, when doing well, would sell out every single game. Columbus can't sell out the front row no matter HOW awesome Rock Nash is. And Sherwood, there are rewards to having higher taxes. GREAT rewards. You guys should try it sometime, you'll like it!
We get it. You don't like Bettman, and you have a thesaurus. Cool. You realize that the owner's hired Bettman and pressured him to expand the game right? It's not like he came in with the intention of fucking over Canadian cities by moving their teams to southwestern America. Phoenix was a major market, and he was being pressured to expand, and Winnipeg, being the league's third smallest market and unable to retain their best players was clearly a candidate to be moved. All of these moves were approved by the owners as well. This isn't the Baltimore Colts moving in the middle of the night. You could just watch MMA and see professionals basically bare-knuckle box. And wow, you can't run out of bounds. You can also run the neutral zone trap which is by far the most boring tactic in sports. Just because they have the best fans doesn't mean their deserving of a team. It's a business after all and Saskatoon has a population just north of 200,000 after all. There was no need from the fan's perspective. From a business perspective Winnipeg was a team that couldn't retain its best players, and in the long run was going to slip competitively. They had a shitty stadium, and were not at all equipped to deal with player salaries spiraling out of control in the 90's. They had to go. Your main beef is with the owner's and their greed. The same thing is happening with NBA right now. What happens if the Knicks don't add Lebron + Wade/Bosh? How do they sell their fans on the fact that they completely conceded the last few seasons to set themselves up for Summer 2010 on Rudy Gay if they end up with him? The NHL owners pressured Bettman to expand, thinking that hockey would take off in every southern city like it did in LA with Gretzky, and it didn't. Hard to fault Bettman for following orders.
Ok, there are admittedly holes in my initial argument, because like I said: I don't follow hockey, and don't really care about it. But don't be ignorant of the fact that the NHL "could not hope to survive" without its American life line. So I'm just going to list a couple facts: 1. 80% of teams in the NHL (24/30) reside in an American city. 2. 91% of the gold medal Candian team players (21/23) play for American teams, and collect an American pay check. My initial argument, which I got away from in my first post, was that you shouldn't bitch and moan about specifically American executives who are ruining your sport, when obviously your precious little hockey league wouldn't be around if it weren't for those very same American executives. That was my point, and I stand by it. For you to try and rebut that point makes your argument stupid, ignorant, bullshit, and any other clever term you decide to launch at me.
Yeah, by far less riveting than the non-stop juggernaut of soccer, baseball (of any kind), any pool (table or swim) sports, the 70% of football where no plays are being made, tennis, darts, etc. And what thesaurus? Are those big words for you? It's just a thread, no need to get all puffy like a six-year-old with no security blanket. Saskatoon could and WOULD succeed as an NHL team, for the same reason Green Bay has been a very successful NFL team: love. I can't think of a person in Regina that wouldn't drive to every game as well. I know you think fans' opinions don't matter and we should let the old worn-out fat rich fucks that basically hate the game have all rights and power of attourney over everything to do with it, but a fan's opinion actually matters in real life. I KNOW why Bettman was hired by the league, and I also know why Kenneth Lay hired Jeff Skilling: you need the sleaziest, most non-caring sociopath to work the strings and they have the right guy. Of COURSE I'm going to bitch about greed. Why? Because we have every goddamn right and reason to, the fact of the matter is that it's "Our Game"(Sunday proved it) and we love it like Americans love watching Rednecks turn left for 500 miles with big stickers on their cars (sorry, but NASCAR is your most popular sport and now you're stuck with it). Granted, we also also invented basketball but we don't really like it that much (we prefer Lacrosse).
That's not a stretch or anything. Baseball and soccer aren't advertised as non-stop action sports. Hockey is. There's the difference. You come off as an asshole in general. Green Bay cannot be compared to Saskatoon. The Packers have been around and successful for almost 100 years. Saskatoon would be stuck with an expansion franchise or one of the struggling relocated franchise. Green Bay has a modern high end football stadium that you attend once a week for anywhere between 8-12 Sunday's out of the year. It's an event. It's a religion there. Saskatoon does not currently have a NHL type venue, and is frankly not capable of supporting a team for upwards of 50 games a year. In short, you can't compare the two. No in real life, the fan's opinion doesn't matter. In a perfect world, it does. You have the two confused. And did you even read my post? I clearly said that the greed of the owners have ruined sports. Ya Sunday you really dominated our 4th best athletes. I'm not making excuses for the loss, but you guys can keep hockey. We don't want it. You're proving my point regarding Saskatoon. NASCAR has 100k+ stadiums. It's an event. It comes around twice a year, and that's why the attendance figures are so large. You don't see the stadiums being filled for local races, but once or twice a year when the big boys come, the fans do, too. You invented it, we perfected it.
So. Looks like Crosby and the Pens beat the Sabres yesterday. As I understand it, Miller didn't play though. Any word on how the crowd reacted to Crosby? I'm guessing with cheers.
Where has anyone said hockey is America's most important sport? For Canada maybe. It's a distant 4th in America. And perhaps you should learn the difference between straight and strait before you talk down to me. I'm just surprised you didn't spell it Streit, considering all your country is good for is hockey and letting college kids drink legally.
It was awesome. No, Miller didn't play, but that entire arena fucking rained down with cheers. That's the ovation this guy deserves. And Elset -- Jesus, Michigan boy, have you not mentioned once that this guy played for the Spartans? Almost won a championship? HE'S OUR BOY FROM THE GREAT LAKES STATE! GO MSU!!! YEEEEEAHH! No, Crosby didn't get booed, but he was given considerably less commencement than our American hero. I don't post here much, but I skimmed through this thread and my god, what a gigantic fail.
Haha, well I did post this in the Olympics thread That counts, right? Actually, I don't take the whole UofM vs MSU rivalry all that seriously. In fact, I was an MSU fan before I went to college. I have an MSU mini helmet, and loads of MSU keychains. I root for MSU so long as they're not playing UofM
When you look at it, Crosby got "The Golden Goal" but he wasn't Canada's best player of the tournament. The Nash line rocked the shit, and Ricky was my favourite player to watch. He's like Gary Roberts with better handles. All heart, never stops trying, hits hard like Cam Neely and can stick-handle through raindrops. Biggest letdown? Thornton. I'll always have the memory of witnessing him Ricky Steamboat-splash a group of cops while obliterated drunk, but he was wooden the entire Olympics and his usual brilliant playmaking wasn't evident at all. Next to Ovechkin's sliding, one-handed backhand magician goal, this is no doubt the most impressive goal I've seen in the last 15 years: Ovechkin's (Jesus, Phoenix could your defence suck any more?). This goal defies the laws of physics:
Booed by your own hometown fans? Classy, considering he played a major role in helping them to a couple of Stanley Cup finals (including a victory). I hope somebody peed in a cup and threw it at them.
Ya, I saw this article and assumed it was a done deal, but after that one you just posted, I'm not too sure myself. Anyone know if there's any video of the pre-game anywhere?