2007-01-31 03:40:00 · 14 answers · asked by Shamus 1 in Sports ➔ Hockey
The NHL is getting too far ahead of itself with money. Since the lockout, they should have been re-establishing teams in the north and canada, and made the league stable. Then they should try and extend influence further south. If you get everyone on the Canada-US border nuts about hockey, a lot of people are going to wonder what all the fuss is.
My plan of action would be: Move Phoenix, move florida. Get them to Winnipeg and Quebec City. Move the Hurricanes back to Hartford (how do you like that!?). I would require the Islanders owners to fire all management (I think they may have already done that though)! The islanders would be a great team right now if they were just patient! Pittsburgh needs to find a way to stay there too. There has to be a re-establishment of the major hockey cities. However, it shouldn't be at the cost of continued development of fans further south in markets that are pretty hot. (Dallas, Colorado, and Atlanta from what one poster said earlier in this thread).
2007-01-31 04:52:19 · answer #1 · answered by answerman56 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Gary Bettman is the cancer of the NHL. He has a TV deal in the USA where fans cannot even get the all star game or skills competition in most areas. Cancel the contract with Versus and kiss up to ESPN. He moved teams out of northern cities where fans are rabid to southern cities where there are lots of empty seats. Hockey was more popular than the NBA in the 80s and 90s. The NBA commissioner suggested the incompetent Bettman to be NHL commisioner so that the NHL will falter. And it has. The NHL board of Governors need to do cancer surgery to the NHL and remove Bettman before he destroys the game even more. I used to go to hockey games religiously every Saturday night. Now, I've found other things to do.
2007-01-31 04:08:36 · answer #2 · answered by ray4u 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The lock out hurt. What a black eye for the NHL to be the only sport league to every lose an entire season of play. It was economically damaging to the league, the cities that have team, the vendors,etc. A friend of our's worked for the Panthers and had no income so he had to pack up the family and move to find work. Tampa Bay staffers had to sell their Stanley Cup rings to put food on the table.
My point? That is a lot of angry people and now ex-hockey fans. People are angry that the differences couldn't be resolved. Is hockey dead, not at all. Even Wendy's came back from the horrible finger in the chili hoax! NHL just needs time to rebuild its fan base.
2007-02-01 02:52:50 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What do you mean finally? The NHL was already low man on the totem pole for US Sports fans before the lockout. NASCAR was already ahead. Since the lockout there's even less fans nowadays. And BTW the NHL died for me April 13, 1997. This is the day that the Brass Bonanza was played for the last time. Nothing pained me more than seeing the Whalercanes win the Cup last year. Long live the Whale!!!!!
2007-01-31 03:50:01 · answer #4 · answered by answerguy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think they were beginning to build a decent fan base until the lock-out 2 years ago
It took baseball (the national sport) years to recover from their lock-out
I doubt hockey will ever regain what little popularity it had
Not to mention the NHL rule changes that are turning a great full contact game into ladies basketball
2007-01-31 04:30:27 · answer #5 · answered by Joe Crow 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's no "finally" - it's been this way for a long time. The ratings while on ESPN were so abysmal that they had to settled for "Versus", or whatever they're now calling that channel. You have a fair number of diehard fans, but it's a huge dropoff after that. There are very few casual hockey fans left in the US, and it's been that way for a while.
2007-01-31 04:02:41 · answer #6 · answered by Craig S 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i've been thinking the same thing .. last night well watching the Toronto Maple Leafs play in Carolina last night..
all the empty seats made me want to vomit.. i would LOVE a chance to go see the Leafs play live.. and all those empty seats!!
Especially seeing Carolina won the cup last year.. it makes no sence .. except for the fact that in most places in the states they do not have ice in the winter.. so why would they play hockey..
it would be interesting to see a nationality break down of the NHL.. see the % of people who are canadian. european and from the states.. i imagine the states have the less percentage of players
2007-01-31 03:49:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i admire hockey and that i will form of see this guy's factor. i decide to work out skating, taking photos, passing, and hitting. combating? I savour a sturdy combat now and then, yet I even have continually felt that combating could be a factor of the game, yet different than for the game. If 2 bruisers decide to start beating the crap out of the different, do not BLOW THE WHISTLE. Play could proceed. enable the warring parties combat, and enable the gamers proceed to play and placed the p.c.. in the internet!
2016-10-16 09:00:07 · answer #8 · answered by kincade 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't help that the US media could care less about hockey either. The coverage hockey gets in the states is terrible. Even in the big cities that have a hockey team they get the back burner. That does not help matters at all.
2007-01-31 04:38:56 · answer #9 · answered by lidstromnumber1fan 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If I asked this question I would get mega-flamed. Yes Hockey is dead here. The WNBA all-star game had twice the ratings of the NHL all-star game.
2007-01-31 04:10:06 · answer #10 · answered by Ballzy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋