The Hockey Thread

[Janny]

And there were 18 peopleon the Tampa team, and 4 on the Jamacan team. Also, not too many Jamacans on the ice hockey team, fewer sledges and a few more sticks...

[Elvengirl]

Lol BC I used to think the same thing. Who in Florida would play hockey? But I don't think any or most of the team members are even Floridian. I'm not really sure.

But you're right, whatever makes the game exciting is what counts.

[gollum9630]

Originally posted by mithrand1r
Why are you glad that NJ (or Toronto for that matter) did not win the cup?

NJ just to piss of JD, and Toronto because of there fans who are such jackasses and move out here and brainwash new fans frrom Vancouver to cheer for their team.

[Insidious Rex]

Well hockey fans I hope we got our fill of the game from the recent playoffs because you may not see puck hit ice for a long while unfortunately.... hockey is having some serious issues...

[azalea]

Originally posted by Janny

No really? What was it... NO coverage at ALL in England!

It was 2-1.

What issues, IR?

BTW, the Tampa Tribune accidentally ran the wrong editorial today: it was the one that was supposed to run if they had lost, but obviously they were supposed to run the one congratulating them on their win! Hee hee!

[gollum9630]

Originally posted by azalea
What issues, IR?

the colective barganing agrement contract is over now and there may be no NHL next season. Thats why all the swedes are suposedly playing in sweden next year.

[Jonathan]

Congratulations on winning the World Cup, Canucks
Canada seems to dominate international hockey right now, winning not only the World Cup but also the World Championships this year and last year and the Olympics in 2002. You've frigging won everything.

Sweden didn't do well at all in the World Cup . People here are screaming for the Swedish coach's head, or at least his resignation.

In a way, Sweden got its hands on the trophy anyway! The guy who handed the Canadians the trophy, Börje Salming, is Swedish . He played for Toronto for 16 years so I'm sure lots of Canadian hockey fans were glad to see him.

[Nurvingiel]

Yeah, I heard Sweden played badly against the Czech Republic. 6-1?
*waves Czech flag*
*runs*

Yea for Finland though, earned themselves a nice second place. I was sort of watching the news this morning, and it looked like a close game. I missed the final score though. Yea Finland! *drinks Karhu = Finnish beer*

*dances* Yea! We won! I'm in Sweden right now though, so I won't gloat too much.

EDIT: You're reference to Canucks (which is a nickname for Canadians, and also the name of a Canadian NHL team in Vancouver) reminds me that half the Canucks played for the Swedish team. Marcus Naslund (who apparently didn't do well in the tourney), Henrick and Daniel Sedin, Matthias Ohlund (I think) and probably someone else. Plus, Matts Sundin who was the captain of the Swedish team, is also the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

[Nurvingiel]

Originally Posted by Insidious Rex

Well hockey fans I hope we got our fill of the game from the recent playoffs because you may not see puck hit ice for a long while unfortunately.... hockey is having some serious issues...

What? What's going on? Are you referring to the NHL?

[Nerdanel]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

Yea for Finland though, earned themselves a nice second place. I was sort of watching the news this morning, and it looked like a close game. I missed the final score though. Yea Finland! *drinks Karhu = Finnish beer*

*dances* Yea! We won! I'm in Sweden right now though, so I won't gloat too much.

Thankee and congrats to you!

[Insidious Rex]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

What? What's going on? Are you referring to the NHL?

yeah. things dont look good so far. ive heard people talking about no NHL hockey for years even. that would just about destroy it i think.

[Jonathan]

Well, the NHL lookout isn't entirely bad. As Gollum said in a previous post, most of Sweden's NHL players will come home and play until everything is resolved. That will at least make hockey here a lot more interesting.

[Nurvingiel]

Originally Posted by Nerdanel

Thankee and congrats to you!

Why thank you. *bows*

Anyway, I still don't understand what's happening with the NHL. Why wouldn't they have games???
I haven't heard any news on the subject.

[Insidious Rex]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

Anyway, I still don't understand what's happening with the NHL. Why wouldn't they have games???
I haven't heard any news on the subject.

you havent? and you call yourself a canadian

its this collective bargaining thing. the long and the short of it is that hockey isnt really a big market sport. and player costs are apparently pushing profitability to the edge. so something has to break. heres more:

The NHL, on behalf of its 30 teams, is looking for "cost certainty."
For the NHL, this is defined as "a rational and enforceable relationship between revenues and player salaries." It is better known as a salary cap, but the NHL avoids using that phrase because it believes there are ways to meet this goal without placing a hard and fast limit on team payrolls.

To bolster its argument, the NHL makes several claims:


Players' salaries consume 76 percent of NHL revenues. That's a higher proportion than in the NBA, NFL or Major League Baseball.

Most teams are losing money. The 30 NHL teams lost a combined $273 million in 2002-03.

Since the last collective agreement was signed in 1995, players' salaries have risen at a much faster rate than team revenues.
Judging by their comments, league officials accept that some teams bring these problems on themselves by over-spending and over-paying some players. But they say the real source of the problem is the current CBA, under which the decisions of a few teams change the economic environment for all 30 teams, driving up salaries all over the NHL.

The NHL Players' Association disputes the financial figures released by the league, believing that teams are under-reporting revenues and over-reporting expenses. That is why it dismissed the so-called Levitt Report, which showed $272.6-million in team losses during the 2002-03 NHL season. The Players' Association believes the report simply verified whatever numbers the league chose to provide, in keeping with a long history of suspicious accounting practices by NHL teams.

The players have said they will not accept any form of a salary cap.

got this from here which goes into pretty good detail about the situation. the sad thing is the sides are so far apart on this issue (and the owners are so desperate) that you could see the entire season wiped out before a break through is made. ive even heard talk of it going over a year. and if it does that the damage might be too much for the NHL to handle.

[Nurvingiel]

Oh. *ponders* Isn't that like cutting off your nose to spite your face? Players would be willing to not play at all, because they won't accept a salary cap!?

What the NHL needs is more players like Paul Kariya. He took a huge pay cut so he could play with his good friend (whose name escapes me at the moment) and for the team he wanted. He wanted to play hockey. If someone paid me half a million dollars (a paltry sum to many NHLers) to play the sport I loved, I would do it in a second. There's nothing I couldn't do that I wanted with 1/2 a mil every year. One really has to ask, why are they even playing hockey at all if they value money more than the sport itself?

A lesson in Economics for Hockey Players
(Except Paul Kariya and some other people who already get it.)

Money itself has no value. The only reason it has value at all is because people are willing to exchange it for things you want like food and hockey equipment. When economies collapse, bank accounts and bills are rendered worthless. So if you have enough for necessities, fun things, and hockey equipment, there's no reason to get more money. The fun things (and hopefully playing hockey) already provide the entertainment you need, so obtaining more money doesn't make sense, because you can't do anything with it that would significantly increase the value in your life.
Sacrificing the extremely valuable chance to play hockey professionally for a year for extra money is moronic in my opinion. I hold this view because I think placing value on simply having money is ridiculous. You're not using it, and you don't need it for security or retirement. What's the point, status? Pro hockey players already have status coming out their eyeballs! Bah.

Okay, I'm done ranting now. I have fairly radical opinions about hockey, like that fighting is stupid and boring, and that those who waste everyone's time in this silly way should be punished more harshly. (Sadly, I can't think of a reasonable way for this to be effective.) Too bad a lot of fans like it. Bah. Anyway, that's a whole other rant.

[Insidious Rex]

ok great speech there and I do agree with you about the fighting thing. its a joke. but you do realize its never going to change (neither the petty greed or the fighting issue) because thats human nature. hockey is a business and business is all about profits. and MOST hockey players have some serious egos and making $100,000 less then some other guy they consider an insult and wont stand for it even though they may be making $20 million a year. its the pride thing thats important to them. and status is measured in money.

that being said we shouldnt really castigate the horrible players and act like the owners are all choir boys because they make more money then the players do by far. believe it or not very few owners in the NHL got into it simply out of a love of hockey. they did so because they liked hockey (maybe) AND also saw it as an opportunity for an investment to make MORE money. well now they arent making money on their investment so they are crying foul. but they were dumb to get themselves into this predicament by agreeing to pay all this money to players in the first place knowing full well their sport couldnt handle that kind of long term revenue stream. so a pox on both their houses if you ask me.

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

Players would be willing to not play at all, because they won't accept a salary cap!?

Well some of them, Europeans mostly I guess, will still be able to play in Europe. Many European teams are very eager to sign contracts with the 'unemployed' NHL stars.
So it's not like they won't play, they'll just play elsewhere (with lower salaries) until this mess is over. I'm not too sure about the Americans and Canadians though...

[gollum9630]

well i know some are going over to Europe, but i think most a playing in the new league, i cant remember what its called, that is being started this year.

[Insidious Rex]

Isnt there some barn storming league being started in Canada? And the WHA is taking in a lot of players too.

[Nurvingiel]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Well some of them, Europeans mostly I guess, will still be able to play in Europe. Many European teams are very eager to sign contracts with the 'unemployed' NHL stars.
So it's not like they won't play, they'll just play elsewhere (with lower salaries) until this mess is over. I'm not too sure about the Americans and Canadians though...

Hm... well, maybe a European team would want them too, the way we currently get Europeans to come play for us.

Then again, maybe some players could use the time to recover from injuries. (Thinks of Steve Yzerman.)