How to explain NHL lockout to your non-hockey friends

[ceyko]

I've never been a big fan of hockey until I moved up here. I have started following the Pens a lot and watching as many games as possible now. Really exciting. I have missed out on such a bad ass sport for so long.

Yeah, to me it's amazing how easy the game is to understand but impossible to master even from a fan point of view.

For me it went from...

1. Watching for the fights
2. To figuring out the rules
3. To figuring out the strategies

...once you really get into it and even mildly figure out some strategies that they try to employ the game gets a lot more interesting. (Plus at games you can anticipate where the puck is gonna go...so you lose site of it less...which is a bonus. )

[CWO]

[mstng86]

bad day on the picket line?

[CWO]

Nope. Just sucks that the only sport worth a shit is postponed.

[ceyko]

Yeah, if I'm understanding correctly this could be a season long lockout.

I'm not guru, but this is not good. Some area hockey fans are die hards and will be right back in it. Just like most NFL fans will just go back and watch NFL football. However, with NHL fans in a lot of areas they are band-wagoners or very casual. i.e. DFW/Stars. The more they don't play the more fans they'll lose and the Stars are not playing well enough to gain fans back real soon.

That's just one market, there are plenty others just like it where local fans would rather watch football, baseball and basketball - which basically consumes the whole hockey season.

Basically it sucks. AA Center is seeing less and less turn out every year for regular season hockey - at least to my untrained eye. The up side is maybe season ticket prices will drop even more.

[krazy kris]

"I was the only player to ever take off a hockey skate and try to stab someone"

[ceyko]

Just saw on FB via Dallas Star's post - preseason is officially cancelled.

[VaderTT]

Habs

[ceyko]

Interesting read...

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1355354-nhl-lockout-2012-nhl-players-are-in-a-no-win-situation

Anyone that thinks the NHLPA will walk away from the NHL lockout with any type of win is delusional. The fact is that the NHLPA is in a no-win situation and no matter what the end result, they will walk away as losers in their fight with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the NHL owners.

Bettman and the owners have dug in their heels on the percentage of hockey-related revenue they are willing to share with the NHLPA. In response, union head Donald Fehr and the players have crossed their arms and set scowls upon their faces, vowing to not accept the paltry offer the NHL has extended their way.

Both sides seem willing to forgo the entire 2012-13 season to make their point, and while that solidarity is nice on the part of the NHLPA, it’s basically the players taking $1.873 billion in player salaries and flushing it down the toilet.

Mull that over, the players made a total of $1.873 billion last year, and if there is no season they will never get that money back, which means no $11 million for Ilya Kovalchuk and no $525,000 for the players making the NHL minimum salary. $1.873 billion gone, never to be seen again.

Without some significant give on HRR, the season will most likely be lost. While the NHLPA may consider their strong united front and refusal to give in to the demands of Bettman and the owners a victory, it will be hard to believe those claims when the players forgo almost two billion dollars.

I understand the thinking, but the reality is no NHL owner got rich from owning an NHL team, they were rich before they owned those teams and will remain rich with or without an NHL season. In fact, if we are to believe the claims of some teams, the owners may actually save money by scrapping the 2012-13 season.

So while the owners will still be swimming in cash with or without an NHL season, can the same be said of the individuals that were not rich before they became NHL players?

If the players do cave in and agree to the NHL’s HRR number and sign off on a new collective bargaining agreement, they can be sure that when that deal expires, the owners will be looking to take more back from them. Agreeing to the huge cut in HRR will show weakness, and you can bet that the owners will look to exploit that perceived weakness the next time the two groups sit across from each other at the bargaining table.

There you have it in a nutshell, the NHLPA can stand strong and give up nearly two billion dollars or they can sign off on a new CBA and expect to get fleeced again a few years down the road.

They can’t win, they can only lose less and that’s an awful situation for the players to be in.

[Geor!]

If it delays or ends a season again, Hockey is over. It was already on its last leg after the last strike. This one will be the death blow.

[CWO]

If it delays or ends a season again, Hockey is over. It was already on its last leg after the last strike. This one will be the death blow.

Doubt it.

Season..........Revenue (Billion US$).........Growth Rate (%)
2005-2006.........2.267
2006-2007.........2.436...........................7.45
2007-2008.........2.747..........................12.77
2008-2009.........2.819...........................2.62
2009-2010.........2.929............................3.9
2010-2011.........3.09...............................5. 5
2011-2012.........3.28...............................6. 15

[David]

If it delays or ends a season again, Hockey is over. It was already on its last leg after the last strike. This one will be the death blow.

It'll be over for a lot of teams in the southern US. When you headlines about referees greatly outweighing headlines about an entire league being closed, you're in trouble.

[Trip McNeely]

I'm glad my town here just got a minor league hockey team. I will have to go see them play to get my fix.

[David]

Espn is also broadcasting KHL games.

[ceyko]

I'm glad my town here just got a minor league hockey team. I will have to go see them play to get my fix.

Good point, wish they'd televise the local Allen team or similar as well so I could watch it.