I think he could mean that it would be more tempting for him to sign elsewhere if he got to the stage where he could test the market straight away. That's the way I interpreted it anyway.
I hear ya, but if that is what is going through his mind (and I don't blame him if it is) he needs to back way down from that Paul Kariya imitation he's been doing.
I was just about to come in here and say, "of course Daly says there's going to be a season. They could be cancelling the season tomorrow, and he'd still say there is going to be a season."
Games cancelled until Jan. 14th. The NHL says it doesn't have a drop-dead date, but it's clearly Jan 15th.
They need at least a week of training camp and probably a few days to get all the paperwork done. The 15th is about the last day to start, the actual drop dead date is more likely January 3-8.
I think the league at least wants to stretch any training to two weeks, which would explain why they've already cancelled half the games in January. Say both sides came to a miraculous agreement, and they wanted to start the season. Well, they wouldn't start training today, because Christmas is less than a week away. And then they wouldn't start it after Christmas because New Years is less than a week from then. So they cancelled two weeks to make sure that everyone gets their holidays and everyone is able to make it back to train and then to start playing. But that's just my own theory.
And of course that's all based on if there was even a chance of a season happening at all, which I am completely convinced there wont be.
I think the league at least wants to stretch any training to two weeks, which would explain why they've already cancelled half the games in January. Say both sides came to a miraculous agreement, and they wanted to start the season. Well, they wouldn't start training today, because Christmas is less than a week away. And then they wouldn't start it after Christmas because New Years is less than a week from then. So they cancelled two weeks to make sure that everyone gets their holidays and everyone is able to make it back to train and then to start playing. But that's just my own theory.
And of course that's all based on if there was even a chance of a season happening at all, which I am completely convinced there wont be.
The NHL has games during the holidays. Why wouldn't they start training camp during it?
I said it was a theory. More closer to conspiracy than scientific.
Anyway, we're one step closer to the destruction of the NHL the way we've come to know it. It's back to a battle of pride. The owners want to dominate the PA, and now it looks like the PA wants to dominate the owners. Both sides are total jackasses.
Is anyone else concerned that with all the reports coming out of multiple teams not being around after a year off that the Ducks are going to be on that list?
Admittedly I haven't kept up with the daily rumors but the only way I see teams going away is by selling them to owners who will move them to stronger markets. Could that happen to the Ducks? Well, anything is possible. I forgot the story of how Samuelli came ot buy the Ducks, but if I recall correctly he didn't buy the Ducks because of any previous love of hockey. So maybe if the CBA isn't to his liking I could see him deciding to want out.
Samueli's interest in the arena complicates things. It is possible that he might not like the implications of a new CBA, but it would still suck for his other holdings if he sells to an owner who will move the team. So he will either sell off both assets or he will try to get another primary tenant for the Ponda first (NBA?).
It seems like the new CBA (based on what we've seen) is going to be more to Samueli's liking. What he might not like are the repercussions of owning a team that was becoming irrelevant even before the lockout, and then the loss of good will from being dark for a season.
And since this team rarely makes money, it also seems like not paying the players for a while might be cutting his losses.
Samueli's interest in the arena complicates things. It is possible that he might not like the implications of a new CBA, but it would still suck for his other holdings if he sells to an owner who will move the team. So he will either sell off both assets or he will try to get another primary tenant for the Ponda first (NBA?).
I doubt the team will just fold.
I guess this is the point I was trying to make. No NHL team will just fold. But if the next CBA doesn't work for the bottom teams again I can see owners wanting out.
I don't know about you guys, but as long as they keep the team where it is, I'd love a new owner. Samueli is like a ghost, and the Ducks "brand" has suffered greatly due to lack of marketing, probably due to Samueli's lack of interest or tight purse strings. It's like he thinks people will just come to hockey in southern California without being told there actually is hockey in Southern California.
I miss the days when you could get collectible schedule cups from Del Taco, or walk down the street and see bus stop posters with ticket information, or walk into a Target or Wal-Mart and at least see one rack with some Ducks merchandise. It's a sad day when local MLS teams have better marketing and publicity than the Ducks.
But yeah, I'm kind of scared that the Ducks, some day soon, will not be in Anaheim.
Samueli may not be the best owner but he is far from the worst. Hockey will never be a major sport in SoCal. The Kings have been around since 1966 and have done no better at putting hockey on the map in this area.
Jack Kent Cooke was the first owner of the Kings. When told there were 500,000 former Canadians living within three hours of LA he replied, "Yeah, and I know why. They all hate hockey!". Cooke was a promoter, he loved the team but had no success marketing it. You could give Bruce McNall credit for bringing in Gretzky but once Gretzky left, hockey in SoCal become a snoozefest again.
Hockey will always be a tough sell in an area where the sun shines 360 days a year. You can debate how to market the team but at the end of the day 98% of people around here won't care what you do, they aren't interested.
In some ways we should feel lucky. You can buy a reasonably priced ticket to almost any Ducks game you like. I have a friend who lives outside Toronto. He has to go to Buffalo to see NHL games.
Didn't Samueli just commit several million dollars to youth hockey in Southern California?
I believe he has. The Ducks have also (or maybe in conjunction with the youth hockey thing) purchased most ice rinks in the OC. I don't think he made those purchases because they were great money making opportunities.
I believe he has. The Ducks have also (or maybe in conjunction with the youth hockey thing) purchased most ice rinks in the OC. I don't think he made those purchases because they were great money making opportunities.
If I remember right, he said that his hope was that they would at least break even. I know someone from the PA mentioned us as a team that was doing things right in the sunbelt.
What I would fear if Samueli left is that we'd get saddled with another Charles Wang. Now that is a cheapskate.
What I would fear if Samueli left is that we'd get saddled with another Charles Wang. Now that is a cheapskate.
And on the rare occasions where Wang did spend money, he used it to fund two of the worst contracts in the past decade.
We could definitely do worse than Samueli. I do miss the Burke days though where we would spend to the cap, would actually hear from ownership every now and then and Burke would always keep us informed of what was going on.
And on the rare occasions where Wang did spend money, he used it to fund two of the worst contracts in the past decade.
We could definitely do worse than Samueli. I do miss the Burke days though where we would spend to the cap, would actually hear from ownership every now and then and Burke would always keep us informed of what was going on.
That sounds more like a GM issue than an ownership one though.
I don't know about you guys, but as long as they keep the team where it is, I'd love a new owner. Samueli is like a ghost, and the Ducks "brand" has suffered greatly due to lack of marketing, probably due to Samueli's lack of interest or tight purse strings. It's like he thinks people will just come to hockey in southern California without being told there actually is hockey in Southern California.
I miss the days when you could get collectible schedule cups from Del Taco, or walk down the street and see bus stop posters with ticket information, or walk into a Target or Wal-Mart and at least see one rack with some Ducks merchandise. It's a sad day when local MLS teams have better marketing and publicity than the Ducks.
But yeah, I'm kind of scared that the Ducks, some day soon, will not be in Anaheim.
Samueli has done more for NON professional hockey in Southern California then anyone probably ever. He has keep some rinks alive. He does care about hockey in the area and he is smart enough to know that promoting hockey as a sport will bring more fans to the Pond then just promoting the Ducks.
Samueli has done more for NON professional hockey in Southern California then anyone probably ever. He has keep some rinks alive. He does care about hockey in the area and he is smart enough to know that promoting hockey as a sport will bring more fans to the Pond then just promoting the Ducks.
I agree that he'd done tons for grass roots hockey in Southern California, which is definitely more important than the Ducks. But I'm talking about the Ducks, and not hockey as a whole. He does practically nothing to promote the Ducks outside of Fox Sports, a few places around Anaheim, and I guess you can count the Rinks program because Ducks logos are plastered all over those places. Of course, that has nothing to do with what we see on the ice, but how do you expect to sell tickets to a non-traditional market if you don't promote the team like a mofo.
I agree that he'd done tons for grass roots hockey in Southern California, which is definitely more important than the Ducks. But I'm talking about the Ducks, and not hockey as a whole. He does practically nothing to promote the Ducks outside of Fox Sports, a few places around Anaheim, and I guess you can count the Rinks program because Ducks logos are plastered all over those places. Of course, that has nothing to do with what we see on the ice, but how do you expect to sell tickets to a non-traditional market if you don't promote the team like a mofo.
I thought there was a deal with the kings when the Ducks formed that limited how much and where they could advertise. I may not be 100% sure on that, but I know that this topic came up when the NHL once talked about expansion near Toronto, the new team would not be able to advertise certain ways.
