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The NHL needs a strong leader capable of standing up to the influential owners like Jeremy Jacobs and Gary isn't it. The point of having a commissioner is so that owners like Jeremy Jacobs are not simply allowed to run the league.
Free beer...or for each home game the home team raffles off a standing seat behind the home team bench beside the coaches. Gets access to the room before game time and between periods.
It all has to start with showing Bettman the door - if they want to bring back the fans they need to find a new leader for the NHL to show they're serious about moving forward
It all has to start with showing Bettman the door - if they want to bring back the fans they need to find a new leader for the NHL to show they're serious about moving forward
Yup. No matter how much money he makes them, the NHL keeps on taking 1 step forward and 5 steps backward in regards to the gameplay.
Bettman has done a great job of growing the game. Fans can be pissed at him all they want. Blame him for the lockout... etc. But - you do have to give him credit where it is due.
Revenues are way up. Teams for kids in the US has grown quite a bit (heck we have Cali kids being drafted). Other countries are producing highend players. He has grown the game.
From the owners perspective, he has taken all the flack for the two lockouts and has acted like a shield for the owners from fan hate. Fans and players can hate him, but fans will return to their teams and will root for them. Players will return to their teams and play hard for them.
IMO, he has done his job. But I also see it as a time for the NHL to make a change and let him go. That would be one step. Also, Fehr needs to leave - which would be step two.
Finally, I would offer any fan who had had at Center Ice package at any point in the past 4 years, free center ice. That would be one big step.
After that, the best thing that could happen is strong hockey with good teams in some of the weaker markets. That will drive fan interest back into those teams with long playoff pushes. Some of the smaller markets/weaker fan bases need to have a good playoff run and that will drive fans back into their seats.
The rest of us will be back - because we are fans.
I don't deny for one second that Bettman has done his job and has "grown" the value of the game, but that's not the issue. The issue is he is the face of the game, and everyone is sick of seeing his face. Right or wrong, if you replace Bettman ( maybe keep Bettman in the back room so he still is involved but get him out of the public eye ) you eliminate a major reason people have for being pissed off.
And if the NHL puts a "Thank-you Fans" message on the ice, it won't be there for long. People I sit with will be throwing beers and pops at that logo on the ice.
Yup. No matter how much money he makes them, the NHL keeps on taking 1 step forward and 5 steps backward in regards to the gameplay.
And what exactly has Gary Bettman to do with the gameplay?
Rules are made by the competition committee and then decided on by the board of governours, or was it the GMs, certainly not by the head of the league. Blaming gameplay on Bettman is like blaming Canada losing in the World juniors on not getting enough sunlight in Russia.
You have no proper argument why Bettman should go. Just the usual drivel of "I have no idea what he actually does, but I don't like him, so he's bad". Thank got the owners are the ones who decide who they want to run the league and not some random fans who are utterly clueless how such a league actually operates.
The best way to regain fan trust is to play the game. People don't need some useless PR-stunt that tells them how very important they are to the owners and players.
I won't. I can't wait for them to resume playing so that I can begin to not support the NHL. It is hard to not buy a product when it isn't being offered. The NHL will never get another cent from me.
The lower end fan may be pissed, but will return eventually.
The fan that starting gaining interest and then this circus started could be lost forever, but ultimately some may come back.
Be honest. Show the fans that we matter. Maybe additional team community gatherings, signings and such, especially this summer, giveaways, i.e. jersey's, hats, sticks, basic t-shirts won't cut it.
The league has made it pretty clear that we don't matter. I can't see how anyone can hand their money to these chumps after they just spit on them again. No thanks, I will find better entertainment.
They will do nothing meaningful because they think their fans are a bunch of sucker morons who can't wait to throw their money at them.
And they're probably right. Maybe I'm just too wired into all the hoopla today, relative to the average ticket-buying fan on the street, but to me, I'm getting very much the sense that everything is going to be back to business as usual. They'll get games going, fans will get engaged, a short season will see a couple surprise markets get a nice playoff run, all will be guns and roses for happy fans and business as usual right off the hop.
And the few lonely folks manning the picket lines of fan protests will pretty quickly recognize the futility of their actions and most will quietly pack it in too. Kudos to them for their idealism, but let's face it, hockey is just self-gratifying entertainment, who really wants to torture themselves over a matter of principle on something so fundamentally shallow?
Game is very much on. NHL doesn't have to do anything.
Ticket prices have gone up a lot in the big markets, it costs 80 bucks to get in the rink in Vancouver, you can buy 5 tickets for that price in some arenas. Who is selling all the merchandise? It is literally cheaper to fly to a southern city to watch a playoff game than buy tickets to a game in our own city. Many people do this.
The whole growing the game nonsense may be true at the youth level, which is great, but lots of markets are struggling badly with low fan support while a lucky few bring in most of the revenue.
How much did it cost to go to a game in 2004? Ticket prices may have been lower, but look at the team that was being iced. A contender year in and year out will always draw fans (such as Vancouver for the last decade), while a losing team will not. Hence the ticket price difference.
Low fan support comes from having lousy teams for a long period of time. For instance, I would consider St. Louis a solid hockey market, but after 2004 the team stunk for the better part of 7 years. At that time fan attendance dropped. Even last year with a solid team in place, they had some of the lowest ticket cost in order to sell out games. (As a Blues fans I can speak on this).
The Bluejackets were sold out for the first couple of season, but when you are consistantly bad for 5-7 years in a row with no expectation to even make the playoffs, it is hard to get fans in the door regardless of the ticket price. If the Jackets can get and really develop their tallent the right way, they will become a solid hockey market.
Even Pitt who is really solid right now w/ attendance had some down years prior to Crosby's arrival.
I personally believe that part of Atlanta issue was not putting a winning team on the ice for a long, long time - coupled with not being bad enough to get the top pick 4 years in a row.
Hockey isn't like football where you can get a quick turn around and each year all but 4-6 teams fans feel like they can make the playoffs. In the NHL, you draft an 18 year old and wait for him to develop and hope. Much easier to draft a 22 year old and project what type of player he will become.
What would prevent the NHL from offering Center Ice for free this season? Say "sorry" by providing the product to everyone.
They don't want to do anything "for the fans" that might deprive them of any revenue. They love the fans to the extent that is necessary for their league to survive. Beyond that, they don't care the slightest bit. This league has been taking its fans for granted for decades and that isn't likely to change soon.
The only way I get center ice for a shortened season is if it is free (unless the price includes next season as well). Business as usual (aka putting fans over a barrel) isn't going to get my money going forward.
I personally believe that part of Atlanta issue was not putting a winning team on the ice for a long, long time - coupled with not being bad enough to get the top pick 4 years in a row.
And ownership that openly had contempt for hockey fans, even the season ticket holders.
And ownership that were horrible at finding sponsorship and marketing partners.
And a GM that was below average by any measure.
And they're probably right. Maybe I'm just too wired into all the hoopla today, relative to the average ticket-buying fan on the street, but to me, I'm getting very much the sense that everything is going to be back to business as usual. They'll get games going, fans will get engaged, a short season will see a couple surprise markets get a nice playoff run, all will be guns and roses for happy fans and business as usual right off the hop.
And the few lonely folks manning the picket lines of fan protests will pretty quickly recognize the futility of their actions and most will quietly pack it in too. Kudos to them for their idealism, but let's face it, hockey is just self-gratifying entertainment, who really wants to torture themselves over a matter of principle on something so fundamentally shallow?
Game is very much on. NHL doesn't have to do anything.
This lockout won't improve the game whatsoever and I am a fan in one of the good markets so this will only further erode my team. It won't be that hard for me to stay away. I know my money won't make or break the league but I don't support the direction it is heading and my only recourse is to not give them my support.
I don't know if thats a good idea. The average NHL game is pretty sub par to watch. Sure if you get the right match up the game will be entertaining but most are duds and letting everyone thats not a die hard see that could be negative!
So, why do you watch hockey? (if you even do. and if you don't, why read and post here?)
Ticket prices have gone up a lot in the big markets, it costs 80 bucks to get in the rink in Vancouver, you can buy 5 tickets for that price in some arenas. Who is selling all the merchandise? It is literally cheaper to fly to a southern city to watch a playoff game than buy tickets to a game in our own city. Many people do this.
The whole growing the game nonsense may be true at the youth level, which is great, but lots of markets are struggling badly with low fan support while a lucky few bring in most of the revenue.
Ticket prices have gone way up in washington dc for capitals games and they are sold out every night. Prices have gone up everywhere. The game has grown other places as well you might think tickets are cheap in some areas but that is just because of the exchange rate. Plus some places median income is a lot lower than others. That doesnt mean fans don't want to go to games as much it means they don't have as much money.
Hockey fans will back in droves in all 7 canadian NHL. cities & some of the USA. tradtional markets but most american markets will need some time to recover from this latest lockout . Some markets the damage has been done & theses markets will never recover & that is why I see 3 teams relocating within the next few years most likely the coyotes , blue jackets & panthers where again most likely to Quebec City , Hamilton & Seattle .
The NHL needs a strong leader capable of standing up to the influential owners like Jeremy Jacobs and Gary isn't it. The point of having a commissioner is so that owners like Jeremy Jacobs are not simply allowed to run the league.
I agree.
I think a guy like Gary Bettman better fits the role of his predecessors, that of a league president who merely represents the owners including acting as their collective bargaining agent. He could probably fill that role quite ably.
What the league really needs is an actual commissioner, who is there to act in the best interests of the game. That role could arise, for example, when the league president and union chief can't reach a new CBA before reaching a labour impasse. Bettman is not that guy.
I agree with Jeff Blair that firing Bettman and Daly would be the best way to restore trust in the NHL.
If you want a contrary view, you can take Don Cherry's word for it that "Gary Bettman saved the season": http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/...er-tweets.html I'll pass on that. I think Grapes is too far gone on this one.
P.S. In the aftermath of this disaster, I think that David Thompson might end up becoming one of the more influential governors of the NHL. He's far enough distanced from the guys who created this mess. He's rich enough and seems to have enough smarts and common sense to become a long-term mainstay of the BOG. It makes me wonder if he agrees with either Blair or Dowbiggin, both of whom work for one of his newspapers. I'm sure the sports writers don't worry about what DT thinks of what they write, but I don't think these things are out of left field. Is it possible that the Globe and Mail has the tacit approval of DT to plant these seeds, or is that reading far too much into a couple of quick pieces?
Oh . . . and BUTCH . . . I know, I know, they're crappy pieces obviously written to a tight deadline! They gotta fill the paper and all that! I read that every time I see your comment on an article you don't like! (I just happen to have been following these writers for decades, and happen to agree with both of them here.)
this fighting tooth and nail for each last inch has got to stop. the PA opposed a 10 year CBA if you can imagine. the league didn't think they should honour the contracts they signed just days prior to lockout. these guys would lose 1/2 a season over practice pucks. the PA vetoed reallignment. everything is an all-out war.
the league should fire Bettman and hire a new person with a hockey backgound, and is given the mandate and directive to forge a relationship of cooperation and trust with the PA
the PA should fire Fehr and hire a new person with a hockey backgound, and is given the mandate and directive to forge a relationship of cooperation and trust with the league.
