The Business of HockeyDiscuss the financial and business aspects of the NHL. Franchise sales, valuations, TV contracts, ratings, expansion, relocation, the CBA and work stoppage discussion goes here.
It's a bargaining chip, just like realignment. The league wants to realign, and the players want to go to Sochi. The owners don't really mind Olympic participation that much, and the players don't really have a problem with the realignment proposal. They'll probably be bargained away now, possibly one for one, and spun as a concession from each side.
After going to Vancouver, it's tremendously difficult to then not go to Sochi, two consecutive hockey-mad host countries. The real question is whether the NHL immediately starts signaling that it's not going to want to go in 2018.
As I've said before, I really hope they don't go. I hate seeing the NHL season interrupted so that a few players can go off and play in a meaningless 2 week exhibition tournament.
Bingo!
I can't, for the life of me root for Komisarek to nail Bergeron in the corner. Just can't/
please explain what you mean by phony made up national teams. i think you have no clue on how fifa operates.
I'll confess that I might be being a bit hard on soccer because there is a bit more continuity with their national teams than just throwing the country's best players together for a couple of weeks to play in a tournament.
False. We spend money. And then we spend some more. And then more. Canadians fans are the NHL's golden geese; you don't kill those birds, you feed them.
Don't twist my words.Way to take out half of that post.
I clearly meant it as far as Olympic participation goes, not in general.
Any money you may spend on the Olympics does nothing for the NHL.
Last edited by IU Hawks fan: 01-11-2012 at 08:35 AM.
As I've said before, I really hope they don't go. I hate seeing the NHL season interrupted so that a few players can go off and play in a meaningless 2 week exhibition tournament.
Olympic games are meaningless ? Sorry man...I hope You get some very good doctor who will heal your mental disease
Unbelievable how folks would even think of not wanting to go to the Olympics . They've probably never played at a high level or don't know the passion that is involved in such an event. It's 10 fold from what we see during the NHL playoffs. I guess in the 2010 the 26.5 million Canadians that were tuned in and close to 500 million across the World that were watching are just ninnyhammers , and they'd all prefer to watch the New York Rangers take on the New Jersey Devils in game 54 of the NHL schedule! So Exciting!!!
I understand americans don't really care about their national teams like the rest of the world does since it appears they're not as patriotic like most and since 23 teams are in the us the nhl has to play this stupid card of not wanting to go because some business guy in the us doesn't know what's going on in the world. Even if it's in the middle of the night the same 26.5 million will wake up and will be watching, heck a quarter of us probably be there. Never forget Olympic Gold is > or = Stanley Cup. In most countries It's >... the pinnacle of sport is the Olympics, no matter which sport, the greatest honor for any athlete is to represent his/her country. The NHL's job is also to grow the game just as much as IIHF and there is no stage better then to do this than participating in the Olympics, it should go on for 2014 and beyond. Forever hopefully.
I hate watching passionate and intense hockey played by the best in the world in a two week tournament.
The cons for the league (the condensed schedule, possible injuries) are outweighed by the pros, namely exposure and the fact that it is the premiere event of the winter games. It helps the casual fan identify with players and its an avenue for them to jump on board. Yes, the viewing times will be inconvenient this time, but when it comes back to this hemisphere it will be well worth the investment.
I can't, for the life of me root for Komisarek to nail Bergeron in the corner. Just can't/
And I have absolutely no problem rooting for Pronger to take Malkin's head off. Rooting for Canada comes first, the Pens second.
Of course, it would suck to see Malkin or Orpik get injured by a Canadian player because it would hurt the Pens' chances, but in the heat of battle, I don't think I'd care very much.
Unbelievable how folks would even think of not wanting to go to the Olympics . They've probably never played at a high level or don't know the passion that is involved in such an event. It's 10 fold from what we see during the NHL playoffs. I guess in the 2010 the 26.5 million Canadians that were tuned in and close to 500 million across the World that were watching are just ninnyhammers , and they'd all prefer to watch the New York Rangers take on the New Jersey Devils in game 54 of the NHL schedule! So Exciting!!!
This Canadian would rather watch the Leafs anytime rather than one of these so-called Canadian national teams. I guess it's because in my mind, a player's primary affiliation is their NHL team and their nationality is a secondary affiliation at best. So, it's hard for me to think of Phil Kessel as an American or Sidney Crosby as a Canadian. They are a Leaf and a Penguin, respectively. So, to be honest, something like the Olympics hockey tourney just feels like an elaborate All-Star game -- redistributing the best NHL players based on a secondary or lower affiliation.
Yeah. I'll usually watch a few games of the Olympic hockey tourney and I'll concede it's often good hockey, but it really has little meaning to me. I was primarily cheering for Canada to win the gold medal in 2010 so that Canada would hold the record for most gold medals won by a host nation in the Winter Olympics.
Now, I admit I would probably be more passionate about Team Canada and international tourneys like this if they were created from a dedicated pool of players. That is, these players would play for the national team and that would be it. They would simply spend their hockey season, playing and training with their national teams and nothing else.
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I understand americans don't really care about their national teams like the rest of the world does since it appears they're not as patriotic like most and since 23 teams are in the us the nhl has to play this stupid card of not wanting to go because some business guy in the us doesn't know what's going on in the world. Even if it's in the middle of the night the same 26.5 million will wake up and will be watching, heck a quarter of us probably be there. Never forget Olympic Gold is > or = Stanley Cup. In most countries It's >... the pinnacle of sport is the Olympics, no matter which sport, the greatest honor for any athlete is to represent his/her country. The NHL's job is also to grow the game just as much as IIHF and there is no stage better then to do this than participating in the Olympics, it should go on for 2014 and beyond. Forever hopefully.
I love the Olympics and love cheering for Canada to win medals -- but I love all the sports and think they should all be emphasized equally. I don't think a gold medal in men's ice hockey should be considered any differently than a gold in women's skeleton. So I get bugged by the attitude that I've seen here in Canada (especially in 2010) that none of the other Canadian medals mean anything if Canada doesn't win a gold in men's ice hockey. Add in the over-hype of Olympic hockey by Canadian broadcasters and it just gets really annoying.
Frankly, there is a small part of me that would like to see ice hockey dropped as an Olympic sport -- it would get rid of this nonsense about whether the NHL should participate and also take care of the issues about imbalance in the women's game. But that part of me is largely being facetious.
Then, there is the issue that these best-on-best tourneys are just too short and often a single bad game can destroy a tournament. To me, this just makes the results of such a tourney less meaningful.
Also, to me, I enjoyed the 1972 Canada-USSR series because it had real meaning as it answered a question that had been wondered about for years: how would a team of Canada's best stack up against a team of the USSR's best. And the answer was that the two teams were roughly on the same level. All future best-on-best games always feel like a pale shadow of that series. And while these best-on-best tourneys can be fun now and then, I would prefer to see some kind of World Cup/Canada Cup event about once every six or eight years held in late August/early September to minimize its impact on the NHL season. Such an event would be the only time that countries met in a best-on-best event. No best-on-best in the Olympics, none in the World Championships, etc. Those events could be populated by dedicated national teams.
Putin is working hard on getting the NHL to commit to the 2014 Olympics. Apparently Moscow is hosting a game in February to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Summit Series (a topic I've started here), and he's inviting Bettman and co. to come and discuss the Olympics.
As I've said before, I really hope they don't go. I hate seeing the NHL season interrupted so that a few players can go off and play in a meaningless 2 week exhibition tournament.
I agree 100% although I'm surprised to see a canadian say it.
Of course, if it was up to the fans, having NHLers attend the Sochi Olympics would be a slam dunk. But, as we all know, it has become a negotiating issue that will be hammered out during the upcoming CBA negotiations between players and owners.
The league, of course, is concerned about how the time difference will effect television viewership, seeing as games starting in prime time in Russia would be shown live around noon on the East Coast of North America. There also has been *****ing about the compressed NHL schedule that would result from the Olympic break.
Hockey Canada has begun preparations for NHLers to participate (easier to cancel plans, than start from scratch).
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Here’s what union head Donald Fehr had to say about the Sochi issue during an interview with the Toronto Sun earlier this season.
“There are a lot of players who are very interested in it,” Fehr said. “There are others who feel the potential disruption of the season, especially going seven eight nine time zones away, and the squeezing of the schedule that results at both ends from the hiatus, would not be worth it. There are other individuals within the game ... who think that, while you get a tremendous bump if they’re in North America or not too many time zones away from what the viewing audience watches, that it may not be true if its in the far east or central Asia.
Do they, or do they have to stay with the team to practice?
Teams are prohibited from having any scheduled activities during set breaks (e.g., All Star, Christmas).
For the Olympics, there's like a ten day window (through preliminary rounds) that teams can't do anything. But the last few days they can have team practice (for those who didn't attend, no longer playing).
As I've said before, I really hope they don't go. I hate seeing the NHL season interrupted so that a few players can go off and play in a meaningless 2 week exhibition tournament.
Like I said earlier in the thread. I personally think the NHL is going to get the ok for their 4 conference alignment in exchange for the players getting the 2014 and 2018 games.
Like I said earlier in the thread. I personally think the NHL is going to get the ok for their 4 conference alignment in exchange for the players getting the 2014 and 2018 games.
I think it will take more than that, but I think the players are willing to do the new conference alignment no matter what.
Like I said earlier in the thread. I personally think the NHL is going to get the ok for their 4 conference alignment in exchange for the players getting the 2014 and 2018 games.
This Canadian would rather watch the Leafs anytime rather than one of these so-called Canadian national teams. I guess it's because in my mind, a player's primary affiliation is their NHL team and their nationality is a secondary affiliation at best. So, it's hard for me to think of Phil Kessel as an American or Sidney Crosby as a Canadian. They are a Leaf and a Penguin, respectively. So, to be honest, something like the Olympics hockey tourney just feels like an elaborate All-Star game -- redistributing the best NHL players based on a secondary or lower affiliation.
For many Europeans (including myself) it is extremely difficult to get their heads around the above viewpoint. Kessel went from the Bruins to the Leafs and may play for other teams during his career, but he was, is, and always be an American. No matter what team he plays for, his nationality and the country he represents never changes. I'm also assuming that many European players think of themselves as Swede/Fin/Slovak/whatever first, and affiliated to their employer (whoever that may be at any given point during their career) second.
For many Europeans (including myself) it is extremely difficult to get their heads around the above viewpoint. Kessel went from the Bruins to the Leafs and may play for other teams during his career, but he was, is, and always be an American. No matter what team he plays for, his nationality and the country he represents never changes. I'm also assuming that many European players think of themselves as Swede/Fin/Slovak/whatever first, and affiliated to their employer (whoever that may be at any given point during their career) second.
Because Europeans follow their own countrymen in the NHL and root for whatever team they happen to be on. Americans have so many players in the NHL to us it's meaningless. Not so much with canada because hockey is their only national identity.
I want to see the day return when a bunch of no names play Olympic hockey. If the Olympics lasted for a thousand years nothing will ever top Lake Placid. That's no accident. The American team were Americans. Their identity was America. They trained their whole lives for those two weeks. They weren't rich spoiled NHL players taking two weeks off looking for another notch in their belt.
