Fixed hockey games and consistent unfair officiating for just plain money.
I love hockey too much and I don't get why anyone think banning fighting would be hard to swallow, this is a precisely hockey we are talking about not some UFC or WWE-lite performance. The main objective is to play the game with or without the puck, not if your team's SOB can kick another team's SOB's ass.
If the on ice officials continue to inhale, I will continue to lose
interest in the NHL.
Hard for me to believe the on ice officials are consistently as (inconsistent)
as they are
If they made it so that the puck was replaced with a live catfish, the nets were shrunk to 1/10th the size, forwards weren't allowed to shoot, players hotboxxed in the penalty box, the ice was replaced with gargantuan amounts of jell-o, a wild minotaur was released into the rink, and gestapo snipers were positioned at the suites and were given 3 bullets to shoot.
Maybe then I would consider stop watching hockey.
It may not be hockey, but I'm pretty sure that I'd tune in to catch some of that action.
I don't know if anything could but another lockout this summer would severely agitate me to the point where I could rationally stop spending money on tickets/merchandise.
I don't know if I could ever stop watching, though.
If I found out that league execs had been tampering with officiating and other such things to affect the outcome of certain games. I would completely lose my trust in the NHL and I'm not sure I would be able regain it. Even if the Board cleaned house, one could never be sure the same wouldn't happen again.
Shootouts in the post-season.
Any original six franchise relocates (I know, I'm weird).
Two minutes for body-checking.
A switch from 5-on-5 hockey as a regular feature.
Any truly controversial reveal from inside the league (game fixing, etc).
Removal of fighting from the game would make me think about it, but I probably wouldn't jump ship.
People didn't protest en masse when te rover was dropped would 4 on 4 really cause an exodus? Not saying I support it just looking at historic precedent
I was watching the games last night and thinking how great this time of the year is when you are a fan of the NHL.
The question is simple what, if anything, would make you quit or stop following the NHL altogether?
For me it is very simple. If shootouts EVER happen in the playoffs in any form, in any round, I would be done as a fan.
could be any number of things.Like being dead.Or finding out various things were rigged. Or only the Pens and Oilers are contenders year after year.Or zombie apocalypse.
Fixed hockey games and consistent unfair officiating for just plain money.
I love hockey too much and I don't get why anyone think banning fighting would be hard to swallow, this is a precisely hockey we are talking about not some UFC or WWE-lite performance. The main objective is to play the game with or without the puck, not if your team's SOB can kick another team's SOB's ass.
It's been in the sport forever and is liked by most fans and players.
Sure, you can play hockey without fighting. You can also play hockey without hitting.
Taking stuff like that out makes the game way less exciting.
If the Leafs don't make the playoffs by the year 2018 I'm done cheering for them and with that I'd most likely stop watching hockey. But for a permanent stop it would be shoot out hockey in Playoffs, terrible reffing, increased tv commercials, bigger nets, and etc.
I love hockey and the NHL too much to just simply quit on it no matter what happened.
I think comments like these and others are a bit overdone.
I go to Detroit usually at least once a year for just a hockey game. I've also traveled to Columbus and Nashville for just a hockey game. I don't know how many people are willing to do that especially when they don't have the economic luxury ( all road trips or by bus for me ).
I personally think the NHL is changing so much that I find myself at times confused. Finding myself "out of it".
So I don't think I'd ever quit following the NHL, but life circumstances make it harder and harder every year and when there are alternatives out there, it makes it that much harder.
The NFL has become first for me because they don't have lockouts ( 1 game missed in 87, the year I was born ).
So with regards to betting, fantasy and getting together with friends, the NFL is now #1 for me up until February.
I think what would drag me away more would be if the playoffs were substantially altered in some way. Already there's much left to be desired, the NBA seeding system is outright better, while the NHL's potential playoff expansion ( the best of 3 fifth round for 6th to 10th seeds ) is not at all something I'd enjoy.
I also don't like how composite sticks and giant goalies are here to stay.
For the record on playoff OT, I'd like to see a 2nd OT go 4 on 4 and a 3rd OT start 3 on 3.
