Detroit Red Wings & the NHL

[Mike]

The NHL hates prosperity.

[entropy]

mike.. sadly, that is how it appears

[madootra]

Or......Gary Bettman's idiocy, is only superceded by the average NHL Owner. It's so damn frustrating, especially when the League is a borderline major sport.....at best.

[Tony G]

I think it hit its highwater mark at the height of the Gretzky-Mario era. Since then it lacked the personalities that were true starpower.

BTW, Just my opinion but if the Oilers hadn't followed the Islanders dynasty, i.e. had the previous few years been random cup winners, Or Wayne been on another team, I doubt he gets quite the same spotlight.

[Hannibal]

The league enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence since the lockout, IMHO thanks to the massive influx of young superstars that the game had been sorely missing since -- Eric Lindros? In between Lindros and Crosby, it's a massive vacuum when it comes to star offensive power. Goaltenders, defensive forwards, and unflashy but dominant players like Nicklas Lidstrom dominated the game for about 10 years. And even Lindros was injured too often to have a lasting impact on the game. You can argue that Crosby was the best star to hit the league since Jagr. Crosby and Ovie did for the league what Bird and Magic did for the NBA. Then you had a great short-lived rivalry between Detroit and Pittsburgh, which couldn't have been scripted more favorably for the NHL if you tried. I don't know why, but this past year, the dead puck era returned with a vengeance.

[drok]

Really? You don't think the sheer number of goals, assists, 50 goals in 50 games, etc, etc, etc wouldn't have resulted in the spotlight?

[Optimus Prime]

NHL AND NHLPA BRAKE OFF TALKS; BETTMAN SAYS ITS A STEP BACK
3:57pm, ET TSN

The National Hockey League and the NHLPA have broken off talks for the day following over an hour of closed door discussions.

The NHLPA presented and discussed three different offers to the league in hopes of bridging the gap.

Bettman said following the meeting that none of the offers "even began to approach 50-50" and said he's concerned that it's a step back.

"This is the best offer that we have to make," said Bettman. "The fact is, we're nowhere close to what we proposed."

The meeting, which began 90 minutes later than originally scheduled, was the Players' Association's response to the league's latest collective bargaining proposal.

Both sides met for several hours through the early afternoon on Tuesday, with a significant proposal from the league on the table contingent on an 82-game season beginning Nov. 2.

Today's meeting in Toronto had NHL owners Jeremy Jacobs (Boston), Craig Leipold (Minnesota), Murrya Edwards (Calgary) and Ted Leonsis (Washington) joining the league's braintrust. 18 players represented the PA, including Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Jarome Iginla.

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr spent Wednesday examining the document with staff and the league has indicated that if a deal is worked out after next week, there could only be an abbreviated season.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has offered the players a plan which would includes a 50-50 split in all hockey related revenues and no salary rollback.

Other highlights of the offer - as released by the NHL on Wednesday - included:

- an official salary cap of $59.9 million for the 2012-13 season, with the provision that teams can actually spend up to $70.2 million for one year to ease the transition.

- a new rule that would allow teams to retain a portion of a player's salary in trades.

- the reduction of entry-level contracts to two years.

- a term limit on any contract beyond that set at five years and a stipulation that the average annual value can only vary up to five per cent. This is a mechanism designed to eliminate the long-term, back-diving deals that became popular during the previous CBA.

- the elimination of re-entry waivers.

- an annual revenue-sharing pool of $200 million, half of which is raised from the 10 richest teams, and the creation of a committee to determine how the money is distributed. The NHLPA would be given representation on the committee.

- the introduction of a "neutral" third-party arbitrator to handle appeals on supplemental discipline with a "clearly erroneous" standard of review.

[Tony G]

Really? You don't think the sheer number of goals, assists, 50 goals in 50 games, etc, etc, etc wouldn't have resulted in the spotlight?

Not the same spotlight. Not at all. Being in the middle of the Oilers machine fueled his celebrity and his production. He had one of the best teams to play the game offensively.

[entropy]

any further word on the talks..?

[WM Wolverine]

Lots of teams lose money during the regular season so lots of owners have little incentive to cave in to the players. I figure they'll start playing in January and play a shortened season.

[Hannibal]

Not a terrible idea, since most of America isn't paying attention until after football ends.

[Tony G]

and still isn't after that.

[Tom W]

As damaging as the last lockout was, this one could, and probably should, be fatal. As a half-season-ticket holder for the Wings, I would just like to see the NHL disband and see a new, regional league take it's place. Keep the orignal six and fill in with rest of the league with displaced NHL players in markets that, albeit smaller, actually care about hockey.

[Tony G]

Detroit, Toronto, Hamilton, Montreal, Quebec City, Buffalo, NYC, Boston, Winnipeg, Minnesota, Chicago, Hartford, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton

That's 16 teams.

Add Philly, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Cleveland(or Milwaukee or Duluth?) to get to 20

[lineygoblue]

Agree the NHL needs to be contracted. Way too many teams, and in too many warm weather sites.

Tony's suggestion looks good to me. Absolutely no more than 20 teams.

Start the season in mid-October, and play the Stanley Cup finals the first 2 weeks of April.

Hockey finals in June sucks.