*** special video selection for the excellent commenter called “Spiffy53 ***

Also to clarify, the only reason I brought up the arenas being paid for by the public is that there is no reason a new league with new owners wouldn’t have a place to play.

Also to clarify, I know this will never happen and we are stuck with Bettman and his NHL and can look forward to these lockouts at the end of every CBA because why would they actually start talking a year before the CBA ends and not wait until the last possible minute? Hockey finally had some momentum and now it’s gone. If core fans are angry, what do you think the casual fans think? That’s right, they aren’t thinking about it at all because they will just lose interest all together. Sad.

Why not ? Do you think that the farmer would say “no” if his flock of sheep offered to grow even more wool for him ? … of course not !

For the purpose of simplicity, this illustration is calculated on the “ceteris paribus” assumption of all other things being equal. Obviously there are additional considerations such as asset appreciation/depreciation, taxation considerations, etc. Nonetheless, the attainment of “net” profit and a “return” on shareholder’s equity are still the primary goals for the majority of franchises. As for “opening their books” ?… keeping dreaming pal. Having salaries determined by a percentage factor of HRR was a “brilliant” move on the part of Bettman in the last go round ! Do you honestly think that the owners are going to be forthcoming with absolutely every penny of the money they earn from Hockey Related Revenue ? .. never in a million years !

I don’t know if multiple teams in California and Florida isn’t a bad thing. I think both Florida teams can survive. Tampa was just sold and the owners are making it work. They have talent in which people might come out and see. As for Florida, before this year, they hadn’t made the playoffs since the Wild’s first season. Just like the Twins and Timberwolves, and recently the Wild, when you don’t start winning, fans won’t show up. Florida drew great towards the end of the season and playoffs tickets were hard to come by. I was down there for Game 7 against the Devils and couldn’t get any.

I agree Quebec should get a hockey team, I’m not really sold on Hamilton. Other than that, I don’t know of many more Canadian cities that should get a team.

As for being a Wild fan, this new realignment was the best thing to ever happen to us. There is no reason the Wild should travel over 2 time zones to play the majority of their road division games. Not even that, the Wild don’t play a team in their division in their time zone. Dallas is the same way. No way should Winnipeg still be playing in the Southeast with Florida, Tampa, Carolina, and Washington. This new realignment is also great for playoffs where each of the top 4 teams in each division makes the playoffs. Seeing Chicago, Detroit, Winnipeg, Nashville, St. Louis, and Columbus in our division makes those games during the regular season more important and when you play them in the playoffs, it builds rivalries. Then seeing them again the next season will only make tempers flare more. Just look at what we had with Vancouver (granted that started with a sucker punch the season before we made the playoffs) for about 3 years you know how bad you hated them and you knew those games were gonna be nasty.
The last CBA players got 57% of league revenues, just like what the NFL and NBA had at the time. Both of them re-did their CBA’s in the past year and both went down to 50/50. There is no reason why players in hockey should take a larger chunk of the pie than those 2 sports. It’s gonna be a 50/50 split in this new CBA, which is why the players are locked out. Until Fehr comes down on his demands, and with his past history in MLB, there is no reason to think he will. Don’t forget, he’s the one that shot down the new realignment, the league had approved that for this year.

P.S. I blame Minnesota a little more than any other team owners for this mess. That team should be scrapped and sold off for parts.

I know it is. I’m just beyond frustrated that the Wild finally have a chance of putting a decent team on the ice and then the lockout happens. I love hockey and hate to see what a joke the league has become under Bettman. Multiple teams in Florida and California? A hockey team in Arizona and no expansion in Canada? The ridiculous divisional alignments? No real tv deal? Bettman is destroying the game I love and that is without even factoring in the three lockouts under his watch which I give him some benefit of the doubt as to blame. Hockey is more of a regional sport than the other leagues and Bettman has grossly miscalculated this fact as evidenced by his expansion plans and lack of vision. He should be fired not for the lockouts, but for the gross mismanagement of a great league. So frustrating.

This is not the time to have the fabled “meetings to schedule meetings.” Schedule it. Don’t talk about scheduling it.

Friggin’ Keystone Cops here.

Right now our NHL is a “tier 2 level” sport which “likes” to think of itself as being part of the “Big 4″. Well no sillier statement could ever be made as far as I’m concerned ! If these clowns don’t get this fixed by the US Thanksgiving holiday weekend (ie: which by the way I predict they will), then you’ll see our beloved NHL dropping in popularity “Stateside” below even Lingerie Football or The Hunting Channel ! How our glorious LA Kings can only attract 50 K TV viewers for a televised road game in a state of 40 million people, is simply beyond me ?

GO BETTMAN !!!

GO OVECHKIN !!!!!

GO LOCKOUT !!!!!!!!!!!

A) NHL revenue @ 3.3 billion with 3.7 billion in costs = 400 million loss

B) Lemonade Stand revenue @ 100 dollars with 10 dollars in costs = 90 dollars profit

According to basic economics, the bottom line is that scenario “B” is superior to scenario “A” …

BTW here is a suggestion: A sliding scale on a 5 year agreement where the players get 54% the first year 53% the 2nd year 51% the 3rd year etc. Or something like that.

Oh wait nobody is listening to the fans anyway even if they have an idea on how to end this mess. How stupid of me.