The NHL season should be well underway, but instead there's a lockout. I hate to say it, but I actually side with management (AKA "The Man") on this one. The NHL players need to understand that they aren't the big three, NFL, MLB, NBA with their billion dollar plus television contracts. A salary cap is needed and they may even need to drop a few teams. So probably no season this year and scabs next year.

No hockey for me this year, my NFL team is a .500 team at best, and my MLB team is a perenial loser. Sports suck!

Unfortunately I'm a big hockey fan. This has been coming for years and the ONLY solution is contraction. Tampa,Nashville, Columbus, San Jose, Florida, Carolina,
Anaheim, And unfortunately Washington are examples of 8 towns that cannot or will not support hockey.

The Fan base just isn't there. In all of these cities you have 5-10K fans that are die hards and will buy season seats no matter how bad the team is. Add 5K walkups if the team is good that year and maybe 1K if they stink. thats between 11K-15K seats sold. problem is thats not even selling out. Tampa won the cup last year and I'd bet they didn't have 15 sell outs last year during the regular season.

They need to get rid of the money pit teams, have an expansion draft which would make hockey better just talent wise and then have a luxury tax just like baseball. Make them spend a minimum of 25MIL in salaries for each team and anything over 35MIL have a 50 cent on the dollar tax. So if your at 35 MIL and sign Jagr for 10MIL you are actually paying him 10MIL and the league 5MIL in tax.

That would stop the ridiculous salaries. You will always have a team like the Rangers that buys everyone they can but look at them. THEY SUCK! Haven't been good in at least 5 years and annually have the highest payroll. Looks like if I want to watch hockey I'll need a satellite dish and pray I can find the Swedish Elite League

GIVE BLOOD PLAY HOCKEY

Yes. I am missing the hockey season. Especially watching the Caps games on TV and even playing fantasy hockey. The season will probably be cancelled this weekend.

I miss hockey very much. Although this time of year NBA and NCAA basketball get all of my attention, playoff hockey is one of the most exciting sports to watch. Now to find your favorite NHL player, you must search in one of 19 different European leagues to find for whom they are playing.

The 2005-06 season will be cancelled and maybe something can be worked out before fall 2006 rolls around. I'm crossing my fingers.

To be honest I didn't even know there was a lockout. I can't get into hockey on TV, maybe because I can't see the puck. I watched part of a game a few years ago when they were experimenting with the laser and it was worse. It reminded me of some of the things I experimented with in the 60s.

I went to a Caps game many years ago and it was exciting but my most enjoyable hockey experience was going to a Hershey Bears home match. The arena was very nice, the fans were very knowledgable and weren't obnoxious, the team was competitive, it was very family oriented, and the cost wasn't outrageous.

I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you want to bring kids.

It is kinda hard to follow the puck on television. Sports, specifically hockey and football, was the reason a sprung for the high-definition channels with the cable company. It's like watching it at the arena.

The NHL owners will never back away from demanding a salary cap. This is all in the players hands. It's up to them to decide whether to play in the NHL again. I'm not saying I side with the owners, but I think they hold all the cards.

We were just at a Hershey Bears game last weekend. We make it our annual pilgrimage. This time we took a friend along for our daughter, and they both ended up on the "tron" twice! We did the upper level family four pack for $60. It includes four tix, four popcorns, four hot dogs, and four drinks. Normal upper level prices are $14.50, so it's a good deal if you have 3 or four people. The lower level deal is $90. The team lost 1-6 to a Rangers affiliate, but it was fun.

I actually liked the blue dot on the puck on TV. I can't find it otherwise. We don't get into hockey that much, though.

Well, the season is offficially over. The NHL Player's Association is in shambles after declaring they would never agree to a salary cap, then gave in, only to have the owners turn them down on the numbers. I guess the owners were serious.

It's been a strange winter without the hockey highlights on the sports reports. And I usually try to make it to one or two Caps games a season.

I definitely miss hockey but I have to side with the owners on this one. The league is a second tier league in the US always has been and now its sunk even lower. The salaries are so out of whack its ridiculous. By the players caving to the salary cap i think they are now at the complete mercy of the owners. The owners now know that the union is ready to fall and they will take advantage of the players unions weakness. Goodenow should be fired tomorrow and the players should seriously think about taking whatever the owners will offer at this point.

The drama may not be over yet. The owners and players are meeting again this weekend in NY to try to save the seaon. Just what I wanted...some half @ss 15 game season with playoffs serving no purpose but to make money.

Link

I think it's funny that mos people in America probably didn't know a strike was going on until they reported it on the news. Hockey is only more popular than soccer, which ain't saying much.

Although no one brings it up for some reason, the main reason this thing began was because the NHL was dropped by all network television outlets, advertising laxed, and no network or cable outlet offered worthwhile television coverage. No profit could be made from television and it left the whole league in shambles.

All in all, I believe that the demise of the hockey season was a fault of no one party. I'm still hoping some agreement can be reached by next October.

I think it's a well recognized fact by the league and the players. Why do you think the owners drew the line demanding a salary cap? If you aren't making enough money to pay the players, you have to get the salaries under control.

As for decent coverage, ESPN's is outstanding. The other networks that have tried (Fox, ABC) weren't so good. They tried gimmicky things like that "laser" puck that turned off old fans and failed to bring in any new ones. Hockey just isn't mainstream enough to make the big bucks on tv and the players are going to have to deal with it.

Look for the NBA to go down the same road next time their collective bargaining agreement is up.

ESPN coverage is better than excellent for the NHL. Not many, if any (maybe Dick Vitale) announcers compare to the intensity and enthusiasm of an NHL hockey match covered by Darren Pang.

I pray that the NBA doesn't go this route as well. I LOVE the NBA.

I've never heard of this kind of offer before. Some Wall Street buyout company has offered the NHL 3.5 billion for the entire league. That's so crazy it just might work. I doubt some of the owners would go for it.

Linky here.

ESPN declined to pick up their NHL broadcasting contract. How sad. Their NHL coverage is some of best I've seen in sports.

Link.

The lockout is over!

Link.

Game on! If these idiots had any sense they would start the season now!
before everyone forgets the game completely

Now who gets 1st pick in the draft? Wouldn't it be sweet if they gave it to the Caps again? Crosby would look good here

Not so fast

Ugh.

Forsberg to flyers
Gonchar to Penguins
Peca and Pronger to Oilers

Lotsa big names on the move. Should be a great seson!

It's going to be fun trying to keep track of who is on what team !!!

And who decided to not return, and who's new to the league, etc.

Is there a schedule out yet? (yes, I'm too lazy to look right now)

I am Sooooo running a fantasy hockey league this year!!!

Roenick should be good in L.A.

Roenick should take a long walk off of a short pier. His outburst towards the fans at a press conferences last month was ridiculous.

I agree it was ridiculous. I lived in L.A. for a few years and what I meant is that he will fit right in out there. Plenty of self important people just like him.

Amen, Yeoman!

Off topic.....Where'd you live in LA? We were in Mar Vista, wedged between Venice, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, and Culver City. Worked in West LA at Westside Pavillion. Lot's of self-absorbed folks there!

Between the NHL's return and the imminent start to the NFL and college football seasons, I'm completely geeked and can't remember ever wanting summer to be over as badly as this year.

I started out in the Valley in Woodland Hills, then moved to Marina Del Rey for awhile. I spent most of my time there living in Ventura which I thought was an awesome place !!!