Hockey

[shadows]

Originally Posted by ila

shadows, what do you think of Gretzky's decision not to go to the Hall of Fame dinner. As I write this I haven't heard of any change yet. Some sports writers are saying it is a slap to Bettman and a rebuke to the NHL.

I think Bettman has to go. The NHL should also move the head office to either Toronto or Montreal. It's time we took back our game.

I think that Gretzky is showing what he thinks of Bettman, and deservedly so. Bettman only looks for ways to stroke his ego and makes decisions that will make him look like a genius(which fails more often than not as he always seems to fall flat on his face) no matter how little sense it really makes.

Bettman(and in turn, the NHL) screwed Gretzky royally over the whole Phoenix fiasco. Phoenix is NOT a hockey market, and having only 6000 fans show up for a game when the team is playing great is not a way to show everyone else around the US/Canada that it is a viable market. Bettman's "deal" does not give Gretzky one penny, and that smacks of getting "thrown under the bus" to me. Some can say "Oh, but Gretzky makes millions of dollars he shouldn't complain about money!", but they are totally wrong. How would they feel if a troll named Bettman said that a bid that would allow everyone to get their money was not going to be allowed and that only the ones that HE wanted would be accepted? They would be mighty pissed off, I would think. Hence, Gretzky's reaction. And good on him. I agree with him 100%.

I will say that I do not have a problem with hockey teams being in the US(as there are a lot of good teams with great fans...such as the Flyers and their fans), but I do have problems with teams being in a city with either a poor or non-existant fan base. If there is no market for a team in a city, then why not move it? Bettman had no problem moving Canadian teams to the US, so why does he have such a hard-on about moving a team back to Canada? We all know that Bettman is just biding his time and then will move the Coyotes to either Las Vegas or Kansas like he has always planned on doing(and mark my words, Jerry Reinsdorf will be the owner. Talk about shady dealings!). Bettman is a good example of "little man" syndrome. Ugh.

I hope I didn't forget to say anything.:D

[ila]

Originally Posted by shadows

I will say that I do not have a problem with hockey teams being in the US(as there are a lot of good teams with great fans...such as the Flyers and their fans), but I do have problems with teams being in a city with either a poor or non-existant fan base. If there is no market for a team in a city, then why not move it? Bettman had no problem moving Canadian teams to the US, so why does he have such a hard-on about moving a team back to Canada? We all know that Bettman is just biding his time and then will move the Coyotes to either Las Vegas or Kansas like he has always planned on doing(and mark my words, Jerry Reinsdorf will be the owner. Talk about shady dealings!). Bettman is a good example of "little man" syndrome. Ugh.

I don't have any problem with NHL teams being in the US. There are some very good and viable markets, especially in the northern states. When I said that we should take our game back I was only referring to moving the head office back to Canada. The NHL should be run out of Canada not out of NYC.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by ila

I don't have any problem with NHL teams being in the US. There are some very good and viable markets, especially in the northern states. When I said that we should take our game back I was only referring to moving the head office back to Canada. The NHL should be run out of Canada not out of NYC.

No worries, Ila. I didn't think that is what you had meant.

[shadows]

Ila, it looks like Wayne did show up to the ceremony after all. Although I would not have blamed him if he did not show up, I think it just shows how classy Wayne is. He showed up for his friends that were being elected into the HHOF and not for Bettman or the NHL.

[Hedonistman]

Gee,,, I was surprised by the neg comments on goons having no place in Hockey. I grew up in NYC and loved going w/ my Dad to the old Garden. I guess we were a rowdy bunch,, but I'll never forget how we'd heat up dimes, and toss them on the ice to mess w/ the refs (not during play). The original teams have decades of heritage,,,given time teams like our Avs will too. To me there'll always be a place for the Hanson bros types in the NHL.......
GO AVS,,,,,,yea

[shadows]

Originally Posted by Hedonistman

Gee,,, I was surprised by the neg comments on goons having no place in Hockey. I grew up in NYC and loved going w/ my Dad to the old Garden. I guess we were a rowdy bunch,, but I'll never forget how we'd heat up dimes, and toss them on the ice to mess w/ the refs (not during play). The original teams have decades of heritage,,,given time teams like our Avs will too. To me there'll always be a place for the Hanson bros types in the NHL.......
GO AVS,,,,,,yea

I guess I should elaborate. By goons, I don't mean the players that play a particular role(every team has one or two players of that type) but I mean the players that try to hurt other players deliberately and take them out of the game for good. That is not sportsmanship at all. I like watching hard hits and I like watching fighting, but I do not like people trying to cripple other players every time they are on the ice. Thankfully, players like that are rare otherwise the teams would be shorthanded all the time.

[ila]

Originally Posted by shadows

I guess I should elaborate. By goons, I don't mean the players that play a particular role(every team has one or two players of that type) but I mean the players that try to hurt other players deliberately and take them out of the game for good. That is not sportsmanship at all. I like watching hard hits and I like watching fighting, but I do not like people trying to cripple other players every time they are on the ice. Thankfully, players like that are rare otherwise the teams would be shorthanded all the time.

There is nothing wrong with a good clean body check. You're right that hard clean hits are part of the game. If done right a good clean hit will not injure another player, but it does have the potential to change the game in favour of the team doing the hitting.

I don't like to see fights and I don't like to see one player deliberately injuring another. I agree with criminial charges being pursued in cases of deliberate injury. However, one must take into account intention and method when deciding on criminal charges resulting from a hockey injury.

[ila]

Originally Posted by shadows

Ila, it looks like Wayne did show up to the ceremony after all. Although I would not have blamed him if he did not show up, I think it just shows how classy Wayne is. He showed up for his friends that were being elected into the HHOF and not for Bettman or the NHL.

Interesting discusssions at work today, shadows. It was generally agreed that Wayne Gretzky is just too classy to not show up for the HHOF induction ceremony. I think he showed true class in his interview when he told reporters that the game is bigger than one person (sorry had to paraphrase here). He was, of course, referring to himself.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by ila

Interesting discusssions at work today, shadows. It was generally agreed that Wayne Gretzky is just too classy to not show up for the HHOF induction ceremony. I think he showed true class in his interview when he told reporters that the game is bigger than one person (sorry had to paraphrase here). He was, of course, referring to himself.

I read quotes from that interview as well. I agree that he is the epitome of class, something a lot of players(not just in the NHL, but other sports as well) need to adopt. Look at him and someone like Allen Iverson for example. Two great players, but one that is a whiny, spoiled diva. AI is unhappy that he has been relegated to being a bench player for Memphis and now it sounds like he wants to retire because of it. Waaaaaaaah! You make millions of dollars so suck it up buttercup! I feel no sympathy to you at all. Perhaps if you would show up for practice then you might not have this problem.

"Practice? Practice? It's just practice, man! I don't need practice!"(almost an exact quote from AI from a year or two ago). And no wonder why people are disgusted by many athletes these days. Be a freaking role model, or at least be LESS of a jackass, especially to the fans. We DO pay your salary(for all intents and purposes) after all.

(Sorry for the mini-rant. LOL!)