More talk of the NHL Folding?

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I was watching ESPN again a few minutes ago and they were discussing the possibility (again) that after this season there may be no NHL. If that doesn't happen then there is another possibility that some teams will be folded to make 20 to 22 teams. I haven't followed this story at all since I don't really have an interest in Hockey so does this story hold any weight?

[removed 0]

I don't see the NHL folding, but I do see some teams folding. Alot of people are worried about the Oilers since their lease in the NHL is up next year and they have to renew it. If this happens, I would be the angriest man ever. I'm kind of worried for the Oilers, but I think they can pull through. They always do. There is also talks of a strike next year like in baseball. I don't know where that is going though.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I don't see the NHL folding, but I do see some teams folding. Alot of people are worried about the Oilers since their lease in the NHL is up next year and they have to renew it. If this happens, I would be the angriest man ever. I'm kind of worried for the Oilers, but I think they can pull through. They always do. There is also talks of a strike next year like in baseball. I don't know where that is going though.

The show I was watching had one of the all time leading scorers (I think he was third all time) on and he was saying that a lock out may happen before this season is over and they were saying that if that happens then they (The NHL) may never come back from that lock out. The way they were talking it seemed like it was just a matter of time and it would happen sooner or later.

[Jack_Bauer 1]

I agree with Bysty. I really don't think the NHL will fold but they have some problems which need to be worked out.

 

First, they have to get rid of Gary Bettman, first class idiot. He is trying so desperately trying to make hockey American and it ain't going to happen. Personally, I'd love to see Wayne Gretzky or even Mario Lemieux as commissioner but I don't think it will happen.

 

As for teams folding, the NHL could stand to lose some teams. The talent is too thinly spread. Of course, its not teams like Edmonton that should go, it should be American teams in cities where fans just don't care.

 

Major League Baseball has greater problems but also has a larger fan base than the NHL. However, even if the NHL does go, hockey will never die. At least in the heart of this Canadian.

[removed 0]

I agree with Bysty. I really don't think the NHL will fold but they have some problems which need to be worked out.

 

First, they have to get rid of Gary Bettman, first class idiot. He is trying so desperately trying to make hockey American and it ain't going to happen. Personally, I'd love to see Wayne Gretzky or even Mario Lemieux as commissioner but I don't think it will happen.

 

As for teams folding, the NHL could stand to lose some teams. The talent is too thinly spread. Of course, its not teams like Edmonton that should go, it should be American teams in cities where fans just don't care.

 

Major League Baseball has greater problems but also has a larger fan base than the NHL. However, even if the NHL does go, hockey will never die. At least in the heart of this Canadian.

Even if the NHL does fold, I'm sure there will be a CHL or some sort set up for Candian Hockey League like the CFL. That does well. And if any teams do fold, I agree, it should be teams like Anaheim (minus last year's play-offs) and Phoenix and those sort of teams, where the fans just don't care. We have a huge fan-base here in Edmonton, we just don't have the money some American teams do, like New York Rangers. Our fans are die-hard, we just cannot afford the big expensive players. And if we have one, they had better work hard, or they are gone.

 

Take Mike Comrie for example. He'd played with Edmonton for a few years, and he was even born here. But he wanted a raise, and Kevin Lowe, the Oilers' General Manager didn't think he deserved it. He had a mediocre season last year, at best. However, Mike Comrie just wouldn't sign. A trade deal opened with Anaheim which Comrie wanted to take. Yet, Lowe did not like this deal. We were not getting enough for the trade. So Kevin Lowe told Mike Comrie, that if he wanted to be traded that badly, he would have to pay the Oilers 2.5 million dollars, or just wait until a better trade arrives. Needless to say, Comrie waited. Many people praise Lowe for his ingenuity. Finally, after getting a good enough deal we traded him to Philedelphia.

 

The smaller teams are very devoted and love hockey for what it is: hockey. We just cannot afford to dish out the cash, and that hurts our teams.

 

(Wow. How in heck did I get on that topic? Lol. I don't even know WHAT point I was trying to get across. Lol. Oh well. What's done is done.)

[VaBeachGuy 12]

One thing they seemed to be hinting was that the owners may want the "NHL" to fold so they (the owners) can form a new league, one that they can control and add in a salary cap and other things that the players don't seem to want.

 

Personally, since I don't particularly like Hockey it doesn't matter to me either way. It would just mean more space in the Sports page for articles about Football and it would mean more air time for Football highlights. But for the NHL fans I would be disappointed to see the league fold.

[removed 0]

A league with salary caps and better regulations would be nice, but I don't think they need a new league. Just fix up the NHL. If the NHL folds, they will be throwing over 100 years of Stanley Cup history down the drain.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

A league with salary caps and better regulations would be nice, but I don't think they need a new league. Just fix up the NHL. If the NHL folds, they will be throwing over 100 years of Stanley Cup history down the drain.

From listening to them talk that history may not be salvageable. They didn't sound too optimistic about the future of the league.

[Jack_Bauer 1]

No offesne, but why does it always seem like VaBeachGuy is starting the NHL folding topics?

 

Frankly, the NHL is in trouble and it needs things like Salary caps and luxury taxes. Of course, the owners were proposing a cap of $31 million which only six (non competitive teams i believe) could afford. I'd think $55-60 million would be ideal since it is still possible to compete with that much.

 

The thing I don't get is why the owners don't want to lose money. Its less they have to pay in taxes. Unless, it is their only source of income but I'm not sure how many owners that applies too.

 

The biggest problem is teams in locations where fans just don't care.

Here's attendance figures for this year so far:

RNK TEAM G TOTAL AVG PCT

1 Toronto 13 251,238 19,326 102.7

2 Minnesota 17 314,648 18,508 102.5

3 Vancouver 16 298,117 18,632 101.1

4 Detroit 15 300,990 20,066 100.1

5 Colorado 17 306,119 18,007 100.0

6 Dallas 16 293,280 18,330 98.9

7 NY Rangers 16 287,929 17,995 98.9

8 Philadelphia 17 325,851 19,167 98.2

9 Edmonton 16 264,403 16,525 98.1

10 Los Angeles 16 280,269 17,516 96.7

11 St. Louis 15 269,246 17,949 94.4

12 Columbus 17 291,086 17,122 94.4

13 Montreal 18 357,339 19,852 93.3

14 Ottawa 18 310,398 17,244 93.2

15 Calgary 17 263,028 15,472 90.2

16 San Jose 15 230,549 15,369 87.8

17 Phoenix 13 182,470 14,036 86.6

18 Tampa Bay 15 247,649 16,509 83.6

19 Anaheim 15 214,837 14,322 83.4

20 Buffalo 14 208,753 14,910 79.8

21 Washington 12 178,743 14,895 79.8

22 Boston 14 195,234 13,945 79.4

23 New Jersey 16 230,987 14,436 75.8

24 Atlanta 19 264,694 13,931 75.1

25 Florida 17 245,192 14,423 74.9

26 NY Islanders 17 206,225 12,130 74.4

27 Nashville 16 192,136 12,008 70.2

28 Pittsburgh 14 164,951 11,782 69.5

29 Chicago 13 179,243 13,787 67.3

30 Carolina 15 174,452 11,630 62.1

 

Some of these numbers are just pathetic when you consider that New Jersey is the defending champion and Chicago is an original six team. At lot of the bottom ten are teams came into the league in the last ten years:Altlanta, Florida, Nashville, and Carolina for sure. But others are older teams like Buffalo, Washington, Boston, New Jersey (and they're the defending champs), New York Islanders, Pittsburgh and Chicago (an original six team). The bottom half of the league does not achieve 90% attendance. I can't find any statistics for other leagues but does this happen?

[removed 0]

it does seem that nobody has interest in the newest expansion teams. The owners set them up for money, and now they seem to just fester. If the NHL does downsize, they should downsize based on fan participation, not team strength. Players can be traded.

 

And ya VBG, you have something against the NHL??? Lol. JK.

[edmcgon 0]

I agree with VBG. It takes up too much air time on Sportscenter!

[removed 0]

No way. The NFL takes up too much time. I want to know about hockey, and along comes football..... lol

[VaBeachGuy 12]

And ya VBG, you have something against the NHL??? Lol. JK.

No I have nothing against the NHL unless it makes me miss a Football game for some reason. It's true that I don't like Hockey but I don't really dislike it either.

 

The reason I've posted on this (twice) is because I don't follow hockey at all. On those 2 occasions that I did post it was because of reports on ESPN that mentioned that the NHL will or may fold soon. Since I don't follow the NHL at all I wanted to get the opinion of fans of the NHL and what their take on it is. So don't misunderstand, I'm in no way "rooting" for the NHL to fold. Just the opposite in fact, I'd hate to see it happen. I think it would be a bad thing for professional sports in general for one of it's leagues to go under.

 

I also agree that some cities that have hockey teams probably shouldn't, there's a bit of a hockey following here but not enough to support an NHL team. We can barely support the team we do have, the Norfolk admirals. In fact I think there was talk of their league folding (The ECHL).

[removed 0]

Oh no worries VBG, I was just kidding.

 

But, yes, it would be really bad to have one of the professional sports to fold. I might even endanger a few other pro sports.