The NHL Discussion Thread

[Philrad71]

^^ I agree...the experiment to push hockey on fans in some of the Southern US cities has pretty much been a joke (unless their team wins the Cup, of course). It seems like a majority (not all, mind you) of hockey fans in the south are one's that have relocated from somewhere in the northern US or Canada.

 

It would be nice to bring back the Nordiques & Whalers and relocate some of the struggling southern teams to places like Hamilton, ON, Portland ME, Duluth, MN, Fargo or Grand Forks, ND...places where a lot of NHL hockey players are born and raised & have a big time hockey fan base.

 

Only problem with that is that the cities I mentioned above (similar to Buffalo) are not flashy, big money corporate cities so fans there won't pay the outlandish prices the NHL clubs now charge for tickets.

 

I sincerely have to wonder how long the pro teams can hang on in the smaller cities (with the exception of Green Bay). The escalating ticket prices and over-paying of the players, coaches, etc, is really killing the blue collar families that want to go watch/support their team.

 

As much as I love the Bills (despite their shitty 13 year playoff drought), I can't justify paying the money to drive 80 miles each way and spending close to $200 just to see overpaid players underwhelm me with a randomly wild work ethic. I'll DVR it on TV (if they sell out), save my money & then bitch about it later when they lose.

 

If the Bills do end up being relocated to LA (seems like the media rumor pops up every time we are officially eliminated from playoff contention) I'm not really going to be surprised or lose any sleep over it. Only problem is that I don't think that LA would even want a losing franchise like Buffalo or Jacksonville at this point!

[Jew]

Modern NHL arenas are not cheap. You need to have a city that will not just have the fans, but have enough fans/businesses to purchase suites and premium seating, be able to sell the sponsorships, and be able to attract other shows/teams to fill the building the rest of the year. Seattle has the best shot IMO.

Edited September 25, 2013 by Jew

[Philrad71]

^ I agree, Seattle could definitely work and I certainly couldn't rule out Portland either.

 

I will say that after having to travel to Fargo and Grand Forks for business, these cities were showing that they wanted corporate type business. I was quite surprised at how many new buildings were being built and when I mentioned that to one of my customers, they said that (at the time) North Dakota was offering a lot of good tax incentives for businesses to set up camp in their state. While they might not be NHL ready cities (as of yet), I wonder what could happen in another ten years or so if theses cities keep attracting new businesses & expanding.

 

I noticed that the college hockey arena looked VERY nice in Grand Forks where University of North Dakota play. While it only seats around 12,000, it looks quite impressive and is listed as "An arena with an NHL feel to it." Some pretty good players coming out of there too: Toews, Parise, Oshie & Stafford.

 

I was very impressed when I told an older female associate from Pembina (80 miles north of Grand Forks) that I liked the Sabres & she immediately came back with, "Oooh, that's where Drew Stafford plays...do you like him?"

 

They obviously know and love their hockey in North Dakota!

[Movieguy]

I'm all for Seattle getting an NHL team. Imagine if the Whalers were reborn there. Seattle Whalers has a nice ring to it too, I think.

[TyRush]

I think Quebec will be getting the Florida Panthers in a few years. Even though the team is still leased in Florida for a bit more years I feel they will somehow manage to get out of there. With the new sale of them almost complete I believe, Quebec has the new arena going up now and it's an amazing hockey town. With Winnipeg's success thus far why not add Quebec back in?!

 

And even if Florida doesn't move there, they should add the expansion team to Quebec before Seattle. Just my thoughts

[Movieguy]

The NHL is the only league I can think of where teams have actually moved from the South to the North. Not only the Thrashers to Winnepeg, but another Atlanta team, the Flames, going to Calgary.

[imawesome1124]

Well, idiot McPhee's at it again. Traded away a great up-and-coming player for a no-name and a low draft pick. Perreault was one of the hardest working guys on the team, and we get nothing in return. I hate GMGM so much, as do most Caps fans, and almost every fan can agree that he needs to go before the entire franchise crashes and burns.

[TyRush]

Yeah I don't understand that one. I always loved watching him on the Bears since went to tons of games when he was down there. Great working guy, and he is a great guy off the ice too. Really does boggle me what the guy is doing, id take Perreault over Erat any day.

 

Clearly this was a cap issue move. Cause what we got in return was nothing compared to the player.

[Athletekim]

I have no idea why Lou would put Urbom on Waivers when he has a lot of potential! It was a great steal for the Caps though to pick him up!

 

I definitely see the Capitals' defense improving a lot starting this year and continuing for the next few seasons. You still have Kundratek and Orlov down at Hershey who will be back playing in the NHL soon. How was Oleksy doing during the Preseason? He was my favorite defender while on the Bears last season.

 

It's funny how I am a diehard Devils' Fan and then my favorite AHL team is the Hershey Bears!

[Jew]

^The lower cap will definitely have the waiver wire full of players that can help teams immediately.

[imawesome1124]

 

I definitely see the Capitals' defense improving a lot starting this year and continuing for the next few seasons. You still have Kundratek and Orlov down at Hershey who will be back playing in the NHL soon. How was Oleksy doing during the Preseason? He was my favorite defender while on the Bears last season.

Our defense needs to improve and it needs to happen fast. Holtby could have been much better the first two games but the Caps D can't keep hanging him out to dry. Too many turnovers and sloppy plays in our own zone, and then just standing around letting the other team make plays.

 

About last night specifically: WOW what a comeback! I didn't watch the shootout because I was tired, but it was a very exciting game. It was awesome to see Carrick get his first NHL goal, and it was a beauty. Perfect poetic justice too because he just came out of the box when he shouldn't have been in anyway. Ovi and Grabo are looking tremendous so far, and with Hillen hurt we'll probably be seeing Urbom starting next game. He seems like a great prospect and he's exactly what the Caps are missing on D.

 

Edit: HAHA! Crosby got his 666th point against the Devils, that's awesome.

[Sir Clinksalot]

Not a bad first game for the Kings. Got the Shootout win. Didn't play great but good to see Drew and Carter get some goals in.

 

It's obvious that the knee brace is something that Brownie doesn't care for but he's going to have to get used to it I think. At least for awhile.

[imawesome1124]

The Caps 5 on 5 play has been absolutely dreadful the first three games. I know it's the beginning of the season but we can't keep relying on the power play, even though we're running at 50% through 3 games. We don't play again until Thursday, so hopefully Oates will work on 5 on 5 and Calle will help the defense.

[beatle11]

64 million well spent. That's his 7th in 4 games.

 

[imawesome1124]

Semyon Varlamov has been arrested on multiple domestic violence charges.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/avalanche-goalie-semyon-varlamov-arrested-domestic-violence-charges-011640734--nhl.html

[Top Thrill Dragster]

 

 

 

Wow! Just when you thought the Flyers couldn't get any worse.

 

 

 

 

Emery is going to get at least 10 games for what he did. Really unacceptable.

 

 

 

 

Somewhere in Manhattan Beach, Richards and Carter are laughing their asses off.

[imawesome1124]

^Not only should that piece of $h!t get at least ten games, St. Laurent should be fired as well for doing nothing to break that up. Holtby didn't even have his gloves off and he was on the ice with Emery wailing on the back of his head. Once a player goes down that's supposed to be it and it's supposed to be broken up. If I was on the bench I would have gladly accepted a ten game suspension to protect my goalie from being assaulted on the ice. And did you hear what Emery said after the game? "He said he didn't want to fight, so I said 'Protect yourself then.' He didn't have a choice." What a thug.

[Jew]

^^Carter is now laughing from the IR. Luckily Toffoli and Vey are solid prospects to kind of fill the void.

[bbomser]

And Emery wasn't even suspended, as there is nothing in the NHL rule-book about one player not wanting to fight, and the other initiating it. That'll definitely change at the end of the semester.

[beatle11]

Phil The Thril!!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXyyNbDOe3o

[coasterfreak101]

I think with the Emery/Holtby fight (if you can even call it that, more of a beat-down), my problem was that he was hitting repeatedly in the back of the head and neck - that's somewhere you can't hit even in sports like MMA because of the risk of damaging the spinal cord and such, and I was more disappointed in the refs for not getting him off sooner.

[Sir Clinksalot]

^^Carter is now laughing from the IR. Luckily Toffoli and Vey are solid prospects to kind of fill the void.

 

They've been fun to watch. Was at Vey's first game the other night against the Sabres.

 

In other news, the Casucks probably don't want to come back to SoCal anytime soon.

[Philrad71]

Anyone that is a fan of an NHL team can feel pretty safe that if they pay to go see their team play against the Buffalo Sabres this year that they will walk away a happy customer at the end of the evening.

 

What a complete pile of dung this team has become. Granted they have a ton of teenagers playing on their team, but there is no excuse for the sloppy work ethic, dirty play and overall laziness that has become commonplace with this team during the last year. I think it's totally unacceptable that management accepts this "rebuilding" as a perfectly good excuse to play half-assed, uninspired hockey.

 

I can't stomach this team this year...and I've sat through some pretty miserable Bills and Sabres seasons in my day. Amazes me even more that people are paying to watch this nonsense at First Niagara Center over and over again! If they could send management a message by not going to the games, maybe Pegula might have the balls to step in and kick a little ass around the locker room!

[prozach626]

Going to Coyotes @ Blues tonight. Coyotes are my #2 team, but Let's Go Blues!

 

Work is going to be rough tomorrow.

[Jew]

Anyone that is a fan of an NHL team can feel pretty safe that if they pay to go see their team play against the Buffalo Sabres this year that they will walk away a happy customer at the end of the evening.

 

Not tonight. And Quick went down.