Report: ESPN severs ties with NHL

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: Tylanner
OUCHIES!!

Dayyyym, wtf is going on? I guess ESPN is just doing the smart thing business wise..

Is hockey dead?I love to watch hockey and all my friends think I'm crazy...

:thumbsdown:

 

[ponyo]

Now we just need the same for basketball and maybe baseball. Football can stay.

 

[gotsmack]

why don't the owners just fire all the players and get new ones? I'm sure there are plenty of people good at hockey who would love to play for $65K a year.

 

[Mojoed]

I used to care. I no longer do, at all.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Originally posted by: gotsmack
why don't the owners just fire all the players and get new ones? I'm sure there are plenty of people good at hockey who would love to play for $65K a year.

This is what we all say at the place I play hockey at. They can pay me 65k a year and pay my medical bills and i'd be all over it like stink on poop.

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

except no one wants to come see you play hockey.

 

[Kenazo]

As long as the CBC will carry the games when it comes back, I'll be happy.

That being said, maybe all those stupid southern US hockey teams will move to where we actually would appreciate them (like Winnipeg)

 

[rh71]

All the real hockey fans order NHL Center Ice anyway. It comes down to $1.80 per game to watch your favorite team... and you have all the other games to watch if you want every night also.

I can't wait till next season... or however long it takes. I'm optimistic. Anyone who thinks there will never be hockey again is not thinking straight. This is still a major sport. Anyone who says it will come back worse than it was needs their head checked.

 

[brian_riendeau]

This is still a major sport. Anyone who says it will come back worse than it was needs their head checked.

The game might come back better, but very few people will actually care about it.

 

[sonz70]

meh, I was a die hard leaf fan, than started watching CHL this season, sooo much better, tickets I can buy and don't have to save up for, you can actually talk to the players after the game, and its alot more hardcore to watch, the players are actually trying quite a bit more in the CHL than I ever saw in the NHL

 

[Miramonti]

Looks like that salary cap that the players will soon cave into will be even lower now than what the owners were willing to offer previously. Bonehead move to dismiss a salary cap.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Kenazo
As long as the CBC will carry the games when it comes back, I'll be happy.

That being said, maybe all those stupid southern US hockey teams will move to where we actually would appreciate them (like Winnipeg)

true.

 

[jelkukipik]

U know what...as a hockey and NHL fan...I DONT GIVE A SH*T!

Screw the NHL seriously.There is much better hockey to watch anyway

 

[scttgrd]

Can't blame ESPN, when hockey went on lockout they replaced it with poker and the ratings improved. Doesen't say much for the future of hockey.

 

[Anubis]

thats not good

 

[scttgrd]

The worst part is in the same timeslot on ABC womens professional bowling doubled the hockey ratings. Ouch.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: brian_riendeau

This is still a major sport. Anyone who says it will come back worse than it was needs their head checked.

The game might come back better, but very few people will actually care about it.

with revenue sharing, the game will be around for all the hardcore fans to watch and care about. Anyone borderline or who will lose interest was never a big fan anyway. You can't all of a sudden dislike hockey. It's just not one of those sports. If it's about specific players, then maybe there's a point...

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: fs5
... man that's gonna piss off like... 3 people.. :laugh:

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Man, that was awesome. PWNED!

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: fs5
... man that's gonna piss off like... 3 people.. :laugh:

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Man, that was awesome. PWNED!

ummm, no. read my 1st reply.

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: fs5
... man that's gonna piss off like... 3 people.. :laugh:

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Man, that was awesome. PWNED!

ummm, no. read my 1st reply.

And wtf does that have to do with ANYTHING that I posted?

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: fs5
... man that's gonna piss off like... 3 people.. :laugh:

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Man, that was awesome. PWNED!

ummm, no. read my 1st reply.

And wtf does that have to do with ANYTHING that I posted?

what did you mean by owned ? Then I can explain it to you.

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: aplefka

Originally posted by: fs5
... man that's gonna piss off like... 3 people.. :laugh:

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

Man, that was awesome. PWNED!

ummm, no. read my 1st reply.

And wtf does that have to do with ANYTHING that I posted?

what did you mean by owned ? Then I can explain it to you.

Just that the US has no respect for hockey anyway, and it's just like you said. Not like hockey was a huge part of ESPN's programming anyway. Here in the west we saw maybe 2 games a week.

 

[rh71]

^ I was under the impression fs5 was making fun of the unpopularity of hockey, and not the fact that nobody will care about ESPN severing ties. I wonder which it is...

 

[GeoffS]

Given the choice of watching a game on ESPN/ABC or CBC... it's a no-brainer... CBC has far better commentators and announcers. It is funny to listen to the ABC guys calling the wrong calls though... "He's got his hand up for a penalty... uhhhh... icing I mean...." Glad I live in VT where I can get CBC!

It's sad that ratings are so low in the US... US Hockey has come really far in these last couple of years and you have to think that the lack of popular support will hurt funding for development programs. But... since I'm Canadian, I guess that's a good thing!

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: fisher
people are tired of whiny athletes in general. it's not so much hatred as "shoot yourself in the foot stupid, we're all going to just laugh at you."

Nah, I think most people who hate it hated it before the lockout. I think hockey fans are more loyal than baseball "fans" who abandoned the sport after the strike... you have to actually LIKE the sport to be a fan when no one else is.

baseball certainly has/had a lot more casual fans than hockey. and it took baseball years to get most of them back. hockey didn't have as many casual fans as baseball, but then hockey didn't have as many fans to begin with.

most of the people who continued to stay away from baseball were not casual fans, but fans that felt baseball turned on them. montreal was in first place, best record in baseball, when the strike started. they never got montreal back. there are people who were rabid baseball fans that will never come back. those fans had the world series taken away from them, and will never forgive MLB for that. hockey will probably have a few like that. people will watch minor league hockey, and ask themselves what they ever needed the NHL for? thing is, baseball could afford to do it. can the NHL?