When I was kid growing up in Canada I spent alot of time shooting a dirty green half chewed tennis ball into a hockey net in my driveway. I can't tell you how many times I won the Stanley Cup for my imaginary team or how many times I broke my own goal record.
I used to try to freeze the driveway come winter much to the dismay of the grownups who had to park a car in my arena.
When a heavy snow came I would spend all my energy shoveling until I had no energy left, but I always found a second wind to play for hours afterwords.
At night I used to pretend I couldn't sleep when my dad was watching hockey late at night and lie facing a mirror on his bed in which I could catch the game.
These are fond memories I have of the game.
But then something changed.
I became a fan of the NFL.
As a Canadian I should still be in love with the game right?
Today's Must Reads
Well after watching what I could digest of the NHL playoffs this year I've come up with a few conclusions about the NHL and my lack of interest.
First off the NHL season is way to long at 82 games and only gets interesting in the last 20 games or so.
Second off the commentating hasn't changed since the last ice age and is just downright annoying "Holy Mackana Darcy Tucker" whatever that is.
Thirdly there are not many character coaches or players left. Only a few old schoolers kicking around.
What happened to the bench clearing brawls or the devastating hits that set the tone for two teams for years to come.
Most likely the team to raise the Stanley Cup this year will be the Detroit Red Wings a team which has shown it is willing to show outbursts of the talent it has then bore fans to death with a keepaway game.
On the other hand, the NFL is on once a week at the end of the week except for Monday Nighters and the odd Thursday and Saturdays.
The commentating is laden with ex-players and coaches with character and knowledge.
Although there can't be bench clearing brawls, every player on the field is taking some sort of punishment.
The rivalries in the NFL are legendary and as fresh as an open wound.
Bottom line is I can't stand watching a bunch of guys have a faceoff at center ice then pass dump go get it pass dump oh here is a chance it whistles wide all the way to the other side of the rink go get it pass dump off to the bench for a breather all night long.
The only way to for me to enjoy the NHL anymore is to either gamble on the game or go get some beers EH?
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3 months ago
I can see where you are coming from. The NHL is not as "epic" as it used to be. I remember watching the Canadiens and Leafs battle it out in the early 90s. But these days, it is too commercialized and to be honest, sometimes boring. Hockey is a winter sport, not a summer sport. So why the heck are we playing well into June?
The NHL needs a change in leadership. Bettman needs to get the boot sometime soon or this league will be at the bottom of the pile well under the NBA, NFL, MLB, and every other major pro sports league.
from 3 months ago
Im with Matt, seems the NHL has shook up everything to gain fans but lose a dead weight in Bettman. Oh well, what do i know? Im not executive...only a fan. Nice Article.
3 months ago
True that. I really enjoy hockey, but the seasons are WAYYYYYYY too long. The Stanley Cup will be won in June, and then in Septembers it's back to training camp. Honestly, I think that a 62 game season would suffice.
Also, I think that the playoff structure needs to change. Best of 7 series through to the end is also too too much. I say you go with a format that scales up. First round is a best of 3, the next two rounds are best of 5, and the final is best of 7.
from 3 months ago
I agree a 62 game season would be better but I still think the playoffs should be left they way they are.
3 months ago
I disagree that the rivalries are "better" in the NFL as there aren't really many true, brutal rivalries left in american sports outside of college athletics.
The season is a little long. Maybe 70 games would be better, but I don't really have a problem with the 82 game format.
The playoffs need to stay AS IS. The Stanley Cup playoffs are the greatest time of year and the only part of the game that does not need to even be looked at.
As for the NFL having more "characters", it's more like those characters are over-paid whiners who would rather publicly battle teammates and staff than just do what they're paid to do. I'd much rather watch Sid, Alex the GR8, Phaneuf, Geno, etc than Manning, Palmer, TO, Chad or whomever.
The hitters? They're still there, but with the lack of attention on the NHL, you'd never know. Phaneuf, Brian Campbell, Kyle McClaren, Rob Blake, Jack Johnson, Nicklas Kronwall--they can all lay down that exciting, bone-crunching hit. But the only way you'd know is to be a die-hard or to follow that team.
And yes, Bettman is dead weight. He has been for a long time and very obviously needs to go.
The game honestly is better than ever. Tweaks need to be made, as with every sport, but the talent level and excitement hasn't been this great since the early '90s. Bettman needs to go and the NHL needs to swallow it's pride and take whatever national tv exposure it can get, then market the hell out of it's young stars.
Things will be brighter for this league as long as the smart moves are made and we don't see another brutal decision made like the lockout that made no sense for either side.
from 3 months ago
I agree the playoffs should stay as is as for the NFL players mentioned above I can't stand any of them other than Palmer.
from 3 months ago
Game 3 now that was a good game more like what I like to watch there is still hope.
3 months ago
Wait. If the NHL supposedly lacks rivalries, how would shortening the season to 62 games create more? Complaining about how long the NHL season is like complaining about the gas prices after the oil embargo in the seventies. It's just far too old. From 1949-first expansion, the NHL had 70 games a season. Then 74, 76, then 80, and now 82. I mean, the season length hasn't changed significantly since the early seventies. So what evidence—aside from the anecdotal—is there that suggests that this is really a problem for the NHL? Whenever you were a tike playing floor hockey, was the season length significantly shorter?
The NFL and the NBA play during the winter, so why can't the NHL play during the Summer (It never actually does, by the way.)? This argument is also getting old. The current weather has little to do with when any given sport is played, because most of them are played indoors anyway.
And why are you taking something out on the Detroit Red Wings? Because, last I checked, out-skating and out-battling an opponent was considered good for the game. Why not blame the Penguins? They are the ones who haven't played the game as well. I just don't see why the Red Wings are part of the reason you don't love hockey anymore. Maybe you just don't possess the requisite Canadian spirit.
from 3 months ago
I have to disagree when you say why not blame the penguins the pens are just about the only reason I've watched hockey this year. I don't think the NHL has a problem with talent or marketing there is just something I can't quite put my finger on yet. As for the 82 game season unless your a die hard hockey fan I just think it's overload (just my opinion). Detroit deserves to win the cup no doubt about it I didn't realize how loaded this team was. I don't think I lack Canadian spirit maybe my lack of interest is due to living so close to a team I hate so much the Toronto Maple Leafs.
3 months ago
The biggest issue, aside from the TV deal, is that not every fan base gets to see a certain player. Every team needs to play each other once so that the wetern conference can see the Crosby-Malkin show, Ovechkin, etc.
3 months ago
Hi Ivan
(good talking to a fellow Canuck)
You totally captured my sentiments growing up in Montreal back in the 70's/80's
My dad was a Habs fan, and I was fortunate enough to watch anywhere between 5-10 games a year at the Old Forum....Lafleur,Robinson,Gainey, Dryden....etc To many to list...classic rivalries between Philly, Boston, and of course the hated Nordiques.
It was great hockey...great memories...and being a Bruins fan in Montreal....many tears.
So, why do "we" have those "great" memories:
10 Reasons for Change Today
1. No helmuts.....Guy's hair blowing in the wind.....you got to personalize the players
2. Fights....why do we call them great rivalries??? because blood was shed....hockey needs an outlet...it's brals
3. Yes..too many games....62 games, and end the season in April.
4. Too many power plays....the new rules suck ( Pierre McGuire can kiss my a$$ )....it stops the flow of the game....the new rules have made the NHL a speciality sport.
5. " Well...the new rules protect the "elite" players. "....bring back Semenko and Schultz...that protects the elite players.
6. Rivalries????? Sorry, my friends to the South....Tampa/Florida/Carolina/Arizona/California (maybe LA)...have no business being in the NHL....Solution: 62 game skd+Increase games with rivals=RIVALRY
7. Bettman is business....not hockey.....Bobby Orr for Commish...knows the business as a player rep...and he knows the players...above all, he knows HOCKEY.
8. With some southern US teams gone...bring back the Jets,Nordiques...a perhaps a team in Hamilton and Halifax...
9. Want to create excitment...duplicate everything the NFL does on the marketing side...but above all, have a true revenue sharing.....turn the Jets or Nordiques into the next Packers.
10. Larger ice surface.....don't care about the arenas today...sacrifice the play of the game for seats....that way your "elite players" can play...while your Semenko's and Schultz's need to be players and not just goons.
that's it.....
Tony
from 3 months ago
6. Rivalries????? Sorry, my friends to the South....Tampa/Florida/Carolina/Arizona/California (maybe LA)...have no business being in the NHL....
Um...ok maybe you dont follow hockey or something, but Tampa Bay won the Cup in 03-04, Carolina won it in 05-06 and Anaheim won it in 06-07 and before all of that Dallas won it in 1999. Id say the south can play hockey just fine thank you very much! As far as LA...Los Angeles has great hockey heritage thanks to Wayne Gretzky.
So next time before offending southern hockey fans, why don't you do your homework.
from 3 months ago
I have to agree with Ken I don't have a problem with hockey south of the border but I wouldn't shed any tears if it left Flordia or Pheonix.
from 3 months ago
By the way Pierre McGuire can kiss my @$$ as well
3 months ago
Good article and I agree on some level.
Regardless if people think this is a racist comment, the game has changed drastically since the influx of European talent.
The game has gotten much faster because of it making slower, tougher players like Bob Probert, Tony Twist and Rick Tocchet obsolete.
That's not the fault of the NHL as the skill on the ice has never been better. But it took a lot of the fighting out of the game and lets face it, people love violence.
But it has become quite commercial and rivalries have been killed with the realignment of divisions and conferences.
The biggest thing going for the NFL is that it translates so well on TV. I've been to games live and I can say unequivocally that I'd much rather watch at home than in the stadium.
A stat was produced that showed there is, on average, only 6.5 minutes of action in a football game. Think about that. Only 6-and-a-half minutes of actual, on the field action. The rest is taken up with timeouts and preparations between snaps. That bodes very well for TV audiences as that dead-air time is filled with an insane amount of stats, replays and talking heads screaming through your speakers desperately trying to convey football intelligence.
And if you don't want to sit through that, you can use that time for bathroom breaks, refreshing your drinks or wiping your hands from the abundance of food you're no-doubt consuming.
If the NHL can find a way to translate the game on TV as well as it does live, I have no doubt that it would be far more popular in the States than it is now. How to do that is anyone's guess. HD only broadcasts would help, but there still needs to be something done.
Perhaps allowing more fisticuffs to occur, as well as tapering goalie gear so that boring defensive systems weren't so effective.
I have a feeling if every player was forced to wear gear from 1975, the game would look drastically different.
But that's another topic for another day.
3 months ago
nice article...while i love a good old "holy mackinaw!" i do agree that the season could be pared down by 15 or 20 games...the playoffs is where the real action is, after all...because the most beautiful, and most difficult to win, trophy in pro sports is the magnificent Stanley Cup
3 months ago
nice article!
could not agree more on the lenght of a season. 82 games, and after 82 games, some are screwed and some are not!
I cant believe they are actually thinking about extending the season ... one day we will have a full year of hockey!
I stick with Hockey for my favorite sport though. but for sure, growing up with brothers made me a touchdown-dance-addicted for some time now! hehe!
still, I guess it will all come down to the way Bettman will manage it. sometimes they get caught in some wierd decisions ... there are a lot of things to be changed.
from 3 months ago
there is talk of extending the season how many more games?
from 3 months ago
something like going from 82 to 84 or something like that.
it is not the two games more that bother me, it is the fact of actually extending it. it is just ridiculous!
from 3 months ago
The more they extend the season the more teams are going to be allowed in. If you fold some teams then the schedule will go down.
3 months ago
Ken,
First thing....lived in Montreal for 25 years...season tkt holder with my dad at the Old Forum...witnessed 6 Stanley Cups first hand.....I'm Canadian as well....SO I KNOW THE FROZEN GAME.
Secondly...this report comes directly from the NHL offices:
"The NHL document revealed yesterday details how the Canadian franchises were accounting for 31 per cent of the league's $1.1-billion (all currency U.S.) in ticket revenue. The Toronto Maple Leafs were the top contributors this season with almost $78-million in regular-season ticket sales.
Asked to comment on the NHL document, Kelly responded by e-mail: "To the extent that a current NHL market in the United States is not able to properly support an NHL franchise, relocating a team to a Canadian city certainly needs to be strongly considered."
The report also reveals that 11 of the 24 U.S.-based franchises recorded no gain in ticket revenue or lost ticket income. The Phoenix Coyotes (once the Winnipeg Jets) were last in ticket revenue with just $450,000. They are reported to be losing more than $30-million a season."
Please look at this link on 2007-08 NHL Attendance figures: ( i'll give you Tampa, but the rest can all either relocate to Canada or say goodbye)
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance?year=2008
Bettman is a failure in every sense.....
3 months ago
One last thing Ken on your comment:
( "Id say the south can play hockey just fine thank you very much!" )
Did I ever say that Carolina, Anaheim or Dallas can't play hockey???? Never!!!!
Their teams can play ( well, because the majority of their players are Canadian )....no, my argument is that the Bettman experiment has failed in those "markets". Fan base is not their...and never will be.
You can place an NHL team in Peoria or Lubbuck...and they will succeed on the ice, but not in the hearts of the fans.
So, bring them to Hamilton, Winnipeg, Quebec City, and Halifax....where the fans will open their hearts and wallets.
about 1 month ago
Hey there Ivahn...how the hell are ya?
Listen I have a magazine coming out in toronto, oddly called T.O. Sports Magazine - tosports.ca
we could use another good writer, please get in touch with me at
thecaptain@tosports.ca
The Best,
The Captain
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