NHL Head Scratching Decisions

[tbone]

Although I'll take in an occasional Monsters game, I'm no hockey fan and am really impartial to anything happening in the NHL. However, two recent NHL-related stories had me scratching my head and wonder what's happening...


One, they re-upped with Versus. Yes, Versus is paying, but... it's Versus!

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/01/23/versus-nhl-in-bed-for-the-next-three-seasons/

Two, they're thinking of canceling the All Star Game?

http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/nhl-to-shutter-all-star-game-good-god-no-15675

[skatingtripods]

Well, they re-upped with Versus probably because of their loyalty and the fact that no one else wanted them.

As for the ASG, there is no ASG in 2010 because of the Olympics. They're abandoning the game so that they can use it to play scheduled games since the Olympics are a two-week break. My personal feelings, look for the 2011 game to be in Columbus, if they have one.

My other favorite is that the owners are voting on adding two games on to make it an 84-game schedule. Training camp starts in September, the Stanley Cup Finals end in mid-June, is two more games really necessary for these guys? Hockey is arguably the most demanding sport because of the schedule, the travel, and the sheer length of the season. Adding two games is stupid.

[buckeyehoppy]

Well, they re-upped with Versus probably because of their loyalty and the fact that no one else wanted them.

As for the ASG, there is no ASG in 2010 because of the Olympics. They're abandoning the game so that they can use it to play scheduled games since the Olympics are a two-week break. My personal feelings, look for the 2011 game to be in Columbus, if they have one.

My other favorite is that the owners are voting on adding two games on to make it an 84-game schedule. Training camp starts in September, the Stanley Cup Finals end in mid-June, is two more games really necessary for these guys? Hockey is arguably the most demanding sport because of the schedule, the travel, and the sheer length of the season. Adding two games is stupid.

An 84 game sked is an incredibly stupid idea in a season that is already too long. The regular season starts the Wednesday after the end of the regular season in baseball and stretches until the new baseball season is two weeks old. The playoffs are already two months long. Extending the sked is a horrible idea.

Columbus needs to get an ASG ASAP. The team and the city could use a boost and an ASG is a good way to get that. Hopefully, by the time the Jackets could expect to host one they'll have a team that is pretty consistently a playoff team. I could see both happening if the Jackets FO does enough of the right things in the next two or three years.

And I don't really have a problem with Versucks, but they need to get more proactive and get their station on more cable providers. Either that, or the NHL needs to offer the Versucks feed to Center Ice subscribers who don't have Versucks on their cable package. Or a third option would be to simulcast Versucks games on NHL Network to cross-pollinate both and expand the viewer profile of both.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

The season is waaaay too long now why add more games this is classic NHL owners thinking more games = more money. On a side note there has been much talk in the Columbus Dispatch about having an outside game at The Shoe in late December its gotten alot of fan interest and I think it would be great. Hell I would love to see the All-Star game outside at The Shoe. They got 70,000 fans in Buffalo for a game I wonder what they could get at The Shoe? The All-Star game in general would be a ecconomic boon for the city it would fill up alot of the serverly underused downtown hotels not to mention boost the struggling Arena District's revenue.

[tbone]

I understand the loyalty thing with Versus, it is just due to the fact NHL is there, it has become an afterthought to me.

Ah, didnt factor in the Olympics.

Didnt know the additional game thing, either.

Thanks for the insight!

[skatingtripods]

An 84 game sked is an incredibly stupid idea in a season that is already too long. The regular season starts the Wednesday after the end of the regular season in baseball and stretches until the new baseball season is two weeks old. The playoffs are already two months long. Extending the sked is a horrible idea.

If they're going to do that, I think they have to call games a tie at the end of regulation and deprive the fans of overtime. That's just so excessive. There'd be so many ties that they would realize that adding two games doesn't work. My only argument for adding two games is that it would either, a. add two more non-conference games so fans could see different teams, or b. add two more inter-divisional games at the end of the season to determine the playoff seeding.

Either way, it's a stupid idea and I'm not sure that the NHLPA would agree to it anyway. Another thing, I think it's for owners to get two more dates every other year to lessen the burden of the salary cap being consistently raised.

Columbus needs to get an ASG ASAP. The team and the city could use a boost and an ASG is a good way to get that. Hopefully, by the time the Jackets could expect to host one they'll have a team that is pretty consistently a playoff team. I could see both happening if the Jackets FO does enough of the right things in the next two or three years.

Reportedly, the problem has been not enough hotel rooms in the Arena District. Apparently hockey players are too good to stay in the Holiday Inn. They will get one. Nationwide is a beautiful building and the NHL Entry Draft did really well there. I was there, a lot of people left after Columbus's pick, as did my buddy and I, but that's because there was no trade activity as in years past.

On a side note there has been much talk in the Columbus Dispatch about having an outside game at The Shoe in late December its gotten alot of fan interest and I think it would be great. Hell I would love to see the All-Star game outside at The Shoe. They got 70,000 fans in Buffalo for a game I wonder what they could get at The Shoe?

I've heard rumblings about this too. What Columbus should really focus on, instead of this idea, is getting the World Junior Hockey Championships in 2011. IIHF has already given the tournament to the United States and they want it within driving proximity of Canada. Columbus is about a 6 hour drive from Niagara Falls. Buffalo sounds like the odds on favorite now, but, they really need two rinks to play the pool games. They could use the Buckeyes' ice arena at Value City Arena for some games as well.

A game at the Shoe, it's hard to say. Realistically, they could get 100,000+, but they would likely have to play Detroit.

[pup]

Gary Bettman

[buckeyehoppy]

Getting the World Juniors in conjunction with the ASG would be a great way for Columbus to boost the profile of hockey in the town.

Nationwide is an excellent facility and if the IIHF wants a town with more than one great facility Columbus would have a very good chance if they chased it down. Value City is also a fabulous venue for hockey and I would think that Columbus would have a distinct advantage over Buffalo with the addition of VCA.

As far as I can tell, Buffalo only has HSBC to offer, even though they have a greater advantage as a border town. If that's the case and HSBC is the only venue they have to offer, that might be a deal breaker for them if IIHF wants two arenas. For that matter, Cleveland would have better facilities than Buffalo if they install the equipment for hockey at Wolstein Center.

An outdoor game in Columbus will probably never happen simply because the weather is too unpredictable to sustain the integrity of the playing surface for an NHL game. If they could do it, great...I would say do a double header with the Blue Jackets and Dead Wings as the featured game with an Ohio State v. TSUN game as an opener. Undeniably, it would be a great event but I won't be holding my breath because of the weather bugaboo factor.