Hockey lockout is over: Sides will have to ratify new CBA

[Renew Deal]

NEW YORK -- The NHL and the players' association reached an agreement in principle Wednesday on a six-year labor deal, ending a lockout that wiped out last season.

The sides met for 24 hours starting Tuesday afternoon to hammer out the collective bargaining agreement that will return the NHL to the ice on time in the fall. In February, commissioner Gary Bettman canceled the season, making the NHL the first North American sports league to lose a year because of a labor dispute.

"It's a new day," Philadelphia Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock told The Associated Press. "It's pretty exciting."

Both sides still need to ratify the deal, a pact that is expected to contain a salary cap -- something players' association executive director Bob Goodenow never wanted. That process is expected to be completed next week, the league and the union said in a joint news release.
<snip>

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2106776

[meegbear]

1. Hockey? What's that?

[Richardo]

2. Yay. I guess.

:boring:

[getmeouttahere]

3. Hooray...

I'm glad they are back...I'm a Canadian at heart anyway, so I'm not as ho-hum about it as many of my fellow Americans...maybe this lack of interest will bring a return to traditional hockey markets like Quebec, Hartford & Winnipeg...they get crappy attendance in Atlanta, Carolina & Nashville anyway

[Renew Deal]

4. Hopefully they cut a few teams

But they won't. I'm glad it's back. The whole league will be rearranged.

[Bassic]

5. Lets hope so

Vive les Nordiques!

[ElaineinIN]

6. Brass Bonanza forever..!

RIP my beloved Whale! There shouldn't be hockey where ice can't naturally occur in large quanities... LOL

[KamaAina]

13. Why did they play the Whalers Victory March between periods?

Because if they'd waited until we actually scored a goal, everyone would've forgotten the tune! :-)

[ElaineinIN]

25. lol... isn't that the truth

esp. with no Gordie Howe on the ice. Love'em anyway....

[MGKrebs]

10. I don't think Atlanta had crappy attendance.

Not Boston numbers, but better than Winnipeg I would think.

I feel bad for the new owners. It took over a year to get the purchase of the team finalized, then the lockout.

[getmeouttahere]

26. No, they print the attendance numbers each week...

in the Hockey News, and Atlanta was consistently 10,000 or less most of the season in '03-'04. But the larger point is that the team is still relatively new, and if the honeymoon is already over....

[MGKrebs]

38. 2003-2004 = ave. 15,121

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance?year=2004

That ranks #21 in a 30 team league, but 15,000 in a relatively small market ain't bad. Especially considering the star player didn't play. It is, in fact, a better attendance average than Boston, New Jersey, Washington, NY Islanders, and Chicago.

[getmeouttahere]

44. Gotta wonder where ESPN gets those numbers...

I'm afraid I'm going to do some more digging...maybe I'll even contact the league, not just for Atlanta but the whole league. I saw similiar week to week figures for Nashville and Atlanta that were consistently well below that figure. Nashville's numbers only improved when it was obvious they were going to make the playoffs for the first time. I'll give you this...Atlanta even coming close to Boston or Chicago's numbers doesn't say a lot for those cities.

[MGKrebs]

39. Perhaps you are remembering the Atlanta Flames.

But even their attendance was ok. The real estate developer owner had to sell because he needed cash for his struggling business.

[youspeakmylanguage]

42. Hockey moved down south because the "traditional markets" weren't...

...profitable enough. It's a sad fact of life in free market economies.

The same thing is happening down here with NASCAR, a sport I thoroughly hate. The smaller market races are being canceled and new ones are spreading all over to larger markets.

[canadianbeaver]

7. go canucks go!!!!!....n/t

[wellst0nev0ter]

8. There Was A Lockout?

I guess me and the rest of the country were too distracted by football and basketball. Oh well, good for them, I guess.

[Drifter]

9. Beat me to it ....

Something I didn't miss this year was the Hockey season.

Cheers
Drifter

[noonwitch]

11. Yay!!!!!

I missed hockey this year. B-ball just isn't as much fun to watch. Maybe I should go back to my Red Wings avatar?

[meganmonkey]

18. Go Wings!

:D

[fujiyama]

59. Woo Hoo!

I like basketball and love the Pistons, but it's not quite hockey. The one thing I can't stand about b-ball are the number of fouls and other calls. It pauses too much. It's not continuous enough for me.

Oh and fights. You gotta have the fights ;) though I'll say the Pacers and Pistons put on quite a show!

Go Red Wings!

[Moose_head]

12. There was a lockout?

who knew...?

[PunkPop]

14. Hockey rocks!

The game itself is faster and more exciting than almost all other pro sports. The skill set required of every single player combines endurance, speed, mental quickness, and just plain toughness. The action is constant - only one timeout per team per game. There is no other strategically acceptable way to stop the game on purpose.

If you like sports but don't care for hockey, I submit that you haven't given it a chance and have dismissed it out of unfamiliarity with the game itself. Just my opinion of course.

That said, they still make too much damn money for playing a game!

[no_to_war_economy]

16. L'hockey maintenant et à jamais

[Drifter]

37. Arguing that one sport is better than another ...

is like arguing what the best color is.

It is an opinion, and attributes that one finds appealing, another may despise.

Cheers
Drifter

[PunkPop]

50. Purple rocks!

Mom always said I was the argumentative type. Guess I just can't help it.

[Orion The Hunter]

15. RE: Yawwwnnnn....

Sorry but these guys are all a bunch of chumps. The Players should have just accepted the initial deal from the Owners since it was better and would have actually had the players playing earlier (and earning their salaries instead of the nothing most of them got). And for owners, well those league and tv revenues just got a whole lot smaller...

[ticapnews]

22. Many of them got paid...

they went to Russia and made millions of petrodollars to play hockey for oil barons.

[mmonk]

17. About time!

I was starting to get over my hockey withdrawals.

[Rambis]

19. Quit watching after my North Stars left MN

Never went back and won't now- If the Vikings move then I am done with pro football.

[noonwitch]

27. I understand why you'd feel that way-I'm sure hockey fans in Winnepeg, etc

feel the same way. Winnepeg, Quebec and Hartford lost their teams, too. I'm sure the new team just isn't the same as the North Stars.

[Rambis]

41. That is the deal

If you grew up watching hockey and playing hockey and the team you loved folds my tent goes with it. No way I am a Dallas Freakin Stars fan no way! There is to much wrong with hockey to fix it. I can't watch it on TV (haven't seen HD or plasma I hear it makes it a lot better) and enjoy it. There should not be teams in places like Florida, Dallas and Arizona it just aint right.

[mconvente]

47. I got a question

Why do some fans "never go back" after their team leaves. Sounds like you guys are still bitter about your team leaving. It wasn't the team's fault - it probably was the jerkoff owner's fault. If you loved hockey, it makes no sense that you won't watch now. And your team in Minnesota is pretty good so it would be fun watching it. Oh well.

I don't really like hockey at all (I'll just watch during the playoffs and such). Translation to TV really sucks for hockey - you gotta be there for it to work.

[Rambis]

58. I can't switch

I hated the blackhawks and the redwings it is a flaw with me I guess. Also I liked to watch people that could skate the enforcer mentality of the game = fighting isn't for me. I tried minor legue hockey where I live now and it was like all star wrestling with Mad dog Vashon. The kids thought they had to fight to draw fans. I left after the first period disgusted with the players and the fans.

[northzax]

20. SWEET! I've missed field hockey!

er, roller hockey?

tonsil hockey?

air hockey?

[daleo]

21. I guess I should care, living in Edmonton.

It will take a while, between the fact that it is summer and the general annoyance about the whole thing. Plus, the Oilers haven't made it past the first round for nearly a decade.

[canadianbeaver]

23. it could happen.....keep your hopes up.....

NOT.....sorry had too....Canucks Rock.....

I personally can't wait....I love my Hockey....

[getmeouttahere]

29. But you've got such a great hockey environment there!

I went to a game in Edmonton a few years ago, and what I noticed right away was the way some of the fans stand behind the last row of seats, just like the parents do in junior hockey. That was so cool. It was like small-town hockey in the big city. And it was a pre-season game to boot!

[daleo]

32. Edmonton is a great hockey town

Now that the price of oil is $60 per barrel, the fortunes of the local team may go up a few notches as well. So, I suppose I will start watching again. Winters are a bit cool and dark, so hockey definitely has a role.

[Kool Kitty]

24. Let's go PENS!!!!

I missed hockey. ;(

[Baclava]

36. Lets sign some playmakers!

Salary cap of $21-$39 million...and the Pens only have $10 million committed right now...

The Pens will be a cup contender this year.

They have the most cap room out of any team in the NHL!!!

Feels good to say this again:

LETS GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[getmeouttahere]

46. This is exactly what you want to see....

every time feeling like they have a chance.

I will say this...if free agency were the cure for what ails an NHL team, the Rangers would be the reigning 4-time Cup Winners! So be careful what you wish for!

[Baclava]

56. They could bring back Kovalev and Straka...

...that would be good enough for me...for a start.

[PittPoliSci]

40. Go PENS!!!!!

I love the penguins!!

[JNelson6563]

28. Go Wings!!!

[iverglas]

30. shit

And just when CBC had been showing some decent movies on Saturday night. Of course, these days it's football anyhow. Isn't football supposed to be a fall kinda thing?

English Premier League (soccer) returns to my Saturday morning TV screen in a few weeks. Fortunately, that can be mildly interesting, since I don't actually get any say in the matter. ;)

If it were only hockey clogging up the air time on Saturday night, I wouldn't mind hugely. But it's hockey in the newspaper, hockey on the radio, hockey in municipal politics, hockey in the local business news, hockey all over the damned place -- and nothing to do with actually hockey half the time anyhow. People who like hockey so much should just go play it, sez I. Uncanadianly.

[getmeouttahere]

33. Wanna trade citizenship with me?

I discovered Canada BECAUSE of hockey. Now I don't need a reason to want to visit your country. There's almost no hockey coverage down here, and I live in a city with two NHL teams. Wanna trade citizenship???

[iverglas]

34. shall we enter negotiations?

You're gonna have to throw a little more into that pot, I'm afraid.

Hey, I'll even be altruistic. Bring Bush with you, thereby relieving your fellow USAmericans of him, and effectively dooming him to a life of being despised and ridiculed (a bonus) -- and improving the situation for me when I take your place of course (not that that's what I'm thinking of!) -- and we might be talking.

And hey, you get my weather. The humidex was supposed to be setting an all-time record today. ... Oh, huh. It was supposed to be feeling something like 44C, but it's only 30C / feels like 36C right now (86F / feels like 97F -- remember, you gotta do Celsius). And the humidity is only 46% -- as I recall, it was **70%** yesterday. And the barometer is falling, and that makes my neck hurt ... and then I gripe some more ...

[getmeouttahere]

43. So you don't live in Vancouver then....

if this could be done, I would be gone faster than you can say Alexei Kovalev!

[iverglas]

49. who? ;) ... n/t

[Scout1071]

31. If a puck fell on the ice and no one was there to hear it, does it

make a sound?

[iverglas]

35. haha!

I wish someone would make them find out. ;)

[Renew Deal]

48. I'll be there.

It's going to be a fun season. The teams will be almost completely different. The season should be pretty wild (no pun intended).

[Gelliebeans]

45. YESSSSSSSSSSS

woo hoo

[Norwood]

51. WOOO HOOO!

Go Avalanche!!!

By the way I love that photo of Bobby Orr after he scored that goal in the finals

[Robbie Michaels]

52. It Only Took 301 Days....

but I'm a happy boy today.

GO KINGS GO!

[neverforget]

53. Yeah my father in law can go back to work!

[UDenver20]

54. Finally... GO WINGS!

[noonwitch]

57. Salary caps will change the Wings line-up/Salary caps are communistic!

Thin about it-if Mike Illitch has the most money and wants to recruit the best team, he should be free to pay them whatever he wants. There are too many teams as it is, and too many mediocre players who should be in the IHL.

Really, isn't it the capitalistic way for the guy with the most money to be able to buy what he wants, as long as it's legal?

I do agree with the smaller goalie equipment, but not shoot-outs to end ties.

[Tweed]

55. They only lost 4th major sport status

Look for soccer or NASCAR to move in and take that spot.