NHL Off-Topic thread

[gopher_guy]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

Hard to award a WC to a team at level the Leafs are at. Even if it will be their 100th year.

[redsox4evur]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

It's nice jersey,which is easier to come up with when you're not in as many winter classics as certain other teams. Harder to be creative,when you're playing these games basically every year(like Bruins).

Didn't feel like either team should've been in winter classic this year though. Next years winter classic should be Leafs-Habs(for Leafs 100th year in 2017). Which is why Habs shouldn't have been in it this year, and Bruins get it way too much. It's becoming like NBA on Christmas where we'll see Lakers and Knicks all the time,even if they aren't good,cause an annual event is nothing more than money/ratings grab.

What are you talking about? The Bruins have only played in 1 Winter Classic (5 years ago) and NO Stadium Series games. Also agree with Gopher, you don't give the WC to someone just because it's their 100th year in the league. Montreal didn't get in 2009 when it was their 100th year and they were 1000X better than the Leafs were. And Montreal has never played in a Stadium Series game or a Winter Classic. And this is easily one of, if not the biggest rivalries in hockey.

The teams that get it way too much are the Penguins, Capitals, Blackhawks, Flyers, Red Wings, and Kings. They have all played the most Winter Classic games (2). And all of the teams I have mentioned besides the Flyers have played in a Stadium games as well. The Rangers played 2 Stadium Series games in 2014. The Kings and Blackhawks (technically 2nd scheduled for this season) played in 2 Stadium Series games as well.

So do some information before you research this stuff.

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

So do some information before you research this stuff.

For some reason,I always thought Bruins had been in more.

Hard to award a WC to a team at level the Leafs are at. Even if it will be their 100th year.

Not really. These games are about making money. Why not have it in a 40,000 seat stadium in the city which brings in the most money for the NHL?

Habs didn't get an outdoor game, but they got ASG and Draft for their 100th year(which are 2 other things Leafs are trying to get). Though don't know where exactly outdoor game would've been in Montreal,which might have been the issue? CFL stadium holds just 25,000. Their MLS stadium holds just over 20,000. And Olympic Stadium I think there's issues having it open during winter?

The game in Toronto obviously will be bringing in lots of money from sponsors, not to mention ticket sales, merchandise sales among many other things. Doesn't matter if Leafs are worst in league, or in the playoffs, they'll be bringing in money like crazy. Game would be held at BMO Field which will seat over 40,000 people.

[gopher_guy]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

For some reason,I always thought Bruins had been in more.



Not really. These games are about making money. Why not have it in a 40,000 seat stadium in the city which brings in the most money for the NHL?

Habs didn't get an outdoor game, but they got ASG and Draft for their 100th year(which are 2 other things Leafs are trying to get). Though don't know where exactly outdoor game would've been in Montreal,which might have been the issue? CFL stadium holds just 25,000. Their MLS stadium holds just over 20,000. And Olympic Stadium I think there's issues having it open during winter?

The game in Toronto obviously will be bringing in lots of money from sponsors, not to mention ticket sales, merchandise sales among many other things. Doesn't matter if Leafs are worst in league, or in the playoffs, they'll be bringing in money like crazy. Game would be held at BMO Field which will seat over 40,000 people.

They're about making money, but they're also about ratings. Toronto will always bring in tons of money, WC or not.

The NHL is a primarily American league; so will a really bad Canadian team draw big ratings in America? Probably not really.

If you're the NHL, and you know that you have that constant stream of money coming out of Toronto, might as well put the WC elsewhere to bring in big money from another market, all the while probably getting better ratings in America.

/speculation

[TheMatrix31]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

I hardly even watch the Winter Classic games. Nobody on Pacific Time will wake up at 10am to watch a hockey game on January 1 after being awake until God-knows-when the night before.

[redsox4evur]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

OHL team walks out after ownership fires whole staff.

http://nesn.com/2015/11/report-ohl-teams-players-walk-out-after-owner-fired-coaching-staff/

[Money99]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

OHL team walks out after ownership fires whole staff.

http://nesn.com/2015/11/report-ohl-t...oaching-staff/

Read that this morning. Crazy stuff.
Sounds like the owner fired the coaches for not playing his son enough.
Talk about being awkward for that kid.

It'll be interesting to see what transpires from this.

[l3ulvl]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

lol Flint </url>

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

It's gonna suck the day Coach's Corner on HNIC is no more. Don Cherry just allowed to go out there(unfortunately,at a much reduced time,which is pathetic by Rogers), and speak his mind on stuff, sometimes not even hockey related. Doesn't matter how many people share his opinion,he'll just go out and say it.

Given how strict and uptight companies are about what people say and do, especially on TV, it's refreshing to just hear him go out and say anything, regardless of how crazy it might be(like just throwing out accusations randomly at people/teams).

Nobody obviously can ever replace Don Cherry, but would be nice to have someone else like that, who just goes out and speaks their mind,regardless of how un "politically correct" they sound,and still be so respected for(and despite) what they say,and has credentials to back their words up.

Read that this morning. Crazy stuff.
Sounds like the owner fired the coaches for not playing his son enough.
Talk about being awkward for that kid.

It'll be interesting to see what transpires from this.

They hired the staff back to 3 year deals lol.

[Money99]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

It's gonna suck the day Coach's Corner on HNIC is no more. Don Cherry just allowed to go out there(unfortunately,at a much reduced time,which is pathetic by Rogers), and speak his mind on stuff, sometimes not even hockey related. Doesn't matter how many people share his opinion,he'll just go out and say it.

Given how strict and uptight companies are about what people say and do, especially on TV, it's refreshing to just hear him go out and say anything, regardless of how crazy it might be(like just throwing out accusations randomly at people/teams).

Nobody obviously can ever replace Don Cherry, but would be nice to have someone else like that, who just goes out and speaks their mind,regardless of how un "politically correct" they sound,and still be so respected for(and despite) what they say,and has credentials to back their words up.

Yeah, nobody can replace Grapes.
There are so many times I disagree with his opinion on certain topics, but I'm always entertained by what he says and try not to miss CC on Saturday nights.

I'm not sure there's a personality out there right now that can replace him.
Loud mouths like Mike Milbury, Jeremy Roenick, etc... seem to be loud just for the sake of being loud and obnoxious.

Glen Healey isn't bad for 'telling it like is' and Al Strachan was highly entertaining while on the Hot Stove as well.
His battles with Slats were legendary.

I'm guessing that Don will be part of Rogers next season, but like you said, who knows for how long and in what form.
Unlike the CBC, the minute Don says anything that is seen as offensive, he'll probably be pulled.

[DrJones]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

If Glenn Healy is "telling it like it is", then I need a new sport to follow.

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

http://www.tsn.ca/bettman-says-hurricanes-in-no-danger-of-relocation-1.392394

Bettman says Canes aren't gonna be relocating. Charlotte might have been a nice alternative, if not for the Hornets arena. Cause even though they had a AHL team in that arena before, it seats around 14,000(cause of blocked off parts in lower bowl)

The Canes owner even wants to sell the team, so who exactly would want to keep them in that area?

I know multiple teams struggling with finances right now,but right now,just 6 are struggling with attendance(Jackets,Devils,Islanders,Panthers,Coyot es,Canes).

Devils-Islanders being in NY state,probably just some stuff ownership could do to fix things(don't know what happened past few years to make Devils fans stop caring as much about team who recently went to cup finals). Columbus ownership just needs to make the team good and see how fans respond. Arizona/Florida won't ever move. So Canes are only ones left of the currently struggling in attendance markets,who seem like they'd have a shot of moving.

[Money99]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

Colin Campbell spoke with Sporstnet about how there will be slimmer goalie gear for the 2016 season:

He confirmed that the NHL is looking to reduce the size of goaltender equipment.

“We are making an attempt this year, usually we make that attempt every year, and the manufacturers tell us they can’t do it in time after our March/June meetings,” he said. “So this year we did it faster and said, ‘OK you got a year and a half to do it.’”

He was then asked if that means there will be a noticeable decrease in the size of upper-body pads for goalies by 2016-2017.

His answer was yes.

“There are a number of items on the board, and as you know it’s the pads, the blocker, the catcher, the upper-body, the pants and the sweater,” he said.” And the sweater will go in unison with the upper body.”

I don't have much confidence in Campbell.
When asked if the slimmer gear meant tighter jersey's, Campbell's response was "well if the gear is tighter, the players will probably wear a tighter jersey with it".
Bob Mccown laughed and asked him why he would think that.
As he described, goalies could jump out of a plane and parachute to the ground with the huge sweaters they wear now.
The NHL needs to regulate and force slimmer jersey's on the them.
I think the issue becomes moot if the league says "You're a mens Medium. Here's your size 50 jersey".

The fact that Campbell couldn't recognize that makes me think the old dinosaurs of the NHL need to be cast off into retirement.

I'm also not going to hold my breath when he says there'll be a noticeable difference.
Unless the goalies come skating out looking like Ken Dryden, circa 1976, a half-inch here or there won't do anything.

The entire upper-body padding these guys wear today is ridiculous.
Ryan Miller has 4" wrists and a 165 lb upperbody, yet his arms are 24" in circumference and his chest is 83" around.
Not to mention the padding goes up to their ears. I was unaware that human beings had bone and muscle grow perpendicular to one's earlobes.

I'm hoping and praying the new stuff is going to be very noticeable.
But the last alterations they forced on goalies had almost no impact at all.

Dave Dryden, Ken's brother, brought in his old blocker and trapper from the 70's and was able to place both inside the a new modern trapper.

Concerning increasing goal scoring, I think the issue of over-inflated goalie equipment is something that needs to be addressed regardless of where you stand on the issue.
It's turned into the equivalent to the steroid era of MLB.

I really hope the NHL can get this right. But hearing Clueless Campbell speak, I don't have a lot of confidence.

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

Just wanted to hear opinions of "outsiders" on this, it's not a rumor or suggestion from anyone, but do people think the Leafs would/should change their logo? Or has it gotten to the point where their current logo is so iconic with the franchise(despite it being the most unsuccessful logo in the history of sports,even worse than Cubs,who've only had their current logo for 35 or so years),that they just couldn't change it?

With their 100th year coming up next year,I think it'd be nice to see some sort of mini rebrand. Similar to what the Jays did in MLB(which I think many would agree,is one of the prime examples of how to properly do a rebrand which modernizes your old school look), and what teams like Sabres/Caps/Pens have done recently in a modernization of their old logo.



The biggest "cash cow" in hockey, what better way to drive up revenue than bringing in a new primary logo to the franchise? New merchandise=new revenue stream for the team. Even Red Sox did this in MLB recently. Changed their circular Boston Red Sox logo for 30+ years, into an alternate,and brought back their old school pair of socks logo they had used up until the 60s).

[Money99]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

Just wanted to hear opinions of "outsiders" on this, it's not a rumor or suggestion from anyone, but do people think the Leafs would/should change their logo? Or has it gotten to the point where their current logo is so iconic with the franchise(despite it being the most unsuccessful logo in the history of sports,even worse than Cubs,who've only had their current logo for 35 or so years),that they just couldn't change it?

With their 100th year coming up next year,I think it'd be nice to see some sort of mini rebrand. Similar to what the Jays did in MLB(which I think many would agree,is one of the prime examples of how to properly do a rebrand which modernizes your old school look), and what teams like Sabres/Caps/Pens have done recently in a modernization of their old logo.



The biggest "cash cow" in hockey, what better way to drive up revenue than bringing in a new primary logo to the franchise? New merchandise=new revenue stream for the team. Even Red Sox did this in MLB recently. Changed their circular Boston Red Sox logo for 30+ years, into an alternate,and brought back their old school pair of socks logo they had used up until the 60s).

I'd be fine with them altering their logo a bit.
I think it's easier with the Leafs since they've already altered it a couple of times in the past.
It's not like the Blackhawks or Wings logo which has gone relatively untouched since their inception.

But with the Leafs, why not?