NHL is coming back Jan 19

[CanuckG]

Bob McKenzie <s style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(187, 187, 187);">@</s>TSNBobMcKenzie
So that's it, tenative deal is done. Sunday Jan 6.

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<small class="time" style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(187, 187, 187); position: relative; float: right; margin-top: 1px;">1m</small>Bob McKenzie <s style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(187, 187, 187);">@</s>TSNBobMcKenzie
Lockout is tentatively over.

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<small class="time" style="font-size: 12px; color: rgb(187, 187, 187); position: relative; float: right; margin-top: 1px;">7m</small>adater <s style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(187, 187, 187);">@</s>adater
Top sources on both sides tell <s style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(102, 193, 193);">@</s>denverpost a tentative deal is done on the NHL CBA

[CanuckG]

steve simmons <s style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(187, 187, 187);">@</s>simmonssteve
The NHL lockout is over. Tentative deal reached, according to<s style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(102, 193, 193);">@</s>aaronward_nhl <s style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(102, 193, 193);">@</s>adater <s style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(102, 193, 193);">@</s>FriedgeHNIC <s style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(102, 193, 193);">@</s>Real_ESPNLeBrun and others now.

[opie1988]

Fukk yeah!! Lets play some hockey!

Haven't had shit to watch on tv during the week. Been forced to watch Disney Channel every night.(...which isn't really a bad thing, I'd just rather watch the Stars)

On the upside....I am all caught up on "Good luck, Charlie" and "Dog with a Blog".

[Jayvegas420]

sad

[sickler]

Anyone heard how many games they'll be playing?

[Jayvegas420]

too many

[Redman3693]

48-50 is what`s being reported so far - nothing concrete.

[sickler]

48-50 is what`s being reported so far - nothing concrete.

That would seem about right

[DwightShrute]

wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooo


Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[smitch124]

[bruins35]

the nhl isnt geting a penny from me or my friends ,greedy pigs.

I will be getting money from them when i bet them

[mnwild11]

great news

[DwightShrute]

hope they remember where they key is

[DennisGreen]

Weeeeeeee

[xraygord]

I am boycotting the rest of the season anyway. penetrate 'em.

[leafs_ducks]

hollllllyyyy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. here we gooooooooooo

[DwightShrute]

I am boycotting the rest of the season anyway. penetrate 'em.

not a chance. You will be jumping on the couch and sucking down Labbatt's Blues!



This could be a good thing. Every game meaning so much. NBA did it last year only a couple weeks sooner.

[vaas187]

WPOOOOO!! Let the money start flowing baby!!

[PuckIt]

Finally! I can now go buy a case of labatt!

[CrazyCarl]

why would anyone in Nebraska, kentucky, utah, kansas, etc... watch hockey? but in buffalo, pittsburgh, philly, detroit, boston.. all the northeast watch hockey. in fact, bruins game 7 vs VAN beat Celtics vs kobe and Lakers game 7 in boston in the tv ratings. and it wasn't even close...there ya go.

I'm in Kansas and I watch hockey. But you're right.

[BeerDog99]

Woohoo, NHL is back!

[ProPicker713]

The NHL will allow all 14 non-playoff teams to have an opportunity to get the first overall choice in the Entry draft in the new CBA deal.
Under the old CBA, a team was allowed to move up only four spots so if a team finished sixth worst or worse, they did not have a shot at the top choice. The draft will be weighted according to the team's position overall in the standings but now all non-playoff teams will at least get the chance to move to the top spot. Jan 6 - 7:58 AM

[Microphone]

In 2011, VAN vs BOS had 11 million U.S viewers. In 2010, PHI vs CHI drew 12 million U.S viewers. Your avg NBA final for the last 15 yrs averaged 13 million viewers. the last 2 world series only drew 8 million viewers.

And the only reason NHL doesn't compete with MLB or NBA is because baseball and basketball is played in every state where population of those that play it is over 300 million. Hockey is ONLY played in the north east where only 60 million out of 300 million grew up with hockey. 11 million out of 60 million watching in U.S is better than 8 million in baseball out of 300 million that are familiar with it. The west and midwest don't understand it cause they didn't grow up with it. that's why ratings can never compete with other U.S sports.

why would anyone in Nebraska, kentucky, utah, kansas, etc... watch hockey? but in buffalo, pittsburgh, philly, detroit, boston.. all the northeast watch hockey. in fact, bruins game 7 vs VAN beat Celtics vs kobe and Lakers game 7 in boston in the tv ratings. and it wasn't even close...there ya go.

Nicky you're right when you break down by region. I'm looking at the whole picture as there is no "ESPN Northeast" channel, yet (thank God). And thank God for the NHL channel.

Hockey is a regional sport...in all the regions that matter media wise.
Now that I've had a night to sleep on it, it beats me watching Lifetime with my wife because I'm not watching that thing called the NBA.

[Microphone]

The lockout ends on the Epiphany. How appropriate.

[usernametaken]

How predictible lockout ends. If only predicting games was this easy. Canadians will attend games per usual. Americans will stay away.

[DwightShrute]

Players abroad flood back to NHL cities

Hundreds return to North America with news of tentative agreement

The Canadian Press

Posted: Jan 6, 2013 10:40 AM ET

Last Updated: Jan 6, 2013 11:02 AM ET







The great migration of NHL players to Europe is about to go into reverse.
Some of the nearly 200 players who spent the lockout with European clubs had already started trickling back in recent days. That will become a flood after that the league and NHL Players' Association reached a tentative agreement early Sunday morning.
They will have the advantage of having played in games in the last three months while those who elected to stay home will be playing catch-up during a quick training camp before the truncated regular season opens later this month.
"I've been working out hard on the ice and in the gym and I'm mentally anxious to get back on the ice [for games]," said Vancouver Canucks forward Alex Burrows, who stayed home for the lockout. "We've been deep in the playoffs the last few years, so to get a rest and be able to work out and stay in the gym a little longer can be a benefit too.
"You try to make a negative into a positive."
The Kontinental Hockey League was a favoured destination, especially with the Russians as Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, Washington's Alex Ovechkin and New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk were among that league's scoring leaders, just as they usually are in the NHL.
Bruins teammates Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin and Ottawa's Jason Spezza all chose Switzerland but decided to return to Canada after the Spengler Cup tournament in late December.
Boston and Philadelphia led NHL teams with 11 players each who played in Europe, while Ottawa and the New York Islanders had 10 and Montreal had eight.
Flexible contracts

Generally, players signed contracts that allowed for a return when the lockout ended. Most played for little money, with some teams picking up prohibitive insurance costs against injury in lieu of salary. Montreal's Tomas Plekanec, who earns US$5 million per season in the NHL, reportedly played in the Czech Republic for a salary the equivalent of five cents.
Some spent the entire three months in Europe, others went over later and a few had only quick stops before returning to North America.
They included Winnipeg forward Evander Kane, who had an eventful lockout. The big winger played 12 games with Dinamo Minsk in Belarus before he was let go for what the team said was a failure to adapt to KHL hockey.
Kane got into more hot water in mid-December when he posed on Twitter with stacks of cash in his hands in Las Vegas, which some saw as the wrong message while idle players were working on a new contract.
Some players are not expected to return at all, including Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kosyn, who were let go by the Nashville Predators after they were suspended for breaking curfew during the playoffs in May. Both are playing in the KHL. Kosyn's brother Sergei was signed to a new contract by Nashville, however.
Many European players went back to their home countries, including veteran Jaromir Jagr, who played for a team he owns in the Czech Republic.
A lot of North American players went over as well, although not all could go because most leagues had rules limiting the number of foreign players.
Different situations

Burrows said players had a variety of reasons for going or staying home.
"Guys have families. Guys have different contracts, or are at different stages of their careers," he said. "A lot goes into it.
"Personally, we have a second kid on the way. My wife's due in a couple of months. So we'd rather spend quality time back home and spend the holidays with the family in Montreal."
Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby, coming off concussion trouble, wasn't about to risk further injury by playing in Europe. One wonders what his insurance would have cost if he had. The Canucks' Daniel and Henrik Sedin said they would only go home to play in Sweden if the entire season was cancelled.
Same with Washington Capitals defenceman Roman Hamrlik. At 38 and near the end of his career, the Czech elected to work out with other locked out players in North America.
"I'm in a different situation because I'm an older guy and I have a contract with the Capitals," he said. "If I go play for my hometown team and I get injured and then they sign a deal here, I don't think that would be the best solution for me.
"I was just hoping [the lockout would end], and trying to keep in shape by skating with the guys."
Many European clubs were eager to sign NHL stars. Others refused to have any.
Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Brown said he wouldn't go to Europe because it would mean taking a job away from another player. Some North Americans who play regularly in Europe got bumped by incoming NHLers.
Perhaps now they'll get their jobs back, and European leagues can go back to normal, as they did after the lockout that erased the entire 2004-05 campaign.

[DwightShrute]

How predictible lockout ends. If only predicting games was this easy. Canadians will attend games per usual. Americans will stay away.

Arenas in Canadian and US cities have been playing to almost 100% capacity for years now.

[dmtrader]

When the great Nicky Santoro comes back to post you know its good to go

Yeah. I was stunned to seem him post again. Welcome Back Nicky!

btw...is that a Montreal girl in your avatar?

[DwightShrute]

Bob McKenzie @TSNBobMcKenzie
No question target is 50-game, not 48-game, season. Speculation is it would be 5 games vs 4 division rivals and 3 games vs 10 Conf rivals.

[Vegas39]

About damn time

[usernametaken]

Just to warn the ladies. 50 games will take at least 100 days which would take us to end of April. Then 2 months of playoffs. Hockey in July. Too long a season. user

[CanuckG]

Boys our sources came through. Knew these pricks would settle.

[k13]

Short season makes it exciting.

Unpredictable.

[Deuce]

Kid on Christmas morning, excited.

Bang1

[16johnnymac]

It's not official they still have details to work out 60/40 it will happen. My neighbor is Mark Recchi in Fox chapel ,