NHL is coming back Jan 19

[Vegas39]

Yes will be an agreement by Sunday or Monday

[DwightShrute]

it will be interesting to see which teams had the most player's stay in shape and ready to play

[Vegas39]

it will be interesting to see which teams had the most player's stay in shape and ready to play

any idea what team had most playing overseas during lockout

[CanuckG]

[Deuce]

any idea what team had most playing overseas during lockout

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/lockout_tracker.html

Quite a bit of young guys are playing also in the AHL.

I would say 70% of players are actively professionally playing.

[Vegas39]

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/lockout_tracker.html

Quite a bit of young guys are playing also in the AHL.

I would say 70% of players are actively professionally playing.

Thanks Deuce

[DwightShrute]

any idea what team had most playing overseas during lockout

no but I am sure someone can find it. Funny thing, I was listening to team1040.ca sports talk radio and one of the hosts said a few days ago .. (paraphrasing) "I tell ya what though, if the strike does end ... the Canucks are in trouble. They aren't gonna even make the playoff. They are in horrible shape"

Swear to God that's what he said. For what its worth, I don't buy it.

[Deuce]

no but I am sure someone can find it. Funny thing, I was listening to team1040.ca sports talk radio and one of the hosts said a few days ago .. (paraphrasing) "I tell ya what though, if the strike does end ... the Canucks are in trouble. They aren't gonna even make the playoff. They are in horrible shape"

Swear to God that's what he said. For what its worth, I don't buy it.

Meh, they are all professional athletes and all are still training on and off the ice. It isn't like they are just sitting there drinking Molson's and eating Hortons.

[Nicky Santoro]

hey boys, lets not get too cocky yet. this strike is still not over. they've already teased us many times before. but it does look good.

it's great to see all you canadians (canuckg, keyboarder, dewey) to name a few, excited about hockey coming back. hey, hockey is our pride and joy and it's our game. without hockey this season, we feel like we're not alive. hockey brings us together in canada and at sbr.

i know 99% of americans don't care, but for those that care here at sbr, i love it.

But at least i've had my hockey fix. since sept, i've played over 4,000 NHL 13 games. i love it. Gretzky and Mario are in it and the whole NHL legends. i can't stop playing it.

[DwightShrute]

Meh, they are all professional athletes and all are still training on and off the ice. It isn't like they are just sitting there drinking Molson's and eating Hortons.

lol I know. But that is what the guy said on air. Like I said, I don't believe it but just stuck in my head is all.

We all know The Canucks will be in the finals

[CanuckG]

The junior team which is usually stacked is rebuilding this season (Vancouver Giants) so haven't seen quality hockey for awhile. Come on one time lets start it up.....Canucks window is shrinking too......Sedins will be gone soon (retired)

[CanuckG]

lol I know. But that is what the guy said on air. Like I said, I don't believe it but just stuck in my head is all.

We all know The Canucks will be in the finals

Canucks are still missing an elite scorer to compliment the Sedins. Goaltending won't be a problem and defense should be fine.

[Vegas39]

Canucks are still missing an elite scorer to compliment the Sedins. Goaltending won't be a problem and defense should be fine.

They should be able to add scoring after moving Roberto.

[DwightShrute]

..Sedins will be gone soon (retired)

what? they have several years left. What are they, 32? That's the new 22

[PuckIt]

Meh, they are all professional athletes and all are still training on and off the ice. It isn't like they are just sitting there drinking Molson's and eating Hortons.

You sure?

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/8685654/riley-sheahan-detroit-red-wings-prospect-gets-dui-charge-teletubby-garb

[Deuce]

You sure?

http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/86...teletubby-garb

A nobody on the Griffins and it was Halloween, cut the teletubby a bit of slack.

[g_sept1]

Watch, the season probably won't even start. Who's to say that NHL will start on the 19th?

[manny24]

holy fukk you clowns step 1 is dissolve the union!

this is still a steaming pile what a bunch of fukkin dreamers

[Deuce]

Almost certain season is capoot. Too many people dragging their feet and no real sense of urgency.

[keyboarding]

hey boys, lets not get too cocky yet. this strike is still not over. they've already teased us many times before. but it does look good.

it's great to see all you canadians (canuckg, keyboarder, dewey) to name a few, excited about hockey coming back. hey, hockey is our pride and joy and it's our game. without hockey this season, we feel like we're not alive. hockey brings us together in canada and at sbr.

i know 99% of americans don't care, but for those that care here at sbr, i love it.

But at least i've had my hockey fix. since sept, i've played over 4,000 NHL 13 games. i love it. Gretzky and Mario are in it and the whole NHL legends. i can't stop playing it.

Nicky, let's start a team. I play left defense and lay fukkers out.

God bless.

[Vegas39]

The league believes Fehr is unwilling to do a deal until after Bettman has cancelled the NHL season and the union leader is now slowing the process one last time to increase pressure on the commissioner, said the governor late Wednesday night. Such a gambit could be put to the test as early as next Thursday and the governor said it will come up empty for the players and finally the fans.
If the NHL and NHLPA cannot come to a settlement and sign a new collective bargaining agreement by Thursday or Friday of next week, Bettman will announce the cancellation of the 2012-13 season.
… Bettman will be willing to listen and talk with Fehr after he cancels the season but it will be on the basis of doing a deal for the 2013-14 season. Once the commissioner cancels this season, a 50-50 share will no longer be offered and the league will pursue a much revamped package because the owners will have no incentive to make the deal that was on the table.

[PhillyFlyers]

The league believes Fehr is unwilling to do a deal until after Bettman has cancelled the NHL season and the union leader is now slowing the process one last time to increase pressure on the commissioner, said the governor late Wednesday night. Such a gambit could be put to the test as early as next Thursday and the governor said it will come up empty for the players and finally the fans.
If the NHL and NHLPA cannot come to a settlement and sign a new collective bargaining agreement by Thursday or Friday of next week, Bettman will announce the cancellation of the 2012-13 season.
… Bettman will be willing to listen and talk with Fehr after he cancels the season but it will be on the basis of doing a deal for the 2013-14 season. Once the commissioner cancels this season, a 50-50 share will no longer be offered and the league will pursue a much revamped package because the owners will have no incentive to make the deal that was on the table.

I don't believe this for a second. Fehr knows what he is doing. The fact is, many teams in the league will suffer catastrophically if the league cancels the season. The smaller market teams will be crushed, possibly out of existence for some. There is no way Bettman lets that happen and Fehr knows it.

[Vegas39]

I don't believe this for a second. Fehr knows what he is doing. The fact is, many teams in the league will suffer catastrophically if the league cancels the season. The smaller market teams will be crushed, possibly out of existence for some. There is no way Bettman lets that happen and Fehr knows it.

You're naive if you think Fehr gives a shit if there's a season

[Deuce]

You're naive if you think Fehr gives a shit if there's a season

Fehr is a jerk off.

It's between the players and owners. Bettman is a middle man and basically a yes man to the owners. He can't make Fehr do anything.

[Jayvegas420]

Do you have any idea how nice it has been to go to a bar and ask the bartender "Hey, would you mind putting on a Bowl game?" or
"Is there any chance you could get the Raptors game on just one of these 30 T.V.'s?", without being answered,
"Don't you know the Leafs are playing tonight?"
This has been the greatest winter ever for real sports bettors who actually like to go to a Canadian bar and watch real sports.
Don't get me wrong, I bet on Hockey too but, in a sport where the best teams in the league win barley 60% of their games, it certainly isn't a money maker for gamblers.
Sure, Im inundated with hockey everywhere I go & this might be the reason I am so sick of it but, let's be real.....
There's more to life than hockey and as a well diversified sports bettor I have really enjoyed watching college football and NBA at the bars without some red necked Canadian asking "How about getting that HABS game on, eh?"
I know I've said this before but ... No one up here wants to talk about how sickening it is to watch the millionaires fighting with the billionaires on the news everyday.
No one wants to watch the NFL play offs, while we sit on the edge of our seats waiting to see if the highest payed players hold out while the players making league minimum really suffer.
It's a grotesque fiasco & the politics behind this are absurd.

I don't sympathize with anyone & that includes the fans.

You can be patriotic as a Canadian but, there is a line here. It's a business like all other sports so, you just have to accept it for what it is.
In the meantime enjoy watching one of the greatest NBA players finish out his career while KD puts on a show every night.
Take your touque off, sit down order a beer and cheer for the Brady-Manning AFC Championship everyone wants to see.
Instead of asking us all to focus on Bettman, focus on how badly the Tide are gonna roll over the Irish next week.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest eh!

[vaas187]

Do you have any idea how nice it has been to go to a bar and ask the bartender "Hey, would you mind putting on a Bowl game?" or
"Is there any chance you could get the Raptors game on just one of these 30 T.V.'s?", without being answered,
"Don't you know the Leafs are playing tonight?"
This has been the greatest winter ever for real sports bettors who actually like to go to a Canadian bar and watch real sports.
Don't get me wrong, I bet on Hockey too but, in a sport where the best teams in the league win barley 60% of their games, it certainly isn't a money maker for gamblers.
Sure, Im inundated with hockey everywhere I go & this might be the reason I am so sick of it but, let's be real.....
There's more to life than hockey and as a well diversified sports bettor I have really enjoyed watching college football and NBA at the bars without some red necked Canadian asking "How about getting that HABS game on, eh?"
I know I've said this before but ... No one up here wants to talk about how sickening it is to watch the millionaires fighting with the billionaires on the news everyday.
No one wants to watch the NFL play offs, while we sit on the edge of our seats waiting to see if the highest payed players hold out while the players making league minimum really suffer.
It's a grotesque fiasco & the politics behind this are absurd.

I don't sympathize with anyone & that includes the fans.

You can be patriotic as a Canadian but, there is a line here. It's a business like all other sports so, you just have to accept it for what it is.
In the meantime enjoy watching one of the greatest NBA players finish out his career while KD puts on a show every night.
Take your touque off, sit down order a beer and cheer for the Brady-Manning AFC Championship everyone wants to see.
Instead of asking us all to focus on Bettman, focus on how badly the Tide are gonna roll over the Irish next week.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest eh!

you're crazy. hockey is a biggest payoffs if you know when to play dogs. please.

college ball is the ugliest thing possible.

[k13]

You can be patriotic as a Canadian but, there is a line here. It's a business like all other sports so, you just have to accept it for what it is.
In the meantime enjoy watching one of the greatest NBA players finish out his career while KD puts on a show every night.
Take your touque off, sit down order a beer and cheer for the Brady-Manning AFC Championship everyone wants to see.
Instead of asking us all to focus on Bettman, focus on how badly the Tide are gonna roll over the Irish next week.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest eh!

No one should be watching the NBA, it is a horrible product.

People in Miami don't even get excited for the Heat.....

[DwightShrute]

good article. I thought I'd share ...

NEW YORK—By the time this is over, NHL fans inclined to buy a ticket to a game will feel like they’re purchasing smut.

They’ll feel dirty afterwards, and slightly ashamed. They’ll want to take a shower. It’ll be like shaking hands with that uncle with the beady eyes and the inappropriate stories and the greasy hands.
Ick.

But how else could they possibly feel? The league and the players have this week taken their obvious lack of respect to the people who fund their enterprise to new heights.
This isn’t fiddling while Rome burns. This is urinating on the embers while pretending to lament the destruction.
Remember the sick feeling everyone in the pit of their stomach a few years ago when Ralph Wilson and Ted Rogers sat together at a press conference and chortled over what they believed was their ability to charge whatever prices they wanted to the suckers of Toronto to watch the Bills play?
This is the same feeling that is emerging this week as Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr take their sweet time putting the final strokes on a deal to split more than $3 billion.
The good news is that Toronto football fans showed Rogers and Wilson that they wouldn’t pay, and eventually tickets were slashed.

A victory for the customer.

Bettman and Fehr, of course, believe their customers are so hooked on the product they sell that they can get away with ANYTHING. No insult is too great that NHL fans won’t wipe the spittle off their faces and dutifully pull out their ************ to buy tickets, memorabilia, merchandise and overpriced food items.
The NHL and NHL Players’ Association, folks, despise their fans because they have no respect for their fans. This week has been just the latest evidence of that.
They distrust each other, but they despise the adoring fans.
Urgency? Concern for the game? No sign of either. Instead, whereas before we were inundated with rhetoric, now it’s all about tactics.

Making the other guy wait. Showing up late. Disguising proposals. Hiding changes. Legal feints. Accusations of skulduggery. Bait and switch. Using every dirty trick in the book to try to gain an edge on the other side.

At the same time, while they waste time, they’re also essentially telling their customers that they know they’ll buy whatever they have to sell and whenever they decide to sell it. They’ll take it and like it and may-I-have-another-sir.

Not once has either Bettman or Fehr said something like, “We ask our fans to bear with us. We’re trying. But it’s going to take time.”
In fact, they don’t even mention the fans at all any more. Both see this only about hockey players and hockey owners, about salaries and profits. Those who support the game aren’t even part of their cynical equation. It was that way seven years ago, and since they didn’t have to pay for that cold calculation then, they figure they won’t have to pay now.

After negotiating into the early hours of Thursday and then promising a meeting less than 12 hours later, the two sides didn’t meet at all outside of some “smaller group” chats.

Instead, the players went about organizing another membership vote on a possible disclaimer of interest filing after letting the last one lapse — got their bluff called on that one, it seems — and on court documents opposing an NHL motion filed last month.

The owners and players did have time for a spat over rules to punish teams that hide revenue. The NHLPA insisted the league tried to alter the rules without telling the players. The league says the players were told of these changes long ago.
The dispute was resolved, but it created more animosity, more distrust. It gave both sides just another reason to stop focusing on getting an agreement and instead work on devising new tactics to win the next skirmish.

The entire process has been appalling since September, and now it has become appalling in the extreme. Those who choose to pick sides justify the tactics of the side they favour in the name of getting even for some other perceived slight.

The players can act as they do because of the owners’ first offer in August. Or, the players repeatedly show up late for meetings, so the league is entitled to drag its heels when it pleases.
None of this should do anything but anger the fans, and there is anger out there. We just won’t find out until a season starts how that anger is — or isn’t — expressed.

One thing’s for sure. When all this ends, it will be hard to be a proud NHL fan anytime soon. It’ll be hard to feel anything but dirty.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/article/1310440--it-won-t-be-easy-to-take-pride-in-being-an-nhl-fan

[BeerDog99]

It is dumb to say that hockey is just about being a patriotic Canadian. I enjoy hockey at every level and I really look forward to watching the games. So yes it sucks that millionaires are fighting with billionaires but in the end I just want them to work it out so I can enjoy watching the games and every so often get lucky to go to one.

The only thing that is related to me being a Canadian and my love of hockey is that I grew up with hockey and that is why I like it. It has nothing to do with betting along with the 90% of the rest of the hockey fans out there. People in other parts of the world grew up loving basketball or Football or Soccer and that is why they love the game, again nothing to do with betting.

[TheMoneyShot]

I'll be surprised if this season started. I'm thinking more like next October.

[usernametaken]

Most people don't care about NHL. It ranks behind bowling and Nascar in the US. There are 15 teams that lose money. I live in Canada and the people here have no life. They say they are fed up with hockey. However as soon as they suspect the NHL is coming back,they get excited and will buy tickets and watch it. All you hear it "thank god" it is coming back. The Canadian reporters (dozens of them) are in Manhattan reporting on any rumors they hear. They do their reports and then because of the cold ,dive into the warm buildings until the next report. Well they huddled in a bank building a few days ago. Reporters, cameramen,sound men etc. The customers were annoyed and the management called police to evict them. GET A LIFE?

[k13]

Most people don't care about NHL. It ranks behind bowling and Nascar in the US. There are 15 teams that lose money.

How many teams in the NBA losing money?

More than 15....

[yisman]

Teemu Selanne said it will be resolved by Mon Morning.

Players are admitting that they are now getting ready for the season.

Players who are playing currently in Europe are on their way back home to North America to prepare for the season.

And most important.. Don Cherry guaranteed it will be resolved in the next few days.

It's looking very very good.

Nicky, where have you been? Have you been hiding out with jj in his cellar?

[Nicky Santoro]

Nicky, where have you been? Have you been hiding out with jj in his cellar?

gambling and 14 hrs a day of NHL 13 xbox. i'm very addicted to it. talk about a real loser. most people's goals in life are to work, make money and support their family. mine is to win the Stanley Cup on All Star level in nhl 13.

[Vegas39]

Nicky are you still optimistic this gets settled ?