Open letter to the NHL

[Penguinfan]

Please put a bullet in this season, do what you have to over the summer to get an impass declared and bring on the scabs next year as well as the players who are smart enough to cross the picket line.

Seriously, I am not anti-union, but I am anti-being a stupid fukcing moron, and that is what the NHLPA is currently being. Todays talks broke off with no movement and no meetings scheduled or planned according to Daly, the NHL spokesman.

The NHL has made 3 consecutive offers with not one counter proposal coming from the union. If you are not farmilliar with labor negotioations it usually works that you present something and the other side counters it, otherwise you really are just showing the other side how much you will concede. The top 5% of players are greedy assholes and want to ruin the league for everyone else, the time has come to say **** em, go work in Europe for 20% of what you could have made under the NHL's salary cap proposal, my god the stupidity of it all.

Again, I am not posting out of frustration, I really want the season to be cancelled and the players forced to come back next year for much less than they could have got this year. Again, for those unfarmiliar with labor negotiations the players association can't ruin this season and expect to get more next year, it just don't work that way. I think both sides are aware of that, just that the players are willing to win the battle but lose the war, well enjoy it idiots, you've earned it.

 

[S-Love]

Serenity now, Serenity now

 

[Penguinfan]

Nope, just hoping they enjoy their group suicide.

 

[S-Love]

I realize from a business standpoint that hockey fans are almost cult-like, probably the most devout among the 4 major American sports. Do you think the fan support levels will return next season if there is a next season?

 

[THE KOD]

pf

You forgot the part about you will never watch, attend, or wager on another NHL game for say 2 years.

Only way to bring them to their knees is for the fans to boycott games etc, hit them in the old pocket books.

Baseball did it for awhile with empty stadiiums for awhile.

Let them eat cake.

I could of made alot of money with Mansons handouts in hockey.

I think Chucky once stated he was 80% on his hockey handouts.

 

[THE KOD]

Again, I am not posting out of frustration, I really want the season to be cancelled

.................................................

understatement

 

[Penguinfan]

Of course they will, the problem is the fan base is not all that large to begin with, and that is where the problem lies. The fans need to get something out of this lockout or it is curtains for the NHL reguardless, and by that I mean lower ticket prices, more TV coverage, long term certainty for teams like Edmoton, Pittsburgh and the small market like, something. The league had little in the way of revenue to begin with, it won't take much for even 20% of long term season ticket holders to not re-up for next year if they lose this season altogether, and thats a loss that would be devastating to alot of teams. Yes, the die hard long term fans will come back, but will it be enough? Look at Nascar, the die hard racing fan has always been there, but it was not until racing was marketed to the masses that it took off as a major sport in this country, where would racing be without that money these days? Unfortunatly I think the NHL is about to answer that question.

 

[Penguinfan]

pf

You forgot the part about you will never watch, attend, or wager on another NHL game for say 2 years.

Only way to bring them to their knees is for the fans to boycott games etc, hit them in the old pocket books.

Scotty, unfortunatly it goes much deeper than Joe Fan boycotting the games. The long term damage that has been done to major sponsorship deals will be the biggest impact here. Both sides have shown little to no concern for the fan as they are both willing to negotiate through the media at the fans expense. With arenas around the league not selling out to begin with, even for playoff games, who will know if we are staying home or not? Which brings us back to my earlier point, there is not a gigantic pool of money to draw from to begin with and I think both sides have forgotten that crucial point. Welcome to the abyss NHL, enjoy your stay.

Will I personally boycot games? Well that depends on your definition of boycott, I have for the past 10 seasons held some sort of season ticket package (most season just a partial package) and I have already talked to my ticket rep and told them to sell my seats to someone else for this season and to not call me next season (if either exist) will I go to a few games this season, no, I am not interested in this 28 game idea, will I attend games if there is a season next year, yes probably. I still love the game, but something needs to change and like I said earlier the fans need to get something out of this before they rush back to the seats.

 

[THE KOD]

I have already talked to my ticket rep and told them to sell my seats to someone else for this season and to not call me next season (if either exist)

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pf

What was the response when you said that to the rep ? I would hope he/she showed a positive attitude with some type of explanation.

I tell you what, I would have my best people answering them phones. I would answer some my self. Them are the ones that pay the bills.

I would feel the same way if NFL was cancelled.

 

[Penguinfan]

Actually Scott, it seemed like a canned/scripted response--"We understand your frustration and hope you continue to support the Penguins as you have in the past, may we keep you on our mailing list for future offers".

Like you I would have been more agressive in trying to retain business, but I got the sense they were not in a position to promise or offer anything, the future really may be that uncertain.

 

[THE KOD]

Hockey over, swing batter
batter, batter !

 

[THE KOD]

Actually Scott, it seemed like a canned/scripted response--"We understand your frustration and hope you continue to support the Penguins as you have in the past, may we keep you on our mailing list for future offers".

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rat bastids

 

[hogman14]

The NHL has so distanced itself from its fans, even before the strike. I remember as a kid growing up, going to games w/a 23.50 face, for balcony seats at the old Boston Garden. (I know I'm not that old, but just bear with me.) Last Bruins game I went to, it's like 50$ and you're still in the balcony. Its fan base was primarily blue collar, now it's corporate. I went to a game from a friends business seats last year, on the comp, and looking at something like $80 seats! I mean, c'mon. I can get good seats at a Pats game for 75!

What a shame it would be to see the Stanley Cup hoisted after a 28 game season though.

 

[saint]

I'm at the point where I don't care either. In fact, I want the game to suffer, I want the players to suffer. I love hockey and when it returns so will I, but for the time being I actually enjoy reading media light up the players. The game can't get worse than it was from a fan standpoint. The fans the NHL had before the strike will return because that was pretty much all that was left...hardcore fans. The NHL lost it's bid for the average joe fan years ago. So Penguin is right the biggest hit of this layoff isn't the fans it's the corporate support that won't be there when they return. And I will not pay 120 dollars to sit in the lower level for a regular season game to the Carolina Hurricanes when in this area I could eat for a month on that much money. The sad thing is if you pay attention to the fine details they are very close to agreeing on the % salaries that would be tied to revenue. Greed greed greed.

The worst part of all IMO is that the guys who "run" the union are the ones making millions. They can afford to take a hit w/out a salary, while the little guy making the league minimum is hurting right now but can't say anything for the fear of being blackballed by the high profile guys. It's such a sham. The little respect I had left for guys like Jeremy Roenick etc is pretty much gone.

 

[saint]

And the worst part is the longer this goes, the less likely the players are to EVER accept a cap with salaries tied to revenue. After all, the longer this drags out, the less the league will make in revenue, further decreasing the players' salaries.

 

[DR STRANGELOVE]

a sad day today.....