The Death of the NHL (2532 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.67 on 45 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by fudgepacknuts (View user info) at 2005-02-17 01:34:11 EST
9/10 of you could probably give a crap about what I'm going to write.....and that's cool. But I feel a good rant is in order.
I grew up a DIE HARD NJ Devils fan. Yes, the boring, trap-loving, defense minded NJ Devils. I idolized guys like Mike Peluso, Ken Daneyko, John MacLean, Bobby Holik, Bill Guerin, Marty Brodeur, Scott Stevens....etc etc etc. I played for the Youth Devils at South Mountain Arena in West Orange, NJ and was at game 4 when my boys beth the Red Wings 5-2 and won the cup for the first time in 1995. That was one of the happiest days of my life. It was a great bonding moment for me and my father and it was an experience I will always cherish.
And now this. This is the ugly side of capitalism. Yes, we all want to make money, but due to the way we do business today, the spirit of the game is taken away. In lieu of striving for the Stanley Cup, players now strive for signing bonuses and Nike endorsements (see: Sergei Federov). And I'm 100% fine with that. If Pavel Bure can make $10 million a year and he scores 50 goals....awesome. But when his contract stipulates that he can sit out the ENTIRE season with a knee injury and still get paid, I just see a problem.
And why the hell does Nashville have a hockey team? Seriously.
I don't condemn Gary Bettman for this. Well, partially I do, but we can't blame one man for the downfall of a professional sports league. Someone on espn.com said it right...something along the lines of 'Gary Bettman is from New York, he's a lawyer, and he is of small stature. He makes the perfect villain.' And now that Bob Goodenow collapsed a bit with his NHLPA duties (remember when the Union said 'NO WAY' to a cap? Yeah, that worked out), I expect him to packing up his belongings quite soon.
I don't see a resolution any time soon. I now fear for the 2005-06 season. Not only that, I fear for the NHL as a whole. Rumors of the WHL no regrouping and trying to sign NHL superstars only reinforce my fears.
The worst part? If the league should ever start up again, this 'cancellation' was such a slap in the face of hockey fans that I don't see teams filling up their areans to even HALF-capacity. You think the Penguins had trouble filling Mellon Arena before? Even a team of 28 Mario Lemieux's wouldn't sell seats now.
You know, I remember that one of my greatest thrills in life came when I was around 11 years old. I was a beginning hockey player playing in the house-league for the 'Whalers.' I sucked ass at right wing, I couldn't come to a complete stop (I did one of those swivel moves to get away from the boards), and my helmet was too big. But when I scored my first goal, I felt nothing but pure glee and excitement. My mom, who froze her ass off in the stands, was so proud. She stood up and cheered like a banshee for me. I was on a high for about a week afterwards. It was awesome.
You think Jaromir Jagr plays for that feeling? Ilya Kovachuk? Trevor Linden? No. And while you have to put food on the table somehow, and I respect that, the disaster that the NHL has become will probably not allow us fans to see some of the greatest players in the world anytime soon.....unless we buy a ticket to Moscow or Prague.
I feel cheated. And I will never go to another NHL game again.
User Reviews
Submitted by Confuzitron (user info) at 2005-06-27 16:21:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for Mike Peluso, the second meanest fighter (behind only Tony Twist) since the days of Dave Shultz and Tiger Williams.
Submitted by podium (user info) at 2005-03-22 22:48:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by youarsoghey (user info) at 2005-02-23 17:12:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Yeh I do remember him. I only put Dowd at #1 because he was always my favorite...until I played high school hockey for Montclair. Brick was our biggest rival. Either way, he is from NJ, so he's lifted above the rest.
You forgot Bruce Driver's Rangerdom in your list. It is a sad, sad day when any Devil becomes a Ranger.
Submitted by fudgepacker (user info) at 2005-02-23 15:50:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
hey man.....nice list.
agreed about Dowd and Terreri. While I wouldn't put Dowd at #1, he's up there...maybe top 15 in my book.
HA, that reminds me, remember Dave Barr? I ran into him at the Livingston Mall once.
Submitted by youarsoghey (user info) at 2005-02-22 22:16:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh and you're cool. You can cry about hockey. High five, sport.
Submitted by youarsoghey (user info) at 2005-02-22 22:12:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Caul:
Don't be jealous.
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2005-02-22 16:36:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm generalizing...
...to ease my pain
Submitted by fudgepacker (user info) at 2005-02-22 16:33:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
i'm jewish
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2005-02-22 16:21:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
And Claude Lemieux is a douchebag. Anyone who remembers the time he slammed the face of that Red Wing player at full speed will agree with that.
In fact, the Devils are douchebags too. They're the main reason hockey has become so boring. I wouldn't be proud. I remember the time pf Nordiques-Canadiens playoffs that became the sole discussion topic in school, that brought tears to our eyes, tore families apart...you don't know that feeling, you're from NJ. You wait for that single goal then go back to your suburban house to drink that single watery beer your christian father will allow you to sip on.
And now you americans with your ridiculously high salaries have ruined the league.
Shame on you. Look -----> :~(
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2005-02-22 16:12:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Funny that americans like ghey overlook the fact that their hockey super-star (which are often quebecers) are "cheese eating surrending monkey frogs" but will bring it out whenever a discussion gets heated.
If it wasn't for Ontario and Québec the NHL would be a fucking joke.
In fact, it is already.
Submitted by youarsoghey (user info) at 2005-02-22 00:22:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
My all-time ten favorite Devils:
1. Jim Dowd - Fuck Brick, but man this guy was awesome.
2. John Maclean - I can remember him perfectly from Game 6 against the Rangers, a game that broke my heart when I was just 9. I can remember him vividly wearing his jersey tucked in against the Rangers in game 7 when he kicked ass...one of the worst nights of my life. Incidentally, I can also remember him from trick-or-treating at his house when he gave me a signed card instead of candy.
3. Martin Brodeur - All class. Family man. Doesn't pretend to be from Jersey, but we all love him anyway. We always knew he was ten times better than that loser Hasek. Just look at the Sabres-Devils series in the second or first round of the '94 playoffs. Remember that 4ot game that the Sabres won 1-0? Brodeur deserved it. Two words: fuck Hasek.
4. John Madden - Reminds me too much of Jim Dowd, and not just because they share the same number. He is the best player on the team and nobody, other than Devils fans (certainly not that bitch Bill Clement), will ever know why. Hard-nosed, first on the puck despite the threat of being hit, always out-hustles EVERYONE.
5. Scott Niedermayer - I didn't quite know how much I respected this guy until that douche Ty Domi sucker-elbowed him in Toronto. But we showed them...twice.
6. Neal Broten - Just because he let Mike Emerick give out his best call ever against the Bruins in the first round in '95 in Game 4, I think: "Maclean carries it around the left side into Bruins ice. He takes it behind the net, he passes it out front....BROTEN! BROTEN! IT'S OVER! THE DEVILS WIN! NEAL BROTEN!" That gives me goosebumps just remembering how loud Brendan Byrne was that night seeing Marty just glide down the ice with his hands in the air. It's too bad Broten's tenure on the Devils lasted little longer than Esa Tikkannen's (does anyone else remember those two games in '96? Or was it '97?)
7. Scott Stevens - This is the easy one, but he's the most underrated defenseman in the history of the game. Just ask Eric Lindros.
8. Chris Terreri - Just because. He was a gamer. He was a backup. He was a champion, just like the rest of the team. And he didn't have to bail out Marty in Game 4 like Osgood did to Vernon.
9. Randy McKay - My favorite of the crash line. Peluso was amazing, but he fought too much. Holik is a whiney bitch and deserves to be on the Rangers. McKay was just my kind of hockey player.
10. Claude Lemieux - How could I leave him off this list? He was all over the place in the 90's, but he certainly kicked ass in '95 and '00.
And here's my ever-expanding list of goalie flashes-in-the-pan who the Devils have summarily dispatched:
1. Brian Boucher - Doucher, perhaps.
2. J.S. Giguere - Get jiggy with this, bitch.
I doubt I will ever come back to this post without seeing it on the recently reviewed list, so just reply to one of my posts to remind me of it if you say something. I want to know what you think of my list, and if I forgot some goalies on that list. I was going to say Mike Vernon, but he wasn't really a goalie phenom.
Submitted by youarsoghey (user info) at 2005-02-22 00:00:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"I grew up a DIE HARD NJ Devils fan. Yes, the boring, trap-loving, defense minded NJ Devils. I idolized guys like Mike Peluso, Ken Daneyko, John MacLean, Bobby Holik, Bill Guerin, Marty Brodeur, Scott Stevens....etc etc etc. I played for the Youth Devils at South Mountain Arena in West Orange, NJ and was at game 4 when my boys beth the Red Wings 5-2 and won the cup for the first time in 1995. That was one of the happiest days of my life. It was a great bonding moment for me and my father and it was an experience I will always cherish."
======================================
Fuckin' hell! I was at the '95 finals! I hated the Devils youth club! I played for Montclair (mostly a team you probably have never heard of since they came about in '99 or so, but partially for the Blues). GO BLUE! GO DEVILS!
DAAAANEYKO THE DRUNKEN D-MAN.
Submitted by cowstastegood (user info) at 2005-02-21 23:44:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2005-02-17 03:13:37 (#)
Ranking: 1
You had me at Marty Brodeur
You lost me a bit with Trevor Linden.
(What can I say... I live in Vancouver)
Submitted by DisneylandBurnedDown (user info) at 2005-02-21 23:43:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Hockeyhockeyhockeyhockeyhockey. It's upsetting I won't get to see the Leafs make it to the playoffs and then fail miserably this year. It's like a tradition has been shattered.
Submitted by Beer_bong (user info) at 2005-02-21 23:29:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Plus 2.
I miss hockey.
NHL 2K5 isn't cutting it anymore.
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2005-02-21 23:03:35 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
eric- im me - on aim i'm timdwpi
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2005-02-21 01:57:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
i miss hockey
Submitted by HZRD (user info) at 2005-02-17 13:30:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Woo Devils!
I can't wait until the 05 baseketball season, no arrogant moneymaking pricks there! go beers!
Submitted by MANICMOTHER (user info) at 2005-02-17 13:26:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Shlongy, if you want to banter let's go fuck someone elses post. I have a moderate amount of respect for this one.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-02-17 13:17:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
you poor dear
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2005-02-17 13:09:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
To kill some time.
Submitted by MANICMOTHER (user info) at 2005-02-17 12:54:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Why the hell would I want to blow you, Shlonger?
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2005-02-17 12:02:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
MANICMOM- ready to blow me yet?
Submitted by thaumaturge (user info) at 2005-02-17 12:01:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"I feel cheated. And I will never go to another NHL game again."
My sentiments exactly. I'm a sens fan (please.. I know) and have been to countless games,.. including their ever-disappointing playoff runs.
I cannot bring myself to forgive the players who slapped me in the face. I'll still play in my beer league, and watch the odd OHL or AHL, but no more NHL. I've been stung.
Submitted by MANICMOTHER (user info) at 2005-02-17 12:00:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm pissed, fuck the NHL.
Oh well, only another 6 months 'till college football.
I guess I'll just have to wait.
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2005-02-17 11:55:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I also have some nice video clips of Peluso getting beaten like a rag doll by Basil McRae, Shane Churla and a few others.
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2005-02-17 11:54:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
But you see, Troy Crowder, for a very brief time period, was the NHL heavyweight champ.
He bested Bob Probert when Probie was the number one gunslinger, twice in an exhibition game.
But then Crowder got hic clock cleaned by some little punk about a year later and was never the same.
Tried a comeback with the Sharks - Johnny Mac's last team- in 2002-2003 but didn't make it back.
I heard he's tending bar somewhere in Canada now.
Submitted by squarepusher (user info) at 2005-02-17 11:53:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I just ranted about this very same thing on my space. I had the same childhood memories but I played travel hockey for years. I learned to skate when I was 3, and back in Michigan, we used to flood our back yards and make ice rinks. I feel as if a family member died. This is really sad.
Submitted by fudgepacker (user info) at 2005-02-17 11:47:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2005-02-17 11:03:35 (#)
Ranking: 2
Why'd you leave out Oliwa, Huscroft, Maley, Crowder, Stewart, McKay and Sasha Lakovic?
--------------------------------------------
Crowder? I actually looked that one up. 69 total games. 9 points...205 PIMs. Would be good for defenseman, but he was a winger. Meh.
As for all-time favorite Devils:
1) Mike Peluso --- ALL heart. The big enforcer sobbed like a baby when they won the cup in '95. Will always be my favorite player of all time.
2) Ken Daneyko
3) Martin Brodeur --- how can you not love him?
4) John MacLean (broke my heart when he left for the NYR)
5) Bruce Driver
6) Stephane Richer
7) Scott Niedermayer
8) Randy McKay
9) Claude Lemieux --- PEPE!!! Best playoff instigator EVER!
10) Partick Elias
.........thought I'd share
Submitted by ellsmall (user info) at 2005-02-17 11:43:54 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Well hockey sucks ass, but it was the last sport you white people had a chance to dominate, good riddance.
Submitted by Caulaincourt (user info) at 2005-02-17 11:06:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
:~(
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2005-02-17 11:03:35 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Why'd you leave out Oliwa, Huscroft, Maley, Crowder, Stewart, McKay and Sasha Lakovic?
Submitted by RyuFu (user info) at 2005-02-17 08:25:37 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
You're right, I'd rather watch the steam rise from my shit in the snow, but I did click on your post. And you have some solidly-founded rant material. Kind of like I would have during the NBA lockout a few years back.
Sucks for hockey fans that Major League Soccer will now be the 4th major North American sport.
Submitted by ravenous (user info) at 2005-02-17 07:45:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Well.. I get to see Modin, Zetterberg, Berg and Kiprusoff play for my home team in the swedish Elitserien becasue of the lockout. So no complains here.
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2005-02-17 07:41:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2005-02-17 04:49:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I just saw this story on the news. I couldn't believe it.
Everyone involved in this needs to pull their head out of their arse, shut up and play hockey.
It's that simple.
Submitted by Huber_the_Nose (user info) at 2005-02-17 04:37:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Europeans: "All your hockey players are belong to us!"
Submitted by DonovanMD (user info) at 2005-02-17 04:22:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
ps. The NHL Lockout Hitlist.
+ linkwhore
http://www.ubersite.com/m/53444
Submitted by DonovanMD (user info) at 2005-02-17 04:18:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2005-02-17 02:07:08 (#)
Ranking: 2
The worst part of this is how close they were, how much the players will willing to give up, and the owners wouldn't budge. Not many people would offer to give up 25% of their paychecks to keep thier job. Then they even bent to agreeing to a cap, but because of 6 million it didn't happen. It's fucking ridiculous.
---
You cant compare millionairs to your average working joe blow. That 24% rollback was a sham. With the current system of a MANDATORY 10% raise on new contracts, the shitty arbitration thats pro players and the escalating salaries, that 24% would be made back within 2 years tops. That was a joke of an offer. Almost as bad as the players offer of a 52 million dollar cap.
I like how the NHL offered to accept the players January 9th offer and use it in 6 month increments, and if it didnt work, then switch to their own cap style deal. The players rejected it, because they know what they've offered is crap.
With no TV revenue, shitty gates in most markets, and no one caring south of the border (for the most part) the players have no legs to stand on. They cant make big money because there is none. 42 million that the league offered is still to much. With that the Oilers, Flames, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and many others will still have a hard time competing. Teams will fold.
And lastly what makes the least sense to me is that a union is all about preserving the jobs of its union, first and foremost. Yet they are willing to let Canadian and southern US teams fold where jobs will be lost completely. Its the wealthy elite that are running the NHLPA.
Submitted by Spooner (user info) at 2005-02-17 03:54:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
<3 NHL.
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2005-02-17 03:13:37 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
You had me at Marty Brodeur
You lost me a bit with Trevor Linden.
(What can I say... I live in Vancouver)
Submitted by wardy (user info) at 2005-02-17 02:58:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
dude, it sucks. but you have to listen to what your saying. i know jack shit about hockey, but i guarantee you when a guy scores a goal, he feels it.
my bro plays professional soccer, and when i work out with him when he comes home and he scores, the little bastard goes nuts. so in that respect, you're pretty far off the mark.
you also have to realize that while that one guy might be making millions, a lot of those hockey playres make jack shit. my girlfriend has a friend back home that played and made about 11,000 a year. that's dick, and i'd go on strike too.
Submitted by stevie_says (user info) at 2005-02-17 02:52:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
DO NOT SPEAK ILL OF TREVOR LINDEN.
I want to have his butt-babies....
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2005-02-17 02:07:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Hockey's problems wasn't about tailoring to the die hard fans, it was that it thought it could grab ahold of the general sports fans. They never got the casual "hey there's a game going on near bye let's go" that basketball was able to get ahold of.
You are wrong about bettmen not being the one to blame. He got excatly what he wanted almost, to pit the players against eachother and break thier will. He effectively tried to destroy the players union, and he wanted a cap solely because it was the one thing he knew players were against.
The worst part of this is how close they were, how much the players will willing to give up, and the owners wouldn't budge. Not many people would offer to give up 25% of their paychecks to keep thier job. Then they even bent to agreeing to a cap, but because of 6 million it didn't happen. It's fucking ridiculous.
I guess Hockey just needed to learn its place, and it has through this experience. They are not a major sport. I know many people who would ratehr watch golf. Hockey in the U.S. = Soccer in the U.S. but with some history.
The sadest part of this I think is how little I miss hockey. I mean I was by no means a diehard, but I always kept up to date on scores, standings, and players. I just find now I have more time for basketball, both pro and college. And baseball is starting up. I can't believe it but I am actually looking forward to baseball. And I'm a detroit fan, so I'm going from rooting for the red wings to rooting for the tigers, and I'm fine with that.
Or maybe I'm just ok because I no longer have to see that fucking Canadian douche on Hockey night in Canada anymore.
Submitted by Kamargo (user info) at 2005-02-17 01:45:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
9/10 of you could probably give a crap about what I'm going to write.....and that's cool. But I feel a good rant is in order.
Indeed, I dont care about hockey, but I can relate... I would feel the same if the soccer season is cancelled, everyone has a favourite sport