TV money. ESPN didn't pay to broadcast games to people in Saskatchewan.
I also think there is plenty of good talent to go around in 2021... but we have been around and around about this. The average/below-average player's skill-set and physical attributes is off the charts compared to past eras. That is actually a problem. Actual shitty players would make things more exciting and variable. The league over 50-60 years has gone from 6 to 12 to 14 to 21 to 28 to 32 teams.... but how much larger and more developed has the player pool gotten world-wide? Lots of participation. My kid is 8 in mite hockey and what these kids can do, the amount of skills clinics available, and the level of play, even at that age is mind-blowing compared to what we had/did in the 80s at that age where Im pretty sure some of the kids wore figure skates and used newspapers for shin pads.
NHL games now are a practice of positioning and efficiency. Its a chess match slog between 36 Eric Lindroses with 4 officials out there. It is a war of attrition until someone makes a mistake at which point you may get a scoring chance. Goalies are giant though, so unless the puck bounces off of somebody or something, or a rebound comes out wrong, you probably will not see a goal.
Getting rid of the instigator wont help anything any more. Fighting is a thing of the past. Its unfortunate, I loved it, and I find the current version of the sport very boring without it.
The problem is, the players are too big and strong. Guys like John Scott could probably kill someone. With what we know about concussions, the NHL cannot have that same off-the-edge type of violence we saw (and enjoyed) in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The NHL is seeing civil litigation from multiple angles for concussions. The last thing they can do is open the floodgates to fighting.... and to be honest, I dont think the current multi million dollar athlete with a $750K minimum salary really wants to be fighting and taking that risk.
i'm no hockey purist like you guys, but I have always thought fighting being legal is so dumb. I watch MMA for that. it's a controlled environment; men with blades on their shoes standing on rock hard ice should not be fighting each other.
i'm no hockey purist like you guys, but I have always thought fighting being legal is so dumb. I watch MMA for that. it's a controlled environment; men with blades on their shoes standing on rock hard ice should not be fighting each other.
I get it, I have talked to people who feel the same way...
The best way I can defend it, is it represents one way that modern professional sport can have the veneer ripped off and you see true and raw emotion from its players instead of millionaire 'pals' doing their job, then leaving. It also tilts the event into uncharted territory well off the rails and a feeling that 'anything can happen'. Even in a 4-0 game in the third period. If things got truly ugly, you would have anticipation and build-up for the next game(s). It was exciting. Granted, that whole thing doesnt exist much any more. Hockey fights arent nearly what they were in the day. Full-line brawls are almost never seen.
edit: and fighting is not legal. You get a 5-minute penalty
Good for Eichel finally getting out of that trash organization. Sad part is he won't be able to play in the Olympics because of all this nonsense. Also how on earth can Vegas fit that contract under the cap??? Their cap situation has to be worse than Toronto with all the high AAV guys they have.
Good for Eichel finally getting out of that trash organization. Sad part is he won't be able to play in the Olympics because of all this nonsense. Also how on earth can Vegas fit that contract under the cap??? Their cap situation has to be worse than Toronto with all the high AAV guys they have.
I wanted them to trade Eichel a few years ago. It was clear he is fragile mentally and physically. I have heard things over the years from a close friend in the local media as well as a Sabres (hockey dept) employee that this guy is a real problem. Off the record, Sabres alumni hate him too. The Sabres have fucked themselves up every way for the 6 seasons of Eichel's career too. The worst thing they did, and it had a big influence, was immediately expose him (and Reinhart) to Evander Kane when he was a rookie.
I think the return in the trade is about as good as they could have hoped. Krebs is a really good prospect and Tuch is a solid NHL player and only 25. 1st round pick is always nice, now they have 3.
So probably a decent start with young players: Krebs Cozens Tuch Dahlin Power Quinn (didnt have high hopes for him but ripping it up in the AHL so far) Peterka Mittelstadt Samuelsson Asplund Olofsson Johnson Luukkonen (G) Levi (G)
Along with likely a top 5 pick this year and 2 other first rounders.
Its enough to hopefully get started and turn it around. They still need to develop properly and also draft better (a fan could have done better than they have, but their crappy development also is a big factor in their drafts looking poor)
Yeah,haven't really read anything positive about Jackie Boy since this started. Seems like he is not the best teammate. Since he went to the Knights I have to hope he never turns it around - I loathe that team! . Glad LA didn't trade for him. Was a time when I very much wanted that to happen.
He is the captain, and regularly throws his head back, making his body go limp to show up his teammates during the play, followed by loafing to the bench, which has caused breakaways. You could just see it out there. His body language is shit.
There are questions of durability... He has had 2 non-contact injuries at training camps. Also had some sort of "ab" injury when the NHL shut down in March 2020 and apparently it wasnt healed when they started up again 10 months later in January 2021.
He and OReilly didnt like each other. The team immediately factioned off in 2015 when all the pieces came in. Eichel and Reinhart followed Kane and Bogosian. They would party a lot, play a shit-ton of video games, Eichel and Kane blew off practices. The other faction was OReilly, Gionta, Gorges, Okposo, following coach Bylsma etc, who stayed at the rink to work extra. OReilly wanted to grab the reins and be captain. When they were shitty because Phil Housley was the coach, and the factioned team gave up on their 2nd coach and was losing every game, OReilly took bullets for the team in the media every single day while Eichel hid and the Sabres entitled him to do that. That is when OReilly begged-out. It had to be miserable.
He and the team have tangibly quit on 3 coaches in his time.
And Eichel has a major substance abuse problem.
It is possible that he matures and finds his place. He has immense talent and physical ability, no doubt. At his best, he is the best player in the trade and can get 100 points and be in the MVP convo. I have been hoping he matures into a pro for 6 years. You have to hope that Vegas has the in-room leadership to pin Eichel down. I always get nervous with attitude when it comes to NCAA products.
He reminds me more of Tyler Seguin than Connor McDavid.
Maybe the new start re-calibrates his professional disposition.
And yes, if I were Eichel, I would be thrilled to be away from the Sabres. But I do think they are better off without him (could it had been worse than it was with him?)
Good for Eichel finally getting out of that trash organization. Sad part is he won't be able to play in the Olympics because of all this nonsense. Also how on earth can Vegas fit that contract under the cap??? Their cap situation has to be worse than Toronto with all the high AAV guys they have.
How come he won't be able to play in the Olympics?
I'm a casual to bandwaggony NHL fan and the Mild Wild are giving me reason to get on the wagon! This isn't the first time they've started out strong and they tend to go into a Jan/Feb swoon where they win like 3 games out of 18 and then have to scrap their way to the 8 seed. But this team feels a bit different; more explosive. I think they have a chance to host playoff game #1 at home (i.e., get a top-four seed) for the first time in franchise history.
1995 Milwaukee 1998 Alpine, Alpine 2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston 2004 Boston, Boston 2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty) 2011 Alpine, Alpine 2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
I'm a casual to bandwaggony NHL fan and the Mild Wild are giving me reason to get on the wagon! This isn't the first time they've started out strong and they tend to go into a Jan/Feb swoon where they win like 3 games out of 18 and then have to scrap their way to the 8 seed. But this team feels a bit different; more explosive. I think they have a chance to host playoff game #1 at home (i.e., get a top-four seed) for the first time in franchise history.
I think they're very good. I've watched them play a few times this year and they play fast and hard. They are enjoyable.
I'm a casual to bandwaggony NHL fan and the Mild Wild are giving me reason to get on the wagon! This isn't the first time they've started out strong and they tend to go into a Jan/Feb swoon where they win like 3 games out of 18 and then have to scrap their way to the 8 seed. But this team feels a bit different; more explosive. I think they have a chance to host playoff game #1 at home (i.e., get a top-four seed) for the first time in franchise history.
I think they're very good. I've watched them play a few times this year and they play fast and hard. They are enjoyable.
Even their better teams have historically been a drag to watch...LOL
1995 Milwaukee 1998 Alpine, Alpine 2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston 2004 Boston, Boston 2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty) 2011 Alpine, Alpine 2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
All the talk about how important it was for the NHL to get on ESPN but I feel like there are rarely any games on there....everything is on ESPN+. And the weekly game that TNT has doesn't start until 10pm eastern on Wednesday nights. Not sure how this is better than what they had with NBCSN when there seemed to be games on just about every night of the week. I guess this is the NHL idea of "growing the game".
NBCSN doesnt exist anymore. Its online only, and ESPN gave the NHL more money and the actual in-game coverage is better and isnt filled with the likes of Keith Jones going through the motion for 15 years.
NBCSN doesnt exist anymore. Its online only, and ESPN gave the NHL more money and the actual in-game coverage is better and isnt filled with the likes of Keith Jones going through the motion for 15 years.
Maybe, but I was quite pleased with teh number of games on NBCSN. Now I have the NHL ticket anyways, but still I agree with Indifference that the ESPN thing feels like a bust so far. I only see games being shown on NHL network.
Yes, I know NBCSN is going away. My point was that there has been so much talk over the years about how the NHL needed to get back on ESPN to reach the casual fan and the majority of the games are on ESPN+. I get the money part of it but I can't imagine that the majority of the national games being on a streaming service is a positive. For me personally I love it. I already had ESPN+ and they essentially have the Center Ice package on there now where you can watch just about every game every night.
Hockey fans, all i hear in the sports card world is Ovechkin breaking Gretzkys goal record. He needs 140 or so more. If he averages 40 a year it would take him 3-1/2 years.
He's 36. Will he be able to score 40 goals the next few years? That just doesn't sound like a possibility to me.
Hockey fans, all i hear in the sports card world is Ovechkin breaking Gretzkys goal record. He needs 140 or so more. If he averages 40 a year it would take him 3-1/2 years.
He's 36. Will he be able to score 40 goals the next few years? That just doesn't sound like a possibility to me.
Hockey fans, all i hear in the sports card world is Ovechkin breaking Gretzkys goal record. He needs 140 or so more. If he averages 40 a year it would take him 3-1/2 years.
He's 36. Will he be able to score 40 goals the next few years? That just doesn't sound like a possibility to me.
Anyone?
F* that Putin stooge. That's how I feel about it.
Great response, I feel much more knowledgeable about the situation, lol.
Hockey fans, all i hear in the sports card world is Ovechkin breaking Gretzkys goal record. He needs 140 or so more. If he averages 40 a year it would take him 3-1/2 years.
He's 36. Will he be able to score 40 goals the next few years? That just doesn't sound like a possibility to me.
Anyone?
F* that Putin stooge. That's how I feel about it.
Great response, I feel much more knowledgeable about the situation, lol.
Hockey fans, all i hear in the sports card world is Ovechkin breaking Gretzkys goal record. He needs 140 or so more. If he averages 40 a year it would take him 3-1/2 years.
He's 36. Will he be able to score 40 goals the next few years? That just doesn't sound like a possibility to me.
Anyone?
Yes, he'll get there. Even if they just put him out for the powerplay and feed him like they've always done. I think he actually started playing defense a few years ago when I watched a bunch of Caps games, not sure how that's going now.
Wouldn't it be funny if the world ended in 2010, with lots of fire?
Comments
I also think there is plenty of good talent to go around in 2021... but we have been around and around about this. The average/below-average player's skill-set and physical attributes is off the charts compared to past eras. That is actually a problem. Actual shitty players would make things more exciting and variable.
The league over 50-60 years has gone from 6 to 12 to 14 to 21 to 28 to 32 teams.... but how much larger and more developed has the player pool gotten world-wide? Lots of participation. My kid is 8 in mite hockey and what these kids can do, the amount of skills clinics available, and the level of play, even at that age is mind-blowing compared to what we had/did in the 80s at that age where Im pretty sure some of the kids wore figure skates and used newspapers for shin pads.
NHL games now are a practice of positioning and efficiency. Its a chess match slog between 36 Eric Lindroses with 4 officials out there. It is a war of attrition until someone makes a mistake at which point you may get a scoring chance. Goalies are giant though, so unless the puck bounces off of somebody or something, or a rebound comes out wrong, you probably will not see a goal.
Getting rid of the instigator wont help anything any more. Fighting is a thing of the past. Its unfortunate, I loved it, and I find the current version of the sport very boring without it.
The problem is, the players are too big and strong. Guys like John Scott could probably kill someone. With what we know about concussions, the NHL cannot have that same off-the-edge type of violence we saw (and enjoyed) in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. The NHL is seeing civil litigation from multiple angles for concussions. The last thing they can do is open the floodgates to fighting.... and to be honest, I dont think the current multi million dollar athlete with a $750K minimum salary really wants to be fighting and taking that risk.
www.headstonesband.com
I get it, I have talked to people who feel the same way...
The best way I can defend it, is it represents one way that modern professional sport can have the veneer ripped off and you see true and raw emotion from its players instead of millionaire 'pals' doing their job, then leaving. It also tilts the event into uncharted territory well off the rails and a feeling that 'anything can happen'. Even in a 4-0 game in the third period. If things got truly ugly, you would have anticipation and build-up for the next game(s). It was exciting.
Granted, that whole thing doesnt exist much any more. Hockey fights arent nearly what they were in the day. Full-line brawls are almost never seen.
edit: and fighting is not legal. You get a 5-minute penalty
Sabres trade Eichel to Golden Knights after long dispute
VGK have $12 million in LTIR space
I think the return in the trade is about as good as they could have hoped. Krebs is a really good prospect and Tuch is a solid NHL player and only 25. 1st round pick is always nice, now they have 3.
So probably a decent start with young players:
Krebs
Cozens
Tuch
Dahlin
Power
Quinn (didnt have high hopes for him but ripping it up in the AHL so far)
Peterka
Mittelstadt
Samuelsson
Asplund
Olofsson
Johnson
Luukkonen (G)
Levi (G)
Along with likely a top 5 pick this year and 2 other first rounders.
Its enough to hopefully get started and turn it around. They still need to develop properly and also draft better (a fan could have done better than they have, but their crappy development also is a big factor in their drafts looking poor)
Glad LA didn't trade for him. Was a time when I very much wanted that to happen.
I really don’t give a shit about rumours and so called insider info. The kid is young and has time to mature.
I know it’s shocking to see a young person that lacks maturity…Very rare.
If he fully regains his health Vegas will be a huge winner…
There are questions of durability... He has had 2 non-contact injuries at training camps. Also had some sort of "ab" injury when the NHL shut down in March 2020 and apparently it wasnt healed when they started up again 10 months later in January 2021.
He and OReilly didnt like each other. The team immediately factioned off in 2015 when all the pieces came in. Eichel and Reinhart followed Kane and Bogosian. They would party a lot, play a shit-ton of video games, Eichel and Kane blew off practices. The other faction was OReilly, Gionta, Gorges, Okposo, following coach Bylsma etc, who stayed at the rink to work extra. OReilly wanted to grab the reins and be captain. When they were shitty because Phil Housley was the coach, and the factioned team gave up on their 2nd coach and was losing every game, OReilly took bullets for the team in the media every single day while Eichel hid and the Sabres entitled him to do that. That is when OReilly begged-out. It had to be miserable.
He and the team have tangibly quit on 3 coaches in his time.
And Eichel has a major substance abuse problem.
It is possible that he matures and finds his place. He has immense talent and physical ability, no doubt. At his best, he is the best player in the trade and can get 100 points and be in the MVP convo. I have been hoping he matures into a pro for 6 years. You have to hope that Vegas has the in-room leadership to pin Eichel down. I always get nervous with attitude when it comes to NCAA products.
He reminds me more of Tyler Seguin than Connor McDavid.
Maybe the new start re-calibrates his professional disposition.
And yes, if I were Eichel, I would be thrilled to be away from the Sabres. But I do think they are better off without him (could it had been worse than it was with him?)
Thanks, as I don't follow the NHL like I use too, but always watch the Olympics and the World JR.s(That when I saw Eichel play)
Coyotes face possible eviction from arena for unpaid bills worth reported $1.3 million US
2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
Quarantine laws in China could kill NHL participation in Olympics: report
He's 36. Will he be able to score 40 goals the next few years? That just doesn't sound like a possibility to me.
Anyone?
I think he actually started playing defense a few years ago when I watched a bunch of Caps games, not sure how that's going now.