It's Hockey Season!!

“It would be nice, but the question is which cities. What it might succeed in doing is siphoning off some good NHL players for a few season until it tanks.”

“It still feels weird with no hockey on TV, being it's January and all...”

““It still feels weird with no hockey on TV, being it's January and all...”
PhantomSoul
6:31:31 PM
1/17/05
ignore this user

It's going to feel even weirder this spring with no playoffs. :(”

“Interesting read, and it has some other interesting (though not encouraging) tidbits of information. Let's hope they can get it done.

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/10678180.htm”

“it just plain sucks. Meanwhile, minor league hockey teams like the Reading Royals are selling out their games.”

“Our hockey package for the Lightning is supposed to begin on the 27th. D@mn, I miss hockey!!!!!!!!”

“The Phantoms are averaging 5-6,000 a game, well under capacity for the 14,000 seat Spectrum. They drew 8,000 on a Friday night when I went with my staff.

I thought with the strike the Phantoms would be doing a lot better than that. I would have expected 10,000 as an average.

The Phantoms naturally draw a lot of families because of the cheaper ticket prices. At times the NOISE sign on the scoreboard creates a high-pitched scream that does not sit well with adult eardrums. Other than that, hockey is hockey. The kids make a few more mistakes, and hopefully learn from them. But the red light comes on when the puck's in the net.

So I don't know what Flyers fans are doing this winter, but they ain't coming out in droves for a hockey fix.

Unfortunately for geezr and tango, there are no minor league teams in Florida, at least that I'm aware of.”

“Geobeet, no minor league hockey, but there is a figure-skating arena several blocks away.”

“The Soveriegn Center in Reading only seats about 9,000 for hockey games.”

“The NHL labour talks resumed Wednesday - at O'Hare Airport. According to sources, NHL Players' Association president Trevor Linden , NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin and outside counsel John McCambridge were meeting in an airport lounge with NHL board of governors chairman Harley Hotchkiss, NHL executive vice-president Bill Daly and league outside counsel Bob Batterman.”

“O'Hare is the undisclosed location away from the media??? WTF???”

“I thought they'd meet in a shack on Great Bear Lake, from the Daily News story.”

“Report from the meeting:

Owners, players groups to continue meeting today

By ED MORAN

morane@phillynews.com


They met for a little more than 5 hours and when they were finished they were tight-lipped.

But when they were done yesterday afternoon, they promised to meet again today, and that, believe it or not, is the most progress that has been made between the NHL and the players' union since Sept. 9, the last meeting before the NHL lockout was imposed on Sept. 15.

"We engaged in good dialogue today and will continue our discussions in the near future," said Vancouver Canucks center Trevor Linden, president of the players association whose initiative Monday resulted in the first meeting between the two sides since Dec. 14. "We will not make any further comment at this time."

Last night, after checking with the players union, Flyers player representative Robert Esche said, "I know today that both parties felt that good ground was made and at least they were talking. There were some good things discussed but no proposals.

"We're just trying to sift through some things and get to some common ground. I know for a fact that we haven't changed our stance, we're 110 percent behind our executive committee as far as the salary cap goes.

"But I don't think they even talked about proposals. They're trying to figure out exactly what each side needs and exploring issues like how detrimental a season off would be. But at least that's something in the right direction.

"They have to figure out what's good for the league and what direction we're going in."

The salary cap has been the main sticking point between the sides. The owners say they cannot operate without a cap and the players union says it would not agree to a collective bargaining agreement if a cap is included.

While there was a lack of information available about details of yesterday's meeting in Chicago, no news in this case is good news. After the last meeting, which was held in Toronto, both sides rejected the other's respective last offers and followed that with a continued war of words and official silence.

No talks were scheduled and the season was quietly slipping away until Linden approached the NHLPA and suggested a meeting to be held without the two main protagonists in the situation, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and union chief Bob Goodenow.

Linden, who has had a long relationship with Harley Hotchkiss, a part-owner of the Calgary Flames and chairman of the NHL Board of Governors, asked for a small group meeting with Hotchkiss, league executive vice president Bill Daly and outside league counsel Bob Batterman. In addition to Linden, the players association was represented by NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin and the union's outside counsel, John McCambridge.

The meeting's location was intended to be a secret but word leaked out that it was being held at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

The meeting started at 11 a.m. and ended shortly after 4 p.m. When the parties emerged, they were met by reporters but said very little. In a statement e-mailed by the league, Hotchkiss said:

"We credit Trevor Linden's initiative in requesting this session, which was informal, open and professional and which resulted in a constructive exchange of viewpoints."

The statement also quoted Daly: "We appreciate the initiative Trevor Linden took in arranging this meeting. The parties had a good, candid dialogue, and we intend to talk again. Out of respect for the process, we have no further comment at this time."

There was no indication when another meeting would take place. Most observers believe that if a deal is not done soon, at least by the end of the month, there is no chance for a season of any kind.

The league has not yet set a date that would trigger a cancellation and sources yesterday said there is talk of a 30-game season being acceptable to the league.

The lockout is in its 127th day and 662 games have been canceled. The 1994-95 lockout ended in mid-January, in time for a 48-game schedule.

On Tuesday, NHL vice president for hockey operations Mike Murphy told the Toronto Sun that the league is hoping for a 36-game schedule if a deal can get done in a week to 10 days. The regular season, he said, could start Feb. 1 and end in mid-April.”

“A failure to break the ice

Sides don't sound optimistic after talks break off

By ED MORAN

morane@phillynews.com


What began to seem like a crack developing in the barrier between the NHL and the players union appears to have resealed for now.

After 2 days of talking, a small-group negotiation between select representatives of the league and the union ended yesterday on a less-than-encouraging note.

"We've had 2 good days of communication," NHL executive vice president Bill Daly said after talks in Toronto broke off. "But we still have very strong philosophical differences. I can't say we're any closer. We don't have anything scheduled."

Later, Daly added in a statement released by the league that "the lines of communication are still open and we're going to continue to work on it."

However, Ted Saskin, senior director of the union, sounded less hopeful. Today marks the 128th day of the lockout.

"The differences of opinion remain, and they're differences that are strongly felt between the respective sides,'' he said. "There's enough areas of disagreement between us that certainly are not allowing us to make much progess.''

The small-group sessions began Wednesday in a Chicago airport lounge and continued yesterday at an airport hotel in Toronto.

Yesterday's meeting began just after 11 a.m. and was generating significant optimism. The back-to-back meetings were the first the sides have had since August. Reports circulated all day about the details of the meeting, everything from a new union deal on the table to teams notifying players to prepare to return to work.

All that ended when the meeting broke up and the reports were denied by those involved.

The meetings were instigated by Trevor Linden, president of the union, in the hope that a small group that excluded commissioner Gary Bettman and union chief Bob Goodenow could find a way to break the stalemate over the issue of a salary cap.

The league is determined not to make a deal that does not contain an element of cost certainty in the form of a salary cap, something the players have said they will continue to reject.

Linden last night released a statement similar to the league's: "We completed a second day of discussion today. We remain divided philosophically and have not scheduled further talks.''

In attendance yesterday were Linden, Saskin, Daly and labor lawyers from both sides. Harley Hotchkiss, chairman of the NHL board of governors, was attending a funeral in Calgary and did not attend the meeting.

Daly called the meetings "the best dynamic to date in this process. I give Trevor Linden a lot of credit for bringing us together again."

Asked what the two sides had talked about, Daly answered, "We just continue to work very hard at trying to satisfy both parties.''”

“IMO unless something is done soon you can say goodbye to the NHL next yr also.

BTW if not agreement is reached theis will be the first yr since 1919 that there hasn't been a Stanley Cup!!”

“WTF are these guy's problem. If this keeps up when a settlement finally does come, there might not be a large enough fan base to keep the league going then everyone losses, owners, players, and fans. I realize that labor disputes are hard to settle, but compromises need to be made.”

“WTF are these guy's problem.
lumberzac
9:22:31 AM
1/21/05

Money it's a crime
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie
Money so they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a rise it's no surprise that they're
giving none away”

“The other half of the problem is that players do not want to risk injury, because that would zap their earning ability down the road. So the fan pays more money to get in and sees an inferior level of play.

Joni Pitkanen was with the Flyers last year and was farmed out to the Phantoms this season. So he's playing hockey instead of being idle, but he rarely gets involved physically. The Phantoms fans let him know it, too. It's a shame, because he has the second highest plus-minus rating on the team. You can only wonder how good he could be if he really let it go. But he doesn't want to risk losing the nest egg.”

“Be still my beating heart. The Phantoms won a game. Okay, so it was only the River Rats and they only won, 3-2, but it's a win!”

“You're welcome Geo.

Lets see if the Rats can break their 11 game losing streak record.
last edited: 1/25/05 3:05:30 PM”

“All contributions graciously accepted.”

“I guess I should get a ticket to a River Rats game in order to see the Phantoms win.”

“lol”

“The night I attend, the Rats will start a win streak!”

“At least the Rats aren't as bad as Utah.”

“The Canadian Press - Jan 25, 8:10 pm EST
More Photos


TORONTO (CP) - Labour talks resume Wednesday in Toronto, but there won't be a new proposal from the league as some had expected.

"Both parties agreed at last week's meeting that the time for formal proposals, at least during this process, may be behind us and we should try to sit at the table and discuss through the issues and maybe jointly craft something that might work," Bill Daly, the NHL's executive vice-president and chief legal officer, said Tuesday from New York.

"And that's what we're going to try to continue to do."”

“I don't think it's going to happen.

Maybe not even next season. :o0”

“The Rats finally won one last night in overtime against Worcester.”

“From Ticketmaster:

On Sale Soon

Check out these event(s) that matched your interests, and are going on sale soon!

Pittsburgh Penguins Alumni vs Team Labatts
Hersheypark Arena
Hershey, PA
Sat, 02/19/05
On Sale Mon, 01/24/05”

“I wonder who's playing for the Pens.

Talks broke down again. boo hoo hoo”

“01.28.05 Outstanding performances by Tulsa’s Angela Ruggiero, Bossier-Shreveport’s Dan Wildfong and Colorado’s Tyler Weiman highlighted a wild Friday evening of CHL action. Ruggiero, a former Olympic Gold Medal winner with Team USA, had an assist and was a plus 2 in the Oilers 7-2 home win over Rio Grande Valley, becoming the first non-goaltender to play professionally in North America. Wildfong led the Mudbugs to a dramatic 4-3 come from behind home win over Laredo in front of a CHL season-high crowd of 12,430, while Weiman tied a CHL single season record by recording his eighth shutout of the season in a 4-0 win at Topeka.
In Tulsa, defensewoman Ruggiero’s appearance with brother and goaltender Bill became the focus of intense national media attention.
last edited: 1/29/05 7:57:40 AM”

“The NHL's latest salary-cap proposal to end the season-long lockout was rejected Wednesday by the players' union, which came back with its own idea: Bring commissioner Gary Bettman to the bargaining table.

Bettman accepted, and is set to rejoin the talks Thursday for the first time since Dec. 14. He'll meet with union head Bob Goodenow.

In turning down the league's offer, the union reiterated it won't accept a salary cap as a solution.”

“at this point who cares. If they aren't careful they will end up cancelling next season also.

Hockey is pretty much low sport on the totem pole when compared to the other sports. I do rank it higher than the NBA though.

The only people really missing the sport is the ones in the town where they play. Unless you an nut like Tango..I mean that in the nicest way ;)”

“LOL poor tango, she is all quit all day long then meanie geo just had to bring this back up.

sic um tango!”

“I miss my Flyers.”

“I miss the Devils.”

“I miss the Flyers and Devils beating on each other”

“I do too, but not as much as the competition between the Devils, Islanders, and Rangers. What a great rivalry.”

“Hmmm, think I need to go to a Phantoms game soon.”

“Did the Jets (Winnepeg) ever play the Sharks (San Jose?) The organist could have had a fun night, eh?”

“When you're a Jet you're a Jet all the way...”

“I was hoping the WHA would take off but they've only announced 6 possible teams for next seasion.”

“Surprisingly enough I haven't missed the NHL at all this year. I'm hoping MLB takes the year off too. LOL!”

“Nooooooooooooo, not MLB!”

“OK, not MLB. Just the Phillies. LOL!”

“I miss the Pens, and the Avalanche and the Devils and most of the rest! Jeez I am lost on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights!! ~~Yes still~~!!”

“Let them eat lumber, right Tango?”

“Yep that's how I see it!”