2012 NHL Offseason Thread: ROCK OUT WITH YOUR LOCKOUT

[Mazmaz]

How does one learn about Fantasy sports?

[Judai]

I'm in for any and all leagues.

This.

I hope we are still using keepers in the ESPN league though!

[Kashka]

I'd like to be back in the ESPN league next year. Have to maintain my status as Judai's white whale.

[Callisto]

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/1507/imagefbn.jpg

For isla... Or whoever asked about colored hockey tape

I generally try to be loyal to Renfrew because they make the best tape, but the two colors I need they don't make

[Sepukku]

Im just shocked Walmarts in Canada have hockey tape, my Walmart doesn't carry anything hockey, not even street hockey plastic nets/balls. You can get more hunting camo shit than anywhere else on Earth though.

[Callisto]

http://spectorshockey.net/blog/in-de...-gary-bettman/

decent read

[Vaspinne]

I liked this video until they dissed Ottawa and said Go Leafs. Everything else is pretty accurate

[Judai]

I'd like to be back in the ESPN league next year. Have to maintain my status as Judai's white whale.

From hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.

[NynJa]

Im just shocked Walmarts in Canada have hockey tape, my Walmart doesn't carry anything hockey, not even street hockey plastic nets/balls. You can get more hunting camo shit than anywhere else on Earth though.

Thats cause no one in pittsburgh cares about hockey

[Zubuis]

I can do ESPN league if they actually play this year

[isladar]

http://spectorshockey.net/blog/in-de...-gary-bettman/

decent read

That was pretty interesting, actually. I guess hackeygrogs are just as psychotic about THE WAY IT WAS WHEN I WAS A KID that anyone in Bettman's position would be vilified. Also I realize I've been avoiding this thread because I'm too fucking nervous about there being a lockout.

[Ishido]

http://spectorshockey.net/blog/in-de...-gary-bettman/

decent read

Counterpoint

I honestly don't hate Bettman, I understand why he does what he does, and he has worked to help hockey, but my god if he doesn't come off as an extremely unlikeable individual.

[BadKarma]

Counterpoint

I honestly don't hate Bettman, I understand why he does what he does, and he has worked to help hockey, but my god if he doesn't come off as an extremely unlikeable individual.

When one GM has seen two lockouts in less then a decade its time for a change

[Callisto]

When one GM has seen two lockouts in less then a decade its time for a change

Again, how is that his fault? He is simply the representative of the owners. If the owners collectively want a lockout, there's going to be a lockout, regardless of who their mouthpiece is. Firing him and hiring someone else would yield zero change in terms of CBA issues.

[BadKarma]

Again, how is that his fault? He is simply the representative of the owners. If the owners collectively want a lockout, there's going to be a lockout, regardless of who their mouthpiece is. Firing him and hiring someone else would yield zero change in terms of CBA issues.

While not hinging solely on him, please explain to me how he is exempt from blame.

You call him a mouthpiece, and in some respects that may be true, but him being the commissioner of the league does allow him to have some sway in whichever way that talks go.

Also; not every owner enjoys Bettman, and there are more then a few who would like to see his ass booted out the door.

[Callisto]

Things like the TV contacts, that's all him, but it's not like a lockout does anything for him. If anything it makes the game even harder to sell, and the league would lose a boatload on the loss of the WC if the season got wiped. The only single benefit to him for a lockout happening is that he would have held up the owners' demands without blinking, which again would be expected of that role regardless of who was in it. Every other single aspect of a lockout would just make his job even more of a pain in the ass, there's no upside.

[Palin]

Things like the TV contacts, that's all him, but it's not like a lockout does anything for him. If anything it makes the game even harder to sell, and the league would lose a boatload on the loss of the WC if the season got wiped. The only single benefit to him for a lockout happening is that he would have held up the owners' demands without blinking, which again would be expected of that role regardless of who was in it. Every other single aspect of a lockout would just make his job even more of a pain in the ass, there's no upside.

This. Blame Snider and Jacobs if you want to blame anyone.

[Callisto]

For that matter, re: the thing Ishido posted, I don't even see how that's a knock against him, he was using every bit of leverage he had to get the NHL as much money as he could from an outside company. If he didn't do so that'd possibly make him nicer, but it'd definitely make him incompetent at his job.

[Ishido]

For that matter, re: the thing Ishido posted, I don't even see how that's a knock against him, he was using every bit of leverage he had to get the NHL as much money as he could from an outside company. If he didn't do so that'd possibly make him nicer, but it'd definitely make him incompetent at his job.

It's a knock against him as a person (to me), but I agree with you in that he is doing because it's his job. Which he is quite competent at, which is unfortunate because if he wasn't we might have a longer NHL season this year, or have one at all.

In reality there isn't a lot to get mad at, people are doing what they do, and things are going the way they do. The owners are proposing a league that makes them more money/makes it easier to operate in more diverse markets, while the players are proposing something that makes them less money while making it possible to operate in more markets.

Not to take a side via what I'm saying now, but it's interesting that people take the side of people who make millions of dollars by playing a sport (vs millionaires and billionaires of varying backgrounds).

[vagus]

Almost 2 weeks till training camp. We starting to get worried yet?