[Stein]

srotaneS, on 21 June 2010 - 10:15 PM, said:

So what kind of hockey game do you have to watch for it to not be boring?

An NBC game that doesn't show the same five or six teams over and over would be a good start. Outside of the Hawks and Wings, how many teams in the West have been featured on NBC during the regular season more than once? None that I can think of off the top of my head.

I've been a Caps fan for decades and I could care less about this latest edition of the Bettman Classic. For something that was supposed to not be overdone so it can remain a special event (according to Bettman), it's already been run into the ground. On here we have fans whose passion is rivaled by few saying they probably won't be watching. How many people who aren't as into hockey as we are will look and say, "Capitals against Penguins... again?" and not watch? You can't grow the League showing the same Atlantic Division teams over and over. Can anyone recall the last time a team from the Northwest was in an NBC Sunday afternoon game? I can't either.

Need I bring it up again that the Mummer's Parade had more viewers in Philadelphia than Winter Classic III? That says a lot more than the Bettman-approved media and his apologists will ever admit.

[Stein]

srotaneS, on 22 June 2010 - 03:31 PM, said:

do you enjoy watching games outside of caps games? If you turn the TV on and there is a hockey game on, but not Washington, will you watch?

All I am saying is that this is marketed to obviously specific teams fan bases and the casual hockey fan. I'm not trying to one up anyone because I like watching hockey, I'm just saying I love watching the outdoor classic each year because it's unique to the other 2000+ games being shown that year. The teams playing mean little to me.

Honestly, I used to watch as much as I could (two or three games per night on Center Ice) until the credibility of the League began to really suffer in my opinion, mostly centered around Campbell's dart-board system of justice and discipline, awarding standings points for losing (two losses can equal a win... seriously?) and deciding a team game with an individual competition. After the Cooke non-suspension and the Ovechkin suspension from pushing Campbell, I didn't watch another hockey game until the playoffs. After that embarrassment game seven, the only other game where I watched more than about ten minutes was game seven of the SCF. It's also a big reason I wasn't around here much... I was completely over the NHL and wanted nothing to do with it for a month or so. I didn't feel the need to make a grand exit or return, I just came back when I felt like it.

I don't enjoy [NHL] hockey as much as I used to. Gary Bettman tells me the Winter Classic is a special event, but I've learned not to believe him when he says something is good for the sport as a whole. If I lived where there was minor league hockey, I'd be all over it as I was when I lived in Richmond, VA going to ECHL/UHL/SPHL games... but unfortunately, there's only NHL around me now. Hell, I can see MSG (actually, MSG-adjacent One Penn Plaza) across the river from my living room as I type this.

I refuse to say Bettman has won, but when a player can knock another out for a big chunk of the season and walk away scott-free without so much as 2:00 in the bin, yet another with no prior record gets suspended for hitting a player in the head (who finishes the game with no ill effects) gets multiple games? Throw in that Stephen Walkom returned to the ice this past season, and under his watch, one team was undefeated to the tune of 11-0, including two playoff wins. It's very hard to believe that things are fair and equal around the NHL. I'm not going to invest near as much time, energy or money as I used to into something that I go into wondering if one team will get screwed over at some point as if it was the WWF on ice. I'm certainly not going to pay more attention to one game more than another just because of the gimmick that it's outdoors.

Is that what fans really want these days? Gimmicks like an outdoor game and the shootout? When the NHL expends more effort marketing a single game over their Championship series... deciding arguably the greatest tournament and trophy in all of sports... there's something wrong with their priorities.

This point has been edited by Stein: 22 June 2010 - 04:06 PM

[srotaneS]

Quote

Is that what fans really want these days? Gimmicks like an outdoor game and the shootout? When the NHL expends more effort marketing a single game over their Championship series... deciding arguably the greatest tournament and trophy in all of sports... there's something wrong with their priorities.

haha I've always argued that I love the shootout, as long as my team isn't in it!!

I don't disagree, that for many old school hockey fans, the transition into the new NHL has been a trying experience, and you've portrayed that well. I just have not had as bad of a transition. I played both ice hockey and inline hockey growing up, so I had the finesse mentality engrained in my mind from the no obstruction rules of competitive inline hockey, so I guess I got a mild transition into the European style.

Sorry to go off-topic, but what are your thoughts on starting the season overseas Stein? Better or worse than the Winter Classic?

[Stein]

srotaneS, on 22 June 2010 - 04:09 PM, said:

Sorry to go off-topic, but what are your thoughts on starting the season overseas Stein? Better or worse than the Winter Classic?

Worse... as much of a gimmick as it is, at least the Winter Classic takes place in North America.

What purpose does it serve to play games that count in the standings overseas? The ratings for those games have been nothing to shake a stick at, and all it does is take away a home game for the fans of those teams. They aren't feeling out the market for expansion (I hope), and as a cash grab, can it really bring that much money into the NHL when you consider how much it costs to transport 20% of the League to Europe for a week or two?

[srotaneS]

Stein, on 22 June 2010 - 05:16 PM, said:

Worse... as much of a gimmick as it is, at least the Winter Classic takes place in North America.

What purpose does it serve to play games that count in the standings overseas? The ratings for those games have been nothing to shake a stick at, and all it does is take away a home game for the fans of those teams. They aren't feeling out the market for expansion (I hope), and as a cash grab, can it really bring that much money into the NHL when you consider how much it costs to transport 20% of the League to Europe for a week or two?

I'm on board with you here.. I can't stand it, and I feel like there is a big team hangover for those who do that.

[CoyoteQ]

srotaneS, on 22 June 2010 - 01:18 PM, said:

I'm on board with you here.. I can't stand it, and I feel like there is a big team hangover for those who do that.

Yeah...there has to be some serious jetlag going on when they first get back. To start off the season with a bad case of jetleg just plain sucks.

[scotta99fan]

Steelwool, on 16 June 2010 - 12:15 PM, said:

No, it doesn't suddenly make is worthless crap. It was that right from the start in Edmonton when the first one was held between them and the Canadiens.
The fact that 2 teams have to play in potentially disasterous conditions for 1 game, while the remaining 28 don't is a joke, considering those points (possibly 3 of them) may make or break a playoff position.
Make the AllStar game the outdoor "classic", and then I'd be ok with it.

The Winter Classic is a real NHL game, the All Star game is no more than a goal fest, not competetive hockey. The conditions (ice) I'm sure is carefully monitored. Worked in Mystery, Alaska ;)

[gcc]

BRichards19, on 06 June 2010 - 09:49 PM, said:

Penguins twice, hearing the Caps get it twice, I'm already over it.

What a farce ! Just watched Mario , Crosby and "the little big man" making the announcement. Just another "cash grab" for this "no money" league !!

[RobAvs33]

bMac, on 13 June 2010 - 05:23 PM, said:

I would like to see the Original Six get a chance to face off in these games first. Last years at Fenway was great, but I think it would have been much better if they included the Habs, Leafs, Rangers, Hawks or Wings instead of Philly.

Let the originals play it, then spread it out.

The Wings and Hawks played the year before, I can't wait till the Heritage Classic.. if that's even going ahead still

[Nabby20]

Possiable that they want more europe interest to make a world wide league or just a strange thought in my head. Since thé khl is looking to make an all Europe league

[okeeffe4]

Due to all of his interference it looks to me as though Bettman is trying to become the Bud Selig of hockey.
The *winter classic* is a farce and he keeps fucking around with so many other parts of the game it isn't funny.
It seems that he thinks hockey fans can't appreciate the excitement of great goal tending and *need* games to be 8-6 in order to be
entertained.
He really needs to go back to the NBA.

[Cujorulesdtown90]

I used to like it, but im getting sick of sid vs. ovy really fast.... either get new teams, or scrap it and make the ASG a outdoor game, I'd personally rather have that, you would atleast get to see different players, while still cashing in on sid and ovechkin.

Of all of them, the heritage classic and bos/phi have been the best outdoor games IMO.

This point has been edited by Cujorulesdtown90: 23 August 2010 - 08:14 AM

[Sfak8]

I remember the first Winter Classic. I woke up 2 hours earlier so I wont miss it, ordered pizza. But after the first 2, I'm like bleh. I still enjoy them. But it lost some of its luster.

[keon67]

Still waiting to get one in Toronto. I guess Bettman feels the same old teams playing is the best way to go.

[jacketsfan77]

I watched the first one more than any since and will probably not watch one with a ton of intensity unless the Blue Jackets are involved. It's my last good day of college football for the season so I devote the majority of my attention to bowl games on January 1.

[FLYBOY]

a team shouldn't be there twice already, nuff said