Short term yes but it will be interesting to see what happens in 10-15 years when the newness wears off.

Top 25 arena in the world in revenue. It will be fine for a while. And honestly this isn't the 80's. Newness wears off fast. People go because it attracts good shows and events.

I am not convinced an NHL or NBA team in KC would be a success.

I disagree especially if the team is a winner. Who would have thought Sporting KC would do so well? The Royals continue to suck and the Chiefs are giving their fans the bird eventually people will find other things to spend money on.

I want it to happen. Hey I love Kansas City and their teams. I am just skeptical is all.

Sporting tickets are pretty reasonable and there are 17-20 home games. That is a far cry from the nature of the NHL and NBA seasons.

Not having an anchor tenant > having a struggling NBA or NHL team.

Time will tell I suppose.

Do your high schools have hockey teams or a local minor leauge?

There's very few high school's that have club teams and theres a minor league team in Independence that draws well.

That's a big factor, hockey rules and style of play can be off putting for people unfamiliar with the sport. Just curios.

Minor league yes. And the team seems to do real well.

I remember me and my dad gong to lot of Blades games back in the day.

My high school started hockey as an intramural a while back, but I doubt it's ever amounted to much. The Mavs should help, since they have youth hockey (Jr Mavs) in the same arena... and I believe there's another youth league on the Kansas side.

Apropos of nothing, but I found this funny. Apparently the Islanders press release stated the the name and logo will not change. Which is fine, I guess, except that the image of Long Island in the current logo does not include Queens, or Brooklyn.

They need to go back to this queer logo to go along with the shitty one the Nets have.
http://content.sportslogos.net/logos/1/19/full/890.gif

An NHL team might come to KC but they're probably going to move it back to Quebec City.

Not really. From all accounts, Wang tried keeping the Islanders in Long Island. However, when the Lighthouse Project was voted down, that pretty much meant the end of the Isles in Long Island.

Winter Classic is cancelled. I'd link it, but I don't care enough.

Sounds like there may have made some actual progress today. A group of players met without Bettman and Fehr, and the buzz is that it went well. Keep your fingers crossed.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=410987

garbage league.

I hate to be ChiefsandO'sfan, but...

Kevin DeLury
‏@TheNYRBlog
Source telling me NHL podium in hotel is for press conference tomorrow announcing CBA agreement.

Steve Burton
‏@WBZSteveBurton
#CBA negotiations are strenous, but are closer and closer. Fans will have NHL hockey by Christmas, very likely games on Christmas day.

Matthew Barnaby
‏@MattBarnaby3636
Just got a text from owners side that his guess is season starts on dec 26th.

Take it all with a grain of salt, but sounds promising.

Well how about that. I'll believe it when I see it.

Me too but it looks better then it did. The problem is when the shitheads Bettman, Leopold and Fehr get involved.

:grovel:

They could still get in 50 games, probably more by making up some games during the All Star break.... but, I'm pretty 'meh' about it at this point.

I picture Bettman and Fehr in a room full of people... posturing, using the media, etc; then after several months of this, they look around and notice they're the only people left in the room, and they're forced to come to the same conclusion as everyone else, which is about a 50/50 split.

Dumbasses.

Sounds like it was almost the opposite of that. They looked around and realized that they were the only ones left, so they bailed out and got a completely new group to come in and work it out.

Correct

I need some Blues hockey to watch since Missouri State basketball might be worst than Chiefs football this year.

I think they'll squeeze 40-50 games in.

The problem is a lot of the owners still want a training camp even if it's for a week. The difference with the NHL compared to other sports is that they rely heavily on training camp because the bottom 6 and 3rd pairing are usually not set in stone due to kids and rookies from the ECHL, WHL and AHL fighting for spots.

Wow, I didn't see this coming. Nancy boy Crosby is going to have to fly back from Europe for a good ol' Flyer ass kicking.

:clap:

I'd still keep a healthy dose of skepticism. We've been "close" before according to the media. And then there's this:

John Shannon
‏@JSportsnet
Can confirm NHLPA is insisting that Don Fehr return to the Negotiations...and if that's the case the Commissioner will be on other side.

Even better... I've hardly kept up with it at all lately. I've probably read one article on the NHL in the past month, and it was about how a mediator came in and within a few days said there was no helping those idiots. ROFL

Yep, people have been trying to call that shot since last winter. I originally predicted they would start the season with the Winter Classic, pretty much going off what the NBA did last year... too bad they still couldn't do that, even if it is the Wings.

Really hope they work it out.

This is the best Rangers team in 20 years.

I live in NYC (although I'm not a Rangers' fan) and I tell all my friends that are that it's just their luck. It's such a shame. Although if they get the 40-50 game season, Rangers could very well take the cup. They were completely out of gas in the ECF against the Devils. Although I'm still not sold on their defensive pairings.

Apparently Lusk took shots at Cuonzo last night in the presser.. swell times at the Q.

Atlantic Division was SOoooo close last season.

Flyers to Goalie = Chiefs to QB :deevee:

Well Zo did leave the cubbard bare, he couldn't recruit high school players worth a shit. But its going to be a long ass season.

This. From what I last read Bryz was playing like shit for whatever russian team he's been with during the lockout.

They certainly could. Got a much needed scorer in Nash for practically nothing.

Defensively I think they are fine if they get Sauer back but with concussions, you never know. If they don't then that's a bit of a problem. Not much depth there after the first three lines but not many teams have that depth. Mcdonagh might be a budding superstar and Staal was back to old form in the playoffs.

Just really optimistic about this year and of course they lock it out. Like the Chiefs don't cause me enough pain!

:deevee:

Philadelphia Flyers goalie and cosmonaut Ilya Bryzgalov is playing for CSKA Moscow of the KHL during the NHL lockout, although "playing" might be generous.
Bryz has appeared in six of the team's 23 games with a 2-4 record, a 2.92 GAA and a .892 save percentage. He's currently sitting behind Rastislav Stana, the KHL's top goalie with a 10-2 record in 15 games and a 1.58 GAA.

But Bryzgalov picked up a win against Amur last Friday; a 6-2 victory that saw him make 20 saves despite giving up a penalty shot goal to Dmitry Tarasov on a play in which Bryzgalov was penalized for throwing his stick.
Maybe that set off Bryzgalov. Maybe it's his lot in KHL life. Maybe the Russia media's been snippy with him. Whatever the case, he got Bryz'y with it in the team's postgame media availability, and claimed there is 'filth' being written about him.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...4043--nhl.html

Lol nice comparison and very true.

Is Pronger healthy yet? Haven't been keeping up on NHL news since the lockout because it just pisses me off.

They were very good last season, look very damn scary good this season with Nash. They are going to be very tough to beat.

I have heard he will likely retire. Who was the last goalie the Flyers had that was consistently good year to year, Hextal?

Fehr and Bettman back in? GOODBYE PROGRESS! GOODBYE SEASON!!!

I'd hope so by now but, not sure. Haven't been watching sports much at all lately.

Too painful.

Andrew Brandt ‏@adbrandt

Oh. RT @Real_ESPNLeBrun: Fehr says NHL left a voicemail message saying NHLPA counter wasn't acceptable. No need to stick around.

Kiss the season goodbye...bunch of stupid mother****ers...

NHL needs a break...last season was horrible and ever since the last lockout, the league has just gotten softer and more watered down. A canadian team will never hold up the cup again as long as NBC is covering the Stanley Cup Finals, an american team is always going to win it. It used to be such a better physical league, now I find it boring as hell.

LMAO

Just cancel the ****ing season and get it over with... :shake:

I thought there was plenty of good hockey last season, but as far as physical play is concerned, it's going down the same path as football, so I can see why that would turn off fans.

Just kill the season. These assholes are so goddamn incompetent....

Donald Fehr trying to kill NHL, he already wounded the hell out of MLB. Its shame the bastard is from Kansas City.

Yeah, that's the reason why a Canadian team hasn't won :rolleyes:

It was the NHL's fault that a STACKED Canucks team choked away the series against an inferior Boston team.

The CBA and salary cap have actually helped the Canadian teams compete, but bad management has plagued all of them besides the Canucks.

Sure, there was good exciting games. No denying that but it's hard to enjoy a league when they over analyze concussions and hitting more then the game itself, and it's sickening to see all the stars from my country ( Canada ) end up on teams like LA, Boston, San Jose when there's a plethora of solid canadian squads. Here in Toronto, there's not one player from this city or province (ontario) that's on the team, it's all americans and russians. It pisses me off, I just remember how the league was back in the 90s and early 2000s and it isn't the same at all. Frankly, I don't care if there's another season until they get this all figured out and get the NHL back to what it used to be.

Clearly Boston was the better team, no denying that. Yeah they've helped them but it doesn't help in the long run, you really think NBC is going to broadcast two canadian teams playing eachother. Hell no, I even said it in the off season. If there is a season, Rangers are winning the cup.

Had Gronk. Picked up Dreesen. He did shit. Cut him this week and grabbed Pitta.

Other league I have Tamme. That drive sucked.

OOPS

Bettman is the one killing the NHL. He has almost 2 decades on Fehr in that respect. The players got a good deal last time. The owners started negotiations with a completely ridiculous offer, used the lockout as a bargaining chip, then tried playing hardball a second time by giving the players "a last chance at an 82 game season" ...then when the players countered, the NHL shut them down and walked out.

I haven't paid much attention since then, and I'm sure Fehr's not helping, but Bettman and the owners completely ****ed it up months ago.

There is like 12 Canadians on the Leafs lol.

I'm not sure why you even give a shit that some of the Canadian stars play on American teams.

Just kill the league and start a new one. Everyone in charge of the NHL is a colossal failure.

there's zero players from ontario on the leafs, i give a shit because the american teams just get better and the canadians get worse

Its funny how the league that could least afford an extended lockout is the one doing this.

If you've got half an hour to burn, here's Bettman's press conference. I'll give him credit - he seems genuinely pissed and actually does a reasonable job of explaining why.

http://watch.tsn.ca/nhl/clip822014#clip822014

My knowledge of the NHL and the history of this process and relationship is very minimal but I sat down and watched that out of curiosity.

Bettman is pretty much universally disliked and there are probably good reasons for that but as someone ignorant to his past dealings he comes off as very sincere and its hard not to side with his perspective here.

Bettman is a piece of shit. You need to do a little bit more research on him I think.

Tell me more. What do you think he was offbase with in that video.

Where to begin. Well first off I don't usually side with players in these situations. I don't even this time. After making me miss an entire season less then 10 years ago both these sides can seriously go **** themselves. I am not arguing that everything he is asking for is outrageous.

The players offered a proposal and he and the owners didn't even come and see it. The closest thing to an extension of an olive branch and he didn't have the time to see it. There are other egos involved but his is as big as any of them and equates to an enormous part of the problem. Any of the owners who wants to give gets snuffed out by Bettman. He isn't about peace, he is about power.

The guy is trying to ADD more teams despite having to keep some of them on life support now. He doesn't care about stability, he cares about making more money now. The rulings that have been handed down over the years from the league office have been as consistent as Matt Cassel.

He let Colin Cambell be his right-hand man and discipline enforcer for years. An article came out proving Cambell was admitting to bias and running things the wrong way and Bettman did nothing. Check out the national schedule each week. The Rangers and Penguins every ****ing week. He claims he wants to grow the game yet does nothing but try to push up the top 4 markets and **** over the rest. The guy would shoot you down if it meant him finding a way to get the Rangers and Crosby in the finals at the same time.

Footnote, I am biased towards him since he tried to move the Devils out of NJ in 95 all the time lying about it and LIVING in NJ.

I am just touching on a very vague and brief part of what is wrong with Bettman. Issues from the previous lockout would add to this but I am not going to site them off the top of my head. The players are a joke too, but nobody beats out Bettman, not even Stern or Goodell.

I have basically sworn off following the NHL until this is resolved so I am not going to dive into old articles ect. to make my point. Just thinking about what this league is doing makes my blood boil. I can't handle thinking about it.

You can think what you want, but going off this one video and judging his intent off it is a mistake. In my opinion Bettman's intent is only to fill his own ego as much as possible. He knows how to put up a good face to those not looking closely enough though. Put Bettman and the jackass Fehr together and you get a disaster. Amazingly its not going to trump the last disaster, one Bettman was also in the middle of. Work stoppage number 4 for Gary Bettman and co.

They both need to get off their ****ing asses and get this shit done.

I'm pretty skeptical at this point. It's pretty clear that the owners are outright pissed at Fehr, and I have my doubts they're going to be willing to talk much for a while unless he's out of the picture.

Dater's a bit overdramatic at times, but here's a pretty good blog that shows the frustration even beat writers are feeling over this whole thing.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2012...a-talks/11993/

I don't see how the players deserve even the slightest bit of blame. It's the owners who have failed to negotiate in good faith, it's the owners who pull this lockout crap every time a CBA expires, and it's the owners who offered all the big contracts that they now don't want to honor.

From the little I've been paying attention, it seems like the owners pissed off the players a couple of times with their lowball offer, the "salvage the season" offer, then walking out after barely reading the counter.... the whole strategy reeks of arrogance, and some of the issues like contract length are much more about the owners saving themselves from themselves than actually fixing anything. That said, Fehr and the players need to get over any animosity.

When Fehr and Bettman and some of the other jackass owners step away, they gained huge momentum. Those bastards step back in and **** the whole thing up so shit and send it to hell. It pisses me off to no end. Some asses need to be ****ing fired over this shit.

Me too, im losing hope with all this bullshit. I'm hoping they at least get a last minute deal done.

He's kind of like Obama, or any politician for that matter... he's pretty good at talking the talk, but the history paints a completely different picture. He's currently dealing with his 3rd lockout in his 20 year tenure, and possibly his second cancelled season in 8 years. His strategy completely failed and has left the players insulted and unwilling to work with him, and not even a mediator could help them. I'd be pissed, too.

I'm no teedubya when it comes to conspiracy theories, and this is 5 years old, but it's still my all-time favorite article on Bettman, just to give you a little more insight...
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=dw-bettman012907

:D

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...2189--nhl.html

LET'S GET READY FOR SOME HOCKEY!!!

It ****ing back!

Sadly not a full season but 48 games will have to do... just glad the NHL is back. I don't watch the NBA and the NHL is what keeps me busy when football is no more.

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