82 replies to this topic

[Dark Knight]

No consensus for NHL GMs on schedule

The league's 30 general managers wrapped up their meeting this afternoon without reaching an agreement on changing the schedule.

TSN Story >>
Sportsnet Story with Trade Rumors >>

[DropThePuck]

"I hate it," goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. "I hate not going to play teams like Montreal and Toronto. It's not right. I hope we come to the time where we're going to change it."
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"Like everything else in this world, there's always room for improvement," Penner said. "That would be beneficial for the game. The fans need to see every team at least once during the year."

<link to LAT article posted in Media Roundup>

[Duckette]

"I got a bull's-eye on my head," he said. "I get hit in the head but I can't hit the net.

Poor Todd! I was wondering what happened to him, but was glad to hear he came back and scored

[Dark Knight]

The NHL's board of governors has decided not to change the league's unbalanced schedule or playoff format.

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[DropThePuck]

I don't want to be Sportsnet's version of the Grinch that Stole Sean Avery's broadcast career, but colour me unconvinced.
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But the game appears to be struggling slightly at the gate and early returns indicate a massive falloff in television viewing in both Canada and the United States.
...
It won't take long for advertisers and sponsors to pick up on the fact the game is projecting its latest revenue increase not because of ticket sales but because it's nicked its fans for ticket sales that come with higher prices attached.
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A deal with NBC network appears to have been extended, but getting a value figure on that is harder than trying to ascertain the league formula for revenue sharing, who's on long-term injury or just what area of a player's upper or lower body is in non-working order and for how long. Best guess is it's a face-saving gesture at best.

<link>

[DropThePuck]

Brian Burke, executive vice President and general manager of the Anaheim Ducks hockey team, talks with reporters after after a meeting of NHL owners and officials, Tuesday, Dec.5, 2006,in Palm Beach, Fla.
(AP Photo/Steve Mitchell)


NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, center, talks with reporters after meeting with NHL owners and officials, Tuesday, Dec.5, 2006,in Palm Beach, Fla.
(AP Photo/Steve Mitchell)


Geez, I hope they're able to change that unbalanced schedule.

[Dark Knight]

Strange angle for that shot of Bettman He looks like a dwarf

[PortBeach13]

A midget? lol

[DropThePuck]

Strange angle for that shot of Bettman He looks like a dwarf

Yup, just like Dopey ...

[GLOVESAVE35]

Strange angle for that shot of Bettman He looks like a dwarf

Looks like Pronger took that shot.

[Excoriar]

I was thinking Hobbit... but then that's just me...

[DropThePuck]

Tonight the Sharks will face the Los Angeles Kings for the fifth time in five weeks. It's this kind of crammed scheduling that prompted 19 NHL teams to vote for changing the format last week at the Board of Governors meetings.

Unfortunately for them, 11 teams voted the other way, leaving the motion one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for passage. Still, the sentiment for change is strong enough that Commissioner Gary Bettman said he is forming a committee to study the issue.
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Sharks Coach Ron Wilson endorsed an idea advocated by Lou Lamoriello, the New Jersey Devils president and general manager. Lamoriello suggested breaking the schedule into three segments, with the first and third devoted to divisional play and the middle portion to accommodate everything else.

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[DropThePuck]

The NHL Board of Governors also will meet in Dallas and will discuss, among other items, the ongoing schedule debate. Many clubs in the Western Conference favor fewer divisional games — teams currently play eight per season against their own division.

"I think it's an issue the league is really concerned about, really concerned about," Checketts said. "I'm certain there will be more discussion. The owners are very involved in it."
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"Now that collective bargaining is in the far-distant past, everybody is really focused on how do we make the game better," he said. "Scheduling and television, the way we market the game, the way we sell the game ... and cities, where it's working, where it's not. All of those things will continue to be highest priority."

<link>

[Dark Knight]

NHL won't change schedule for 2007-08

The NHL will stay the course and will not change the regular season schedule for at least one more year.

That was the decision made the the league's board of governors on Tuesday in an effort to deal with its much-debated scheduling concerns.

Read More >>

[wildwing94]

I hate this. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I'm sick of watching Dallas, LA, San Jose and Phoenix come into our buildings 4 times and watching them go there 4 times on TV. I hate seeing only 5 east coast teams come to the Ponda. Friggin' NHL.

[ahtikullervo]

I would love each team playing each other at least twice in a season - home and road.

[MrsBevo]

Boy, talk about your persistence in spite of no one else agreeing with you. 6 games with division rivals is sufficient. What it has done is completely dilute competition between divisions. If you think about it, the all star game will have eastern and western conference guys playing against each other who won't be playing against each other any other time this season.

The fact that two teams can play in the Stanley Cup Finals who haven't met in the past year and a half seems to diminish the rivalry aspect of the game. No bad blood. Heck, most of the player personnel will have changed. It's ridiculous.

[Lonewolf81LA]

I would love each team playing each other at least twice in a season - home and road.

We all do... And with the talk about the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens in 2009, the NHL better do something about it. It would be a REAL shame to not play in Montreal during their 100th anniversary.

[DropThePuck]

Challenges of job appear to be never-ending for Bettman

But while the collective bargaining agreement that ended the lockout has created a perception of parity and the rule changes implemented when play resumed have made for a more appealing product, Bettman faces a new set of problems.
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"You're talking about a whole list that's as long as my arm," said Brian Burke, the Ducks' general manager and a former NHL executive. "But to blame Bettman is like blaming a meteorologist for a drought.

"Compare us with what we're up against. Every kid in America plays baseball and football, even if it's touch football, and basketball. There are no barriers to entry in those sports. Our sport requires a major investment of money and time. We can't expect to be at the level of those other sports….

"Do I think we need a different guy driving the bus? Not a chance."
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"There are new challenges and new struggles ahead and no one knows that more than Gary," Leiweke said. "I'm personally optimistic he can define what we need to do to grow the sport.

"And that's what we need to do now. Until now, all we've been trying to do is recover. Now we need to grow."

<LA Times link>


As if you could get Burke and Leiweke to commit to anything critical of Bettman in print ...

[MrsBevo]

They want to expand the fan base but refuse to make changes that allow the East and West to see each other every year. I don't want to see a team just once every three years. That's ridiculous.

I understand travel issues but taking one more trip isn't going to make a huge difference. You want to grow, you make sure the entire NHL is accessible to every arena, and not just every 3 years.

[DropThePuck]

Habs, Senators stick Western rivals with a schedule that stinks

They already know that what they have isn't working. This much is clear, because two-thirds of National Hockey League governors voted Tuesday to change the league's division-heavy schedule. Then it came to the matter of a specific model, and they couldn't settle on one, so they gave up.

That's leadership, folks.

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[DropThePuck]

The NHL has forged "tentative agreements" with the players' association to modify parts of its drug-testing program, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said.

Daly said nothing has been finalized but general accord has been reached to increase the number of tests to which players can be subjected from two no-notice tests per year.

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[Dark Knight]

Actually Bettman made some sense in the interview on Vs. last night saying that a different schedule will be approved for 08-09, but because of the imminent relocation of the Pittsburgh team -- which will lead to realignment -- they decided the timing wasn't the best.

So we hang on for another year with a stupid sked and then we'll see what happens.

[DropThePuck]

"I'd like to see us play each team twice," the Detroit Red Wings' All-Star defenseman said Friday on the NHL's weekly conference call. "It would also be better for the fans, because they don't get to see some of the great players in the league" under the existing schedule, Lidstrom said.
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Asked how much longer he planned to play, Lidstrom said he would consider the example set by Chelios, the league's oldest player at age 45.

"I've got one year left (on his contract), and I'll see how I feel," Lidstrom said. "It's a great inspiration to us all watching (Chelios) ... I'll see if I can play that long, but I doubt it."

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[Dark Knight]

Instigator major focus at GM meetings

''That's an agenda item that I requested,'' Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke said after the first day wrapped up. ''I think we need to raise the number of instigator penalties a player can take before getting suspended. I do not favour the elimination of the penalty but I think we've got to get to five or six before a player gets suspended so they can do their jobs and protect their teammates. ..

''In our group today, there are six of us in there, I'd say our group was on board for that.''

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