Official NHL/hockey thread

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Originally Posted by DexDexter

Thanks everybody! Watching the game wasn't fun, it was actually quite painful, I mean my stomach was cramping and I was sweating all the time. That's how important national team hockey is for us. :)

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You think you were tight. Last Olympics, when the US tied the game with 2 or 3 minutes to go, you heard 33 Million people hold their breath and start sweating....no nation is as anally fixated on a hockey game as this one when the big game is on the line and the national team is on the ice. My stomach was churning until Crosby scored.

That said, watching the replay of the gold medal game I saw the Finn's in the stands after every goal and it is CLEAR you guys love your team and the sport. Not that the Swedes looking shocked didn't. Just the right guys won!

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

You think you were tight. Last Olympics, when the US tied the game with 2 or 3 minutes to go, you heard 33 Million people hold their breath and start sweating....no nation is as anally fixated on a hockey game as this one when the big game is on the line and the national team is on the ice. My stomach was churning until Crosby scored.

That said, watching the replay of the gold medal game I saw the Finn's in the stands after every goal and it is CLEAR you guys love your team and the sport. Not that the Swedes looking shocked didn't. Just the right guys won!

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:up:

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Originally Posted by Mark in Oshawa

You think you were tight. Last Olympics, when the US tied the game with 2 or 3 minutes to go, you heard 33 Million people hold their breath and start sweating....no nation is as anally fixated on a hockey game as this one when the big game is on the line and the national team is on the ice. My stomach was churning until Crosby scored.

That said, watching the replay of the gold medal game I saw the Finn's in the stands after every goal and it is CLEAR you guys love your team and the sport. Not that the Swedes looking shocked didn't. Just the right guys won!

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Yep, that's how it goes. BTW Hockey is number one sport only in two countries in the world, Finland and Canada so no wonder people sweat over there and here :)

Canucks made it to the finals.... I could be happy if I could tolerate Bros Sedin even the slighest thing :mark:

Is it true that NHL is coming back to Winnibeg ?? I can't remember but wasn't it Coyotes which was formerly Jets? But now Trashers are moving to Winnibeg? Please correct if I'm wrong. I'm just happy that it's one more to Canada :) ( Winnibeg is in Canada, right? ;) )

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Originally Posted by A.F.F.

Canucks made it to the finals.... I could be happy if I could tolerate Bros Sedin even the slighest thing :mark:

Is it true that NHL is coming back to Winnibeg ?? I can't remember but wasn't it Coyotes which was formerly Jets? But now Trashers are moving to Winnibeg? Please correct if I'm wrong. I'm just happy that it's one more to Canada :) ( Winnibeg is in Canada, right? ;) )

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Winnibeg?? Oh I think you mean Winnipeg...or is this some Finnish humour thing? lol

The latest I have heard is the Atlanta Thrashers (dopey name for a hockey team since the Thrasher in question is a little bird) who after 10 years or so of losing money hand over fist in a city that doesn't give a flying fidoo about most pro sports has been sold to a group called True North Sports who will relocate them to the MTS center in Downtown Winnipeg.

The good: An NHL team in a city that will passionately care about hockey is good. One of the Backers of True North is David Thompson. For those who read Forbes Mag and their annual accounting of the richest people on the planet, ole Dave pops up in the top 20 or something of Billionaires. He has cash. Lots of it.....and he will need it because here is the bad:

While there is no shortage of passion and love for hockey in Winnipeg, the NHL and the salaries they pay will mean the MTS center will need to be sold out pretty much solid and at a ticket price a hell of a lot higher than when the Jets were around. Winnipeg, even with their Metro area of population is only about 750000 so they would be one of the smallest markets in the NHL. What is more, the MTS Center only holds about 16000 and that is if you pay off the fire marshal. It is a new building, which replaced the Winnipeg Arena, but for some dumb reason, they didn't make it that extra 2000 seats it really needs to be a really decent sized NHL rink. It does however have boxes, but with Manitoba being sort of an Agricultural and crossroads center miles from no where really, it doesn't have the corporate climate to pay big bucks for all those private boxes the way the oil and gas industry fills the boxes in Edmonton and Calgary, or the big corps based out of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal support those. Winnipeg will be like Ottawa without the 19000 seats. If the Canadian dollar drops down to 70 cents US, Winnipeg will be in jeopardy unless David Thompson wants to write checks....for the red ink. The NHL and the stupid Salary Cap is an economically stupid outfit. Ya, they have cost certainty with the top of the food chain, so the Red Wings, Leafs and Flyers don't over spend; but the salary floor they agreed to almost guarantees owning about 10 of the 30 teams is almost always a money loser, and if the Canadian dollar drops below the US past a point, all but 3 Canadian teams are in the red with full buildings.

So yes...Winnipeg is likely going to have hockey. The Jets were a great team, with great fans, and for a while, one of the hottest hockey players ever in Teemu Selanne (Anyone who saw his goal celebration after winning the rookie record for goal scoring would love him!).

This weekend is big hockey people..Memorial Cup final Sunday...St. John Sea Dogs vs one of three teams (they all tied in round robin play as of today). Also, we will know the opposition for Vancouver for the final.....

It's going to be Winnipeg right after they get the team. Now it's Winnibeg :D

Good news about Winnipeg, now what about Quebec??

As for the NHL, good to see the Canucks in the Finals - they've been the best team all season - so deserve to win Lord Stanley's Cup!! Whether that happens is another matter. Boston seem to have their name on it....but it's about time the Cup returned to it's rightful home - Canada!!!

On Winnipeg etc...if there's any movement, it's Atlanta, and they may be the Manitoba Moose rather than the Winnipeg Jets, with the AHL team of the former name moving to St. John's. Québec's going to have to wait while the NHL denies the whole Phoenix thing didn't work out. And if there's movement, they aren't going to play with the conferences for at least a year, meaning Winnipeg/Manitoba would be in the Southeast Division. No doubt they'll report an increase in attendance for Southeast Division teams and deem the whole expansion down there a success! :D

On the playoffs...

You want a way to not support the Boston Bruins?

Live in Boston.

Fans will put you off in minutes. Retreated back to my usual Rangers pretty quickly. I'd love a great series, but for my sanity, I think I'd like Canucks in four so we can get past all those Facebook statuses. ;)

Really looking forward to a competitive, safe series in all seriousness. Been a surprising year of hockey when you really think about it. Never would have predicted anyone other than the Red Wings in the finals and even moreso I couldn't expect the "FIRE CLAUDE JULIEN" brigade to have a shot at winning the Cup under his very guidance.

Isn't Winnipeg quite a small city? Do they now have the resources to maintain a profitable NHL club? I remember when Teemu was playing there, they had a bad team, terrible arena, lacklustre attendance and no money.

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Originally Posted by DexDexter

Isn't Winnipeg quite a small city? Do they now have the resources to maintain a profitable NHL club? I remember when Teemu was playing there, they had a bad team, terrible arena, lacklustre attendance and no money.

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Yes, Winnipeg is quite small, about 700,000.
Can a team here be profitable? I think Mark summed it up pretty acurately a few posts back. I read or heard a few days ago (I wish I remember where) that all the Canadian teams are in the top 10 in the league in profitabitily and Winnipeg, if it got a team should be right up there as well.
Things have changed in the league and in our city since the Jets left. The league now has a salary cap. That, combined with the Canadian dollar being pretty much at par with the US dollar (15 yrs ago it was about .65US and the players contracts are all in US) gives a team here a chance to be competative. Also, the team previously didn't have rights to consession or parking money. The new owners (if the deal goes through) own the new arena (the old one was demolished a few years ago) so they have that going for them as well.
You're right about them usually being a bad team (dump & chase, dump & chase....man that was some boring hockey) but with the factors listed above changing things in their favour, I think they've got a chance here.
Two possible things holding them back are the size of the new arena (16,000?) being quite small by NHL standards, and that Winnipeg is known to be quite a wholesale (read - cheap) town. So will the fans fill the arena every game , paying NHL ticket prices after the initial jubilation wears off? Hard to say. People here have been talking about the return of the Jets for years now, and it's gotten loads of attention lately. There have been new rumours in the local papers here nearly every day for months now. People are getting really excited, but will they put their money into it?
Me? - my boys are Calgary & Montreal fans, so we might go to the occasional game when those teams are in town.
People here loved Teemu, one of I believe 6 players still in the league that played here before the team left. Do you remember Thomas Steen? He's still here and recently was elected one of our city councellors.