NHL discussion thread

[Ulyaoth]

Eh, it's nothing. The team is already back to nothing basically, they're not young anymore, tavares had a massive injury so who knows how good he'll even be anymore he was never that fast to begin with, and unless they suddenly decide to spend above the floor for real in anticipation of Brooklyn they don't really have anything to look forward to. Basically they're ready for yet another complete rebuild it looks like.

[Captain Jin]

An Islanders and a Sharks fan hating on the Rangers and LA. Entertaining to say the least.

LA is no worse than any other team when it comes to the bandwagon. Well, I'd say for certain that if Dallas, Florida or Tampa can crank it up.........they'll take the cake.

Would you say that Chicago has a bandwagon? Probably not. I mean, an original six team in an area that actually gets snow.................. too bad they were one of the worst teams in attendance until they broke out with that cup run. I bet you a dollar to a dime that if San Jose falls off that the attendance will too. The Sharks have had the great fortune of being a playoff team most of their existence.

LA is worse. You're right. Chicago types did that too. At least expanding it beyond just the regular fans. A lot of the talk is that the owner turned the franchise around as far as how he marketed the team. They were popular again before their cup win. But like I said all teams have band wagons. LA is just pretty shocking. Obviously there's a lot of people in New York right now hitching their wagon to the Ranger Stanley Cup run, but that doesn't mean they didn't have a strong fan base before that. Also, you're confusing San Jose's last ten years with it being a good team. In the 90s they made the playoffs every now and then and almost always got knocked out in the first round. The Sharks started seeing more regular success in the early 2000s and have gotten more popular as a result, but even before that they never had trouble filling seats.

Tampa and Anaheim are examples of teams that even when playing well weren't getting asses in seats. Dallas was popular when it first moved, of course they won the cup right away too which helped. And they stayed popular for a while but that has slacked off lately until this return to the playoffs this year. It's like when I was in Columbus to watch the Sharks handle the Jackets. The place was filled with empty seats but come playoff time people were waiting in lines around the block to get tickets and the announcers were stroking Columbus fans for how great they were. Yeah, where were they in the middle of the season?

one, 75% of rangers home games are filled by corporate seats, most the true rangers fans I do know complain about this as well. Second, I don't deal with LA fans, I don't know of their idiocy. I know of Shark fan idiocy from the internet, but LA? Never hear from them. Ranger fans just show up in waves each round of the playoffs and dare to act condescending.

Yeah and that's not something regular Rangers fans are happy about. Most of your average NYR fans are pissed, especially with the new MSG that they've been basically priced out of the better seats because like LA, New York is one of those "Go to the game to be seen, not to watch" sort of things. The blue seats, the nosebleeds if you will, were where all the true fans would sit and there was even a tradition of heckling the rich kids down in the lower levels. Anyway, if the Isles move to Brooklyn you can bet that there be a big change in pricing and an increase in corporate seating numbers as well. Or worse. You'll just have seats filled with Hipsters taking instragram pics of their nachos and beer while not watching the game.

As far as Sharks fans on the internet I don't know what you're talking about.

Anyway, Boyle is a great pick up for the Islanders. For a 5th round pick no less (unless he resigns with you guys then we get a 4th round). He still produced offensively, solid defensively and is a great weapon on the powerplay. I think the Sharks blowing things against LA made him an unfair target. Sure, SJ didn't get it done. But I knew LA was going to be their toughest opponent. If we had beaten them we'd have gone the distance I think. LA smashed Anaheim-- at no point did they seem like they were struggling even though it went 7 and the Chicago series... well they had a hard time wrapping it up but otherwise psh. So Boyle, who I wanted to see retire in SJ, got put on the chopping block because of his age. That's good for you guys I think. Tavares will be fine and if Okposo is playing solidly still there's some strong building blocks. We'll see what happens with Halak and if he's consistent or not.

[I WUB PUGS]

Sharks have missed the playoffs 5 times in their history (starting 1991-92). 4 of those 5 came in their first 6 seasons. That isn't making the playoffs "every now and then". They have a strong fanbase because in year three of their existence they made the playoffs and won their first series. They did the same thing the next year. Then they missed the playoffs 2 years in a row. Then they followed that up with making the playoffs every single year except 2002-03.

San Jose doesn't have a "bandwagon" because its never experienced long stretches of crap records. It has "fans" because its a lock for the playoffs every season. Let them miss the playoffs for 5 years and see how it looks. Guarantee they aren't selling out.

And no the Blackhawks did not successfully rebrand themselves before becoming a winning team. They won the Cup in 2009-10 with an average attendance of 21356. The year before they didn't win the cup but the did go 46-24-12 and had attendance of 22247. The season before that (2 years before the Cup) they averaged 16814. The year before that it was 12727.

An Original 6 team in the 3rd largest city in the US was barely at 50% capacity.

Winning = fans. Period.

Unless you're the Leafs or Rangers which is why those two teams are the most valuable in the League. However, as Ulyaoth has pointed out, most of those seats at Rangers games go to the suits. Same thing in Toronto since Toronto is basically the NYC of Canada and is full of financial types in suits that pack the Platinum seats that cost $350 a pop and they miss the first 10 minutes of every period and never ing cheer.

LA doesn't have a bandwagon. They're just winning finally. Oh yeah. FYI, the Kings attendance looks a whole lot less volatile than the Blackhawks. Even when they were crap, they were getting well over 50% in the seats.
http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendan...h.php?tmi=6664
Chicago.... that dip after the early/mid 90s Division Championship teams is just pathetic and shameful.
http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendan...h.php?tmi=5218

Leafs (look at the last 10 years..... 100% attendance to view a garbage team)
http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendan...h.php?tmi=8490
Rags (pretty hot ticket)
http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendan...h.php?tmi=7089

And now the Sharks.
http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendan...h.php?tmi=7877
Look at that dip in 2003-2004. Yeeesh. Talk about spoiled bandwagoners. Miss the playoffs for the first time in 6 years and 2500 seats go empty all year.





Edit: LOL. Bylsma just got fired. Joke of an organization, and I'm safely saying that as a fan of what's easily the worst organization in hockey and one of the 5 worst in sports. Pens fans think they're team is so amazing. Like they draft and groom well. The only team in history to stock up with 2 generational talents on the same team..............TWICE. The Pittsburgh strategy of suck so bad for so many years and then land 4 of the 10 best players in the last 40 years starts to fall apart when there is either A) a salary cap or B) in the case of the 90's Pens...... cancer.

Edit2: Wang has sold the Islanders... Lol. Someone was trolling on sportsnet.

[Jakethe_Snake15]

Tangentially related, but...damn, I'm going to miss TSN so badly for the next 12 years. Rogers/Sportsnet is just godawful, especially compared to the TSN panels. CBC and Hockey Night in Canada is only marginally better than SN. Mostly because watching a senile, old bigot can be a weird kind of fun. The actual panels of SN and CBC feel far too much like amateur hour - I mean, PJ Stock has so much playoff experience to base his comments on (hint, he has extremely little). Kelly Hrudey is just as bad, if not worse.
Can't really stand the SN panel either.
Here's hoping Elliot Friedman (if anyone) jumps ship to SN next year. He's easily the best of that terrible bunch, as he's an actual...you know..."journalist" and understands how to ask actual questions about things that actually matter in the grand scheme of the game.

It just seems that the entire TSN production is the "A-Team" - from their panelists to the actual production values that go into everything, including their on-screen graphics, to their highlight reels, etc. Why did they have to lose that particular bidding war? And there's no way TSN could even negotiate a deal with the Oilers, as the Oilers have Rogers being their sponsor for the new Arena (Rogers Place) and their regional broadcaster is already Rogers. 12 years. It's going to be painful watching the TV broadcasts, even more so than the fact that the Oilers are godawful still.

[I WUB PUGS]

Is Ray Ferraro on SN? Since I'm a Leafs fan, I watch CBC (well HNIC is usually on NHL Network), TSN/SNO/Leafs TV on Gamecenter Live on my XBox or PC.

Ferraro is the only commentator I find acceptable. The CBC guys are ing idiots. PJ Stock is a moron. Nick Kypreos is Nick Kypreos FFS..........who gave him a job! Ferraro tells it like it is and actually has a resume. He beat the piss out of Jeff O'Neill one night. Basically put baby in the corner and whenever O'Neill tried to talk about "toughness" or "compete", Ferraro just told him to stop talking because he sounded like an idiot. It was glorious.

No one is worse than Glen Healy.

Sharks have a far better crew that covers all of their games on Comcast Sports NorCal/Bay Area. Actual professionals even if they're homers. I do hate Bret Hedican though.

[Captain Jin]

What is wrong with Hedican?

[I WUB PUGS]

He played for the 1993-1994 Vancouver Canucks, including the playoffs, including the 5 games against Toronto in the 1994 Western Conference Finals. He's been on my list for 20 years.

[Captain Jin]

Haha. And you call me bitter.

[Ulyaoth]

Well, I had a feeling the rags would get at the very least the one garbage win. Hopefully the Kings completely dominate them next game.

[Captain Jin]

the Kings.

[Adar]

So the New York Rangers are approximately 120 Henrik Lundqvist saves away from winning the Stanley Cup...

[I WUB PUGS]

Kings in 6

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...1#post13784496

Pretty sure I rate some rep boys.

[Captain Jin]

Rep this dick.

[ggggtotalwarrior]

This already over? Finally I can stop listening to this "team of destiny! Ranger go!" Crap every 5 minutes.

[Ulyaoth]

Yay, now I just gotta listen to them whine they got cheated and should have won in 5 themselves but at least 90% of them disappeared at that goal

[Adar]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...1#post13784496

Pretty sure I rate some rep boys.

Didn't they win it in 5?

[Captain Jin]

Adar you can at least be proud of your countryman. Lundqvist was awesome pretty much throughout.

[I WUB PUGS]

Yes they won it in 5 but come on. I picked the matchup AND the winner and I was a game away from calling the series perfect!

I feel bad for Henrik. No way to not love that guy.

[Adar]

Adar you can at least be proud of your countryman. Lundqvist was awesome pretty much throughout.

He is Swedish so he has to be awesome . Non-awesome people are dealt with and that is why Philip Samuelsson is playing for the American natonal team... ;-).

Btw, did Carl Hagelin play well?

Yes they won it in 5 but come on. I picked the matchup AND the winner and I was a game away from calling the series perfect!

I feel bad for Henrik. No way to not love that guy.

Just messing with you, I recall that I've even complimented your predictive skills .

[Ulyaoth]

I don't particularly like Lundqvist but I don't like most people so there's that. Hagelin was ok from what little I recall of him that series.