Author Topic: NHL should contract  (Read 6960 times)

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NHL should contract
« on: February 23, 2010, 07:19:15 PM »

Offline Moranis

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The NHL has too many teams and no one outside of a few U.S. cities actually cares.  So I propose that the NHL contract down to 16 teams, two conferences, each conference with two 4 team divisions.  Play each team in your division 8 times (24 games), each team in your conference 6 times (24 games), and each team in the other conference 4 times (32 games) for a total season of 80 games.  I would put 8 U.S. cities in one conference and 8 Canadien cities in the other conference to sort of add a little spice and build up rivalries.  This would be my division breakdown

Canada East
Toronto
Ottawa
Montreal
Quebec

Canada West
Vancouver
Calgary
Winnipeg
Edmonton

U.S. East
Boston
Buffalo
NY Rangers
Detroit

U.S. West
Chicago
Minneapolis
Denver
L.A. (could be swapped for St. Louis)

I think this would just create a much better product with far superior games and with it being in cities that actually care about hockey financials would work out better.  It puts more cities in Canada, where hockey is king, which is a plus. 

I think you could probably add 1 team to each division if necessary, which would add the other of St. Louis/L.A. to the U.S. West, probably Columbus to U.S. East, Hamilton (or Kitchener) to Canada East, and Victoria to Canada West.  If Victoria and Vancouver are deemed to close together there are plenty of larger cities in Ontario (Kitchener, Windsor, London, Niagara) one of which could be added to Canada West or Saskatoon or Regina could be added from the Province of Saskatchewan (though they are smaller then the ontario cities).
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Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2010, 07:36:42 PM »

Offline Mike-Dub

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I don't think the NHL has to contract totally like your proposal but for some of the cities it does and it needs to market itself much better with commercials of their stars Sydney Crosby (which they are starting too), not Ovechkin because he is not the best looking fellow out there lol and with there coverage...

The USA game vs. Canada should have been on NBC, but it is a good thing the game tomorrow is.
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Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2010, 07:41:36 PM »

Offline Donoghus

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I really think they should go back to the old division formats (Adams, Patrick, etc...)  Also, bring back the old playoff formats where division rivals would face each other in the first 2 rounds.  That'll really bring back the heated rivalries.

I wouldn't mind seeing the league shave 6-8 teams.  Also, put more teams back in Canada.  Put teams back in Winnepeg and Quebec.  Try out Hamilton.

And of course, bring back these guys....



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Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2010, 08:07:20 PM »

Offline Mike-Dub

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« Last Edit: February 23, 2010, 08:18:17 PM by Mike-Dub »
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Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #4 on: February 23, 2010, 08:09:39 PM »

Offline Moranis

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I don't think the NHL has to contract totally like your proposal but for some of the cities it does and it needs to market itself much better with commercials of their stars Sydney Crosby (which they are starting too), not Ovechkin because he is not the best looking fellow out there lol and with there coverage...

The USA game vs. Canada should have been on NBC, but it is a good thing the game tomorrow is.
it wasn't on NBC because no one gives a crap.
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Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #5 on: February 23, 2010, 08:14:21 PM »

Offline Donoghus

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I don't think the NHL has to contract totally like your proposal but for some of the cities it does and it needs to market itself much better with commercials of their stars Sydney Crosby (which they are starting too), not Ovechkin because he is not the best looking fellow out there lol and with there coverage...

The USA game vs. Canada should have been on NBC, but it is a good thing the game tomorrow is.
it wasn't on NBC because no one gives a crap.

It wasn't on NBC because it was a preliminary game and NBC made the call that figure skating/ice skating, historically, brings in more casual viewers.  If it was  medal round game, it would've been on the network.  It also ended up being the second highest program in the history of MSNBC.

It wasn't because "no one gives a crap".  Over 8 million US viewers would disagree with that.  That's just being uninformed.


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Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #6 on: February 23, 2010, 08:19:28 PM »

Offline Mike-Dub

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I don't think the NHL has to contract totally like your proposal but for some of the cities it does and it needs to market itself much better with commercials of their stars Sydney Crosby (which they are starting too), not Ovechkin because he is not the best looking fellow out there lol and with there coverage...

The USA game vs. Canada should have been on NBC, but it is a good thing the game tomorrow is.
it wasn't on NBC because no one gives a crap.

It wasn't on NBC because it was a preliminary game and NBC made the call that figure skating/ice skating, historically, brings in more casual viewers.  If it was  medal round game, it would've been on the network.  It also ended up being the second highest program in the history of MSNBC.

It wasn't because "no one gives a crap".  Over 8 million US viewers would disagree with that.  That's just being uninformed.

Thank you Donoghus for the real reason.
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Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #7 on: February 23, 2010, 08:30:38 PM »

Offline connerhenry43

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hockey is a terrible sport. like soccer, it has been shoved down the american's throat 10,000 times, and like soccer, it has been rejected 10,000 times. a terrible sport, a poorly run league, terrible ratings. just a terrible sport.
"Maybe now you'll never slime a guy with a positron collider, huh?"

Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #8 on: February 23, 2010, 08:35:27 PM »

Offline Mike-Dub

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hockey is a terrible sport. like soccer, it has been shoved down the american's throat 10,000 times, and like soccer, it has been rejected 10,000 times. a terrible sport, a poorly run league, terrible ratings. just a terrible sport.

connerhenry43 don't post about it if you don't like it then, but don't trash it or soccer too because I play that also.
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Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #9 on: February 23, 2010, 09:16:41 PM »

Offline wdleehi

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Why get rid of well supported teams in Philly, Pitt and DC?

Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #10 on: February 23, 2010, 09:16:47 PM »

Offline Moranis

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I don't think the NHL has to contract totally like your proposal but for some of the cities it does and it needs to market itself much better with commercials of their stars Sydney Crosby (which they are starting too), not Ovechkin because he is not the best looking fellow out there lol and with there coverage...

The USA game vs. Canada should have been on NBC, but it is a good thing the game tomorrow is.
it wasn't on NBC because no one gives a crap.

It wasn't on NBC because it was a preliminary game and NBC made the call that figure skating/ice skating, historically, brings in more casual viewers.  If it was  medal round game, it would've been on the network.  It also ended up being the second highest program in the history of MSNBC.

It wasn't because "no one gives a crap".  Over 8 million US viewers would disagree with that.  That's just being uninformed.
ice dancing was watched by over 25 million people, more then 3 times the people that watched the hockey game.  ICE DANCING not figure skating, not speed skating, not skiing or snowboarding, ICE DANCING (which in my opinion is the worst olympic sport of all time, yes even worse then synchronized swimming).
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Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #11 on: February 23, 2010, 09:18:35 PM »

Offline Donoghus

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I don't think the NHL has to contract totally like your proposal but for some of the cities it does and it needs to market itself much better with commercials of their stars Sydney Crosby (which they are starting too), not Ovechkin because he is not the best looking fellow out there lol and with there coverage...

The USA game vs. Canada should have been on NBC, but it is a good thing the game tomorrow is.
it wasn't on NBC because no one gives a crap.

It wasn't on NBC because it was a preliminary game and NBC made the call that figure skating/ice skating, historically, brings in more casual viewers.  If it was  medal round game, it would've been on the network.  It also ended up being the second highest program in the history of MSNBC.

It wasn't because "no one gives a crap".  Over 8 million US viewers would disagree with that.  That's just being uninformed.
ice dancing was watched by over 25 million people, more then 3 times the people that watched the hockey game.  ICE DANCING not figure skating, not speed skating, not skiing or snowboarding, ICE DANCING (which in my opinion is the worst olympic sport of all time, yes even worse then synchronized swimming).

Like I said, it draws in more "casual viewers".  Just reaffirms that NBC made the right decision there by putting hockey on cable.


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Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #12 on: February 23, 2010, 09:21:20 PM »

Offline Mike-Dub

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Why get rid of well supported teams in Philly, Pitt and DC?

Good point there.
"It's all about having the heart of a champion." - #34 Paul Pierce

Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #13 on: February 23, 2010, 09:23:03 PM »

Offline Moranis

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Why get rid of well supported teams in Philly, Pitt and DC?
should have put Philly in there, I new I was missing someone.  The more I think about it, 20 teams i s more appropriate so just put Philly as the 5th team in USA East.  I'm sure Detroit could move west and PIttsburgh could also be added to US East, but I know Pittsburgh has had a number of financial problems very recently.  Washington actually doesn't draw all that well.  They have a great team because of the Ovechkin, but they aren't a huge market or draw for the NHL.

Here is the Forbes list from a few years ago

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/31/nhl08_NHL-Team-Valuations_Value.html

Dallas is a team that actually probably belongs on the list, since it is profitable and worth a lot.
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Re: NHL should contract
« Reply #14 on: February 23, 2010, 09:25:16 PM »

Offline Donoghus

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Why get rid of well supported teams in Philly, Pitt and DC?

Good point there.

Yeah, that doesn't make any sense.  Heck, the Pens are the defending Stanley Cup champions.  Philly fans are some of the most diehard and passionate fans in the league and Washington pretty much sold out every game last season.  


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