Let's have a hockey season
This blog is for hockey fans, only. Reason being, I doubt anyone else cares. So, your opinion on this matter means nothing. The non-hockey fans have already let it be known they do not care if there is a hockey season. They have that opinion whether or not there is a strike.
Now for the fans of the greatest game on the world. I say we save the season. Will the season be meaningful, my response is yes. The format is 28 regular season games followed by a complete playoff. I may have preferred say a 40 game season followed by a truncated playoff. Instead of 16 teams there would be 8 teams. So let's examining the format presented...28 game full playoff. That would be a 1/3 regular season. Typically the season starts in October and ends in in late June. That is a nine month season. This season would be 4 and one half months. I would say this is enough time to indeed declare a Stanley Cup Champion. So let's go for it.
The 28 game sprint to make it to the next round sets up another dynamic. For one thing, every game will count more. That cannot be a bad thing. Now, let me add, you do have to earn a spot playoffs. There are 30 teams and 16 make it. That is a little over then half the teams. That is about the same rate as in pro basketball. If you consider March Madness, aout half the eligible college teams make it. So, hockey is not alone in its so called generous policy of allowing teams to compete for the ultimate prize. And for all you purists, when there was 6 teams, 4 made it or 2/3.
The other dynamic are pocketbook issues. Players will be paid 1/3 of their salaries. If you are making Jarogmir Jagr or Chris Pronger money, you lose a lot but you are still doing OK. Now what about the player who makes the $450K minimum. You will earn $150K for playing 28 games. Here were the payouts last year for teams who qualified for the playoffs. The assumption is twenty players per team.....making it to the first round, $13K, second round $22.5 K, Semifinal $50K, Final $80K, Stanley cup Champion $120K. Every player's dream is to win the cup. That is aove all else. However, this season, moving on in the playoffs becomes that much more important for players earning the minimum salary. I expect the format will provide for an intense 28 game sprint followed by a more intense playoff , as players will be less tired. It may not be a representative season, but I still believe we can crown a Stanley Cup Champion. That team could say they have earned. Let's face it, once those blades and sticks hit the ice, we will be at the games, glues to our TV sets and just happy to see the boys on the ice, again.
I have to add one thing. As a hockey player, I remain pretty upset at the league, the owners and the players. Did we have to go this far to learn that the players would accept a fair hard cap provided it was not linked ot revenues? Really, we could have been at this point in August. The owners and players should have sat down and worked on what could be done to improve the game, i.e. increase revenue. That is the central problem. Instead they bickered over the meat left on the bones. The game is great. Ask anyone who has played it. I am pretty much disgusted at the executives on both sides on the table. However, I do not intend to punish the sport. So, let's drop the puck and get on with it.
Now for the fans of the greatest game on the world. I say we save the season. Will the season be meaningful, my response is yes. The format is 28 regular season games followed by a complete playoff. I may have preferred say a 40 game season followed by a truncated playoff. Instead of 16 teams there would be 8 teams. So let's examining the format presented...28 game full playoff. That would be a 1/3 regular season. Typically the season starts in October and ends in in late June. That is a nine month season. This season would be 4 and one half months. I would say this is enough time to indeed declare a Stanley Cup Champion. So let's go for it.
The 28 game sprint to make it to the next round sets up another dynamic. For one thing, every game will count more. That cannot be a bad thing. Now, let me add, you do have to earn a spot playoffs. There are 30 teams and 16 make it. That is a little over then half the teams. That is about the same rate as in pro basketball. If you consider March Madness, aout half the eligible college teams make it. So, hockey is not alone in its so called generous policy of allowing teams to compete for the ultimate prize. And for all you purists, when there was 6 teams, 4 made it or 2/3.
The other dynamic are pocketbook issues. Players will be paid 1/3 of their salaries. If you are making Jarogmir Jagr or Chris Pronger money, you lose a lot but you are still doing OK. Now what about the player who makes the $450K minimum. You will earn $150K for playing 28 games. Here were the payouts last year for teams who qualified for the playoffs. The assumption is twenty players per team.....making it to the first round, $13K, second round $22.5 K, Semifinal $50K, Final $80K, Stanley cup Champion $120K. Every player's dream is to win the cup. That is aove all else. However, this season, moving on in the playoffs becomes that much more important for players earning the minimum salary. I expect the format will provide for an intense 28 game sprint followed by a more intense playoff , as players will be less tired. It may not be a representative season, but I still believe we can crown a Stanley Cup Champion. That team could say they have earned. Let's face it, once those blades and sticks hit the ice, we will be at the games, glues to our TV sets and just happy to see the boys on the ice, again.
I have to add one thing. As a hockey player, I remain pretty upset at the league, the owners and the players. Did we have to go this far to learn that the players would accept a fair hard cap provided it was not linked ot revenues? Really, we could have been at this point in August. The owners and players should have sat down and worked on what could be done to improve the game, i.e. increase revenue. That is the central problem. Instead they bickered over the meat left on the bones. The game is great. Ask anyone who has played it. I am pretty much disgusted at the executives on both sides on the table. However, I do not intend to punish the sport. So, let's drop the puck and get on with it.
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