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Post by JimmyMann on Jan 7, 2012 11:04:00 GMT -6
I like the "novelty" of playing in the SE for one more season. We will see plenty of the Hawks and Wings when everything is setteld.
Bonus of staying in the SE is the visiting teams will remain relatively unchanged.
1. Caps and Bolts visit 3 times as well as other divison rivals.
2. Penguins, Habs, Leafs, Bruins, Flyers, Rangers, Devils and Sabres and Sens with 2 visits as will other conference rivals.
3.Wings, Hawks, Flames, Canucks with one visit
4. We will do 3 home and homes with the western conference meaning Edmonton will possibly be back for a visit next season. We also home and homed with the Coyotes meaning that the Nordiques may also visit.
As a STH in two groups of people sharing tickets this is fantastic. We will have years and years to see teams like Minnesota, Columbus, St.Louis etc... Yes, we wil only get the Wings and Hawks once but the trade off for the big time Eastern conference teams visting twice more than makes up for it.
I love it as a fan!
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Post by Grumpz on Jan 7, 2012 11:05:38 GMT -6
The last time I checked, the players have walked away from both the work stoppages smelling like roses.
Sure there's a salary cap, but that's gone from what, low $40 millions to low $50 millions in four yrs.
I can't remember who said it on TSN a few months back, but they laid out the issues the NHLPA had the last go around, and how it's all panned out for the players since. The players are the winners.
Not sure what's going to happen, but I believe there won't be a stoppage at all.
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Post by Ric O. on Jan 7, 2012 11:10:29 GMT -6
The last time I checked, the players have walked away from both the work stoppages smelling like roses. Sure there's a salary cap, but that's gone from what, low $40 millions to low $50 millions in four yrs. I can't remember who said it on TSN a few months back, but they laid out the issues the NHLPA had the last go around, and how it's all panned out for the players since. The players are the winners. Not sure what's going to happen, but I believe there won't be a stoppage at all. I think it started out at $39MM and is now $64.3MM. That's a pretty big increase...
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Post by hobble on Jan 7, 2012 11:13:32 GMT -6
Why not just switch Winnipeg with Nashville/Columbus. Keep the current format until the league settles Phoenix and expands to 32 teams. Then they do 4 eight team conferences.
Or just contract two. I am sure the NHLPA will be absolutely giddy about that!
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jmt21
1st Line Centre
"Winnipeg... Hello"
Posts: 480
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Post by jmt21 on Jan 7, 2012 11:14:55 GMT -6
The big problem (again) with this league was a failure to communicate.
The boys at IC made a good point. The league hashed out this plan and made it public. Only then was the NHLPA given the opportunity to respond.
I'm not defending the NHLPA, but the prudent course of action would have been for the BOG to come up with their plans....... then present it to the NHLPA for their feedback with any revisions etc. This should have been done completely out of public eye.
I think that realignment wasn't so much the sticking point as was the new playoff format.
I do believe that GB will have met his match with Donald Fehr.
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Post by the_jaf on Jan 7, 2012 11:15:06 GMT -6
Winnipeg can become back to back Southeast division champions!
...
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Post by clutterstache on Jan 7, 2012 11:17:28 GMT -6
Perhaps the NHL could look at the players and, while pointing at Donald Fehr, Inform them that they don't negotiate with terrorists.
Fehr set MLB back 20 years. He's bad for sports, especially from the perspective of the fans, you know, the ones that actually buy the tickets and concessions and make the NHL relevant.
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Post by The Unknown Poster on Jan 7, 2012 11:21:42 GMT -6
The problem with going to the NHLPA before going public is you empower them. if the NHL believes the PA has not legal right to be involved in those sorts of discussions, the second they go to them "as a courtesy", they empower them to take a stand.
I think the issues in the CBA this coming year will be smaller than the last one. It will be the same structure but different details. Owners will be looking for a wage roll-back (which they should get) and meganisms to claw back the cap increase (the problem being that relating it directly to revenue is not a true representation of the league since a minority of teams drive that revenue and it hurts the lower end teams). Players will want reduced age of FA (like they always do) and probably higher player salary max as well as increased revenue sharing to respond to the imbalance in the league.
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Post by The Unknown Poster on Jan 7, 2012 11:23:06 GMT -6
There is nothing to the NHLPA's concerns because the top 4 teams make it regardless of how many teams are in the conference. The point total needed to qualify for the playoffs is still the same. If you're number 5 in an 8 team conference you miss the playoffs. If the same conference suddenly has 7 teams, that 5th place finish still misses the playoffs. I guess the NHLPA would present it the opposite way. They's say it's not fair to be in an 8 team conference because you have to be better than the 4th worst team in the conference...but in a 7 team conference you only have to be better than the 3rd worst. But the cut off to get in is exactly the same.
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Post by JimmyMann on Jan 7, 2012 11:26:32 GMT -6
The big problem (again) with this league was a failure to communicate. The boys at IC made a good point. The league hashed out this plan and made it public. Only then was the NHLPA given the opportunity to respond. I'm not defending the NHLPA, but the prudent course of action would have been for the BOG to come up with their plans....... then present it to the NHLPA for their feedback with any revisions etc. This should have been done completely out of public eye. I think that realignment wasn't so much the sticking point as was the new playoff format. I do believe that GB will have met his match with Donald Fehr. For sure, how can the NHLPA approve something that the NHL doesn't even know how it is going to work. The NHL should have worked with the NHLPA and finalized a playoff format. As for unbalanced conferences I believe baseball has 4,5 and 6 team divisions. The wildcard does help even things out.
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Post by Ric O. on Jan 7, 2012 11:31:16 GMT -6
I guess the NHLPA would present it the opposite way. They's say it's not fair to be in an 8 team conference because you have to be better than the 4th worst team in the conference...but in a 7 team conference you only have to be better than the 3rd worst. But the cut off to get in is exactly the same. Yeah I understand what you're saying and that's true. I'm just saying you can flip the standings upside down and show that the cutoff to miss is not the same. Just depends on whether you're selling the half full or half empty perspective.
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jmt21
1st Line Centre
"Winnipeg... Hello"
Posts: 480
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Post by jmt21 on Jan 7, 2012 11:31:35 GMT -6
The problem with going to the NHLPA before going public is you empower them. if the NHL believes the PA has not legal right to be involved in those sorts of discussions, the second they go to them "as a courtesy", they empower them to take a stand. I think the issues in the CBA this coming year will be smaller than the last one. It will be the same structure but different details. Owners will be looking for a wage roll-back (which they should get) and meganisms to claw back the cap increase (the problem being that relating it directly to revenue is not a true representation of the league since a minority of teams drive that revenue and it hurts the lower end teams). Players will want reduced age of FA (like they always do) and probably higher player salary max as well as increased revenue sharing to respond to the imbalance in the league. Seems the NHLPA is already pretty "empowered". We didn't hear too much regarding the NHLPA's stance until the imposed deadline where the simple answer was "NO". Were there behind the scenes discussions between both parties since the league announced the changes more than 6 weeks ago? The posturing has already begun and we're not off to a good start.
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Post by Grumpz on Jan 7, 2012 11:38:15 GMT -6
The big problem (again) with this league was a failure to communicate. The boys at IC made a good point. The league hashed out this plan and made it public. Only then was the NHLPA given the opportunity to respond. I'm not defending the NHLPA, but the prudent course of action would have been for the BOG to come up with their plans....... then present it to the NHLPA for their feedback with any revisions etc. This should have been done completely out of public eye. I think that realignment wasn't so much the sticking point as was the new playoff format. I do believe that GB will have met his match with Donald Fehr. For sure, how can the NHLPA approve something that the NHL doesn't even know how it is going to work. The NHL should have worked with the NHLPA and finalized a playoff format. As for unbalanced conferences I believe baseball has 4,5 and 6 team divisions. The wildcard does help even things out. I'm not sure the Wild Card thing works in the NHL. It's been mentioned before that players would like to play less games. Wild Card adds. The cross over is the easiest way to handle it, and actually a no brainer. If the 5 place team in an 8 team conference has a better record than the 4th place team in a 7 team conference, The 5th place team is in.
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Post by Ric O. on Jan 7, 2012 11:40:11 GMT -6
I kind of like the cross-over too. Pretty simple thing to implement...
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Post by The Unknown Poster on Jan 7, 2012 11:45:34 GMT -6
Well if I recall there were two proposals. This one was the one favoured by Bettman. Does the PA favour the other?
Either way, it's ridiculous to keep Winnipeg in the SE Division without compensation.
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