PDA

View Full Version : "The hockey's not important."


ken_valyi
01-24-2005, 08:50 AM
It's only a matter of when the season is cancelled (http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/2005/01/23/907810-sun.html)

It's not the quote that bothers me so much, but from which team this came from... The Detroit Red Wings.


"We want the right deal," said Red Wings senior vice-president Jim Devellano. "The hockey's not important."

When one of the organizations that has flurished under the recent contracts with the players, it blows my mind that a Wings VP would say that. Clearly the owners just want to bust the union, and this season didn't have a chance the day Bettman started to save up his $300 million war chest.

:(
ChrisFrez
01-24-2005, 01:53 PM
That quote disgusts me as a Fan of the game - the same fan who helps pay these teams to play :(
cASe SenSiTive
01-24-2005, 06:29 PM
Ugh!!!

Comments like that are REALLY gonna turn off the more casual fans(which the NHL can ill afford to lose!)

There are still people out there who won't go to baseball games because of the work stoppage in 94. Hell, it took the big Mark McGuire/Sammy Sosa record chasing season to really bring attendance back to pre-strike levels. And baseball had the luxury of a HUGE fanbase to begin with.

I mean, if the owners thought that teams like Nashville, Florida, Anaheim, Columbus, Carolina, etc. had crappy attendance before the lockout, imagine how bad it'll be in another year. You think the good ol boys are gonna be coming back in droves to see the Preds play? I don't think so.
cASe SenSiTive
01-24-2005, 06:43 PM
Just to add..
The majority of the country's sports fans are barely even aware of the lockout. Many think it's a strike. Many don't even know that the NHL isn't playing right now. This is what I've gathered listening to sports talk raio like Jim Rome and Dan Patrick.

And then there's the people I've seen post on other boards that they're happy the NHL isn't playing, because it means they don't have to sit through hockey highlights on Sportscenter.

And these are the attitudes that are only going to become more pervasive as the NHL continues on in this stupid lockout.