I found some striking similarities in J.B.Cash's column from Feb.15 the black all-star game and Canadian hockey.The passion Canadians show for hockey is on par with blacks in basketball,in fact it is probably more.The part about basketball being part of black culture and heritage sounds totally like Canada.Canadians may not be so prolific in a lot of sports but hockey is theirs and that is that.They will defend hockey as stubbornly as blacks defend basketball as their game.Their can be some jealousy from some Canadians when the Europeans and Americans take up too much roster space on various NHL teams or if these "foreigners" are dominating the scoring race.This type of jealousy is exibited,big-time by what could be looked at as the Caste system leader against Europeans,Don Cherry.He's always ragging on how the Euro players are taking jobs away from Canadian players.The way black family members act during their kids basketball games may pale in comparison to Canadian parents at their kids hockey games.Time and time again there are articles in newspapers and everywhere in the media about over-exuburent hockey parents and how they need to relax and just enjoy watching their kids play,but every generation of hockey fans have a truckload of crazy passionate parents.A couple of years ago there was an incident in southern Ontario where parents were getting so out of control during a youth hockey game that the ref called a halt to the proceedings late in the game and kicked everyone out of the stands and only then did the game resume.Canadians also feel that they have some ability to play the game even if they don't.A lot of have some story about how they could have played pro if not for some injustice,like their father not allowing them,having to quit school to help the family and a multitude of other excuses for their failings.If a Canadian doesn't play the game then he certainly knows plenty about the sport.The most average hockey fan figures he can offer a smart and intelligent view on the game.Canadians are hockey nuts.
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Canadians on hockey
- Thread starter speedster
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Realgeorge
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Howdy Speedster
Excellent post and analysis. You've revealed the fanaticism of the white hockey fan that will be the savior of the professional version of the sport. No matter what Bettman or any other money-hungry NWO leader tries to do to the sport.
I wonder how many NHLers will stay overseas to be paid in strong currencies rather than return to the NHL and USA and receive failingGreenbacks
Excellent post and analysis. You've revealed the fanaticism of the white hockey fan that will be the savior of the professional version of the sport. No matter what Bettman or any other money-hungry NWO leader tries to do to the sport.
I wonder how many NHLers will stay overseas to be paid in strong currencies rather than return to the NHL and USA and receive failingGreenbacks
Realgeorge
Mentor
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2004
- Messages
- 675
Hello Hockey Fans
Forgive me for posting an article on our message board... but it's from Canada.com and gives Gretzky and Lemieux's views on the NHL's coming recovery from Labor stupidity .. er, I mean strife
When play resumes, NHL to reinvent itself with new rules, HDTV-friendly action
PITTSBURGH (AP) - The changes might be drastic enough to tempt 44-year-old Wayne Gretzky into coming out of retirement. After years of lobbying for a more scoring-friendly and fan-appealing league, Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux is convinced the NHL is ready to grant his wish. The only problem is ending the lockout that has doomed this NHL season and could threaten another before owners and players agree on a labour contract.
The 39-year-old Lemieux hopes he has some more goals left in him when it happens, now that the league seems determined to crack down on the on-ice mugging and the defend-every-inch-of-ice defences that have made NHL shootouts as rare as football single-wing offences.
The scoring dropoff is so acute that only Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis (94 points) had 90 points last season - not even half of Gretzky's 215 in 1985-86 or Lemieux's 199 in 1988-89. In only 10 years, the NHL has seen its goals-per-game average drop from 7 to 5. With the NHL desperate to rebuild its fan base and increase national TV ratings that were lower than Arena Football's, commissioner Gary Bettman is promising drastic rules changes to bring back the speed, flow and offensive rhythm that have been missing since Gretzky was in his prime.
Lemieux's reply: What took so long? "There's been a lot of talk about making the game more exciting, opening up the game, bringing back the offence that was there in the 1980s and early 1990s," said Lemieux, the Penguins' player-owner. "It's going to be a lot more exciting when the NHL comes back. It's going to be a great game with, hopefully, a lot more scoring and a lot of offence ... and (less) clutching and grabbing."
Many of the new rules are being tried this season in the AHL, which expects to have at least two 100-point scorers (Binghamton's Jason Spezza and Manchester's Mike Cammalleri) and possibly more. Among them are shootouts to decide overtime ties, wider blue-lines that increase the size of the neutral zone, less distance between the nets and the end boards, smaller goaltending gear, no-touch icing and tag-up offsides. The NHL is also toying with eliminating the red-line, thus doing away with the dreaded two-line passing rule and creating the end-to-end breaks so common in international play. NHL vice-president Colin Campbell met last month with six coaches to discuss the planned relaunch, saying even fans of winning teams were complaining about the duller-than-dull style of play.
"My gut tells me we will be playing (next season), and the game will be better," Minnesota Wild president Doug Risebrough said. "We have to build the game and built it around the fans." Because of the NHL's traditionally strong fan base in cities such as Detroit, Toronto, Denver, Philadelphia and Montreal, experts say the first shutdown of a major North American sports league for a full season may not devastate the league. While baseball attendance dropped about 20 per cent after its 1994-95 strike, hockey attendance increased 10 per cent following a half-season shutdown in 1994-95.
"I think you can make an argument that hockey, compared to baseball, basketball and even football, has a higher percentage of hardcore committed fans," former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson said. "It's a much smaller universe, but NHL owners assume their season-ticket base and committed viewers will return when league play resumes." The NHL is also counting on the ever-growing popularity of high-definition television to boost TV ratings that are respectable on a regional basis but minuscule nationally. Hockey, like football, is well-suited for HDTV's movie screen-like wide picture, which is five times sharper than conventional analog TV. The league is also excited about the ever-expanding acceptance of HDTV, which saw more than 1 million sets sold recently during the run-up to the Super Bowl. To aid the impression that hockey is a fast, edgy game, NHL uniform supplier Reebok plans to outfit players in flashier, sleeker and more formfitting uniforms next season.
"HDTV helps all sports, but it really helps hockey," Pilson said. "Fans unfamiliar with the game can see passes being made and collected without a skip in the picture - it helps with fans who haven't played the game." The NHL believes the changes will force coaches to play a more wide-open style. In recent seasons, overachieving teams such as the Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Calgary Flames relied on suffocating, star-controlling defences to reach the Stanley Cup final. "Hopefully, we're going to take that out of that game," Lemieux said.
© The Canadian Press 2005
Forgive me for posting an article on our message board... but it's from Canada.com and gives Gretzky and Lemieux's views on the NHL's coming recovery from Labor stupidity .. er, I mean strife
When play resumes, NHL to reinvent itself with new rules, HDTV-friendly action
PITTSBURGH (AP) - The changes might be drastic enough to tempt 44-year-old Wayne Gretzky into coming out of retirement. After years of lobbying for a more scoring-friendly and fan-appealing league, Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux is convinced the NHL is ready to grant his wish. The only problem is ending the lockout that has doomed this NHL season and could threaten another before owners and players agree on a labour contract.
The 39-year-old Lemieux hopes he has some more goals left in him when it happens, now that the league seems determined to crack down on the on-ice mugging and the defend-every-inch-of-ice defences that have made NHL shootouts as rare as football single-wing offences.
The scoring dropoff is so acute that only Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis (94 points) had 90 points last season - not even half of Gretzky's 215 in 1985-86 or Lemieux's 199 in 1988-89. In only 10 years, the NHL has seen its goals-per-game average drop from 7 to 5. With the NHL desperate to rebuild its fan base and increase national TV ratings that were lower than Arena Football's, commissioner Gary Bettman is promising drastic rules changes to bring back the speed, flow and offensive rhythm that have been missing since Gretzky was in his prime.
Lemieux's reply: What took so long? "There's been a lot of talk about making the game more exciting, opening up the game, bringing back the offence that was there in the 1980s and early 1990s," said Lemieux, the Penguins' player-owner. "It's going to be a lot more exciting when the NHL comes back. It's going to be a great game with, hopefully, a lot more scoring and a lot of offence ... and (less) clutching and grabbing."
Many of the new rules are being tried this season in the AHL, which expects to have at least two 100-point scorers (Binghamton's Jason Spezza and Manchester's Mike Cammalleri) and possibly more. Among them are shootouts to decide overtime ties, wider blue-lines that increase the size of the neutral zone, less distance between the nets and the end boards, smaller goaltending gear, no-touch icing and tag-up offsides. The NHL is also toying with eliminating the red-line, thus doing away with the dreaded two-line passing rule and creating the end-to-end breaks so common in international play. NHL vice-president Colin Campbell met last month with six coaches to discuss the planned relaunch, saying even fans of winning teams were complaining about the duller-than-dull style of play.
"My gut tells me we will be playing (next season), and the game will be better," Minnesota Wild president Doug Risebrough said. "We have to build the game and built it around the fans." Because of the NHL's traditionally strong fan base in cities such as Detroit, Toronto, Denver, Philadelphia and Montreal, experts say the first shutdown of a major North American sports league for a full season may not devastate the league. While baseball attendance dropped about 20 per cent after its 1994-95 strike, hockey attendance increased 10 per cent following a half-season shutdown in 1994-95.
"I think you can make an argument that hockey, compared to baseball, basketball and even football, has a higher percentage of hardcore committed fans," former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson said. "It's a much smaller universe, but NHL owners assume their season-ticket base and committed viewers will return when league play resumes." The NHL is also counting on the ever-growing popularity of high-definition television to boost TV ratings that are respectable on a regional basis but minuscule nationally. Hockey, like football, is well-suited for HDTV's movie screen-like wide picture, which is five times sharper than conventional analog TV. The league is also excited about the ever-expanding acceptance of HDTV, which saw more than 1 million sets sold recently during the run-up to the Super Bowl. To aid the impression that hockey is a fast, edgy game, NHL uniform supplier Reebok plans to outfit players in flashier, sleeker and more formfitting uniforms next season.
"HDTV helps all sports, but it really helps hockey," Pilson said. "Fans unfamiliar with the game can see passes being made and collected without a skip in the picture - it helps with fans who haven't played the game." The NHL believes the changes will force coaches to play a more wide-open style. In recent seasons, overachieving teams such as the Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Calgary Flames relied on suffocating, star-controlling defences to reach the Stanley Cup final. "Hopefully, we're going to take that out of that game," Lemieux said.
© The Canadian Press 2005
Ta Waki Mumba
Guru
For Americans to understand how central hockey is to Canadian sporting culture just imagine football, baseball, basketballandNASCAR combined.
EVERY Canadian child, even recent immigrants plays some form of hockey even if it's just kicking a puck around a cleared out parking lot with a pair of tuques marking the goalposts.
EVERY Canadian child, even recent immigrants plays some form of hockey even if it's just kicking a puck around a cleared out parking lot with a pair of tuques marking the goalposts.