Who's to blame for NHL labour problems? Dumb Canadian fans

We Canadians can be a pretty dense lot at times.  Oh we love to complain, to bitch and moan, but then we just roll over, and we never even expect breakfast or a call the next day.

Take the latest NHL lockout, the third in less than ten years.  How can the NHL treat their fans so badly?  Why are the two sides in this dispute so willing to dig in their heels?

Simple, both sides know that Canadians will be back in droves like they have after each previous work stoppage.

Drop the puck and they will come, spending hundreds of dollars on tickets, back in front of their TV sets watching the game and buying all kinds of crap with their team's logo on it.

The money will be rolling in as soon as the owners and players can decide on some way to divide up the billions, disportionately coming out of Canadian pockets, that fans pony up each year.

Forget the American teams.  With rich TV deals from the CBC and other Canadian networks the NHL doesn't need to worry about stuffing teams in places like Florida and Phoenix, Columbus and Nashville.  The owners of those teams get to share in revenues that wouldn't exist if it weren't for the Canucks, Flames, Oilers, Jets, Leafs , Senators and Canadiens.

When a Canadian team like the Nordique wants to leave, hey...no problem, Gary will help you pack up the trucks.  But when a team like the Coyotes has trouble drawing a quorum to a regular season game, the league steps in and is prepared to lose millions every year rather than give Quebec City back a team, to say nothing of Hamilton.

Why are Canadians treated so shabbily?  

Simple, we are idiots.  If we were smart, when this latest dispute ends we'd stay away from the arenas, stop watching on TV and stop buying those flags for our cars and a host of other merchandise with NHL logos on it.

We'd still get our hockey fix by watching junior and/or minor games.  Instead of paying hundreds we'd only be paying $40 or $50 for a couple of seats.

That's what Canadians would do if we were smart.  But of course we're not smart, we'll cheer like morons and empty our wallets when the players and owners finally decide how to divide up our money.

Toronto Maple Leafs - Not a .500 team yet

All news and politics makes Gordie a dull blogger...I do have other interests, and one of them is sports, something I write about on the odd occasion...

I am a hockey fan, and a Leafs fan to boot (go ahead, make fun).  I always support the home team, which makes life pretty depressing for this long time resident of the GTA.  Leafs, Jays, Raptors...ugh, if it wasn't for 6 out of 8 teams making the post season in the CFL Toronto residents wouldn't have the word 'playoffs' in our collective vocabulary.

And now, with the Leafs surging and sitting just 4 points out of the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the Buds' bandwagon is starting to fill up.  I have no problem with that, what bothers me is all the talk of how Toronto has finally reached the .500 level due to their having won 27 games and having lost 27 games in regulation.

The problem is they've lost more than 27 games this season, they've actually lost 34.  They've lost 7 games this year in overtime and by shootout, 3 and 4 respectively.  Now, I'm not very good at the new math...but this old school  guy doesn't see how 27 wins against 34 losses equates to being a .500 team. 

Yes I know the NHL, in its infinite stupidity, awards 1 point for teams that wait until after regulation to lose.  So based on this arcane point system the Leafs have garnered 61 out of a possible 122 points, but that still doesn't make them a .500 team in this fan's books.  

Viewing the current Leafs as a .500 team is part of a loser mentality, and maybe that's part of the problem.  They've lost 7 more games than they've won, but by using the league's idiotic point system they can boost  their battered egos and think they're playing .500 hockey when in reality they're 7 games below the mark.

A word for Burke, Wilson and the boys in blue and white....winners don't settle.  If you want to call yourselves a .500 team then finish the schedule by winning at least 7 more games than you lose.  Do that and you won't have to worry about clawing your way into the playoffs, it'll be a done deal.


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Fire Gary Bettman - Something all Canadian hockey fans should agree on

At the risk of offending a dozen or so Phoenix Coyote hockey fans, I'm going to use my little cyber pulpit to wander off the political path and write about some shinny. Specifically about the way the NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is taking hockey loving Canadians for granted.

Back in June I started an on-line petition calling on Canadians to boycott all NHL licensed products until Canada gets a 7th franchise, with Hamilton being the obvious choice. While there are only 35 signatures so far, I have gotten some positive feedback for my effort. The most recent of which was an email from a gentleman named Ken. He's started his own petition which calls for the firing of Gary Bettman, after a nanosecond of deliberation I signed it.

Putting a team in Hamilton would be a no brainer if the NHL had a commissioner who was interested in viable franchises and growing the game. I'm no Rhodes scholar, not by a long shot...but it doesn't take an Ivy league genius to know that sticking hockey teams in places with no attachment to the game is a recipe for failure.

If you're the commissioner of a major sports league the last thing you want is teams playing in front of a bunch of empty seats, unless you're Gary Bettman, who seems to prefer it. Why else have teams in places like Nashville, Atlanta and Phoenix?

You want people clamouring to join your ownership club? How about showing potential suitors arenas filled with rabid fans!!! That's what you'd have in cities like Hamilton, the 'Peg and Quebec city. Instead we have teams in Florida practically giving tickets away, while puckheads in southern Ontario have to take out a second mortgage to go and see a crappy Leafs team.

Part of Canada's national character is that we're 'oh so polite'. Protesting and signing petitions isn't really our thing, but I suggest its time true hockey fans get angry. Stop buying products licensed to the NHL and sign the petition to have Gary Bettman fired.

Click here to sign the 'FIRE GARY BETTMAN' petition.

Click here to sign the 'BOYCOTT NHL LICENSED PRODUCTS' petition.

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Make room Hamilton, Winnipeg wants back in the NHL

Back on June 21st of this year I strayed from my usual path of writing about politics and current events to chime in on the issue of Canada getting a 7th NHL franchise, taking something of an advocacy tone. I created an on-line petition calling on Canadian hockey fans to boycott NHL licensed merchandise until Hamilton (or another Canadian city) is awarded a team.

While the petition has only gotten 4 signatures so far, it looks like it might be getting some more attention. I received an email today from Craig Ferguson, a 48 year old gentleman who works in financial services. He's a self described hockey nut and the father of 4 teenagers. While he lives in the Hamilton area, he's very much enamoured with the thought of bringing NHL hockey back to 'The Peg'. So enamoured that he's started his own blog on the subject, Make It Eight, eh? Hockey again for Winnipeg!

Craig has written me that he's going to be publicizing the petition on makeitseven.ca's rants page, as well as through facebook.

So allow me to reiterate the idea behind the petition once again.

Canadians should tell Gary Bettman and the NHL board of governors that we Puck Loving Hosers will not be buying any NHL licensed merchandise until this country is awarded a 7th franchise. We'll still go to the games, we will keep watching our Hockey Night in Canada....but the money they get from all the sweaters, key chains, flags, boxer shorts and gawd knows what else...the $Loonies$ filling the NHL's merchandising coffers is going to take a hit unless they pull their collective heads out of Gary Bettman's behind and grant Hamilton (or another worthy Canadian city) a franchise.

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Boycott NHL Licensed Products Until Canada Gets 7th Team - Petition

I've started an on-line petition so Canadians can let Gary Bettman and the NHL know that we're going to hit them where it hurts until they put a 7th team in Canada.

Can Hamilton support an NHL franchise? Absolutely!!! Instead of having struggling teams in cities like Nashville, Columbus, Tampa Bay and Phoenix the NHL could have perhaps as many as 6 more Canadian teams, in cities where hockey matters and is front page news.

With the revenue sharing agreement between the NHL and its player's association cities like Winnipeg and Quebec City would now be viable. It needn't end there, Regina and Halifax might also prove lucrative markets, with the city of Toronto ripe for another team.

But Gary Bettman and the NHL hardly seem interested, they'd rather ignore a country where people live and breathe hockey, while dreaming about expansion or relocation to places like Las Vegas, Kansas City and Portland. There's a good reason for this, there are 24 U.S. teams in the league right now, and many are already struggling to sell tickets. Owners of U.S. teams think its easier to flog tickets for games against cities like NY, LA or San Jose than it would be if the Hamilton Puckheads or Regina Wheat Kings were coming to town.

Sports is big business, and hockey is no exception. The only way to get the league's attention is to hit them where it hurts, in the wallet. I'm not going to suggest that people living in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal stop attending games...that would never work. Neither would asking people to stop watching the games on TV, we love our hockey too much.

But ticket sales and television rights aren't the only revenue streams for the league, there's also licensing fees. Every team sweater and toque with an NHL logo on it brings in $$$. Hats, socks, boxer shorts, flags, hockey cards....there has to be a million products generating licensing revenue. This is where Joe and Jane Canadian can hit Gary Bettman and make it count.

If you think Canada deserves and merits another team, stop buying products licensed to the NHL. The league generates over $1 billion each year by plastering team logos on everything from sweaters to key chains, and it stands to reason that a hefty percentage of that money comes from our Loonies. In fact the NHL forecast an 8% increase in licensing revenue back in August of 2008 according to SportsBusiness Journal.

SIGN THIS PETITION and let Gary Bettman and the league know you will not be purchasing any NHL licensed products until a 7th Canadian team is approved.

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