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Time To Make A Deal

December 12, 2012, 9:18 AM ET [30 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
All World goalie, and all around great guy, Henrik Lundqvist wants to play hockey in front of his fans. He's not alone. 750 NHLPA members want the same things that The King wants: to hear the roar of the crowd and to feel the buzz and adrenaline of the NHL grind.

Lundqvist penned this heartfelt journal entry for the NY Post. It sums up the collective emotions of the players, and the fans.


I HAVE to admit, I was so excited on Tuesday when I walked past the Garden and got my first look at it in a long, long time.

So many different thoughts went through my head. I was thinking about how I missed being there, how frustrating it’s been not to be able to play and be with my teammates and in front of our fans.



Everything I was thinking came back to the lockout. That’s how it is every day with almost everything. Everything comes back to the lockout. It just makes me upset. The more I think about it, the more upset I am.

I can’t even remember the last time I’ve been away from hockey as long as I have been now. It feels so strange. Everything is off. Nothing is the way it’s supposed to be. It’s hard to imagine that it’s almost Christmas but the season hasn’t even started yet.

I miss it so much. I miss the game. I miss the excitement. I miss the challenge of pushing myself every day. I feed off competing. I feed off the energy.

I’ve tried to be positive. I have to admit that I never thought we would be out this long. I’ve never gone through anything like this before. The first couple of weeks were weird but then when I realized we might be out for a long time, I started to freak out a little bit. It’s hard to explain.

You feed off the game. It’s your life. I never imagined it would be this difficult for me not to play and how much I would miss it. I guess you take it for granted that you will always play.

It’s really hard for a lot of people to understand this. I don’t expect people to understand. Sometimes it’s hard for us to understand.

It was good at first to be able to go home with [my wife] Therese and have the chance for [my five-month old daughter] Charlise to say hi for the first time to everyone in our family and our friends. That’s the only good thing about this. But as much as Therese and I enjoy home, we miss New York. That’s where we should be now.

Coming back a couple of weeks ago and playing in the charity game at Atlantic City was the best I have felt in a long time. I had no idea what to expect, but it felt so good to be out there playing a game.

Of course it wasn’t just playing a game, it was the reason we were playing — to help raise money for the recovery from Hurricane Sandy — that also made it special. It’s so inspiring to see how everyone works so hard — and I don’t mean the hockey players — to help other people in need.

It was a great night. I loved every minute of it.

When I went past the Garden I thought about the excitement our fans bring that makes it so special. I know the fans are really upset, and they have a right to be. They deserve better. I really mean that. They are so loyal. They spend so much money for tickets and merchandise and to be there to support the team.

The fans deserve better. The game of hockey deserves better. I can’t even express how much I hope we’re back playing very, very soon.

I can’t wait to be in a Rangers uniform again.


Thanks, NY Post

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Welcome to 12/12/12.

The bad news: Day 88 of the NHL lockout.

The good news: The NHL owners and players will be meeting in a Secret Santa location. Whoville? The North Pole? We’ll know later today. Federal mediators will be involved in these meetings. Didn’t Gary Bettman say last Thursday in his impassioned skate away speech that he was not interested in meeting again with mediators, since the last experience was such a non-event? I digress.

Speaking of Bettman, Tuesday marked his 20th anniversary in office as NHL Commissioner. Talk about non-events. Bettman’s body of work has been a contradiction in terms in his two decade of leadership. For all of the record revenue growth and international business success that has occurred in his tenure, Bettman cannot seem to get a grasp on how to successfully run domestic relations partnership with his players. The lights have gone black on Broadway for the NHL three different times in Bettman’s twenty years (‘94/95, ‘04/05 and 2012). at the helm. According to the New York Times, some respected advertising and branding experts caution that all of the work stoppages and labor strife will have a negative effect on the NHL brand.

“Clearly, its business model is dysfunctional,” said Tony Knopp, the chief executive of Spotlight TMS, a company that manages corporate ticket sales. “Things have to be terrible for them to be willing to throw away two seasons in less than 10 years.”


Bettman took charge of the NHL December 1993. Since then, the fans have lost out on 2,224 regular-season NHL games, due to cacellations related to labor strife. Translation: nearly 10% of the 22,882 NHL games scheduled from October 1993 through December 30, including the Winter Classic on January 1, 2013, have been chopped off.

By comparsion to the NHL, no other North American major league can make the same claim. The NHL is the King of The Castle when ranking by games cancelled. Talk about a title belt that no one else wants to wear. The NBA, which also has had three lockouts since 1993 has only lost 3.1% of its regular-season games. MLB has lost 2.1 percent of its regular-season games and the 1994 postseason to a strike. The NFL didn’t take the chainsaw to any of its regular season games during their lockout in 2011.

Begs the question: Why is Bettman so willing to take the axe to the games that his loyal fans pay good money to see? Isn’t there a better way to resolve labor relations? Why not play with an expired CBA, while negotiating a new agreement with the players? The NHLPA proposed such a resolution last summer when there was near silence between the NHL owners and the NHLPA. As the September 15 CBA born-on date was nearing, the players suggested the same arrangement. It fell on deaf ears. At midnight on September 15, Cinderella turned into a pumpkin. Here we are, 88 days later.

What’s the point of cancelling games and pissing off your season ticket holders and corporate sponsors?

"To lose almost 10 percent of your games to lockouts, that’s a chilling number,” said Bob Gutkowski, a partner at the private equity firm Innovative Sports and Entertainment and formerly a member of the NHL Board of Governors as the president of Madison Square Garden"
.

The NHL ‘04/05 was an abomination in that it wrecked the entire regular season. What’s more, the Stanley Cup playoffs were chopped. Bettman has the dubious distinction and “honor” of being the only commish in North American major league sports history to kill an entire regular season AND post season due a collective bargaining agreement donnybrook. Ash to ash. Dusk to dusk. Fade to black. The memory remains.

When the carnage had cleared and the cease fire went into effect, loyal NHL fans came back through the turnstiles. The NHL brand had survived its worst scare in its long and storied history. Hat in hand, the NHL made badly needed, sweeping rule changes (no more hug-n-tug, eliminated the red line to kill the two line pass, let the speed and skill shine through) that were offered as olive branches to the loyal fans. Like the metaphorical phoenix, the NHL had risen from the dead. Crosby and Ovechkin were now the fresh faces and leading men of the newer and improved NHL. The partnership between the players and owners has created the wildy successful Winter Classic brand. At the Vancouver Olympics, Ryan Miller and team USA captured the hearts and imaginations of even the most hockey illiterate fans outside of Canada. The NHL is a better business when its Original Six teams are winning, as evidenced by Stanley Cup wins by the Blackhawks and Bruins. High tide floats all 30 NHL “boats”.
Since 2005, NHL hockey related revenue (HRR) revenue has grown from nearly $2 billion to $3.3 billion in 2011-12.

So why kill the golden goose that lays the 3.3 billion golden eggs?

It boggles the mind.

Brian Cooper, the president of the Toronto sports management company S&E Sponsorship Group, said the current lockout would hurt the NHL’s business.

“To many people, this has become a pattern, an M.O.,” he said. “It’s almost as if consumers and sponsors are getting the message, ‘Enjoy the next six or seven years, because you know we’re going to be out the year after that.’ ”

He added: “What people want from a brand is consistency of product, accessibility and emotional connection that’s uninterrupted. These lockouts interrupt everything.”

But the NBA came back from a truncated season last year and had its best metrics across the board, Cooper said. “If that can happen,” he said, “maybe the NHL can come back too.”


On November 22, Sabres goalie Ryan Miller told the Globe and Mail that he had seen and heard enough of the tom foolery and hi-jinx of the NHL owners during these CBA negotiations. Miller’s comments echoed the sentiments of die hard NHL fans.


“I am tired of the disregard and the ego,” Miller said. “Our fans and sponsors are alienated, and this is hurting the game. This process has more of the appearance of brand suicide than a negotiation.”


Today, Bettman has the opportunity to right the wrongs. Will he and the owners find a solution to restoring the luster and equity to the NHL brand?





Source: NY Times, Globe and Mail.


_______________________________________________________________________


Locked out NHLers, PK Subban and Steven Stamkos are announcing that they are partnering to create an NHL charity hockey event, featuring locked out NHLers.

Here's the press release:


The National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) and RBC today announced that RBC Play Hockey ambassadors Steven Stamkos and P.K. Subban will lead teams of fellow NHL players in the RBC Play Hockey Charity Challenge on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto. The venue features an NHL-sized rink that is part of Ryerson University's state-of-the-art sports facility, site of the former Maple Leaf Gardens.

Two-time NHL leading goal-scorer and two-time NHL All-Star Steven Stamkos, and two-time World Junior Championship gold medalist and 2010-11 NHL All-Rookie Team member P.K. Subban will be joined on the ice by more than 30 NHLPA members for a 5-on-5, 60-minute game. The players scheduled to participate include Dion Phaneuf, Phil Kessel, James Neal, Tomas Kaberle, Mike Komisarek, Logan Couture, Kris Versteeg, Niklas Kronwall and John Michael Liles. Complete Team Stamkos and Team Subban rosters will be announced in the coming days.

"The RBC Play Hockey Charity Challenge is a great opportunity to share the joy and excitement of hockey with our fans. I'm looking forward to playing alongside this impressive lineup of fellow NHL players while helping to raise funds to benefit local hockey programs across the country," said Steven Stamkos, RBC Play Hockey ambassador and NHLPA member. "RBC is committed to helping hockey happen, at every level and in every community across North America and I'm proud to partner with them and bring this event to Toronto."

The RBC Play Hockey Charity Challenge tickets will be priced at $25 (including HST, may be subject to additional fees) and will be available starting at 10 a.m. on Thursday, December 13 at ticketmaster.ca, charge by phone at 1-855-985-5000, and at all Ticketmaster Retail Outlets. Tickets will be available at the Mattamy Athletic Centre Box Office starting Friday, December 14. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit grassroots hockey initiatives through the NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund and RBC Play Hockey.

"The NHLPA shares RBC's commitment to supporting hockey at the grassroots level," said Mathieu Schneider, NHLPA Special Assistant to the Executive Director and former NHL player. "The participating NHLPA members are excited about the chance to skate in front of Toronto hockey fans on December 19th. The Players are committed to growing our great sport while raising funds to help less fortunate children get the equipment and resources they need to play the game."

The NHLPA Goals & Dreams fund is the largest grassroots hockey assistance program in the world. Founded in 1999, NHLPA Goals & Dreams has contributed over $21 million to grassroots hockey programs and related causes in more than 30 countries. Through the donation of equipment grants, the program has given more than 60,000 deserving children the opportunity to play hockey and benefit from the sport's commitment to teamwork, discipline and physical fitness. For more information visit NHLPA.com.

RBC Play Hockey is one of the largest corporately funded hockey programs that supports grassroots hockey in communities across North America. To date, RBC has provided more than $1,500,000 in grants to over 120 hockey programs - ranging from learn-to-skate, ball hockey and equipment-sharing programs to reduced registration, access to ice and hockey clinic initiatives. As a premier partner of Hockey Canada and USA Hockey, RBC is an official sponsor of each country's men's and women's national teams, the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship, and Canada's National Junior A Championship - the RBC Cup. For more information, visit rbcplayhockey.com, follow us on Twitter @RBCPlayHockey or on Facebook www.facebook.com/rbcplayhockey.
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