NBC...maybe not.

But lets look at the GTA and the Leafs which generate the largest portion of the Leagues revenues. If millions of us Canadians (because Bell is nationwide) decided we were going to eliminate $5.00 from our bills by cancelling a feature of our phone service the numbers add up quickly.

We just have to change the culture of thought.

We can make a difference.
- R-SAL

Boycott TSN and Sportsnet as well.

Gap shrinks

NBC...maybe not.

But lets look at the GTA and the Leafs which generate the largest portion of the Leagues revenues. If millions of us Canadians (because Bell is nationwide) decided we were going to eliminate $5.00 from our bills by cancelling a feature of our phone service the numbers add up quickly.

We just have to change the culture of thought.

We can make a difference.
- R-SAL

i may be a pessimist on this one but i dont think the people have all that much power at all.. there is an illusion of power to change things.. but i dont think its real

cut 5$ out of your phone bill and bell will just up the rates

in this system, this society, we are slaves to our needs... and one of our needs in todays world is to remain competitive in society.. so people will pay to maintain an edge.. or to simply keep pace

This is what happens when you have boy negotiating against men. It's not just Bettman against Fehr, but 29 (30 if you include the NHL for the Coyotes) successful business men negotiating again a large group of hockey players, where the vast majority are under age 35 and all they've ever done is play hockey. Who would you bet on in a situation like that? I know the players hired Fehr to represent them and bring his experience (and he was rather successful in the past) but the players lack of business experience makes them vulnerable to Fehr's agenda. I'm not trying to knock the players or Fehr, but this has been a one sided fight since the beginning.
- DarthKane

I agree with you 100%. On a side note, it must be hard being a Chicago fan living in Vancouver or is it the opposite, you get to rub it in their faces?

Looking at the football lines on Bodog has me wondering... what are the odds we get an updated optimism meter today and that is actually pessimistic for the first time?

I agree with you 100%. On a side note, it must be hard being a Chicago fan living in Vancouver or is it the opposite, you get to rub it in their faces?
- hooligoon

It's the same difficulty a hockey fan who lives in Toronto must go through. They must feel so deprived.

It's the same difficulty a hockey fan who lives in Toronto must go through. They must feel so deprived.
- bloatedmosquito

i honestly prefer the deprivation over having to look at some of the jerseys you guys have had to endure

lol no i understand.. and its def related to the blog

and in considering it i like the idea.. however.. i honestly do not think there are enough NHL fans to put a dent into companies like NBC, etc.
- Dozzer

It worked once before - but that was really only aimed at one team.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHL-WHA_merger

With the WHA facing financial difficulty and unable to meet payrolls, the two leagues reached an agreement to merge in March 1979, pending ratification by the NHL's owners. The NHL originally wanted to take in the New England Whalers, Winnipeg Jets, and Edmonton Oilers. The owners of the Cincinnati Stingers and Birmingham Bulls were resigned to their exclusion from the merger, but the Quebec Nordiques fought the proposal. The NHL's American teams were less enthusiastic about including Quebec than they were about Edmonton and Winnipeg, and Ziegler thought that the Canadiens might be persuaded to support the merger if the Nordiques were excluded.

Nevertheless, the WHA insisted on including all three of its surviving Canadian teams in the merger and Ziegler finally agreed to put the matter to a vote of the NHL's Board of Governors. At a meeting in Key Largo, Florida, 12 of the 17 owners supported the proposal – one short of the required three-fourths majority. The five teams that voted against the merger were the Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Los Angeles Kings.

The five teams that cast a "no" ballot did so for different reasons. The Bruins were not pleased with the prospect of sharing New England with the Whalers, while the Canadiens were even less enamored with having to share the province of Quebec with the Nordiques. The Canadiens, Canucks, and Maple Leafs disliked the idea of having to split Hockey Night in Canada revenues six ways rather than three, while the Canucks and Kings feared the loss of dates with NHL teams from the east. The Maple Leafs' owner had a personal grudge as well; Ballard had never forgiven the WHA for plundering his roster in the early 1970s.

The Canadiens were owned by Molson Brewery. When the news got out that the Canadiens had voted against the deal, fans in Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Quebec City organized a boycott of Molson products, believing that Molson was standing in the way of their cities remaining big-league hockey towns. The boycott quickly spread nationwide. It caused a drain on the Canucks' revenue as well, since Pacific Coliseum sold Molson products. The Canadian House of Commons weighed in as well, unanimously passing a motion urging the NHL to reconsider.

A second vote was held in Chicago on March 22, 1979, which passed by a 14–3 margin as both Montreal and Vancouver reversed their positions. Both teams' hands were forced by the boycott, and the Canucks were also won over by the promise of a balanced schedule, with each team playing the others twice at home and twice on the road. The agreement was slanted heavily in the NHL's favour. It saw the Oilers, Whalers, Nordiques, and Jets join the NHL for the 1979–80 NHL season, but the NHL insisted on treating the deal as an expansion rather than a merger and refused to recognize WHA records. As a result, they had to pay a $6 million franchise fee for the right to enter the NHL. The remaining two teams, the Stingers and Bulls, were paid $1.5 million apiece in parachute payments and joined the Central Hockey League, the league-owned minor league, for one season each. The Stingers folded after 33 games; the Bulls played two full seasons before folding.

i honestly prefer the deprivation over having to look at some of the jerseys you guys have had to endure
- Dozzer

That we agree on!

Boycott TSN and Sportsnet as well.
- Canada Cup

Boycotting TSN and Sportsnet is hard to quantify because it is viewership numbers. But both are owned by Bell Media and Rogers....so drop some of your services and it is immediately $5.00 off their bottome line. $5.00 x millions of subscribers adds up quickly.

I implore everyone to please stop with the defeatest attitude.

We have power as fans.

BELIEVE.

No...it means you stop buying gas from a certain provider of gas. And you may not be able to hurt your team's owner but you could hurt another teams owner. It's all good. I am a Leaf fan (go ahead and comment) but I am boycotting Little Caesars Pizza which is a Red Wing link.

The fan base needs to stop thinking they can't do something.

We need to understand that we may continue to provide 3.3 billion a year to the NHL but we can stop our money flowing to the business that facilitate purchases of sports franchises. We are the Customer! We are in control if you enable yourself.
- R-SAL

It all runs through the same pipelines. I feel that our owner doesn't want this. He made it clear he's not in this for the money when he bought the team. He's just outnumbered.

That we agree on!
- bloatedmosquito

Stan Smyl was a very good hockey player.. but I just cant take him seriously after looking at a google image search of him

It all runs through the same pipelines. I feel that our owner doesn't want this. He made it clear he's not in this for the money when he bought the team. He's just outnumbered.
- sippyd

Read the quote from Irish Blues (above).

This idea has worked before.

I'm not surprised the Hab fans started this. I'm a Leafer but I have to hand it to Hab fans...they don't put up with this stuff.

NBC...maybe not.

But lets look at the GTA and the Leafs which generate the largest portion of the Leagues revenues. If millions of us Canadians (because Bell is nationwide) decided we were going to eliminate $5.00 from our bills by cancelling a feature of our phone service the numbers add up quickly.

We just have to change the culture of thought.

We can make a difference.
- R-SAL

I'm going to Boycott Freedom Fries!

Unfortunately, de-certification would like lead "re" certification and a new CBA either from the owners caving, or from the owners filling their rosters with non-PA players... causing the PA players to want to sign up.

It would be more fun if it stuck, and there was no more NHLPA.

Would it be a free for all on spending... would half the teams fold within a year?

What happens with the draft? Do the Leafs go sign McKinnon and McDavid to 20 year 400 million dollar conracts each?

Sooo many scenarios become possible... I think it would be a laugh to watch the crazy stuff happening
- Aetherial

I was just thinking the exact same thing.

It would be a brave new world.

Fascinating to watch.

Gap shrinks
- CaptainK

That's why I don't put that stuff in the dryer.

Boycotting TSN and Sportsnet is hard to quantify because it is viewership numbers. But both are owned by Bell Media and Rogers....so drop some of your services and it is immediately $5.00 off their bottome line. $5.00 x millions of subscribers adds up quickly.

I implore everyone to please stop with the defeatest attitude.

We have power as fans.

BELIEVE.
- R-SAL

See this is based on some very flawed logic. I'm supposed to stop subscription to the best quality provider (Verizon) in my area just because it happens to be a sponsor of one organization that provides a "want", not a "need"? Is it really worth going to a second rate competitor over? I may now have problems with my TV, phone, and cellphone, but dammit, I sure showed Bettman who's boss. I love the NHL, and the Buffalo Sabres, but I also have things I need in life.

Boycotting TSN and Sportsnet is hard to quantify because it is viewership numbers. But both are owned by Bell Media and Rogers....so drop some of your services and it is immediately $5.00 off their bottome line. $5.00 x millions of subscribers adds up quickly.

I implore everyone to please stop with the defeatest attitude.

We have power as fans.

BELIEVE.
- R-SAL

And then start an online petition!

Unfortunately, de-certification would like lead "re" certification and a new CBA either from the owners caving, or from the owners filling their rosters with non-PA players... causing the PA players to want to sign up.

It would be more fun if it stuck, and there was no more NHLPA.

Would it be a free for all on spending... would half the teams fold within a year?

What happens with the draft? Do the Leafs go sign McKinnon and McDavid to 20 year 400 million dollar conracts each?

Sooo many scenarios become possible... I think it would be a laugh to watch the crazy stuff happening
- Aetherial

player: i'm hurt coach.... i need to see the team doc

coach: what team doc?

See this is based on some very flawed logic. I'm supposed to stop subscription to the best quality provider (Verizon) in my area just because it happens to be a sponsor of one organization that provides a "want", not a "need"? Is it really worth going to a second rate competitor over? I may now have problems with my TV, phone, and cellphone, but dammit, I sure showed Bettman who's boss. I love the NHL, and the Buffalo Sabres, but I also have things I need in life.
- buffalofan19

Read carefully the original post. I'm not saying drop the entire service, but there may be some feature of your serveice you can eliminate...like conference calling. Also, you don't have to necessarily hurt your hometown owner. Hurt anyone. Hurt the red wings by not eating at Little Caesars etc, find something that doesn't hurt you but will hurt them. I stripped my landline phone down to bare bones. I use my cell phone 95% of the time anyway. By doing that I took $25.00 a month away from Bell. And the thing is...I'm getting used to bare bones and probably won't switch the services back on...so it was win, win for me.

Just copy and paste the idea and send it to your friends rather than defeat it without trying.

It's like voting...you can't complain if you don't vote.

Well, you can't complain about the lock-out if you don't try to do something about it.

Everyone needs to stop with the defeatist attitude.

Read the quote from Irish Blues (above).

This idea has worked before.
- R-SAL

Yes, it did work. Once.

30+ years ago. Against one (1) team.

I'll let you draw the contrasts to the present. There's more than a few of them.

player: i'm hurt coach.... i need to see the team doc

coach: what team doc?
- Dozzer

Connolly: I swear, I think I saw Donald Trump in the building!

Burke: You did - he needs to see you in the boardroom...

I was just thinking the exact same thing.

It would be a brave new world.

Fascinating to watch.
- Atomic Wedgie

It's time we moved this lock out to a whole new level. The MJL-Aetherial battles have been great but I think they're getting a bit stale and MJL seems to be going through the motions.

Imagine the Ek sources from the 8th District Circuit Court and Gavel-O-Meter as arguments rage.

I'm in

Yes, it did work. Once.

30+ years ago. Against one (1) team.

I'll let you draw the contrasts to the present. There's more than a few of them.
- Irish Blues

It worked once because it was tried once.

So...it has a 100% success rate.

If you don't try... it won't work.

I am trying and I have taken off some services and I let the service rep know the reason why.

I am trying....I am just asking others to try.

Punish them for punishing us.

Positive attitude.

Connolly: I swear, I think I saw Donald Trump in the building!

Burke: You did - he needs to see you in the boardroom...
- Atomic Wedgie