NHL 2006 Playoffs thread...

[CanadianChris 0]

And it's Buffalo vs. Carolina in the East finals.

 

Put me squarely in the Carolina camp. I doubt I'm going to go out of my way to watch the games, though.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

A game 7 could be HUGE for Edmonton/San Jose. Look what the week off did to the Devils, and a little cooling-off

[JustJoe2k5 0]

Now we have to wait an entire week for the Eastern Conference Finals to begin. Atleast this will give OLN an opportunity to show some classic games.

 

I thought it was pretty funny that as soon as John Forslund, the Hurricanes' announcer, said "let's listen to the fans in the final two minutes" the lights went out in the RBC Center.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Anyone watching the late game? San Jose was outshooting the Oil 20-8 when the third started, but the Oil had a 2-1 lead.

 

By the five minute mark of the third, it was 4-3 Oilers, including a 3-1 Edmonton lead and the Sharks tying it up at 3. This is pretty entertaining hockey.

 

Steve Staios, it should be noted, finished his shift after taking a puck to the head.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

All kinds of penalties to San Jose in the third mean a 6-3 Oil win.

 

It's not like the Sharks didnt have PP chances, they simply didn't cash in. This Oil win is not a result of poor officiating.

 

Anyone see the scrum with about 90 seconds to play? Rem Murray was heard audibly screaming "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" Hughson's subtle acknowledgment of it was gold.

[Annabelle 0]

the oilers are a better team than anyone is giving them credit for. a buffalo/edmonton finals would be amazing. a buffalo/carolina semi-finals is amazing. for real hockey fans these semi-finals will be greta. for casual fans, they'll be the pits.

[Annabelle 0]

I'm going to call this one now. Either Ottawa or Colorado will win their series.

 

you know diddly

[Guest]

I admitted to my mistake.

[nl5xsk1 0]

I'm going to call this one now. Either Ottawa or Colorado will win their series.

 

you know diddly

Not everyone knows hockey as well as you do, banky ... remember this gem?:

 

new jersey has no offense. the rangers are WAITING to explode. they could sweep the devils. the rangers can & may go all the way this year. pick your playoff drafts wisely. no one is picking any rangers. so stupid. do it, kids.

[Annabelle 0]

you remember more about me than myself. get a more constructive hobby.

 

the rangers thing was wrong. keep in mind that jagr was hurt. that crippled them. but new jersey HAS no offense.

[Guest NYankees]

A game 7 could be HUGE for Edmonton/San Jose. Look what the week off did to the Devils, and a little cooling-off

 

 

Devils also had a easy first round against the Rangers while the Hurricanes were fighting for their lives against Montreal. Devils lost that series because the previous series against the Rangers was too easy. The Devils didn't have to raise their game against the Rangers to win.

[CanadianChris 0]

The Devils lost the series because Carolina had a much better team.

[nl5xsk1 0]

you remember more about me than myself. get a more constructive hobby.

The Rangers quote just struck me as so damning when I first read it ... anything less than a dominating performance by the Rangers and that post was just begging to be mocked. And, thus, when I got the opportunity, I mocked. Other than that one post, though, banky, I remember nothing about you. No new hobbies are necessary.

 

Back on topic: The Devils and Senators lost their series' for the same reason: while they had better players (on paper), they really didn't have the better teams (on the ice). Even though I picked Ottawa & NJD to advance, I'm not terribly surprised that it's Carolina & Buffalo in the Eastern finals.

[bob_barron 0]

Apparently they booed O Canada at the Sharks-Oilers game.

 

Scandal and all.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Apparently they booed O Canada at the Sharks-Oilers game.

 

Scandal and all.

 

How many times has this happened in the spring over the last five or six years? Scandal? Won't happen. Until we hear Gary Bettman unleashing the boo birds at "We stand on guard for thee", no scandal is likely.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Anyway, Oilers-Sabres PLEASE. Let's keep hockey to the hockey towns

 

purist alert

 

people complain about hockey not getting any new fans, and then there are comments like this

 

The reason we purists complain is that unless said teams are doing well, no one in the cities shows up. Anaheim, Florida, Carolina all enjoyed surges after post-season underdog runs, but who stuck around when the teams stumbled again?

 

In the last season played, Carolina, Anaheim and Buffalo all ranked in the bottom third of attendance. Carolina's attendance dropped nearly an average of 3500 fans a game. It's not so much that we don't want to see teams in Sun Belt cities, it's that most fans don't seem to either.

 

Interestingly, Edmonton and San Jose ranked 14 and 18, but Edmonton's capacity was well over 100%.

 

This year's Hockey News Yearbook was my source, by the way.

[Guest]

Anyway, Oilers-Sabres PLEASE. Let's keep hockey to the hockey towns

 

purist alert

 

people complain about hockey not getting any new fans, and then there are comments like this

 

The reason we purists complain is that unless said teams are doing well, no one in the cities shows up. Anaheim, Florida, Carolina all enjoyed surges after post-season underdog runs, but who stuck around when the teams stumbled again?

 

In the last season played, Carolina, Anaheim and Buffalo all ranked in the bottom third of attendance. Carolina's attendance dropped nearly an average of 3500 fans a game. It's not so much that we don't want to see teams in Sun Belt cities, it's that most fans don't seem to either.

 

Interestingly, Edmonton and San Jose ranked 14 and 18, but Edmonton's capacity was well over 100%.

 

This year's Hockey News Yearbook was my source, by the way.

Those teams you mentioned: Anaheim, Carolina, Florida and Buffalo had incredibly shitty years. Buffalo not so much, but the other ones were absolutely dreadful. Look at Florida's attendance record this year. It's alright.

[therealworldschampion 0]

Apparently they booed O Canada at the Sharks-Oilers game.

 

Scandal and all.

 

If it had happened in Philly, the national media (Wilbon and other blowhards) would've been all over it.

[Red Baron 0]

Anyway, Oilers-Sabres PLEASE. Let's keep hockey to the hockey towns

 

purist alert

 

people complain about hockey not getting any new fans, and then there are comments like this

 

The reason we purists complain is that unless said teams are doing well, no one in the cities shows up. Anaheim, Florida, Carolina all enjoyed surges after post-season underdog runs, but who stuck around when the teams stumbled again?

 

In the last season played, Carolina, Anaheim and Buffalo all ranked in the bottom third of attendance. Carolina's attendance dropped nearly an average of 3500 fans a game. It's not so much that we don't want to see teams in Sun Belt cities, it's that most fans don't seem to either.

 

Interestingly, Edmonton and San Jose ranked 14 and 18, but Edmonton's capacity was well over 100%.

 

This year's Hockey News Yearbook was my source, by the way.

Those teams you mentioned: Anaheim, Carolina, Florida and Buffalo had incredibly shitty years. Buffalo not so much, but the other ones were absolutely dreadful. Look at Florida's attendance record this year. It's alright.

 

But that is the reason. They don't stick with their teams. Toronto had a shitty season and sold out every game. Even Tampa didn't have a good season last year until playoffs started to come in, and even this year, where they were a betten than average team.

[Guest]

Toronto didn't have a shitty season. Shitty season is when they get a top 5 pick in the draft. Pittsburgh fans only stuck around because they have Crosby and had Lemieux, and they're afraid that their team is leaving. Blues fans didn't stick around, they had a ridiculously long playoff streak prior to this year.

 

Tampa's home attendance was great, you really should look at it.

[CanadianChris 0]

Toronto didn't have a shitty season. Shitty season is when they get a top 5 pick in the draft. Pittsburgh fans only stuck around because they have Crosby and had Lemieux, and they're afraid that their team is leaving. Blues fans didn't stick around, they had a ridiculously long playoff streak prior to this year.

Toronto sold out virtually every game in the 80s, when they were consistently the worst team in the league. They're a lot like the Cubs in that respect.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Apparently they booed O Canada at the Sharks-Oilers game.

 

Scandal and all.

Until we hear Gary Bettman unleashing the boo birds at "We stand on guard for thee", no scandal is likely.

 

 

EDIT: I''m not ruling this out, either...

[Guest]

Toronto didn't have a shitty season. Shitty season is when they get a top 5 pick in the draft. Pittsburgh fans only stuck around because they have Crosby and had Lemieux, and they're afraid that their team is leaving. Blues fans didn't stick around, they had a ridiculously long playoff streak prior to this year.

Toronto sold out virtually every game in the 80s, when they were consistently the worst team in the league. They're a lot like the Cubs in that respect.

And they haven't won a Cup in a relative eternity.

[the max 0]

You're comparing the hockey fandom of people that live in Toronto to people who live in Anaheim, Carolina and Miami/Lauderdale. I don't know what there is to do in Carolina, but there's certainly things to do in the winter time in Anaheim and Miami. The fans down here are supportive, they go to games in surprising amounts considering that they haven't had anything to brag about in a decade besides Louie.

[Star Ocean 3 0]

Toronto and all those citites have had hockey for decades

like it's any surprise Anaheim doesn't sell out every game, there's no hockey tradition, it's still new

 

That's why you expand, to build on it in places that haven't been exposed to it.

[CanadianChris 0]

Toronto and all those citites have had hockey for decades

like it's any surprise Anaheim doesn't sell out every game, there's no hockey tradition, it's still new

 

That's why you expand, to build on it in places that haven't been exposed to it.

Yeah, but how much interest are you going to get in a sport that can only be played during a small window of time during the year? Hockey is loved in Canada and the northern US because it's played by ordinary people for much of the year, and they understand and love the sport. If you don't get that grassroots support, it's only going to be a passing fancy for most people.

 

It's a lot like what happened with professional baseball in Canada. There were six big pro baseball teams in Canada in the mid-90s -- the two major league teams and four AAA teams. In a couple of years, there will be only two (the Blue Jays and the A-ball Vancouver Canadians; the Ottawa Lynx will likely be moving closer to Baltimore in the next couple of years due to lack of fan support). A lot of that can be laid at the feet of the strike, but the fact is also that baseball is a sport that's only played here four or five months of the year, and people just aren't as into it. At least, not enough to sit outside on a freezing early-April night.

[Star Ocean 3 0]

ok, nevermind, hockey shouldn't try to expand to cities that aren't familiar with it. the league should only have a dozen or so teams, too, because that's where it's understood.

you don't even need to televise them becauase there's enough room in the arenas for all the real fans to attend, too.

heck, newspapers should stop reporting it so hockey can be a special underground sport for the northern cities to enjoy.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

I keep telling you that I have at least 3 hockey rinks in driving distance from my house. I know the one I play at is packed on the weekends and when the high schooler play.

 

As for the low attendance for Anaheim, when the new owners took over, they sold out all their club seats for this season. Plus, I think, overall, the Pond has been sold out 85 percent of the time.

 

You see, in So Cal, if you look at 909's flags, the Ducks have to fight those teams for media coverage. It would be great if OC had its own ABC, NBC, and CBS that way the Angels and Ducks could come first.

[CanadianChris 0]

ok, nevermind, hockey shouldn't try to expand to cities that aren't familiar with it. the league should only have a dozen or so teams, too, because that's where it's understood.

you don't even need to televise them becauase there's enough room in the arenas for all the real fans to attend, too.

heck, newspapers should stop reporting it so hockey can be a special underground sport for the northern cities to enjoy.

Glad you didn't overreact or anything.

 

Fact is, of the 13 teams that have joined the league or moved since the 91-92 season, six have been fairly consistent draws (looking at % of capacity) over the last five seasons -- the five northernmost teams (Ottawa, Minnesota, Colorado, Columbus and San Jose), plus Dallas (Cup winner). One has gone from poor draw to good draw (Tampa Bay, another Cup winner). The other six have underperformed against the league average, and they all happen to be in the south (Anaheim, Nashville, Atlanta, Florida, Carolina, and to a lesser extent, Phoenix).

 

Now, obviously, there are some poor draws in the north as well -- New Jersey, Boston, Chicago and the Islanders come to mind -- but when you stick ice hockey in a warmer climate, you're just not going to get consistently good attendance figures over time, because the hardcore fanbase isn't really there.

 

Incidentally, why are there two days between games in the Sharks/Oilers series? Having to wait for Game 6 is a drag.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

Anyway, Oilers-Sabres PLEASE. Let's keep hockey to the hockey towns

 

purist alert

 

people complain about hockey not getting any new fans, and then there are comments like this

 

The reason we purists complain is that unless said teams are doing well, no one in the cities shows up. Anaheim, Florida, Carolina all enjoyed surges after post-season underdog runs, but who stuck around when the teams stumbled again?

 

In the last season played, Carolina, Anaheim and Buffalo all ranked in the bottom third of attendance. Carolina's attendance dropped nearly an average of 3500 fans a game. It's not so much that we don't want to see teams in Sun Belt cities, it's that most fans don't seem to either.

 

Interestingly, Edmonton and San Jose ranked 14 and 18, but Edmonton's capacity was well over 100%.

 

This year's Hockey News Yearbook was my source, by the way.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/attendance?year=2006

 

That website says otherwise. New Jersey is widely considered a "traditional" franchise in the NHL, they had a fairly successful season, yet they ranked 26th out of 30 teams in attendace. The Phoenix Coyotes had a terrible season, yet they averaged more attendance than the playoff-bound New Jersey Devils. Other long-time franchises like the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues had bad seasons and the fans didn't show up. It isn't just the new franchises and franchises in the South that have trouble drawing attendance. Fans anywhere will stop showing up if a team is consistently among the bottom fourth of the league.