It Begins: Red Wings Cancel Prospect Camp in Traverse City
This was not the news I was hoping for, but according to a bunch of sources on Twitter, the prospect camp has been cancelled. However, according to Helene St. James, the main camp is still scheduled. For now.
Thoughts?
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The only group standing to possibly gain anything from this is the AHL (since it plays regardless, and all NHL 2-way contracts can play there). Seems like both sides are playing chicken where, 1) The worst case scenario with any deal is every one involved rolling in money like Scrooge McDuck, and, 2) The only scenario without a deal is no money in the short-term and definitely less money for all in the long-term. Seems plainly stupid to not have a deal, even before the season. C'mon guys- figure it out!
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Looks like there will be no pre-season for sure, and it does seem very likely that the season will start before January (the start of all the big tv contracts and money). My guess is we miss some reg season too.
From what I've read neither side's offer has been a good one. Fehr's reply was not as insulting, but pretty naive, and relies entirely on revenue growing at the same rate it has since 05, which it won't. Something in between would be good. A partial restructure like Fehr suggests with some pay cuts could work.
The simplest solution is to get the f*ck rid of teams like Phoenix and Columbus who can't even give tickets away. That'd sort out a big chunk of revenue sharing problems.
I have a thought...Gary Bettman should die with festering boils or maybe work on putting a better product on the ice instead of spreading franchises into markets where the teams aren't viable. Because it would be just terrible if we had a 15 team league with a 60 game season and each team could field four lines with a legit scoring threat on each line. We all know how boring that would be.
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@wedge56 Seriously! They are always trying to get more scoring into the game because they think it will bring in more fans. This would solve that problem!
Plus, it would be more fun to have more stars on each team. Teams would be more likely to play tandem goalies instead of a number 1 and 2. That would make playoffs more fun because the goalies wouldn't be exhausted from a long season. Teams would actually have to cut players like Lebda, who really shouldn't be in the NHL anymore. And teams might only bother with three lines instead of four anyway. Some players only get 4-6 minutes a night anyway. Less if they do something stupid.
I can name at least 5 teams that could go away and the NHL would improve dramatically.
@ThroatShot @Lauren H That would be great, but owners will never agree to remove seats to make their rinks bigger.
