Hockey is Back

[sdgukhsdgl]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2106776

about **** time

now resume your daily yanks-sawks circle jerk

[Velcro]

we will, no one cares about hockey anyway.

[Apis Bull]

I do.

[Velcro]

Vote: Will you return to the NHL?

SportsNation

Thank you for voting. See below for the results from across SportsNation.

Your responses in bold text below.

1) What's your status as an NHL fan?

76.3% Still a fan

12.5% Never was a fan

11.1% No longer a fan

2) Do you expect the players to ratify the reported agreement?

94.4% Yes

5.6% No

3) Who do you think ''won'' the labor war?

63.8% Owners

34.9% Neither side benefited

1.3% Players

4) Did you miss the NHL last season?

51.0% A lot

28.9% A little

20.1% Not at all

5) Are you less likely to watch or attend a game this season as a result of the lockout?

64.8% No less likely

19.2% Somewhat less likely

16.0% Far less likely

6) What is the most important thing for the NHL to do to win back fans?

49.5% Lower ticket prices

26.0% Alter rules to open up offense

20.4% Secure a place on American television

4.1% Nothing -- fans will come back anyway

7) Will a salary cap make the NHL a better, more entertaining, product?

63.0% Yes

37.0% No

8) Where will the NHL be in five years?

46.8% Better than before

34.7% About the same as before

12.9% Worse than before

5.6% Out of business

9) How good will super prospect Sidney Crosby be?

60.4% Perennial all-star and award candidate

24.5% Occasional all-star

8.7% The next Gretzky or Lemieux

6.4% Total disappointment

10) What's your favorite NHL team?

9.7% Detroit Red Wings

8.5% New York Rangers

8.1% Boston Bruins

8.1% Philadelphia Flyers

6.1% I don't have one

5.8% Colorado Avalanche

5.1% Pittsburgh Penguins

4.5% Chicago Blackhawks

4.2% New Jersey Devils

3.8% Minnesota Wild

3.7% Toronto Maple Leafs

3.1% St. Louis Blues

3.0% Washington Capitals

2.8% New York Islanders

2.8% Dallas Stars

2.4% Montreal Canadiens

2.3% Los Angeles Kings

2.1% Buffalo Sabres

1.7% Vancouver Canucks

1.5% San Jose Sharks

1.5% Tampa Bay Lightning

1.4% Carolina Hurricanes

1.3% Columbus Blue Jackets

1.1% Anaheim Mighty Ducks

0.9% Phoenix Coyotes

0.9% Atlanta Thrashers

0.9% Calgary Flames

0.8% Edmonton Oilers

0.8% Ottawa Senators

0.6% Florida Panthers

0.5% Nashville Predators

Total Votes: 3,244

[Velcro]

Chronology: 301 days, 1,230 games, many headaches

ESPN.com news services

Highlights from a chronology of events in the NHL lockout:

2003

Jan. 6 -- NHL Players' Association executive director Bob Goodenow and commissioner Gary Bettman quietly hold first collective-bargaining talks pertaining to expiration of current deal.

March 26 -- Eight consecutive meetings are secretly held between top lieutenants and lawyers from both sides. They are: NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin and union outside counsel John McCambridge on the players' side; NHL executive vice president and chief legal officer Bill Daly and league outside counsel Bob Batterman represent the owners. Other sessions take place in Toronto and Philadelphia in April, and Ottawa and New York in May.

June 4 -- The biggest gathering yet, again kept secret, with Goodenow and Bettman joining the talks, as well as NHLPA associate counsel Ian Pulver and David Zimmerman, NHL vice president and general counsel.

Oct. 1 -- First meeting made public, includes players and owners. Union tables first proposal, which includes 5 percent salary rollback. League says no and counters by saying under any new system, team payrolls could not exceed $31 million -- the NHL's first official salary-cap threat.

2004

Jan. 14 -- First talks in more than three months include Goodenow, Bettman, Saskin, Daly, McCambridge, Batterman, Pulver and Zimmerman.

Feb. 12 -- League hired gun Arthur Levitt releases his financial report, which says the NHL is on a "treadmill to obscurity" if player costs aren't reduced. The report says only 11 of 30 teams were profitable in 2002-03, when total operating losses were $273 million. The union calls the report "flawed."

April 29-Sept. 9 -- Several meetings yield proposals but no agreements. League first points out desire for a "partnership/cost certain system for player compensation"; union reminds league of aversion to salary-cap system.

Sept. 15 -- Bettman announces lockout.

Oct. 13 -- First official day of the NHL's regular season missed.

Dec. 9 -- Both sides arrive at talks with full complement of negotiating teams. Union surprises with offer highlighted by 24 percent salary rollback on all existing player contracts. Other givebacks in entry-level system, qualifying offers, salary arbitration, and slightly better payroll tax, but no salary cap.

Dec. 14 -- Negotiating teams meet again. The NHL, as expected, rejects the union's proposal and offers its own counter-proposal, which the union rejects. The league's offer includes a salary cap, the scrapping of salary arbitration and the restructuring of the players' 24 percent salary rollback.

2005

Jan. 17 -- Players' executive committee president Trevor Linden invites both sides back to the negotiating table, but with a small group that does not include Bettman or Goodenow.

Jan. 19-27 -- Small-group meetings held, some in secret, all with very little progress.

Feb. 2-4 -- Marathon round of meetings featuring mix-and-match of representatives. League tables 15-point proposal, once again featuring salary cap -- and NHLPA rejects it. No real progress reported, but both sides to meet again.

Feb. 9 -- NHL surprises the union, Bettman calling Goodenow and asking if they can meet. League offers "compromise" deal that union quickly rejects. Bettman finally announces there won't be a hockey season unless a deal is put on paper by weekend.

Feb. 10 -- NHL, NHLPA part ways, after bleak assessment of latest failed talks.

Feb. 14 -- The NHL schedules a news conference for Feb. 16 during which it plans to cancel the season. Then, what looks like a breakthrough: The league drops its demand for a link between league revenues and player costs, and the players' association agrees to accept a salary cap during talks in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Feb. 15 -- The sides trade a flurry of proposals and letters, but can not agree on a cap. The owners bump up their offer of a $40 million cap to $42.5 million; the players counterproposal is for $49 million, which the league rejects out-of-hand.

Feb. 16 -- Bettman holds news conference as scheduled, cancels season.

Feb. 19 -- The NHL and the union restart talks at an undisclosed location in New York featuring Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, but talks break down and leave the already canceled season totally lost.

March 1 -- NHL hints at veiled threat of replacement players after board of governors meeting.

March 11 -- NHL and the union meet for first time since the Feb. 19 emergency session.

March 17 -- NHL makes two offers to union. 1) $37.5 million U.S. team-by-team salary-cap offer. 2) A deal linking revenues to payrolls. The union doesn't like either.

March 25 -- NHL files a charge with the National Labor Relations Board in the United States against the NHLPA over a union policy that appears to financially penalize members who become replacement players. Daly calls the union policy, which states a member would have to pay back any work stoppage benefits if he chose to become a replacement player next season, "coercive" and in violation of "the players' rights under the labor laws to decide individually whether to be represented by a union."

March 22-25 -- The NHLPA and players' executive committee comes up with idea of upper and lower limit on team-by-team payrolls. The idea would eventually lead to the new collective-bargaining agreement.

April 4 -- The union introduces the idea from the March 22-25 meetings. The idea finds merit with the NHL, although both sides keep this private.

April 19-20 -- More progress between NHL and union. No more threat of replacement players after another board of governors meeting.

April 28 -- NHLPA applies for union certification in Quebec and British Columbia, moves intended to block the potential use of replacement players in those provinces.

May 5 -- Talks resume with both sides agreeing on a more aggressive schedule to get the deal done. They meet a total of 31 times in May and June.

June 15 -- A British Columbia Labour Relations Board hearing into whether the NHLPA can be certified as a union in the province is put on hold. The NHLPA, citing recent progress in labor talks with the NHL, agrees to the league's request to adjourn the proceedings.

July 13 -- A tentative deal is reached after more than 24 hours straight talks, the culmination of 10 consecutive days of meetings.

[___ Eats It]

I, for one, can't wait for hockey to come back.  While it sucks to watch on TV, I'm looking forward to taking my little boy to games to see how exciting they are in person!

[USF_Girl]

Don't Forget About The Ice Bulls Too!

[bullwark]

Was it gone?

[TripleB]

we will, no one cares about hockey anyway.

[smazza]

i do also but i am ready for college football