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Is this a possibility?

Only if the NHL is retarded and wants to kill its sport for the next few years.

jim wrote:Is this a possibility?

If I were a betting man, I would bet yes.

Looking likely. Fehr and Bettman each love them some lockout. Probably an NBA type of lockout though, shortened season, but resolved soon enough to avoid terrible press.

This is pathetic. The NHL cannot afford to lose fans. They are just speeding up the date to when soccer passes them on the list of popular team sports.

pioneer98 wrote:This is pathetic. The NHL cannot afford to lose fans. They are just speeding up the date to when soccer passes them on the list of popular team sports.

That will happen when all of the players in the Première league and la liga start playing for MLS. Which is to say, never.

This is monumentally stupid, though. It seems like the league wants a lockout. The more concerning thing that this could lead to is more players playing in the KHL. I'm sure there are a lot of rich Russian billionaires who would pay big money to get elite players in that league.

As a professional league soccer is so far behind the NHL in this country that there is no chance the MSL will pass them up. It would be a shame for the NHL as they have really had momentum since the last lockout. Revenues for hockey has been increasing rapidly and are getting close to the NBA.

longhornbaseball wrote:

pioneer98 wrote:This is pathetic. The NHL cannot afford to lose fans. They are just speeding up the date to when soccer passes them on the list of popular team sports.

That will happen when all of the players in the Première league and la liga start playing for MLS. Which is to say, never.

Yeah, unless some giant corporation like ESPN gets behind soccer and starts broadcasting Première League games straight to the USA, instead of trying to import the players into MLS.

Oh right, ESPN is already doing that. And Fox has the Champions league.

As a baseball fan, I do not advocate that TV ratings are the true measure of the health of a sport. But still, it has to be a bit concerning. TV ratings for the NHL playoffs are down, and they are not on a great station (NBC Sports Network).

That's because nobody can find the goofy ass channels they put the Stanley Cup on. I never heard of Versus until a year or two ago when I tried to find a game and gave up finally. The NBA has Wed night DH's on TNT, Fri night on ESPN, Sunday on ABC through the regular season. The NHL needs something - at least a game of the week or something. I know they do a few games, but I honestly don't know when and where they are. But maybe nobody will watch, I don't know.

pioneer98 wrote:This is pathetic. The NHL cannot afford to lose fans. They are just speeding up the date to when soccer passes them on the list of popular team sports.

Pretty much.

I think soccer eclipses hockey within 5 years...even without a lockout.