15 years since the NHL cancelled the 04/05 Season

[HisIceness]

NHL season officially canceled

Can't believe 15 years have passed.

I remember getting the bad news when I got home from school and ESPN was showing Gary Bettman announcing that the season would be cancelled followed by a video shown below.What was interesting about the whole thing was I remember the previous day ESPN was talking to someone (not Melrose) who was monitoring the situation and he said he expected the deal to get done that night and they would begin play within a week or two with like a 30 game schedule, and like the naive 16 y/o I was (and with no social media with up to the minute updates) I believed him.



So yeah, this wasn't the greatest day.

Click to read more...

 

[NoMessi]

Best day ever for swedish and especially Frolunda fans.

 

[Retire91]

That was such a bummer, when millionaires fight billionaires the fans loose. Also took away a prime year from so many amazing players.

 

[CharlestownChiefsESC]

Probably Ottawa and Phillys only chance at a cup. Also could have seen Colorado in contention and even Detroit

 

[rfournier103]

The most shining example of the brilliance of Gary Bettman and the NHL owners.

I’m baffled as to why the NHL is only fourth in the US in terms of popularity.

 

[Brodeur]

Probably Ottawa and Phillys only chance at a cup. Also could have seen Colorado in contention and even Detroit

Devils would have had one final year of Scott Niedermayer as well, albeit who knows what a hypothetical 2004-05 cap would have been.

 

[weaponomega]

I feel old

 

[Tweed]

Best thing that happened to the NHL in the 40 years I've been following hockey. Major turning point for the game.... economically, and on ice. Come at me.

 

[lottster14]

Best thing that happened to the NHL in the 40 years I've been following hockey. Major turning point for the game.... economically, and on ice. Come at me.

Well yes. A business decision done by a business and it worked. Fans (most) were upset, the NHL wasn't

 

[JianYang]

I believe with no lockout, there would have been no eklund as we know him.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

without the lockout the league would be in a far worse spot today.

the cap was needed and critical to the league's future, even if the players didnt like it.

 

[tailgunner]

it also paved the way for bettman to rig the following years draft

 

[x Tame Impala]

Man, HD TV has done wonders for hockey

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Toronto got so screwed by this. it's hard to remember i was pretty young in like Grade 10 or something.
I swear the cap was like 47M and leafs had like 70+M cap hit lol

 

[McRpro]

We all knew the salary cap was coming and was much needed. As a fan of a small market team who kept losing their players to the rich teams I welcomed the lockout and however long it took. Too bad the PA had to hold out long enough for the season to be cancelled.

 

[YEM]

I've always assigned most of the blame to the players. You knew there had to be a cap. I remember Roenick loudly declaring the players would never accept a cap.

 

[edog37]

Best thing that happened to the NHL in the 40 years I've been following hockey. Major turning point for the game.... economically, and on ice. Come at me.

agreed. It saved the league from financial ruin. The old economic model was unsustainable.

 

[LeBlondeDemon10]

It was the best thing that could have happened to the NHL It forced them to take a look at their product and make adjustments. As far as I was concerned the DPE was killing the beautiful game. Not a big fan of the salary cap but it works.

 

[ottawa]

Worst day of my life.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Best thing that happened to the NHL in the 40 years I've been following hockey. Major turning point for the game.... economically, and on ice. Come at me.

That’s an interesting take.

By 2004, the NHL was falling off my radar. Part of that was just stage-of-life, but also the league had become incredibly boring on a lot of levels.

Taking a year off, and then coming back to a firewagon league with a whole new generation of young talent (a Canes Cup didn’t hurt) completely turned the experience around. What had become boring was suddenly exciting again.

Was it worth missing a year? Interesting question. At the time it was traumatic and it still feels wrong to have a gap on the Cup, but it was maybe still worth it.

 

[Tweed]

That’s an interesting take.

By 2004, the NHL was falling off my radar. Part of that was just stage-of-life, but also the league had become incredibly boring on a lot of levels.

Taking a year off, and then coming back to a firewagon league with a whole new generation of young talent (a Canes Cup didn’t hurt) completely turned the experience around. What had become boring was suddenly exciting again.

Was it worth missing a year? Interesting question. At the time it was traumatic and it still feels wrong to have a gap on the Cup, but it was maybe still worth it.

Yeah, that year was like a visit to the dentist. You hate to go, but you know you'll be glad you did when you're done.

There never should have been a gap in the Cup though. The Cup Trustee really dropped the ball there. Another good thing that came out of that is that we'll never have a gap again.

2004–05 NHL season - Wikipedia # Stanley Cup Controversy

 

[Sentinel]

Worst day of my life.

Pretty awesome life you have.

I wish the League wouldn't keep expanding. Had further shutdown contracted it somewhat, I'd be all for it

 

[Tarantula]

Yeah, that year was like a visit to the dentist. You hate to go, but you know you'll be glad you did when you're done.

There never should have been a gap in the Cup though. The Cup Trustee really dropped the ball there. Another good thing that came out of that is that we'll never have a gap again.

2004–05 NHL season - Wikipedia # Stanley Cup Controversy

Good luck getting that figured out in time to award the Trophy that spring if history repeats itself. The trustees would only have a matter of a few months to determine what league or teams would be eligible. Does anyone know if they have a plan in place?

The DPE killed the NHL for me, also stage of life deal as well. I am glad they addressed some of the issues in the game.

I get how the cap is crucial to the league financial structure especially the smaller markets but it does stink when a team isn't able to keep some great players they drafted or able to fill out their depth if they do sign them. The cap has largely benefited the NHL overall. It introduced revenue sharing as well didn't it?

 

[Hockeyholic]

Dumb question: What happened to players contracts that were set to expire in after the 04-05 season. Were they pushed back until the end of the 05-06 season? Did the contracts still expire? Also, did players still get paid?

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

Best thing that happened to the NHL in the 40 years I've been following hockey. Major turning point for the game.... economically, and on ice. Come at me.

The cap is probably a long term need, but I cant stand the way its set up and the effects it has on the league. I only wanted a league where teams cant just be bought 2002 Red Wings style, not one where 9/10 defending champs need to dismantle themselves before the end of the summer.

And how anyone can claim that the league couldn't be viable without a cap after the 2013 lockout is beyond me. We literally watched the owners hand out the biggest contracts possible (remember Suter & Parise deals?), then walk into the negotiations demanding a rollback on the deals they just signed. As far as Im concerned, all of the financial damage the owners did pre-lockout was self inflicted.

Removing the red line was a crucial mistake, an overreaction to the seemingly unfixable issue of the trap that could have been easily fixed by doing what they did anyways in calling obstruction. If you look closely, almost all of the issues with the entertainment value of the game since then are related to the removal of the red line in some way.

Dumb question: What happened to players contracts that were set to expire in after the 04-05 season. Were they pushed back until the end of the 05-06 season? Did the contracts still expire? Also, did players still get paid?

IIRC the players had a strike fund for 2005, so I think they did not get paid. Im quoting from the book about Bettmans time as commish (The Instigator), I think the PA had a nonexistent strike fund under Eagleson, not nearly enough for 95, but prepared for as long a battle as possible in 2005.