To all U.S. hockey fans:Contact ESPN

[RangerBoy]

Contact Mark Shapiro, ESPN's vice president of programming and production and tell him to drop the NHL from ESPN's programming.ESPN has an option for the NHL's 2005-06 season.Let the NHL be on Spike TV with the wrestling shows and CSI re-runs.I remember when the NHL was on Sportschannel America in early 1990's.That was a dark day for the NHL in the States.Most of the country was not able to watch the games.The NHL is well on their way to the mom and pop days of the 1970's and 1980's.The NHL and NHLPA will reap what they deserve.ESPN pushed the NHL almost exclusively to ESPN2.Now ESPN should cut their ties with the NHL

[email protected]

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[Lady Rhian]

If fans don't get to see hockey on ESPN, they'll just pay for Center Ice, where it's available. I don't know how this could possibly solve anything, really. It isn't like they broadcasted games every night of the week.

 

[Isles72]

as you say ranger boy , ''the nhl is on its way to mom and pop days of the '70's''

I prefer the term , ''corner store league''

I actually preferred those good ol days and I bet I'm not alone in my thinking

 

[barnburner]

as you say ranger boy , ''the nhl is on its way to mom and pop days of the '70's''

I prefer the term , ''corner store league''

I actually preferred those good ol days and I bet I'm not alone in my thinking

You are correct. It was a much better game in the 60s,70s and 80s.

 

[Lady Rhian]

as you say ranger boy , ''the nhl is on its way to mom and pop days of the '70's''

I prefer the term , ''corner store league''

I actually preferred those good ol days and I bet I'm not alone in my thinking

Indeed, those days were better. If only we could bring them back again.

 

[Greschner4]

as you say ranger boy , ''the nhl is on its way to mom and pop days of the '70's''

I prefer the term , ''corner store league''

I actually preferred those good ol days and I bet I'm not alone in my thinking

It was a better league back then ... Hockey isn't popular enough outside Canada and the northern US to be anything more than a corner store league. All these problems stem from it leaving its roots and trying to be something it isn't and never is going to be.

You can be a corner store league and still be very profitable.

 

[NYIsles1*]

as you say ranger boy , ''the nhl is on its way to mom and pop days of the '70's''

I prefer the term , ''corner store league''

I actually preferred those good ol days and I bet I'm not alone in my thinking

Absolutely and without a doubt.

The Islanders did much better with Sportschannel, that Fox-Msg merger sent rating for all three teams right down the tubes.

Why do I want to contact the same Espn that would not show the WJC and tape delayed most of the games they bothered showing for team USA that did not show medal games?

Bettman should be shopping hockey to USA Network, Spike and make hockey the number one sport on somebody's station because it will never be Espn. Only problem is he likely did and did not find the money Espn offered which is why they are stuck.

TNT has basketball, why not hockey?

Maybe the league should start it's own hockey channel.

 

[Greschner4]

Absolutely and without a doubt.

The Islanders did much better with Sportschannel, that Fox-Msg merger sent rating for all three teams right down the tubes.

Why do I want to contact the same Espn that would not show the WJC and tape delayed most of the games they bothered showing for team USA that did not show medal games?

Bettman should be shopping hockey to USA Network, Spike and make hockey the number one sport on somebody's station because it will never be Espn. Only problem is he likely did and did not find the money Espn offered which is why they are stuck.

Maybe the league should start it's own hockey channel.

They have one, it just doesn't show in the US.

 

[RangerBoy]

If fans don't get to see hockey on ESPN, they'll just pay for Center Ice, where it's available. I don't know how this could possibly solve anything, really. It isn't like they broadcasted games every night of the week.

The casual hockey fan is not going to spend $159 for NHL Center Ice.Not having your product on TV is suicide.ESPN dramatically scaled back their hockey coverage in this current deal.The NHL2Night show was pulled.I am a casual NBA fan but I am not spending $169 for the NBA League Pass.However,ESPN and TNT provide more have enough basketball for the casual fan.Throw in the Knicks and Nets in the NY area,there is more than enough basketball to watch w/o the NBA package

If having the games on ESPN is not such a big deal,then why is the NHL WORRIED about the comments made by Shapiro about dropping the NHL

I don't care because I have had DIRECTV and the Center Ice package since the 1997-98 season

 

[RangerBoy]

Absolutely and without a doubt.

The Islanders did much better with Sportschannel, that Fox-Msg merger sent rating for all three teams right down the tubes.

Why do I want to contact the same Espn that would not show the WJC and tape delayed most of the games they bothered showing for team USA that did not show medal games?

Bettman should be shopping hockey to USA Network, Spike and make hockey the number one sport on somebody's station because it will never be Espn. Only problem is he likely did and did not find the money Espn offered which is why they are stuck.

TNT has basketball, why not hockey?

Maybe the league should start it's own hockey channel.

Bettman had to take 1/2 of $120 million from the previous NHL deal

The USA Network is owned by NBC.The NHL already has a no money down deal with NBC

 

[IslesRule]

The casual hockey fan is not going to spend $159 for NHL Center Ice.

The problem now is not the casual fan, this process has hurt the die hard fans. I for one, will not renew my center ice subscription, which I have had for since 1999.

 

[Isles72]

I don't care because I have had DIRECTV and the Center Ice package since the 1997-98 season

I had center ice pkg for about 5 years now and its worth every penny if your fav team is out of the market in which you reside .

I've since moved into an apartment building that doesnt allow satt dish and have had to resort to the local cable company who doesnt even carry Center ice .

the nhl needs to make C-Ice more available / affordable to cable companies to carry .Apparently there are hefty fees for cable companies /satt companies to carry C-Ice therfore we only see the huge cable providers/satt providers in Canada offering it .

I emailed the nhl regarding this back in August and they didnt respond .

 

[RangerBoy]

The problem now is not the casual fan, this process has hurt the die hard fans. I for one, will not renew my center ice subscription, which I have had for since 1999.

As a paying customer of the NHL,that is your right.They have already lost the casual fan.They are on the verge of losing the hardcore hockey fans in the States

A Yogiism-"How can you follow the game when you can't watch it"

 

[hockeytown9321]

Contact Mark Shapiro, ESPN's vice president of programming and production and tell him to drop the NHL from ESPN's programming.ESPN has an option for the NHL's 2005-06 season.Let the NHL be on Spike TV with the wrestling shows and CSI re-runs.I remember when the NHL was on Sportschannel America in early 1990's.That was a dark day for the NHL in the States.Most of the country was not able to watch the games.The NHL is well on their way to the mom and pop days of the 1970's and 1980's.The NHL and NHLPA will reap what they deserve.ESPN pushed the NHL almost exclusively to ESPN2.Now ESPN should cut their ties with the NHL

[email protected]

I hope ESPN cancels the NHL. After yesterday, the league gets everything it deserves.

A little note about Spike TV: The WWF's deal with them expires in September. Right now, they're paying the WWF about $26 million for 52 weeks of programming. Spike just hired a new president who is a big wrestling fan and he wants to keep the WWF there. The WWF wants to go back to USA Network, and USA will probably pay more than Spike, but Spike has the right to match any deal, which they'll likey do. If they do keep it, they're surely not going to pay the NHL more for less than half the programming, less than a quarter of the ratings coming off a cancelled season.

The NHL is looking at the very real possibility of having no national TV after next season, at which point their last claim to being a major sport is gone.

I consider myself a hardcore hockey fan. I've missed two Red Wings games either live or on TV since April of 1997. That goes back to 1995 if you include radio. I generally watch every game on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. I'd buy Center Ice if I had a dish. I've spent over $700 on NHL licensed products since the lockout started. I graduate college in May and my first act after getting a job was going to be putting my name on the waiting list for Red Wings season tickets. Thats all gone now. The NHL will not see another dime from me until Gary Bettman is out. And I hope they realize that money isn't going to be made up by some guy in Nashville going nuts for the NHL because there's a $42.5 million cap instead of $45.

 

[GKJ]

Contact Mark Shapiro, ESPN's vice president of programming and production and tell him to drop the NHL from ESPN's programming.ESPN has an option for the NHL's 2005-06 season.Let the NHL be on Spike TV with the wrestling shows and CSI re-runs.I remember when the NHL was on Sportschannel America in early 1990's.That was a dark day for the NHL in the States.Most of the country was not able to watch the games.The NHL is well on their way to the mom and pop days of the 1970's and 1980's.The NHL and NHLPA will reap what they deserve.ESPN pushed the NHL almost exclusively to ESPN2.Now ESPN should cut their ties with the NHL

[email protected]

You probably won't have to, they will do it by themselves.

 

[Black Eye]

I see no reason to set out to punish the NHL in the way you are calling for. Believe me, I am as angry and upset and feel as betrayed as anyone. I hate what happened yesterday down to my bones. But ultimately, in the big picture, I want the NHL to thrive. Scuttling the little exposure they have will not help with that. The current NHL, led by the likes of Bettman, Wirtz, Jacobs, Goodenow, etc., will pass into history. Why take out our problems on the game and league itself? Sorry, I can't pitch in to help tear the game down, as much as I'd like a couple of free shots at the princple agents of destruction in this sorry affair.

 

[barnburner]

You probably won't have to, they will do it by themselves.

That's pretty much a certainty, reducing nhl revenues even further,
thereby reducing the next cap offer, etc..etc... etc... the circle
continues spiraling downward.

 

[hockeytown9321]

Why take out our problems on the game and league itself? .

Wirtz and his crew took out their problems on the rest of the league yesterday. Bettman is obviously not acting in the interests of the league as a whole. People here can rail on and balme the players and Goodenow all they want. Yesterday was the personification of greed.

 

[jratelle19]

I know that this will not make a bit of difference and most likely will be regarded as spam, but I sent it anyway.

Attn: Mark Shapiro, Vice President-Programming and Production

Dear Mr. Shapiro,

I have been an avid NHL fan for over 30 years. That would be 30 years in which I have devoted money, viewing time, and an uncommon passion from an American hockey fan. How I fondly remember the days of when the NHL was a fun league to watch and would guarantee their fans a great night's entertainment. Well, as you probably already know, that has changed dramatically.

The NHL has ignored its on-ice product and concentrated its efforts on breaking the NHLPA and commanding a salary structure that suits the needs of 4 or 5 teams that were expanded into markets that never had any business having a hockey team in the first place. For the last several years, a good number of their teams "trapped" their way into boring neutral zone ineptitude, only to take advantage of the NHL rewarding a team with a point in the standings, even if it would lose in overtime. The hooking and grabbing that seemed to overtake what was once creative end-to-end play was ignored by the higher-ups while they concentrated their efforts on building up their "lockout war chest".

Mr. Shapiro, I am not bitter with the NHL anymore. No, any bitterness I may have had has now worked its way towards complete indifference. This past year without hockey has given me the time to open my eyes and realize that there are other ways for me to spend my entertainment dollar and my television viewing time. Trust me when I say that I am, in no way, alone in my feelings. Most of my friends who I still play hockey with, and were once diehard NHL followers like myself, have completely lost interest over the years. The lockout only assisted us in finally slamming the door in the NHL's face, which would have happened eventually anyway.

The events of the past week, to me, have been beyond embarrassing for those of us who once cherished the NHL. There were rumblings that ESPN may consider letting go of NHL hockey broadcasts in the future due to low television ratings and an obvious disregard for their existing fans, as well as any potential new ones. Well sir, I would avidly applaud a decision of that nature. I would like you to know that if that decision is in fact made, the executives at ESPN need not worry. Hockey fans like myself will continue watching ESPN, even though our passion for other sports may not match that which we have for hockey. Perhaps, you may consider broadcasting college hockey or even AHL or Canadian Junior hockey? That decision will be yours and that of your colleagues. Basically, what I wished to convey to you is that the NHL will not be missed if ESPN decides to pull the plug on their contract with the league.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and may professional hockey one day flourish in the United States with a new league.

Sincerely,

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

Wirtz and his crew took out their problems on the rest of the league yesterday. Bettman is obviously not acting in the interests of the league as a whole. People here can rail on and balme the players and Goodenow all they want. Yesterday was the personification of greed.

Not to be a dick - but I don't think the hard-line owners had anything to do with the pump fake yesterday. I think the PA thought that it was strictly a $ issue (from $42.5 to $45M) when it was really still a fundemental difference in their understanding of the underlying concepts of the CBA.

Like others have said, the players want to have their cake and eat it to. They want the upward linkage, but aren't willing to accept any of the risk to get it. Well, we'll see what happens when (if?) we're actually playing again, but I would bet any amount of money that if we loose this entire season, the players end up playing with a cap of $30M or less.

 

[Black Eye]

Wirtz and his crew took out their problems on the rest of the league yesterday. Bettman is obviously not acting in the interests of the league as a whole. People here can rail on and balme the players and Goodenow all they want. Yesterday was the personification of greed.

The NHL is not about Illitch or Bettman or Jacobs. They are the current custodians. The league will survive its current state and composition. I would be glad to take it out on the hides of the individuals involved, but never the game and league itself. Again, why Pejorative Slur the sport of NHL hockey by battering its already limited exposure and marketing? Every kid that does not see games at the age of 5 or 8 is a lost fan. I just can't get behind depriving fans of what they love in some misguided attempt to get revenge on these fools.

 

[ChiHawks468]

Contact Mark Shapiro, ESPN's vice president of programming and production and tell him to drop the NHL from ESPN's programming.ESPN has an option for the NHL's 2005-06 season.Let the NHL be on Spike TV with the wrestling shows and CSI re-runs.I remember when the NHL was on Sportschannel America in early 1990's.That was a dark day for the NHL in the States.Most of the country was not able to watch the games.The NHL is well on their way to the mom and pop days of the 1970's and 1980's.The NHL and NHLPA will reap what they deserve.ESPN pushed the NHL almost exclusively to ESPN2.Now ESPN should cut their ties with the NHL

[email protected]

Don't worry, it isn't going to take a single call from a fan for ESPN to drop the NHL. They were ready to drop them after Wednesday. NOw, after they further embarrased themselves and made the NHL look more like the biggest joke in pro sports, they are probably already trying decide what sport(s) to fill the void with after they announce NOT to pick up the options years.

 

[ChiHawks468]

Not to be a dick - but I don't think the hard-line owners had anything to do with the pump fake yesterday. I think the PA thought that it was strictly a $ issue (from $42.5 to $45M) when it was really still a fundemental difference in their understanding of the underlying concepts of the CBA.

Like others have said, the players want to have their cake and eat it to. They want the upward linkage, but aren't willing to accept any of the risk to get it. Well, we'll see what happens when (if?) we're actually playing again, but I would bet any amount of money that if we loose this entire season, the players end up playing with a cap of $30M or less.

Exactly. The players want a partnership in which only one side (you guessed it, the owners) assume any risk. The players want to share in any spoils of success while shielding themselves from any setbacks. The owners played a huge part in this farce, no doubt, but the players better wake up (too late) and smell the Zamboni exhaust.

 

[CarlRacki]

I'd like someone to explain to me how further damaging the league by encouraging ESPN to drop it makes things better for the teams, players, fans, people who work for the league, people whose livelihoods depend on the league, etc.
This is an assinine concept. Fans should be begging ESPN not to drop the NHL.

 

[jratelle19]

Fans should be begging ESPN not to drop the NHL.

It is that kind of "begging" that the owners and players are counting on. Kind of like the "addict" that will come running back to get his "NHL fix" when this is all over (God knows when that will be).

What the NHL and NHLPA fears from the fans is not anger or sadness, but indifference. Indifference on the fans' part is truly their enemy, and the longer they deprive the fans of NHL hockey, the more indifference will grow among the fan base.

Sorry, I just refuse to get on my knees and beg for anything from the NHL, NHLPA, or ESPN for that matter. Not my fault.