NHL discussion

Its plausible but as a last effort kinda thing imo

Originally Posted by Suffy

I don't know my cousins/their friends travel all the time to see games in Edmonton/Calgary/Winnipeg, you just have to look at the Roughriders to see how successful the province can be when they get behind something.

I do think it's a little crazy and should by no means by the forerunner but is it possible/feasible...I think yes.

The Roughriders indeed are supported by the whole province. But that doesn't mean a hockey team would be. The Riders are 102 years old and community owned, plus they have had some serious recent success. Yet if you go back 15-20 years, they weren't successful on the field and the community support was poor enough that they had to hold telathons to keep the club afloat. I assume they are using the Riders as a kind of basis but there is a danger there.

I'm certain it would succed in the short term. For the first season or two, it really wouldn't matter if the team was any good or not - they would sell tickets. But franchise stability is tested when the team isn't good. When they lose a couple of key players in free agency simply because they don't want to live here. Can you still 14k or more tickets to 41 home games then? I have some faith that Winnipeg can. I would not have faith that Saskatoon would.

I'm a hockey fan and so are a lot of my buds. We'll catch games when we can. But we all have established teams we cheer for. Woudl we switch allegiences and support a Saskatoon team they way we do the Roughriders? Some would... many wouldn't. We would certainly head up to Saskatoon for a few games per season, but its a 2 1/2 hour drive from here (2nd biggest city in the province) so I don't know how many fans would be doing that for every home game. I know fans do that for Riders games, but that's a much different circumstance - its summer/fall, there are only 9 home games, and they tend to be around the weekend. Some buddies and I were talking about this last night over drinks and despite all 5 of us liking hockey and none of us against the basic idea of having a team in this province, no one thought it would work. This isn't a big province in terms of population, and while the economic growth of the past few years has been fantastic, its still not really a rich province.

You make some very good points, one thing for me personally is that I would not want to ever move back to Saskatchewan. I grew up there (albeit in North Battleford, not Saskatoon) but it would truly be a small market club that some players may not want to play in.

Originally Posted by Suffy

You make some very good points, one thing for me personally is that I would not want to ever move back to Saskatchewan. I grew up there (albeit in North Battleford, not Saskatoon) but it would truly be a small market club that some players may not want to play in.

I grew up in Prince Albert and live in Regina now.

It would probably be exciting for players who grew up in this province to come play "at home". But for those who grew up elsewhere... I think Saskatoon would be a hard sell. I talk to Riders who have come here from all over and they are often disappointed in how mundane Regina is. Saskatoon is not much different.

Prince Albert is close to Saskatoon... but its still 90 minutes away. Plus the major employer in that city moved away 3-4 years ago. Unless there are positive developments in diamonds or oil in the north, its not a rich part of the province.

I just think its a bad risk. It would be banking on the team grabbing the same passionate support that the Roughriders enjoy... and that's no certainty. Unless they've done studies and have some empirical data to show that fans would indeed give a hockey team that kind of support, I have my doubts it would work long-term.

Like SS says, it should be a last resort. There are a number of other options in Canada nad the US they should explore as options first. If none of those are viable at all, then maybe consider Saskatoon. It pains me a bit to say that, as having the NHL here would be cool. But having a team come here to fail would suck balls.

Heard one of the best chants last night with the Jets- Buffalo game

Jet fans were chanting Silver Medal to Ryan Miller, so so so very funny.

khl-brawl.jpg

KHL brawl clears benches, ends game after four minutes

"A huge fight between players has stopped a Kontinental Hockey League game after just over four minutes of play.

A pitched battle involving players from Avangard Omsk and Vityaz Chekhov erupted just minutes after the face-off.

Match officials struggled to separate the teams and eject the offending players before the action resumed. Unfortunately, it was the wrong kind of action, as another fight broke out after just seven more seconds of play.

Tempers remained red-hot on the ice, when after more penalties there was yet more brawling. The referee finally scrapped the match, with only seven and eight players, respectively, left on each side."

This cracks me up. Older story anyway to a new story.

Is there any merit in this rumor?

Alex Radulov’s agent: ‘Understanding’ of NHL return by March 15; KHL contract concern

'A soothsayer bids you beware the Ides of March'; or, in this case, a Russian player-agent is saying that come March 15, the NHL might have a new reason to beware the Nashville Predators.

Pavel Lysenkov of SovSport called Alex Radulov's Russian agent Yuri Nikolaev to speak about the end of his Salavat Yulaev Ufa season and possible return to the NHL with Nashville, with whom he has one more year on his contract.

"I don't want to comment about anything." Nikolaev told Lysenkov right after he picked up the phone.

Is Alexander going to Nashville?

"I won't say. I will only note that this issue must be resolved with Salavat Yulaev. Without a mutual agreement nothing is going to happen. This is because officially KHL contracts expire on April 30.

"Don't try to get anything out of me. Let's agree to this: I will have an understanding of the situation on March 15. We have to see what's going on with Radulov's knee... There are a lot of questions, including some about his health."

"I am ready to risk but not in these types of moments," the agent said. "We need to figure out the best way forward. Do you think it is easy to just say 'Go to the NHL, Alex!' Don't make out Alex to be no one knows who. Alexander is a decent guy. He won't slam the door, spit in the back. This is also a political moment. Radulov is one of the main stars of the KHL, if not the biggest...

"I don't want anyone to give any specific comments. Let's wait for March 15. I apologize, Radulov is calling me on the other line..."

Late yesterday media outlet Hockey Pravda reported that in the coming days Radulov will travel to North America to finish out the season with Nashville to become an RFA next season.

Treat this one with caution. I was told this outlet is linked to an agent (not Radulov's) who has players on the same KHL team with Alex.

It seems like a stretch, and now that they are saying he has a knee problem surely this can't be true?

Cracks you up? It just makes me sad. Its things like that, that lead to the NHL banning fighting, and then we'll have guys like Marchand, Downie, Cooke, et al ruining careers because there will be no system in place for more respect. Its truly sad when things like this happen.

And I hope Radulov comes back. Great player to put next to Gaustad

Originally Posted by Suntan Superman

Cracks you up? It just makes me sad. Its things like that, that lead to the NHL banning fighting, and then we'll have guys like Marchand, Downie, Cooke, et al ruining careers because there will be no system in place for more respect. Its truly sad when things like this happen.

And I hope Radulov comes back. Great player to put next to Gaustad

Cracks me up in a bad way though. I don't think it's right. Just screwed up seeing this. And I've seen every Penguins game this year. Cooke is a totally changed player, and has hardly had any penalty minutes this year. He adapted.

He adapted, but he's still a skin player.