HOCKEY: The Gate

My hockey pages

- Hockey starved fans???? -
Where do those in the media get off calling us hockey starved fans?
There is plenty of hockey to go around, and true hockey fans already know that. The only hockey starved people are those whose livelihood is directly affected by this strike.

- Should the Stanley Cup be challenged for this year? -
The Stanley Cup was donated by the Governor General of Canada to be a challenge cup for the premier amateur hockey club in Canada. It was never intended to be the property of any one league. Just because these billionaires and millionaires can't decide how to divide their big money pie, it doesn't give them the right to prevent the Stanley Cup from being awarded this season.
The Governor General is behind this movement, and there are legal arguments in favour of awarding the cup this season.

- Hockey Heroes -
The real hockey heroes are the volunteers who show up at all hours, in the worst weather, to keep our children's leagues running.

- The Hockey Media -
I've already discussed the "hockey starved" comments coming from the hockey media, but let's look a little deeper
at these sages and prognosticators,
whose opinions are being foisted upon the general public as facts.

- LINKS -

^ ^ - - x U	HOCKEY Just about my favorite sport to watch. Certainly my favorite sport to play in my younger days. A way of life in Canada, more than just a game. Hockey survives still, despite every attempt by big business to ruin it. There is an artistry within the game, an ebb and flow to a shift, a period, a game, a season, that escapes the casual observer.
Welcome > Wolf Den > Hockey
From this portal I will send you to various pages that touch on different aspects of our national obsession. There will be links to the major hockey sites, as well as to many less well known, and personal sites that I feel are of interest to the hockey fan. I will also send you to pages of my own crafting, to offer my own insight and opinions of the state of the game, and its place in our cultural millieu. My hockey pages - Hockey starved fans???? - Where do those in the media get off calling us hockey starved fans? There is plenty of hockey to go around, and true hockey fans already know that. The only hockey starved people are those whose livelihood is directly affected by this strike. - Should the Stanley Cup be challenged for this year? - The Stanley Cup was donated by the Governor General of Canada to be a challenge cup for the premier amateur hockey club in Canada. It was never intended to be the property of any one league. Just because these billionaires and millionaires can't decide how to divide their big money pie, it doesn't give them the right to prevent the Stanley Cup from being awarded this season. The Governor General is behind this movement, and there are legal arguments in favour of awarding the cup this season. - Hockey Heroes - The real hockey heroes are the volunteers who show up at all hours, in the worst weather, to keep our children's leagues running. - The Hockey Media - I've already discussed the "hockey starved" comments coming from the hockey media, but let's look a little deeper at these sages and prognosticators, whose opinions are being foisted upon the general public as facts. - LINKS -	My hockey pages - NHL players playing in other leagues this season. - Surely they don't need the money. With the money and time available to them, they can surely come up with a better way to stay in shape. The thought of NHL players stealing $600 a week jobs from other hockey players sickens me. - THE PERCENTAGE SOLUTION - How is it possible to have "linkage", and "cost certainty", while continuing to honour contracts? Mr. Bettman says he doesn't want to end guaranteed contracts, but it seems like the only way to accomplish his goal. There is a way to have linkage and cost certainty. I call it the Percentage Solution. - The NHLFU - - Ticket prices, payrolls, attendance etc. - Are player's salaries really the reason for escalating ticket prices, or are there other factors at work? Its funny that salaries skyrocketed with all the expansion money going into the existing owners pockets, yet in the last few years, with no expansion, the percentage of increase has dropped. Why do teams raise ticket prices while at the same time cutting payroll? Why do ticket prices stay the same when payroll goes up? - The Key Issues in the CBA - - Markets and Expansion - Too big too fast? Hockey not popular in the US? I look at some of the myths about hockey markets, and the popularity of the sport in North America and around the world. - PERFORMANCE BONUSES - Guaranteed salaries are too large a part of player compensation in the NHL. I don't object to players making a lot of money. They paid their dues throughout their minor careers, with long hours of practice, and riding buses forever, for a career that may not take them to the top dollar anyway. I for one would like to see performance bonuses prohibited from individual player/team contracts, and instead be administered on a league wide level. With linkage to league revenues, and bonus structures based on performance measured against the performance of their peers over the same period. No arbitrary numbers, like 20 goals, but instead using a percentile system, that allows for fluctuations in statistics from year to year. I guarantee one thing, the game will improve. Owners won't be dragging their feet over rule changes, and enforcement of existing rules, just to save some money on paying bonuses. No longer will there be an 'artificial lowering of scoring' to keep money in the owners' pockets.
MAJOR HOCKEY LINKS - HOCKEY CANADA - - CHL MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY IN CANADA - - OHL - - HOCKEY HALL OF FAME - - IIHF The International Ice Hockey Federation - - NHL.COM - - NHLFA National Hockey League Fans' Association - - NHLPA - - HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA - - THE HOCKEY NEWS - - THE SPORTING NEWS - - TSN HOCKEY- - SLAM SPORTS HOCKEY - - HOCKEY CANADA LINKS - A comprehensive set of hockey links - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	Interesting hockey pages by other individuals - Above and Beyond Hockey - - A to Z Encyclopaedia of Ice Hockey - - Spector's Hockey Page - - Stats Hockey - - The Rink Rat - - The Hockey Lounge - - LostHockey.com - - The Hockey Almanac - - Joy of Hockey - - Leafman's Hockey Trivia - - World Hockey Index - - Ultimate Hockey Links - - HockeyLink.ca - - Simply the Best Hockey Sites - - How to Save Hockey — Introducing the Hockey League of the Americas - one guy's idea - Hockey Pundits! - Daily updates on the state of the game. Links to commentary. - - - - - - - - - -
Internal Links to other non-hockey pages --- - HOME - - PHENOMENON: Migrations of Love - A HISTORY BOOK - WOLF WATCH - NEWS AND CURRENT EVENTS - WOLF TRACKS - BLOG - MEET THE WOLF - PERSONAL WEB ---	External Links - Online Etymology Dictionary - - Wikipedia -

	LINKS TABLE
Internal Links: Non-hockey pages by this author...		External Links:
	Front page	- Online Etymology Dictionary - - Wikipedia -
	Book project
	*WOLF WATCH* *in search of the black and white* *in a world of shades of grey*
	Personal web space
	a bloggish page
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copyright 2005 sunumbrella creations
- No portions of this site are intended to make money. - I merely present commentary on topics of interest or of personal importance. - My goal is to share my joy in certain pursuits, or to warn others of dangers as I perceive them. - I am merely one small voice in the wilderness. -	- Any violations of copyright are unintentional, not intended to injure you, but merely to bring your work to a wider audience, because I feel it to be of value to the general public. - If you feel I have done any injustice to you by anything presented here please feel free to drop me a line at the "Howl at the Wolf" link below. - With open discussion we can come to an agreement. -
	FEEDBACK To drop me a line .... click below. Howl at the Wolf Thank you