43 replies to this topic

[Swede]

forsberg feels the heat from losing pay for a couple of days



and sundin keeps his distance

[MantaRay]

LMAO

[ice dog]

ahh...the magic money machine.
it must be fun to be peter forsberg...lol!

Edited by Shred, 01 March 2006 - 12:04 PM.

[Derek21]

LMFAO Swede

I think the league is just stupid sometimes. These guys busted their asses for over two weeks to promote the sport and they have the nerve to fine them when there was hardly any time off. This is why they are viewed as a laughingstock.

If they don't make any changes for 2010, that will speak volumes.

[RowdyFan42]

I think the league is just stupid sometimes. These guys busted their asses for over two weeks to promote the sport and they have the nerve to fine them when there was hardly any time off. This is why they are viewed as a laughingstock.

Thank you. Finally, someone agrees with me on this.

[sykkie15]

Forsberg has small feet.


And you know what they say about small feet!



Small socks!

[MaddDog]

Forsberg has small feet.
And you know what they say about small feet!
Small socks!

Is he wearing socks there?? That's the first thing I thought, but maybe they are white shoes??

Jeez, they should change his nickname from Foppa to Drunka! Or is it Full-a in Svensk?? These hammered Forsberg photos are the best thing to come out of the Olympics!

[mddevsfan]

Is he wearing socks there?? That's the first thing I thought, but maybe they are white shoes??

Jeez, they should change his nickname from Foppa to Drunka! Or is it Full-a in Svensk?? These hammered Forsberg photos are the best thing to come out of the Olympics!

Maybe that's why he's always falling down on the ice...

[NJDevs4978]

I know it 'seems' heartless to fine the players but honestly this is what they agreed to when they agreed to play in the Olympics. Would it make more sense to give them a game or two off like Detroit did, yeah but not every team is assured of a playoff spot like the Wings either. They are under contract to play for their team if physically able.

It's funny all the hemming and hawing there was about Elias playing in the Olympics, how his only responsibility is to who pays him yadda yadda, then when the owners enforce that fact they're heartless?

Edited by Hasan4978, 01 March 2006 - 04:30 PM.

[UnderDogX]

I'm just wondering why everyone keeps saying these players busted their asses to promote the NHL....how? They busted their asses to win a medal for their country....As part of a compromising CBA the owners and what not agreed to let the players play in the Olympics but its not like they got together and said oh yeah we gotta let them go it'll be good for the NHL...they had virtually no choice because I would bet the players were pretty adamant about going so they took it as the glass half full..it's not like every NHL player had a huge NHL shield across their jersey...There was no real promotion going on at all....as part of a bargaining agreement the owners got somethings and the players got somethings...I'm glad they went, as I've said before its a great honor and would be dumb for anyone to turn a chance like that down but an agreement is an agreement...everyone (meaning players and coaches of the teams in the Olympics) understood the dates of the medal games and the date of the return of the NHL...what if team Canada or Team USA would have won?? would we really have allowed them to just skip the restart of the NHL so they could get drunk off their asses and party all night?? come on...a great honor to play and a greater honor to win but a job is a job....they were allowed as part of a deal to play so they should respect the rules and get back in time to play for the team that pays them...they deserve whatever fine they get...IMO

[Derek21]

You don't think participating in the Olympics was a PR move that the league as a whole wanted? They wanted the chance to show that the game's back and better than ever.

When a team wins gold, they should be allowed to celebrate. Sweden got their day and the Finns were also honored back home as well.


What I cannot tolerate is how ridiculous the schedule was. It's like the league said, 'We want our best players there but who cares if they play 8 in 12. We're not going to give them much time to get back.'

Really, when you factor in all the players who participated, it's going to take some time to adjust back to the smaller rinks and to their teammates. You don't think 2-3 days of practice before the season resumes would help bring back that chemistry for that all important stretch run? And some guys could get the rest they needed as well.

The league needs to address this issue in 2010 for Vancouver so that everyone is better prepared. If that means starting the season earlier, so be it. If it means cutting back to an abbreviated schedule, then that might work also. Either way, 2010 should be the last time the NHL participates.

[FunkyBlueFish203]

Team Sweden got a bonus of around $1.0M for winning the gold. The entire amount was donated to the junior program.

The Rangers plan to rest Henrik Lundqvist in the game against the Flyers tomorrow, and Forsberg might not play either. The Isles played Garth Snow last night while DiPietro sat. Nabokov sat for the Sharks, Toskala played last night. The Wings were missing 5 roster players, none of them will be docked any pay. In fact, the Swedes were their official welcome page for a couple of days. But then all teams are not sitting in the same position as the Red Wings. A couple of losses won't bother the Wings but it could make a big difference to teams like Tampa Bay or Toronto who are trying to stay in the playoff hunt.

This is purely the league's fault. How can you dock pay from the guys who went and represented their countries and played 8 games in a span of 10-11 days in a different time zone with lots of travel? Team Sweden endured a tremendous amount of criticism at home after Salt Lake City and the World Cup. Winning is huge to these players. These players are gone for 1-2 games out of 82 regular season games. What is wrong about granting them a 24 hour celebration in their native land? Have they not done well for their respective NHL teams? The NHL should either schedule these breaks better or just play a condensed schedule in an Olympic year.

['7']

The Olympics was the brain child of Bettmen and the owners.

and it was a damn good idea, you just have to take the Nagano's and Turins with Salt Lake City and Vancouver. In 2010, some players are not even going to have that far to travel, and the TV schedule will be at more ideal hours.

[Derek21]

and it was a damn good idea, you just have to take the Nagano's and Turins with Salt Lake City and Vancouver. In 2010, some players are not even going to have that far to travel, and the TV schedule will be at more ideal hours.

A good point but what if a European country wins gold again? That makes the travel longer for any celebration.

[Triumph]

You don't think participating in the Olympics was a PR move that the league as a whole wanted? They wanted the chance to show that the game's back and better than ever.

When a team wins gold, they should be allowed to celebrate. Sweden got their day and the Finns were also honored back home as well.
What I cannot tolerate is how ridiculous the schedule was. It's like the league said, 'We want our best players there but who cares if they play 8 in 12. We're not going to give them much time to get back.'

Really, when you factor in all the players who participated, it's going to take some time to adjust back to the smaller rinks and to their teammates. You don't think 2-3 days of practice before the season resumes would help bring back that chemistry for that all important stretch run? And some guys could get the rest they needed as well.

The league needs to address this issue in 2010 for Vancouver so that everyone is better prepared. If that means starting the season earlier, so be it. If it means cutting back to an abbreviated schedule, then that might work also. Either way, 2010 should be the last time the NHL participates.

No, the league hated that the players wanted to play in the Olympics. The only way that this is a good PR move for the NHL is if the US makes the medal round, which no one expected them to. All the games were played in the afternoon. The gold medal game regardless of the contestants was going to be at 8 in the morning EST on Sunday - great promotion when everyone is either asleep or at church. The league let the players go as a concession but there is absolutely no way that Bettman etc. wanted the professionals to play in this Olympics. It broke up their comeback season and dropped the NHL right off the radar when it was needed - in the sports graveyard of February. Now it comes back right in time for March Madness and the beginning of the baseball season. There was absolutely no life in the CAA tonight and it was for a Devils-Flyers game in March! I mean - there's no arguing that the NHL suffered from the layoff.

The league had no way of adjusting the schedule. The schedule was already too compressed. I don't understand how this isn't understood. They couldn't start the season early because things were already chaotic - they can't extend the season past July 1.

The NHL should probably get out of the Olympics altogether. I liked the games - I watched just about all of them. Still, if they can't rig it for the Americans to win, it's not worth it - it gets zero press and interrupts the season for no reason - no one cares about Finland and Russia in the US. The Olympics are a joke regardless - they're on the decline and will continue to be on the decline. The NHL should not hitch itself to that dying horse.

[IceThief]

[The Olympics are a joke regardless - they're on the decline and will continue to be on the decline. The NHL should not hitch itself to that dying horse.]

I'm going to have to disagree with this. The Olympic games are the biggest stage in the world for world class athletes who wouldn't have otherwise had anywhere to show off their God-given talent.

The NHL may decide to back out before or right after 2010, but the Games will NEVER die. EVER.

The only reason that quite a few Americans weren't interested is because a majority of America's biggest names failed to show up in their chosen sport and fell completely out of the world spotlight.

It's that simple.

IceThief

Edited by IceThief, 01 March 2006 - 11:23 PM.

[Derek21]

No, the league hated that the players wanted to play in the Olympics. The only way that this is a good PR move for the NHL is if the US makes the medal round, which no one expected them to. All the games were played in the afternoon. The gold medal game regardless of the contestants was going to be at 8 in the morning EST on Sunday - great promotion when everyone is either asleep or at church. The league let the players go as a concession but there is absolutely no way that Bettman etc. wanted the professionals to play in this Olympics. It broke up their comeback season and dropped the NHL right off the radar when it was needed - in the sports graveyard of February. Now it comes back right in time for March Madness and the beginning of the baseball season. There was absolutely no life in the CAA tonight and it was for a Devils-Flyers game in March! I mean - there's no arguing that the NHL suffered from the layoff.

The league had no way of adjusting the schedule. The schedule was already too compressed. I don't understand how this isn't understood. They couldn't start the season early because things were already chaotic - they can't extend the season past July 1.

The NHL should probably get out of the Olympics altogether. I liked the games - I watched just about all of them. Still, if they can't rig it for the Americans to win, it's not worth it - it gets zero press and interrupts the season for no reason - no one cares about Finland and Russia in the US. The Olympics are a joke regardless - they're on the decline and will continue to be on the decline. The NHL should not hitch itself to that dying horse.

I disagree. Especially with your point about it having to be a North American winner. If that's how the league feels, then screw them! They're not going into it with a good conscience.

[The Olympics are a joke regardless - they're on the decline and will continue to be on the decline. The NHL should not hitch itself to that dying horse.]

I'm going to have to disagree with this. The Olympic games are the biggest stage in the world for world class athletes who wouldn't have otherwise have anywhere to show off their God-given talent.

The NHL may decide to back out before or right after 2010, but the Games will NEVER die. EVER.

The only reason that quite a few Americans weren't interested is because a majority of America's biggest names failed to show up in their chosen sport and fell completely out of the world spotlight.

It's that simple.

IceThief

A nice post Ice Thief. I'll give you another reason why the Olympics aren't doing well anymore here. Because too many people would rather watch silly shows like Dancing with Skates or whatever the hell it's called and American Idol.

[langs15]

Forsberg has small feet.
And you know what they say about small feet!
Small socks!

You know..........that really explains a lot!!! lmao

[Triumph]

You can't blame people for what they like. Since I've been watching the Olympics, I've endured the Ben Johnson scandal, the Dan and Dave fiasco, the Olympic Triplecast, Tonya Harding, etc. etc. I couldn't care less about the Olympics. A bunch of overhyped atheletes being sold to us under the auspices of being 'amateurs'. I think the ratings will continue to decline or level off - these are a bunch of sports that most Americans do not compete in, and the presentation is always tape-delayed and overproduced with awful Al Trautwig voiceovers.

Oddly enough Derek, you praise IceThief's post in which he claims that the US's failures at the Olympics are the result of bad ratings, then you say that the NHL can get f'd if it doesn't care about Europe. Well, it doesn't care about Europe. Anything other than an gold medal game berth for the United States has to be considered a failure. The NHL wants out, and hopefully for its sake it can get it in 2010.

['7']

You can't really say the olympics are in decline, there are literally hundreds of channels now, EVERYTHING is in decline now, ratings are being diluted.

there was just no big story or controversy this year in the events including hockey. You had the Gretzky thing but that was not Olympic related and died out quickly. But when you do have that big year...it could be 2010, you want the NHL to be their.

I doubt there would've been any life in this game if there was played 2 weeks ago, the CAA is pretty much dead for mid week games. At one point the flyers were an instant sellout, that stopped happening in 1997.

If anything, March Madness is overrated, the media loves it like crazy but people just don't get into it, basketball popularity is on the wane as well, baseball in April is also kind of drab.

The winter games themselves are aesthetically pleasing to watch, and even though the ratings aren't huge like in the 12 channel days, they are still beating everything except talent audition shows.

Edited by '7', 01 March 2006 - 11:21 PM.