msweet Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=218638&hubname=nhl Canadian Press 9/18/2007 8:22:34 PM CHICAGO (CP) - Sid the Kid will play every team in the NHL next season. The league's current schedule format will be history after this season, the NHL's board of governors finally agreeing that change was needed Tuesday. ''I think it's clear that there will be a change,'' NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said after the four-hour meeting with owners. A formal vote will take place at the next board of governors' meeting in late November. ''The end result is we're going to see change in the best interests of the league,'' said Calgary Flames chairman and part-owner Harley Hotchkiss. The current format has been in existence since the lockout ended and has ignited much debate among owners. It features eight games versus each divisional opponent - too many according to some - and only 10 games (five on the road) against non-conference opponents. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins finally plays his first regular-season games in Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary this season - in his third year in the league. This season the unbalanced schedule also has the Oilers, Flames and Canucks not playing a single regular-season game against Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. ''We think everybody should play everybody at least once,'' said Ottawa Senators president and CEO Roy Mlakar. ''Whether that's home and away, we'll need to see more evidence that that's the direction the majority wants to go in. But we're willing to change.'' The vote at the next owners' meeting will require two-thirds majority to pass and Bettman was confident he would get it after conducting a straw poll Tuesday. ''After a discussion with the board I have a sense of where we need to be and where I think we need to be,'' said Bettman. ''I'm optimistic we will get there in December.'' But just what exact schedule format is adopted remains to be seen. While the room agreed the unbalanced schedule had to go, there still isn't consensus on the right option to replace it. Here are some options: - Drop to seven games against each divisional opponent play each team in the other conference once. That would mean a team from the West would play in each Eastern city at least once every two years; - Or drop to six games against each divisional opponent and play a home-and-home with every team in the other conference. That would guarantee a visit each year from each team in the league. There are other tweaks and variances as well. ''We want to play all of the Canadian teams at least home and home every year,'' said Richard Peddie, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. The bottom line is that no matter what the new schedule is, it won't feature eight games against the same division opponent. ''Our fans are telling us they see a little too much of that,'' said Hotchkiss. ''They'd like to see all the teams more frequently than they do now.'' Meanwhile, Bettman did touch on possible expansion Tuesday, but downplayed any short-term decision on that front. Las Vegas, Kansas City, Seattle and Winnipeg are on the radar as possible targets. ''We know there is interest from a number of places but we haven't got to a point where we want to open this up to a formal expansion process,'' Bettman said. ''As we continue to explore the expressions of interest we will decide on how we want to proceed.'' Owners and GMs leaving the meeting Tuesday did not sound terribly interested in expansion. ''There might be markets out there that want to pay a lot but let's make sure we have 30 strong teams,'' said Peddie. ''Let's make sure we are in the best markets before we add markets, that's Toronto's point of view.'' One executive, who requested anonymity, went one step further: ''We've got too many weak spots right now to think about expansion.'' Other items of discussion Tuesday: - NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly gave governors a ''state of the business'' presentation and provided an analysis on the contract and salary trends heading into the third year of the collective bargaining agreement; - Updates on the proposed sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators. Bettman said neither sale was ready for a vote by the board just yet but there would be one by December at the latest. - There discussion about NHL on-ice officials in lieu of the Tim Donaghy scandal in the NBA and the safeguards in place to avoid a similar situation. ''We did our own self evaluation of what our procedures are and how we handle them,'' said Bettman. ''We gave the update of where we were to the board and I think there was a comfort level in the room that we deal with these matters appropriately.'' - Colin Campbell, the NHL's director of hockey operations, addressed the board concerning hits to the head, an issue the league continues to monitor closely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelastonealive Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Any schedule setup and limits the number of times we play Sidney Crosby is a schedule setup I'm all for. The West wants him so bad, let 'em have him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satans Hockey Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 - Or drop to six games against each divisional opponent and play a home-and-home with every team in the other conference. That would guarantee a visit each year from each team in the league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njskaguy33 Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 My concern about this is amount of travel the players will have to go through during a season just so Vancouver can get a gander at Sid the Kid in person. This is obviously another way for the NHL to raise ticket sales in flagging markets, which isn't a bad thing. That would just suck for a player to have to double his travel in a year just so Anaheim gets the Sidney Crosby Traveling Circus. I agree with thelast however...the fewer games against Sid we play, the better we end up :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils731 Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 I'm pretty sure this will actually drop ticket sales around the league. Does the NHLPA have any say in this? I'm guessing no since I'm pretty sure they'd block it since it means more player travel and mostly likely lower ticket revenue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimaira_Devil_#9 Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 A schedule which involves playing every team in the NHl at least once in a season is the best thing. I never liked the principal of not playing certain teams for up to 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundstrom Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 these are well conditioned athletes flying on chartered jets. this isn't like the old days where they had to travel by train. i don't think the travel is as big an issue. what is an issue is that teams that actually need the 8 games against rivals to sell tickets will be hurt. even the 7th or 8th game vs. the isles is better than the one time that Phoenix comes to town and nobody cares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglejelly Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 This will mean that the west coast will not only get to see more of Crosby, but they will get to see more of Florida & Carolina. I am sure they will be big attendance magnets. I am already thrilled of the prospect of seeing more of Phoenix and Columbus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section 110 Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Let's keep the schedule as close to the current set up as possible, but let all the western Canadian teams play the eastern Canada teams home and home and let the Penguins play in each city at least once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Yay! More games with Phoenix, LA, Edmonton, and St. Louis! Can't wait for this. I've already got my Ladislav Nagy jersey ordered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bostondevil11 Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Yay! More games with Phoenix, LA, Edmonton, and St. Louis! Can't wait for this. I've already got my Ladislav Nagy jersey ordered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 What if Phoenix gets Tavares you wouldn't want to go see him play? These teams may suck now but they may not always suck. I am lookign forward to seeing Chicago in OCt in Boston to see Toews and Kane play. Last year I wouldn't of even noticed them on the schedule if they played here. I always thought too many division games with the 8. Six was fine for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masked Fan Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 - Or drop to six games against each divisional opponent and play a home-and-home with every team in the other conference. That would guarantee a visit each year from each team in the league. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils731 Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 I wonder how long it will take for the groundswell for less divisional games swings back to a groundswell for more divisional game once they change the schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section 110 Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 the broad point here is that the league feels it has to market its stars and the biggest star with the biggest potential at this point is Crosby. Every team that doesn't sell out now knows that they can sell out (or at least hope to sell out) the Penguins. Back in the 80's and early 90s, if you didn't see Gretzky year after year, the GMs would complain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Yay! More games with Phoenix, LA, Edmonton, and St. Louis! Can't wait for this. I've already got my Ladislav Nagy jersey ordered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Yay! Less games against Florida, Washington, Carolina! I can't wait for this. I already have my Jokinen jersey up on E-bay.That there are bad uninteresting teams in the West is a stupid argument. Stick with the disinterested players where you actually have a point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eldon Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 I think what's behind this, is that more teams want to play in Newark every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkrdevil Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Yay! Less games against Florida, Washington, Carolina! I can't wait for this. I already have my Jokinen jersey up on E-bay.That there are bad uninteresting teams in the West is a stupid argument. Stick with the disinterested players where you actually have a point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squishyx Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 its a travesty that players go 82 games and cant visit 29 other teams just once. Huge mistake imo and im happy to hear they are fixing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitico12 Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Well, the dialogue is not a bad one. Obviously, having teams see more of Crosby, Malkin, Staal would be a good thing. Just think of it this way, what would the MLS be if David Beckham (when he's healthy), only played his games against Chivas USA and Colorado... However, I think the NHL should take it further, and build a customized schedule for each team, that would reinforce existing rivalries, and perhaps build others...Blanketly increasing or decreasing games against teams in your division is not the "complete" answer... I think the Devils should play the Rags and Cryers 8 times year (with a few back to back, home and home games built in). This is a metro rivalry. I don't think it's necessary for the Devs to play the Pens or Isles 8 times a year, while increasing the games the Devs play against teams such as Montreal or Toronto would also be a plus as these teams have become rivals of the Devs throughout the years. Just throwing my two cents out there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 It's about time. The current schedule is terrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
point Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 ''After a discussion with the board I have a sense of where we need to be and where I think we need to be,'' said Bettman. ''I'm optimistic we will get there in December.'' Can someone translate this into something meaningful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilish34 Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 ''After a discussion with the board I have a sense of where we need to be and where I think we need to be,'' said Bettman. ''I'm optimistic we will get there in December.''Can someone translate this into something meaningful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 It's about time. The current schedule is terrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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