"Thank You Fans!"

[NJTank]

lol

[Bleujayone]

"We're really sorry we put a few dentists out of business"

[Gary]

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[Suigi]

Oh man.

The NHL is just ASKING to be ignored this season.

Other things that oughta be placed on the ice...

"Where'd Everyone Go?"

"WHAT Do You Want Us To Kiss?!"

"Ticket Price Drops? When Did We Ever Mention That?"

For Phoenix: "Dedicated To Keeping Winnipeg Out Of The League"

And for Toronto: "You're STILL HERE?!"

[Bleujayone]

"AHL: Cheaper Tickets, Better Hockey, Never On Strike"

Ever since baseball went on strike, I fell in love with minor league baseball. The prices were better (tickets, parking, concessions), the venues were more intimate and therefore you were closer to the action, people brought families (probably because they could afford to), and the players I watched were actually trying their hardest to play. I enjoyed myself again and consequently I have never paid for a Major League game since then. (I have attended a few, but to be honest it just wasn't the same.) There are several minor leagues with teams in New England, and I have made a habit of going to several of them every year. This year I got to see baseball return to Worcester, MA, a new stadium open in Machester, NH and the Expos still slugging it out in Burlington,VT. That was baseball. And while Fenway still has a place in my memories and I loved the Sox finally won the big show, I felt as though the strike caused me to lose some of my baseball innocence that minor league ball brought back. Maybe I'm a sport purist because of it, but if I'm going to shell out a butt-load of money to be entertained- I want to get my money's worth. Minor league have given me far more enjoyment than the majors have overall in recent years.

When the NHL decided to cut their own throats, I decided to attend a few AHL games throughout New England to get my hockey fix. The results were the same. In fact many of the games had NHL-like attendance. I even enjoyed a Quebec Junior Hockey game via Maine. Since I split up my time between Boston and Toronto rest assured if I attend a hockey game, it will be and AHL game instead of an NHL. I would invite my fellow hockey fans to do the same. Go to minor league game, or a college/university level game, a high school game, or even a pee-wee game.

The point is, I think the NHL needs to do more than give an Ike Turner-like half-assed appology. We should not be crawling back to them with open arms and open wallets like mindless drones. I say if pro-hockey really wants our attention, they need to do far more than a "Thank You Fans" on the ice.

[Puckguy14]

[Suigi]

I went to see an AHL Leafs/Sens game at the ACC, with tickets HALF the cost of standing room for an NHL game.

The Leafs won 3-2, and had an eight-player brawl going in the 3rd period.

Good fun. And for ONCE, more blue-and-white jerseys than business suits.

[Survival79]