Oil On Whyte » lockout http://oilonwhyte.com An Edmonton Oilers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:37:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 What Will It Take For The NHL To “Make Whole” With The Fans? http://oilonwhyte.com/2013/01/06/what-will-it-take-for-the-nhl-to-make-whole-for-the-fans/ http://oilonwhyte.com/2013/01/06/what-will-it-take-for-the-nhl-to-make-whole-for-the-fans/#comments Sun, 06 Jan 2013 23:15:40 +0000 Jeffrey Chapman http://oilonwhyte.com/?p=5839 As you might imagine, news of the lockout’s end has made most of us pretty excited.  With the abbreviated NHL season getting ready to take off, there’s much to talk about.  Who’s going to make the opening lineup?  How will this year’s goaltending shake up?   What about that “wow” move? Here’s one that I’ve [...]

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Get this guy a couple beer coupons. Photo courtesy Andy Devilin – Edmonton Oilers

As you might imagine, news of the lockout’s end has made most of us pretty excited.  With the abbreviated NHL season getting ready to take off, there’s much to talk about.  Who’s going to make the opening lineup?  How will this year’s goaltending shake up?   What about that “wow” move?

Here’s one that I’ve neglected to mention for the duration of the lockout:  What about the fans?

Look, I understand that the fans are sometimes an afterthought when it comes down to brass tacks.  We buy tickets, we buy merchandise, we buy eight dollar beers and other extravagantly priced concessions, and we tend to come back (for the most part) after work stoppages.

Shortly after the last lockout ended, I had a conversation with a good buddy of mine who’s father played for the Oilers at one time.  Not surprisingly, we were ecstatic that NHL hockey was back.  Buddy said that it was a damn shame that the NHL didn’t do anything to reach out and say “thanks” to the fans who were forced to sit out an entire year.

And he was right. Fans deserved something.  Something bigger than “Thank You Fans” painted in two languages on the ice.

So, I asked Twitter for some suggestions.  Here are a few.

That’s a start.

 


GIVE US THE BETTMAN

How about complimentary NHL Gamecenter for the 2013 season?  This one works for some.  If you’re in Edmonton and your top team is Anaheim (or another team that’s not on TSN/CBC all the time), then this really works for you.  As long as the team you’re following isn’t on local or national TV, then you can watch that game on your computer or other device that can pull an internet signal. But, Rangers fans want to see the Rangers, and a lot of them are from NY. Penguins fans are from Pittsburgh…you get the idea.  It’d be an $80 gift from the NHL to the fans.  That’s not bad.

People are angry at the NHL.

What will it take for the NHL to make right with the fans?

What will it take for you to forget about the past four months?  A merchandise coupon?  Tickets?  A musical telegram from Nail Yakupov?

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]]> http://oilonwhyte.com/2013/01/06/what-will-it-take-for-the-nhl-to-make-whole-for-the-fans/feed/ 0 Hail Gagner, The NHL Lockout Is Over! http://oilonwhyte.com/2013/01/06/hail-gagner-the-nhl-lockout-is-over/ http://oilonwhyte.com/2013/01/06/hail-gagner-the-nhl-lockout-is-over/#comments Sun, 06 Jan 2013 12:57:13 +0000 Jeffrey Chapman http://oilonwhyte.com/?p=5834 IT’S OVER. We’re going to have a season. A half season. 48 games or so. That’s not what we originally wanted.  It’s probably not what the players wanted.  I’m fairly sure it’s not what the owners wanted. I don’t know too much about what’s going on right now.  Frankly, I don’t care.  I’m happy for [...]

Hail Gagner, The NHL Lockout Is Over! - Oil On Whyte - Oil On Whyte - An Edmonton Oilers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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IT’S OVER. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

IT’S OVER.

We’re going to have a season. A half season. 48 games or so.

That’s not what we originally wanted.  It’s probably not what the players wanted.  I’m fairly sure it’s not what the owners wanted.

I don’t know too much about what’s going on right now.  Frankly, I don’t care.  I’m happy for everyone.  I’m happy for the players, I’m happy for the owners, and I’m happy for us.  Really, I’m happy for us.  Happy that we’re finally going to be able to talk about hockey.  Happy that we’re going to be able to see hockey.  Happy to get back to what we’re good at, and that’s griping about the defence and goaltending.

What I do know:

  • The deal is for 10 years, and the salary cap will be 64.3M in 2013-14.
  • The NHL will finalize the schedule sometime this week.  Expect that all teams will play within their division
  • This means that the next lockout shouldn’t happen until at least 2022-23. I’m only sort of half kidding.
  • This is good.

There will be updates as things continue today.  Thank you for sticking with us during the lockout.  We will be talking NHL hockey very, very, very soon.

NHL Hockey is back.  And it feels good, man.
Follow Oil On Whyte on the Twitters.

Jeff – @OilOnWhyte

Ian – @ibleedoil

Jonathan – @jonrmcleod

Troy – @heavyoilcountry

Dave – @rustyknuckler

Check out the Oilers Army!

Click Here to visit our NHL main page “Too Many Men” – Fansided’s Hockey Home on the Internets

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