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I can't say I was terribly happy with the end result, but keeping in mind I had a limited pallete (black, white, red and blue), I don't think it's too bad. The colours are those of the Montreal Canadiens, and the player in the background is kitted out in Toronto Maple Leafs blue.
Time out for some chauvinism. Although the Habs (the "Habitants" are the team's unofficial name) haven't won a Stanley Cup in quite a number of years, they remain the best team in NHL history, by virtue of over a dozen Cups over the years. No other team comes near. And depsite the sad fact that the Leafs haven't won a cup since 1967, they are still second in standing. I won't put down those upstart Canadian teams out west, who have done well in their short lifespans, but to all those johnny-come-lately teams in Memphis, San Diego, Denver, or Tijuana, I blow a huge razzberry. You may have a cup or two now, but the sands of time are filling in your footprints even as I speak...
Time out for some chauvinism. Although the Habs (the "Habitants" are the team's unofficial name) haven't won a Stanley Cup in quite a number of years, they remain the best team in NHL history, by virtue of over a dozen Cups over the years. No other team comes near. And depsite the sad fact that the Leafs haven't won a cup since 1967, they are still second in standing. I won't put down those upstart Canadian teams out west, who have done well in their short lifespans, but to all those johnny-come-lately teams in Memphis, San Diego, Denver, or Tijuana, I blow a huge razzberry. You may have a cup or two now, but the sands of time are filling in your footprints even as I speak...
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I suppose nobody can be faulted for being a fan of hockey, no matter what the team. But couldn't you have been a fan of the Bruins, the Leafs, or Red Wings? I will never forgive the NHL for expanding like it did. Now there are so many teams that a fan could go a lifetime without ever seeing his team win the Stanley Cup. Also, it seemed to be a Great Lakes cultural icon in the Good Old Days. At one time there were a few other teams, not just the classic six, but even then hockey was a sport for the winter-world.
Not Memphis or Tampa fer chrissake.
Now the sport is just a plaything for billionaires, who happen to have the money to buy a team and bribe the league, and plop it in the middle of the Arizona desert, or orange grove country. It doesn't matter to anyone that there's no ice on which to grow local players, no audience attuned to the slap of a stick on rubber to go watcha the game, and no reason for the game to be in Anaheim or Chatanooga. It's the commerciala tie-ins that make money for the owner anyway. So the billionaires buy up players and win the cup for a year or two, and then the team dries up like tobacco grown in Siberia. The cup has passed on to the next plaything. Will it ever circulate 'round to the original teams? Oh, maybe... in another fifty years or so.
Not Memphis or Tampa fer chrissake.
Now the sport is just a plaything for billionaires, who happen to have the money to buy a team and bribe the league, and plop it in the middle of the Arizona desert, or orange grove country. It doesn't matter to anyone that there's no ice on which to grow local players, no audience attuned to the slap of a stick on rubber to go watcha the game, and no reason for the game to be in Anaheim or Chatanooga. It's the commerciala tie-ins that make money for the owner anyway. So the billionaires buy up players and win the cup for a year or two, and then the team dries up like tobacco grown in Siberia. The cup has passed on to the next plaything. Will it ever circulate 'round to the original teams? Oh, maybe... in another fifty years or so.
I live close to San Jose. Big media coverage. Fascinating to watch, although I'm still learning the rules. The fights are fun.
The Phoenix Coyotes filed for bankruptcy...they may move back North, although not back to Winnipeg. Gretzky can't seem to save it.
The Penguins filed for bankruptcy before Mario Lemiuex saved the team. Hoisted the Cup.
The Phoenix Coyotes filed for bankruptcy...they may move back North, although not back to Winnipeg. Gretzky can't seem to save it.
The Penguins filed for bankruptcy before Mario Lemiuex saved the team. Hoisted the Cup.
Pittsburgh is almost a halfway decent place for a hockey team, and the team has done well at times. Or am I thinking of Philadelphia? Too many teams, like I said.
That media is what keeps teams solvent for the most part. Nobody goes to watch the game, but the local stations pay big bucks for the right to televise to sofa-jocks at home who would never think of lifting a hockey stick.
Some rich schnook in Canada was trying to buy an NHL team from a bankrupt club in the sunbelt, and move it to Hamilton Ontario. The NHL wasn't keen on it because that was too close to two existing franchises -- Toronto and Buffalo. Not that it kept them from awarding teams to LA, Anaheim, and San Diego, which were all too close for comfort. The difference, though, was that there are nearly 30,000,000 people in California, more than half south of the San Andreas fault, and only 30,000,000 in all of Canada. I only wonder there aren't a "Valley," Burbank, Irvine, and Palm Springs teams as well.
Give it time and continued profits, there will be teams in Mexico someday.
That media is what keeps teams solvent for the most part. Nobody goes to watch the game, but the local stations pay big bucks for the right to televise to sofa-jocks at home who would never think of lifting a hockey stick.
Some rich schnook in Canada was trying to buy an NHL team from a bankrupt club in the sunbelt, and move it to Hamilton Ontario. The NHL wasn't keen on it because that was too close to two existing franchises -- Toronto and Buffalo. Not that it kept them from awarding teams to LA, Anaheim, and San Diego, which were all too close for comfort. The difference, though, was that there are nearly 30,000,000 people in California, more than half south of the San Andreas fault, and only 30,000,000 in all of Canada. I only wonder there aren't a "Valley," Burbank, Irvine, and Palm Springs teams as well.
Give it time and continued profits, there will be teams in Mexico someday.
Classic Peanuts comic strip:
Linus to Snoopy wielding a hockey stick: "I don't think you're a real hockey player at all...Prove to me that you're a real hockey player."
Snoopy grins with a mouthful of missing teeth.
Linus (walking away): "You're a real hockey player."
Linus to Snoopy wielding a hockey stick: "I don't think you're a real hockey player at all...Prove to me that you're a real hockey player."
Snoopy grins with a mouthful of missing teeth.
Linus (walking away): "You're a real hockey player."
I think I saw that, years ago. But you have to have scars from hockey pucks to match. I've got a beaut somewhere on my face, from stopping a puck with my teeth when I was probably only about six or seven. And I *rarely* ever played, and then never on skates.
But rough as the game can be, it seemed to have gotten a lot rowdier during the late 70's and through the 80's, when the expansion teams demanded hundreds of new players. A lot of them were not up to snuff, and made up for finesse on the ice by pugnacity with their gloves. A lot of new fans in American cities that had never seen hockey before, loved the donnybrooks, and screamed for more of it. Less scrupulous coaches were only too happy to oblige -- after all, if you can put Gretsky on a stretcher for the duration of the game, maybe you can still win. Even the old teams became more beligerant. We still have problems, though I think the worst is over. Over the last couple of years there have been some horrible cases that may have led to assault charges. One player attacked another in a Vancouver game with his stick, and broke the other guy's neck. He recovered, and now he's suing for lost income from a career he no longer had.
The Good Old Days were probably never really as good as all that, but I still don't recall anything more than trading blows with fists, face to face. No attacks from behind or with tape-bound clubs. I think...
To be honest, I wasn't watching. I preferred to read, and sitll do.
But rough as the game can be, it seemed to have gotten a lot rowdier during the late 70's and through the 80's, when the expansion teams demanded hundreds of new players. A lot of them were not up to snuff, and made up for finesse on the ice by pugnacity with their gloves. A lot of new fans in American cities that had never seen hockey before, loved the donnybrooks, and screamed for more of it. Less scrupulous coaches were only too happy to oblige -- after all, if you can put Gretsky on a stretcher for the duration of the game, maybe you can still win. Even the old teams became more beligerant. We still have problems, though I think the worst is over. Over the last couple of years there have been some horrible cases that may have led to assault charges. One player attacked another in a Vancouver game with his stick, and broke the other guy's neck. He recovered, and now he's suing for lost income from a career he no longer had.
The Good Old Days were probably never really as good as all that, but I still don't recall anything more than trading blows with fists, face to face. No attacks from behind or with tape-bound clubs. I think...
To be honest, I wasn't watching. I preferred to read, and sitll do.
You do have to wonder. Ever see Johnny Bower's face? It took real courage for Gump Worsley to put on a mask -- the first goalie ever to do so -- and put up with the ribbing until players saw the wisdom of not exposing your face to rock hard projectiles flying at 90 m.p.h.
I have a few McFarlane hocky player figures. They get discounted to $5 or $2 at Wal-Mart, and I started getting them for a sister who was hockey-mad. But eventually I picked up some of the older players for myself -- Richard, Bowers, Mikita, Howe, Hull, and a couple of others. There's a Mahovlich and an Espisito I'd love, but they're too old and never turn up. What I particularly like about the older players is that without helmets and visors you can see their face!
Maybe one reason more players weren't maimed or mangled in the past is they were less violent (despite the donnybrooks) and more skilled? Maybe fewer pucks went where they weren't supposed to go....
I have a few McFarlane hocky player figures. They get discounted to $5 or $2 at Wal-Mart, and I started getting them for a sister who was hockey-mad. But eventually I picked up some of the older players for myself -- Richard, Bowers, Mikita, Howe, Hull, and a couple of others. There's a Mahovlich and an Espisito I'd love, but they're too old and never turn up. What I particularly like about the older players is that without helmets and visors you can see their face!
Maybe one reason more players weren't maimed or mangled in the past is they were less violent (despite the donnybrooks) and more skilled? Maybe fewer pucks went where they weren't supposed to go....
well it could also be better technology and more muscular and faster players to cause the puck to go faster then before.football players and baseball players are all more athletic and bigger as a whole because of specialised weight lifting,(drugs in some cases), specific diets,and year round dedication to a sport that pays them hundreds of thousands if not millions as opposed to the past where it was half fun half job half not growing up ;)
hey now Pittsburgh has won 3 stanley cups (and been in 4 ) and has a rabid fan base. GO PENS! their stadium is rocking "on a hockey night in Pittsburgh" and Mike Lange is one of the all time best hockey announcers in my mind ("he beat him like a rented goalie!" ) They are one of the next 6 teams after the original 6. they started in 1967.And in their history theyve had some of the greatest hockey players Mario, Jagger, Sid the kid Crosby,and Evani Malkin. Marios in the hall of fame,I bet all 3 of the others end up there too though Crosby and Malkin are very young so we`ll have to see if they keep up their all star play for a decade or so.
Now as far as the expansion goes.The original 6 was ok for its time but you have to admit thats a patheticly small league. I cant take any league that has less then a dozen teams seriously really. And they want to have teams in cities with big populations,whats wrong with that? Sure ice hockey is not a natural fit for the south but there are fans all over.And if hockey is to survive it does have to grow from beyond a regional canadian and notheast usa sport.It waited too long to expand as it did and its paying the price in lack of popularity on tv in the states.Its my fave sport after the NFL and I wish it to succeed.Having only 6 or 10 teams in Canada and the northeast is no way to succeed in the long term.If they( NHL) cant bring in enough money and pay the players decent ,theyll just go to europe and russia and play and how would that be better then playing in tampa or sanjose?
But anyway regardless of that ,its really REALLY cool to see some furry hockey art!
Now as far as the expansion goes.The original 6 was ok for its time but you have to admit thats a patheticly small league. I cant take any league that has less then a dozen teams seriously really. And they want to have teams in cities with big populations,whats wrong with that? Sure ice hockey is not a natural fit for the south but there are fans all over.And if hockey is to survive it does have to grow from beyond a regional canadian and notheast usa sport.It waited too long to expand as it did and its paying the price in lack of popularity on tv in the states.Its my fave sport after the NFL and I wish it to succeed.Having only 6 or 10 teams in Canada and the northeast is no way to succeed in the long term.If they( NHL) cant bring in enough money and pay the players decent ,theyll just go to europe and russia and play and how would that be better then playing in tampa or sanjose?
But anyway regardless of that ,its really REALLY cool to see some furry hockey art!
NHL hockey didn't "pay a price" in popularity on American TV. It had never been played on TV deep in the States, so it could hardly have been loosing popularity there. NHL hockey was what it was, no more -- no less.
But people who have money like to make more of it, and looked at those cities in the US without hockey teams and no evidence of interest in watching it on TV as lost opportunities. It was the desire to make more money, not the love of hockey that expanded the league.
A dozen teams would have been fine. There had, in fact, been more than 6 teams before the '50. A few of them went by the wayside, for one reason or another. Vancouver and Ottawa were two of them, I think.
The most likely candidates for new teams, to bring the total up to a dozen should have been chosen from Pittsburg, Minneapolis, Denver, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and perhaps Cincinnatti -- natural winter cities. Buffallo is too small in my opinion, and much too near another existing franchise. The problem is that they add up to six, and not one Canadian city would be added. The Canadian cities that ought to have had teams added would include Quebec City, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Ottawa, which is another six.
That adds up to 18, which is about as large as the NHL ought to be, and then some. A sport you may never live long enough to see your team win the cup isn't much fun.
Of the ideal roster, most of the US cities I've named have teams at present. Of the Canadian cities, only four. Two had teams but lost them. The Winnipeg Jets, were relocated to Phoenix, and the league has been fighting tooth and nail to keep them there, despite the fact that the Coyotes are loosing money big time. My question is, why is it okay for Phoenix to loose money and keep a team, but not Winnipeg where the team started? Something screwy going on.
Apart for faux teams like Phoenix, Anaheim, and Memphis, did there need to be two teams cheek to jowl in the LA area (the Ducks and the Kings) as well as two in the NYC area (the old Rangers and the new NJ Devils)? ; Again, that's not the love of hockey, that's the sound of profits being calculated.
But people who have money like to make more of it, and looked at those cities in the US without hockey teams and no evidence of interest in watching it on TV as lost opportunities. It was the desire to make more money, not the love of hockey that expanded the league.
A dozen teams would have been fine. There had, in fact, been more than 6 teams before the '50. A few of them went by the wayside, for one reason or another. Vancouver and Ottawa were two of them, I think.
The most likely candidates for new teams, to bring the total up to a dozen should have been chosen from Pittsburg, Minneapolis, Denver, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and perhaps Cincinnatti -- natural winter cities. Buffallo is too small in my opinion, and much too near another existing franchise. The problem is that they add up to six, and not one Canadian city would be added. The Canadian cities that ought to have had teams added would include Quebec City, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Ottawa, which is another six.
That adds up to 18, which is about as large as the NHL ought to be, and then some. A sport you may never live long enough to see your team win the cup isn't much fun.
Of the ideal roster, most of the US cities I've named have teams at present. Of the Canadian cities, only four. Two had teams but lost them. The Winnipeg Jets, were relocated to Phoenix, and the league has been fighting tooth and nail to keep them there, despite the fact that the Coyotes are loosing money big time. My question is, why is it okay for Phoenix to loose money and keep a team, but not Winnipeg where the team started? Something screwy going on.
Apart for faux teams like Phoenix, Anaheim, and Memphis, did there need to be two teams cheek to jowl in the LA area (the Ducks and the Kings) as well as two in the NYC area (the old Rangers and the new NJ Devils)? ; Again, that's not the love of hockey, that's the sound of profits being calculated.
well keeping a team in abig city is gambling on the bigger potential profit of a team in a big town as oppossed to a small one and the tv revenue. the NBA,Baseball, and NFL make so much money from tv it practicaly covers the payrolls before a ticket or parking space or jersey is sold.The nhl is the poor little brother taking a nickel to just have the privledge to show up on tv with NBC and their cable channel versus here in the usa.i assume hockey still gets great ratings in canada
Small is fine with me. We enjoy the game, and who cares if people in Atlanta or Houston don't? If there were 100 NHL teams, would it make it a better game, would fans in Toronto or Chicago enjoy it more? I doubt it. In fact, watering down the league may only lower the standards of the game, as second rate players are signed to fill up new teams. And again, there's the aspect that you have to win the cup occasionally...
Who remembers? I'm not that much of a hockey fan to have committed all the teams to memory. I can't even tell which team half the uniforms belong to. I recall looking at one that had a symbol on its chest that was a hodgepodge of stuff and didn't have a clue until I looked at the caption. It was Denver, or Colorado. Knowing that I deduced the symbol was a mountain. I can't help wondering when states and regions starting having teams. What next? The Congressional District Fourteen Pollsters?
It might qualify if there was any still water to freeze, where kids could grow up learning to skate. But I think Denver just fails by a slim margin for this reason. St. Louis is another squeaker. It does get winter, but it's not a deep, hard, long winter as a rule, and I don't think there's an ice-skating culture there.
Your drawing reminds me of an old National Lampoon Radio Hour gag:
(Sound of wood scraping against wood, then a sharp thud, and a cheering crowd...)
Radio announcer: "And there you have it. At the end of the third period, Gilles Gilbert guillotined for high-sticking. Let's see it again in slow motion..."
Never fails to crack me up...
As for hockey, yeah, we used to have the North Stars, until that rat b*stard Norm Green bought the team and moved it to Dallas. (Quoth Norm: "Only an idiot could lose money on hockey in Minnesota" -- and he then went on to prove his point.) I remember when the North Stars faced the Penguins in the Stanley Cup playoffs, some clever entrepreneur came up with a T-Shirt featuring Pepe LePew in hockey gear with the caption "Mario LePew STINKS!" (an obvious reference to Penguins' star Mario Lemieux).
Hockey an interesting game to watch, but it is all too often marred by distractions, be they brawling, idiot fans or brawling, idiot players. And I completely agree that the sport has become little more than the playing of billionaires -- though that's pretty much true of all professional sports these days. I mean, how much lower can the sport sink when Disney can create a team out of thin air simply to promote a series of low-budget comedy films ("The Mighty Ducks")?
(Sound of wood scraping against wood, then a sharp thud, and a cheering crowd...)
Radio announcer: "And there you have it. At the end of the third period, Gilles Gilbert guillotined for high-sticking. Let's see it again in slow motion..."
Never fails to crack me up...
As for hockey, yeah, we used to have the North Stars, until that rat b*stard Norm Green bought the team and moved it to Dallas. (Quoth Norm: "Only an idiot could lose money on hockey in Minnesota" -- and he then went on to prove his point.) I remember when the North Stars faced the Penguins in the Stanley Cup playoffs, some clever entrepreneur came up with a T-Shirt featuring Pepe LePew in hockey gear with the caption "Mario LePew STINKS!" (an obvious reference to Penguins' star Mario Lemieux).
Hockey an interesting game to watch, but it is all too often marred by distractions, be they brawling, idiot fans or brawling, idiot players. And I completely agree that the sport has become little more than the playing of billionaires -- though that's pretty much true of all professional sports these days. I mean, how much lower can the sport sink when Disney can create a team out of thin air simply to promote a series of low-budget comedy films ("The Mighty Ducks")?
The Mighty Fucks were what really turned me off the league's expansion. I was expecting announcements to follow of The Spielberg E.T.s, the Ford Pintos, the Microsoft Floppies, etc...
Minnesota is another one of those nearly-right cities for hockey. Ideally there could have been a second leaque for winter cities that weren't part of the NHL, and the top two teams every year might have competed for a pennent or some other new symbol, just like the American and National baseball leagues do.
There was in fact a second hockey league for a while. But they seemed in competition, and so I guess there was a danger of the new league trying to establish itself in towns that already had NHL teams. In the end they merged.
Minnesota is another one of those nearly-right cities for hockey. Ideally there could have been a second leaque for winter cities that weren't part of the NHL, and the top two teams every year might have competed for a pennent or some other new symbol, just like the American and National baseball leagues do.
There was in fact a second hockey league for a while. But they seemed in competition, and so I guess there was a danger of the new league trying to establish itself in towns that already had NHL teams. In the end they merged.
The World Hockey Association. Competed in the 1970s.
4 teams merged with the NHL around 1978 or so and the WHA folded.
Winnipeg Jets (now Phoenix Coyotes), Hartford Whalers (now Carolina Hurricanes), Quebec Nordiques (now Colorado Avalanche), and Edmonton Oilers
4 teams merged with the NHL around 1978 or so and the WHA folded.
Winnipeg Jets (now Phoenix Coyotes), Hartford Whalers (now Carolina Hurricanes), Quebec Nordiques (now Colorado Avalanche), and Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers had Gretzky. Most likely saving the team there enough to build their NHL fanbase immensely.
"State Area" names don't bother me much. I suppose it would make it seem like a larger region market than it really is. "Florida Panthers" and "Florida Marlins" are based in Miami...Think the fans of the Tampa Bay teams would relish trying to beat the rest of the state.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim monniker is a bit over the top, though, since Anaheim is 20-30 miles south of L.A. proper.
"State Area" names don't bother me much. I suppose it would make it seem like a larger region market than it really is. "Florida Panthers" and "Florida Marlins" are based in Miami...Think the fans of the Tampa Bay teams would relish trying to beat the rest of the state.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim monniker is a bit over the top, though, since Anaheim is 20-30 miles south of L.A. proper.
Well, Saara, I could easily rub it in your face by bragging that I lived on Long Island during the 1970s and 1980s, when the New York Islanders won the Stanley Cup during five years of that period of time; but I won't.
For the last fifteen years, I've been living in south Florida, where the NHL's Panthers play (or tried to play) - succeeding in making it to the Stanley Cup finals only once. The arena they play in had undergone several name changes: It was originally called National Car Rental Center, followed by Office Depot Center, and presently called Bank Atlantic Center. I predict another name change by the early part of the next decade... probably Schlomo's Mortuary Center, or something like that!
BTW. nice sports-themed artwork (lest you thought I'd forget)!
For the last fifteen years, I've been living in south Florida, where the NHL's Panthers play (or tried to play) - succeeding in making it to the Stanley Cup finals only once. The arena they play in had undergone several name changes: It was originally called National Car Rental Center, followed by Office Depot Center, and presently called Bank Atlantic Center. I predict another name change by the early part of the next decade... probably Schlomo's Mortuary Center, or something like that!
BTW. nice sports-themed artwork (lest you thought I'd forget)!
Oh go ahead, rub it in. I'm not worried. The torch has passed on, and who knows what newly minted counterfeit team will hold the Stanley Cup for a while. New Oreans? Reno? The Bush family ranch? But so far the Leafs second place standings in overall wins hasn't been seriously challenged. Maybe in another 25 years, if we don't do any better than we have been doing since 1967, some team will pass the Leaf record. It'll take some doing though. 13 cups! Only the Red Wings come close, at 11. But that's paltry compared to Montreal's 24.
I never watched or played hockey when young, but tradition is tradition. But I feel the NHL spoiled it all by its breakneck expansion. Now we have teams in Florida and Arizona. What next, the Mexico City Banditos? The Bogata Drug Lords? It's a sad commentary on the odds of winning a Stanley Cup that the leafs haven't won one since 1967... yet still have the *second* largest number of cups after Montreal! It's gotten to a once in a life-time event. Your team is hot for three years, maybe wins a couple of times, then never again in your life.
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