It's Over: New CBA Reached

[forty_three]

Informal skates "like Christmas morning" for players - Columbus Blue Jackets - CBJ Today Blog

Nine players showed up today, interesting mix but the ones I would have hoped to see. Glad Foligno was there, and good to see Brassard one of the first to show. Apparently Mason stayed in Columbus which seems odd. I would have thought he couldn't wait to get out of here.

This article doesn't mention it, but Dave Steckel was on the ice today too (not in Blue Jackets gear). Apparently, he has spent the lockout here in Columbus working with Umberger and the Buckeyes. And, you would think, is not in any hurry to get to Toronto. That's a five hour drive from here.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

And below is the email I got from the Jackets:










/nyet. Nada. Zilch.

Did you get a Christmas card 43?

 

[forty_three]

Did you get a Christmas card 43?

Actually, I did. And one from USA Hockey.



All the Jackets have sent out (that I have seen) is a "Breaking News" email that the deal was reached and two marketing emails seeing if I wanted the full season tickets.

 

[forty_three]

LOL

 

[dash]

@TSNBobMcKenzie

NHL player now back from RUS says KHL teams putting major pressure and huge money on table to keep NHLers from returning to North America.

You might say the KHL is turning to rubles...

 

[loki604]

LOL

That's a hilarious exchange. Thanks for posting.

 

[IPostedWhat]

 

[IPostedWhat]

 

[IPostedWhat]

No, I said I won't watch again for years. I'll root for the Flyers and Sabres to win but I won't attend/watch/give a fuck about the NHL for another 4-5 years. I'm not setting myself up for ANOTHER lockout when this CBA is over.

 

[Bizzle McDizzle]

And below is the email I got from the Jackets:










/nyet. Nada. Zilch.

Very similar to the one I got from the 'Canes

Then again, I handed in my season tickets, so I guess they fell they have no further need to be in contact with me.

Not sure if complete dis-owning of your former hardcore fans is the right call there, 'Canes. A mass email doesn't even cost you a stamp.

 

[BOSSMANPC]

Very similar to the one I got from the 'Canes

Then again, I handed in my season tickets, so I guess they fell they have no further need to be in contact with me.

Not sure if complete dis-owning of your former hardcore fans is the right call there, 'Canes. A mass email doesn't even cost you a stamp.

Are you saying you got "owned"?!

 

[dash]

Are you saying you got "owned"?!

Probably pwned, Boss (do the kids still use pwned?)

 

[jstewismybastardson]

I agree with this take

Cdn markets arent teflon anymore with this many people pissed off ... if a team comes out the gate slow ... youre gonna see fans jump off the ship bigtime



Like most Canadians, Ken Wong watched the collective-bargaining negotiations between the NHL and the Players Association and, like most Canadians, he was revolted at what he saw.
“It became a comedy,” he says. “It seemed like they were trying to make it as hostile as possible.”
Unlike most Canadians, however, Wong has some insight into the damage that was being done to the industry. As a marketing professor at Queen's University and a consultant, Wong has been hired by several companies in their efforts to build a more positive public image.
He's done this with the Toronto Blue Jays and some of the country's most recognizable businesses. There, he's encountered problems big and small; simple problems which required a tweak and complex problems which required a comprehensive approach.
He also thought he'd seen just about everything that world can offer. Then he took a seat for the Don and Gary Show and realized he hadn't seen anything like this.
“I guess what strikes me, is what a perfect lesson this has been in how to destroy an untouchable brand,” said Wong. “They've got a big job ahead of them. Their No. 1 priority is to recognize what the reality is. Don't think it's going to be business as usual. You owe the fans a statement of apology or regret. They've been done a great disservice. They have to know you're doing everything you can to make this up.”
And that might not completely atone for the last six months, but it's not a bad place to start.
Wong, as you might have guessed, was much in demand on Monday. Early Sunday morning a new collective-bargaining agreement was finally reached between the NHL and the PA, ending a lockout which wiped out almost half the season and left the league with a toxic waste spill to clean up.
The new CBA also revved up the media machine which services the industry - the newspapers, the TV and radio stations which have been largely dormant during the lockout. But Monday, with the CBA still awaiting ratification, there was still something of a news vacuum around the game.
Typical. The NHL finally had a positive story to tell and there was no one to tell it. Wong and others, however, were only too happy to step into the void and what they said should hardly come as comforting news to the board of governors.
“Will the Canadian fans come back?” Wong said. “I think they will but it will be with a chip on their shoulder and that's a bad thing. When people have a chip on their shoulder, they can't wait to get even. When they get a chance to take their business elsewhere, they will.”
This, of course, is the great imponderable of Lockout III, Gary's Final Nightmare. In both the 1994-95 and 2004-05 lockouts, irate fans promised they'd had it with the NHL and they returned in record numbers.
This time they sound even angrier and more determined to punish the league. At least it won't take long to find out if they're sincere.
“People were talking about the NHL in really visceral terms,” Wong said. “I'm disgusted. I want to puke. You heard that before but not to that extent.”
The Canucks, for their part, have to be aware of this backlash. During a media conference call on Sunday, GM Mike Gillis referenced the many good works his team performs in this community and suggested that has bought the Canucks some goodwill.
“I hope the community doesn't lose sight of that because of a commercial agreement that took longer to settle than anyone wanted,” Gillis said.
And maybe those fans will forgive and forget. Maybe, when the puck drops and the Canucks are winning, they'll come back to The Rog; happy to be part of the excitement, happy to be part of the show.
That's probably the way it will go down in Vancouver because, like the other Canadian markets, this game is a lot more than a consumer choice. Still, if the Canucks want to convince their fans they are truly sorry, Wong has some suggestions.
“I don't know what it is, but there has to be something done to prove you're good people to do business with. There are things to do to tell people we're not insensitive to this."
In this case, those would also be the right things to do

Read more: Willes: Canucks must do something about the chip on fans' shoulders

 

[mattola]

great find jstew. I agree 100%

 

[dash]

Have we heard any type of sincere apology from the league? Are they counting on individual teams to have some sort of reciprocity for the fans?

 

[jstewismybastardson]

free foam fingers for everyone!!!

 

[puckhead]

Have we heard any type of sincere apology from the league? Are they counting on individual teams to have some sort of reciprocity for the fans?

That won't come until the deal is ratified and signed off.

 

[dash]

That won't come until the deal is ratified and signed off.

Yeah, you're right. One thing I would like to see though is Bettman excuse himself from the Stanley Cup presentation, start a new tradition with either a former great (say Gordie Howe or Bobby Orr) or even a former great player of the Cup winning team coming out to present the Cup to the captain of the victorious team.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Yeah, you're right. One thing I would like to see though is Bettman excuse himself from the Stanley Cup presentation, start a new tradition with either a former great (say Gordie Howe or Bobby Orr) or even a former great player of the Cup winning team coming out to present the Cup to the captain of the victorious team.

Wow, didn't even think of that. The boos were brutal prior to this lockout, he better have his version of the Popemobile ready to go.

 

[dash]

Wow, didn't even think of that. The boos were brutal prior to this lockout, he better have his version of the Popemobile ready to go.

He's going to get plunked one of these years (somebody just missed him at Rogers Arena when the Bruins won).