Hockey 4 Christmas?

While the NHL has let us down as fans yet again the World Jr Championships should take care of at least 75% of Canadian Hockey fans thirst for Hockey. I have been tempted to comment several times on this NHL lockout in depth with different perspectives and ways to look at this mess called the NHL and NHLPA but I have decided to stay neutral and await the 'Greatest Game on Earth. 

(My opinion anyway)

As a devout Oiler fan I will be back, like it or not but this is one fan who will not invest anything extra in game day tickets this season and will watch from the cozy confines of my 'MANCAVE'. I do hope we get at least a partial season but all one can do is hope 2013 holds a better future in CBA negotiations the 2012 did.

(Me and my Dreams of a Oiler Christmas)

Rumour has it Devan Dubynk is off to play in the Spengler Cup for Team Canada. Do I like that idea? Any action is better to be in game shape should this season resume mid January 2013.

 

 (a sight to behold at the Edmonton International Airport)

Nail Yakupov seemed to take a step back since the Subway Series and has fallen off in his production back in the KHL. Hopefully a strong effort at the World Jr's will help him regain some of that confidence he has carried so well these past 2 years. It's his time to shine. Truly great players always rise above adversity and it's Nail's time to show the world he is a world class player. I am guessing he scores around 1.2 points per game in this tournament. 

(Nail Yakupov competing in KHL)

The 'Nuge' has gone to play for Team Canada at the World Jr's and Hall, Eberle and Justin Schultz continue to light up the AHL. Truth is, they are getting in game shape and working on the defensive side of their game in a league that is all about development. Soon, we hope to see this dynamic group in action against the best in the World.

(Skills on Display)

Time will only tell if this group of young talent in the Oilers Organization will be able to be championship calibre. What we do know for sure is development means playing. The Oilers have done well in ensuring all their young talent is playing in a NHL lockout season. Maybe some good planning by Tamby? Not sold on his abilities to assemble a team outside of the draft but Tamby has done well for the Oilers in 'Development'.

Merry Christmas Everyone and a Happy New Year!

For Oiler prospect news and the 2013 or 2014 NHL draft watch, go to www.twitter.com/revingev 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

On behalf of everyone at OilersJambalaya.com, we would like to wish you and your families a very merry Christmas.

How To Fix the NHL

How to Fix the NHL

I haven’t been writing much of anything regarding the NHL Lockout since we already know all there is to know about it. However, while watching this debacle, I have come up with a few ideas of my own to make the game and the NHL better. Here they are;

11)   Reduce the NHL to 26 teams by folding Columbus, Florida, Tampa Bay and, Nashville. This will allow the NHL to rid itself of these four ‘money pits’ that never turn a profit and drag the rest of the NHL down with them. The owners’ of these franchises will receive Contraction Payments from the NHL, and the players’ of these teams who have either a One-Way Contract or Two-Way Contract with the teams will go into a Dispersal Draft to be picked up by the remaining NHL clubs which will better these remaining teams’.

22)   Relocate the Phoenix Coyotes to Quebec City. Quebec City is in the process of building a new arena/amphitheatre which will be capable of hosting an NHL franchise. As it stands with Phoenix, the team will NEVER be able to build a viable fan base, and has never really attracted an acceptable number of fans to games, even for the NHL Playoffs. Quebec however, offers a ready-built fan base for a potential NHL return to the city. The citizens of Quebec City have been starving for a major-professional hockey club since the Quebec Nordiques relocated to Denver to become the Colorado Avalanche in 1995. Also, the Quebec Coliseum is capable of being a temporary home for any potential NHL franchise until the new Quebec Amphitheatre is ready. Make it eight!!

Realign the NHL. As it stands right now, Winnipeg is playing in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. Here is a possible scenario if the NHL were to remain with its current teams for realignment; 

1)    

Western Conference	Eastern Conference
(Western Canada Division) Edmonton Calgary Vancouver Winnipeg Minnesota	(Northeast Division) Toronto Ottawa Montreal Detroit Buffalo
(Central Division) Colorado St. Louis Chicago Columbus Nashville	(Atlantic Division) New York Rangers New York Islanders New Jersey Boston Washington
(Pacific Division) Anaheim Los Angeles San Jose Dallas Phoenix	(Southeast Division) Philadelphia Pittsburgh Carolina Florida Tampa Bay

23)   Cut the NHL Regular Season to 76 games, and start the NHL Regular Season on October 1^st each year. This would allow for the fans’ request for the season to start earlier than it has been to be addressed. This will also allow for the season to end earlier, which will in turn allow NHL Free-Agency to begin at an earlier date than on Canada Day. June 25^th would be an excellent place to start.

34)   Eliminate Re-Entry Waivers

45)   Establish the “Wayne Gretzky Award”-For the Most Assists in the NHL Regular Season By a Player. This will allow for an important aspect of the game to be honored which, has not previously been recognized on NHL Awards Night. It will also give the NHL an opportunity to further honour the greatest hockey player who ever lived even further.

  Introduce the ‘Hybrid Icing’ rule currently being used in the AHL. This will eliminate many hazardous plays while players’ are1)   racing for the puck, as it will be the ref’s discussion as to whether or not the situation is hazardous or not and, to blow the play dead or not. This would reduce many injuries.

26)   Introduce a single 10-min Overtime period, followed by a shootout if the score is not won by the end of the 10 minute period. Also allow each time a player scores in the Shootout to count as a goal on the score-sheet, just as is it is in a penalty shot. This will help to improve the entertainment value of the games, should they go into Overtime.

37)   Fire Gary Bettman and CUT TICKET PRICES!!!!!!!

   So there you have it! These are my thoughts on how to improve the NHL and the game, while keeping the integrity of the game intact. I hope you will leave any comments below as to how you think the game/NHL could be improved. I hope we will be watching NHL hockey soon, but until then, enjoy the World Junior Championship and Thank you for reading. Go Canada Go!!!!

Written By Paul Neumann  

Hockey Canada Announces Captains for WJHC

Hockey Canada just announced the captains for the 2013 World Junior Hockey Championships.

Oilers 1st rounder, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was named team Captain this morning. It's his first junior tournament that he's participating in. He brings skill and leadership to this team. He also brings NHL experience to the fold as well.

Scott Harrington and Jonathan Huberdeau have been named the Alternate Captains and will wear A's.

-WRITTEN BY SMOKIN' RAY BURNT-

The NHL in Las Vegas?

Back from a week in Las Vegas and Valley really opens up the mind to a broader perspective when it comes to entertainment and sports in general. Having several conversations with locals about the now departed IHL, the current ECHL Hockey team and the NHL in general. The people of Las Vegas who are residents don't have a specific sport they follow in the dozens of thousands other then their University Basketball. Sure they love their NFL football and they love their NBA Basketball but don't write them off when it comes to NHL Hockey just yet. IN several southern cities I have visited over the years, their can be a distaste for hockey as minor league. Not the case with the majority of locals in Las Vegas and area.

Before you start saying, "C'mon, let's be real here, there is not the population or $ for hockey in Las Vegas!" think again! Las Vegas and Valley has a population of approx 2 million people. That is the population of residents not with tourism. Currently with the economy being the way it is in the last few years in the States Las Vegas is attracting approx 120,000 in visitors each day for tourism. That would mean on a daily basis, there is 2.12 million people who could consider the NHL game for entertainment.

There is also something important for NHL hockey to survive in any city and that is called Corporate Dollars and we know there is plenty of that in droves in Las Vegas. 70% of International Flights into Las Vegas are from Canada and we know that they experience about 1500 visitors from Canada daily via WestJet alone. The approx totals are 4700 Canadians are visiting Las Vegas daily. It is estimated that about 2,000 Las Vegas Residents are french Canadians who reside as residents and then there are those who have relocated and live in Las Vegas from other parts of Canada. 

So doing some math here, let's say 25% of Canadian visitors would take in a NHL hockey game in Las Vegas and 25% of the local Residents who are Canadian would do the same. That would bring our total to...1175 Visitors to buy a ticket to a NHL game and 500 local French Canadians who are now residents of Las Vegas as well. Add in a guess of a additional 2,000 Canadians who reside in Las Vegas and you have a additional 500 people to purchase tickets to a NHL Hockey game. That would bring a total of 2,175 Tickets guaranteed to be sold every game at a very manageable number. Even if Las Vegas Residents were at .5% that would consider to buy tickets to go to a NHL game that would amount to a further 10,000 people. While you would have to be careful with ticket prices. entertainment value is what matters in Vegas, very few places have cheap tickets for anything. It's a place where people expect to be entertained and also expect to pay decent prices for that. In my estimate (I believe it is under estimating as well) that would mean the arena could sell easily close to 12,200 tickets per NHL game.

Enough with my numbers, let's look at some local news 

out of Las Vegas on this very topic...

Frozen Fury 2012 Las Vegas at the MGM Grand (CANCELLED)

 L.A. Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche

By Zeke Quezada, About.com Guide

The NHL lockout has cancelled this great event. You can blame the owners, you can blame the players but either way hockey fans will get no game in Las Vegas this year. Don't worry, they'll have the event next year and expect fans to fill the seats all over again. Apparently, the NHL believes that it is ok to have a work stoppage just as the game was gaining some serious momentum. Can you tell I'm a disgruntled fan? If every season ticket holder in every city would just stop paying the NHL might realize that the game really is about the people who fill the seats, buy the merchandise or travel to see their teams.

Tickets for this game will be refunded at the point of purchase. However, if you have a hotel reservation or flight booked I guess you have to go to Vegas! Luckily, for you this huge hockey fan is a big fan of Las Vegas as well.

The current seating capacity of the MGM Grand Arena is 16,800 but likely would be slightly smaller for hockey. It is possible the MGM Grand could be a temporary home for a NHL team until a new Sports Arena could be constructed. Wait! You have not heard? Here is another article and rendering of a possible new entertainment complex in the great city of Las Vegas...

Las Vegas could soon have an NHL-ready arena

By Brian Stubits | Blogger

Quebec City is working on an arena that will be open for operation by 2015 in hopes of luring an NHL franchise back to town. Seattle continues to try and reach an agreement with investor Chris Hanson to eventually build an arena there that would be suitable for both the NHL and getting an NBA team back. The Toronto suburb of Markham is getting its own arena that would be NHL-ready.

Those are the very obvious reasons why Quebec City, Seattle and Markham are 1, 2 and 3 when discussing potential relocation of teams in hockey. Las Vegas might soon be in the conversation. In similar fashion to Seattle, Las Vegas would like to get an NBA team in town. There has actually been discussion of Sin City getting pro basketball after the league has had events in Vegas including the All-Star Game. That just opens the door for the possibilities of a hockey team joining for the fun.

Getting a new building up in Vegas has been a conversation for some time. The latest proposal which seems to have some steam building would put a state-of-the-art building with a capacity of nearly 20,000 right on the Las Vegas strip. Imagine that arena in the rendering above being right down the street from the world-famous images of Las Vegas. Personally, I love the fact that it comes with a fountain pool out front of the main entrance ... so Vegas.

Las Vegas Sun writes:

The Las Vegas Arena Foundation (LVAF) is proposing a 20,000-seat indoor arena to be built on the Strip on land owned by Caesars Entertainment behind Imperial Palace. The facility would be suitable for an NBA or NHL franchise, as well as other events such as concerts or the National Finals Rodeo, which has been at the Thomas & Mack Center since 1985. The LVAF is planning to fund the $500 million project by implementing a 0.9 percent sales tax for specified businesses within a three-mile radius of the proposed location.

he story goes on to outline the finer details including financing as well as the hurdles said proposal faces in addition to the support it already has. Basically, it's only in the very early stages and might not come to fruition but knowing Vegas a new arena will be coming one way or the other and the city will likely always be mentioned as a possibility for relocation.

If the league officials were to be honest with themselves I wonder how much of an appetite they would have for putting another team in the Southwestern desert. It's not to say there aren't good hockey fans in Las Vegas -- just like there are good fans in the Phoenix area -- but the question is if there are enough. By the rendering above it's pretty clear what the main goal of the arena would be ... the NBA, not the NHL.

I would think at this stage there is as good of a chance of a hockey team -- Coyotes,Islanders or possible expansion teams -- making Vegas its home as there is of snowball's chance in, well, Vegas. But if you build it they might come (sorry to you, Kansas City).

The Foundation wants to fund building the arena thanks to a sales tax hike to help pay off the $500 million estimated cost. The Sun report says the proposed arena would have 94 luxury suites to go along with the 20,000 seats making it an ideal setup for a team to call it their home. Major professional leagues have been wary to pursue Las Vegas, however, thanks to that whole legalized gambling thing in Nevada.

As for the NHL’s interests in Vegas, the annual NHL Awards call the city home as does big time hockey fan Jerry Bruckheimer who has had ownership aspirations in the past. Vegas joins Quebec City, Seattle, Brooklyn, and Kansas City as potential future landing spots for the NHL either via relocation or expansion.

The HockeyFanatic shares on his blog similar thoughts and even rates Las Vegas as #3 choice for a NHL team.

Las Vegas, Nevada – the NHL in Las Vegas?  The idea is not that far fetched as you may think.  With the large number of Canadians who visit Sin City, the NHL could do very well in Vegas.  Las Vegas surprisingly does not have a professional sports team, so the NHL would not be in competition with other major sports although the UNLV teams might have something to say about that.  The IHL previously took a test spin in Vegas with the Las Vegas Thunder, so ice hockey does work there.  The annual preseason games between the Kings and Avalanche doe very well in Las Veags each September.  I would love to see an NHL franchise in Las Vegas, I think a lot of other fans would like to see a team there too.  A longshot but maybe not as far out as we think.

Anyone notice the cost approx being 500 Million? Are we very far off of that number with our State of the Art complex Edmonton is considering? I know in my case,  I would plan a time in Las Vegas and take in a NHL game in Sin City every time I went, I would likely go yearly as would many other Canadian hockey fans. I am not saying, but I am just saying! Just a thought...Agree? Disagree? Let us know what your thoughts are. 

NOTE: THe Las Vegas Wranglers playing in a older, smaller arena, in a semi-minor pro league the ECHL average almost 5,000 fans a game. The difference of interest between the ECHL and the AHL? Quite different. The difference between the ECHL and the NHL? Monumental.

For Oiler prospect news and the 2013 or 2014 NHL draft watch, go to www.twitter.com/revingev