November 23, 2004
Hull Speaks
Missing in action since being uncerimoniously scratched from the Team USA lineup in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, Brett Hull has surfaced long enough to give a revealing interview on the lockout to the Arizona Republic:
Q: Some of the other NHL players have said that the longer the lockout goes, the harder it will be to get the fans to come back to the game. Do you agree?
A: "You know what? I've got a very strong opinion on that. I think the fans lost interest starting 10 years ago when Gary Bettman came in, and I think everyone who has watched the game has seen the game decline not only in popularity, but the actual game itself has declined in skill and excitement and fan entertainment value.
"From that 10th year right until today it has been on a steady decline. Something's got to be done. I think there's no question that the fans are going to lose interest, because the game that's not being played right now wasn't that exciting to begin with. And unless changes are made at the top of the heap as far as marketing goes, as far as people in charge of running the game (and) making it more exciting, changing the rules, whatever it takes to make the game more exciting for the fans, it's going to keep steadily declining.
And here's the hammer:
Q: So, do you think there will be a 2004-05 season?
A: "I really don't. . . . We are as strong on not having a salary cap as they (the owners) are on wanting one. What is it that's going to make the two sides come together? I think it's going to be a missed season, and then in the off-season they're going to say, 'This can't happen again.' Something will happen. I just can't see there being a season, which is very unfortunate."
Posturing for the sake of union solidarity? I don't think so. See you and the strikebreakers in October 2005.
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Brett Hull scored a goal with his view on the 10 year decline of NHL hockey and he was on side with his prediction about the future. I think that this mess will continue into next season with the owners hoping that players will show up at the opening of training camps. When that doesn't occur the owners will resort to replacement players with the expectation that in mid-season a settlement will take place. The fallout from all of this will reverberate for years. Baseball tanked in Montreal and withered in Toronto after the 1994 dispute. Hockey in Sun Belt cities faces the same fate. After all of this the quality of play may be no better!
Posted by:
at November 23, 2004 11:17 PM
Brett Hull is an asshole (pardon my French). Sir Brett, who didn't give a f...k about hockey fans suddenly has an epiphany, give me a break. This article should be more appropriately dubbed the 10 year decline of Brett Hull. Expos attendance actually climbed after '94 because they fielded a decent ball club Blue Jays attendance dropped off because '93 was the year they won their second WS and the years following they fielded some shitty teams.
If Hull scores 60 with replacements, while the Euro superstars are playing in Russia will the NHL put an asterisk beside his name? Doubt it. They didn't flag Richards' 50 in 50 during the war or Gretzky's inflated numbers in the watered down 80s. Play the game and the fans (suckers) will come!
Posted by:
at November 24, 2004 12:23 AM
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