Red Deer says "Fack off!" to players

[Hootch]

slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Edmonton/2005/03/23/969997.html

"It was frustrating, but this has nothing to do with (the lockout)," Smyth said between periods. "Maybe we could have done a better job marketing, but I don't think we had enough time."

No Smyth, everyone in Edmonton knew about this game. Sorry that there was charity involved, but 99% of hockey fans in Alberta are majorly pissed at the players and side with the owners.

When hockey comes back, for the first home game I'd like to see the crowd cheer the announcement of the Edmonton Oilers, then boo as the players skate out while their names are announced. That will say alot.

It's going to take alot of time to rebuild trust with Canadian hockey fans, particularly Edmonton hockey fans who for years have watched our best players leave for bigger markets.

For a second there it looked like one section was trying to start the wave, but it was a false alarm. Turns out one of the two guys was just getting up to use the washroom.

[ilf21]

haha, way more people showed up for the Old-Timers game then this.

[Hootch]

Yup it sends a loud and clear message.

On a sidenote do you wanna hear a story I heard about the battle of Alberta in Red Deer?

That during the heyday of the boA there was a bar where people would watch the games, and there was a line in the middle. Oilers fans on one side, Flames fans on the other. If someone wanted to cross it was at their own risk. Many fights.

[ilf21]

Keep it on topic Hootch.

[Hootch]

Okay, then the NHLPA should be hung up by their balls for not firing Bob Goodenow. This is the result. No one went to the game. No one cared. The PA has lost the PR battle in gargantuan fashion.

Ryan, representing the average (overpaid) hockey player, is either fully in denial or as dumb as a sack of hammers. Yeah Ryan, it must have been the marketing.

It is refreshing that Steve Staios seems to actually 'get it' now. The problem is that this is March not October, and I still don't think that there are enough players that really see the bigger picture.