there isn't an upper deck at the big house.

Interesting comparison of current NHL and NBA attendance rates.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...0461--nhl.html

I'm surprised the Avalanche haven't made it back to 95%+, but at the same time, Denver's supposedly one of the most stretched metro areas when it comes to disposable income per pro sports franchise. And not that the Blues' attendance is terrible, but I'm surprised it's not closer to the top, too.

The upside is that I haven't heard much legitimate expansion talk, as I think the balance is perfect right now... and if anything, they should relocate a team or two before expanding.

Im sure Hockey is really fun to watch on tv.

Problem with the NBA is outside of about 10-12 teams theres nothing else. Then you got teams tanking the season on purpose. You got teams hording good players and good players wanting to leave shitty towns or teams with a horrible front office. Who the hell wants to see the Bucks vs the Magic or the New Orleans vs Raptors? no one. lol Ive said a few pages back this is one of the worst NBA seasons i have ever seen.

The West play offs are already pretty much set in stone and the season probably isnt even half over. lol I think the 8th seed is the only spot people will be fighting for. Thats pretty bad.

HD has done wonders for hockey on TV... before that, there was the glowing puck on Fox. LMAO

The level of parity is what I love about the NHL. The NBA seems to have the same few teams every year, like you said... the NFL is incredibly watered down, and I think the NHL is the best of both worlds. There are some incredibly talented teams, but the talent level overall is pretty good across the board and there's enough parity to keep things interesting. I'll watch just about any random NHL game whether it's in October or April, but not so much with any random NFL game, and the NBA and MLB are hardly on the radar until the playoffs (and the NFL is doing a great job of heading that way).

I thought this was the NBA thread, but my points i wanted to make still stand. Hard for me to get into hockey as i have never played it myself ever. NEver been ice skating. There isnt one where i live. Closest ice rink is an hour south of where i live.

I can play hockey video games and have a freaking blast, but hard to get into the sport. I know all the rules and what not, i just never played it, so hard to relate to the sport.

Yeah, I didn't get into it until I started playing some roller hockey.

I got tired of the EA NHL series a while back, but have been pretty addicted to it in the past few years as it's become more of a simulation game (even though the hits this year are pretty arcade-like (but the animations never get old :) )) and the GM stuff has gotten better.

Did you ever play in any roller hockey leagues in Wichita? I used to play in some in the 90s, the old Soccer West place and Roller City.

Robbery.

http://i.minus.com/iAYsg6wefsapD.gif

Robbery, yes. Beautiful save. It looks like there wasn't a great deal of velocity to the shot, though. Shooter is skating backwards and losing his only edge on the follow through.

The Kings just traded Ben Scrivens to Edmonton for a 3rd round pick. Also called up Vey from Manchester, and sent Toffoli down.

They have GOT to find some scoring.

Or not. That'd be OK too. :p

As for the Avs, they keep winning at a reasonably good rate, but man, we're beat to shit right now. Last night they ended up playing only 11 forwards and 5 defensemen for basically the entire game. Right now, all of these guys are hurt (listed in my rough opinion of how valuable they are):

Erik Johnson
Paul Stastny
Alex Tanguay
P.A. Parenteau
Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Cory Sarich
Nate Guenin
David Van der Gulik

The Olympic break is going to be badly needed this year.

Yes the Preds helped free up a goalie spot for them by trading for Dubnyk. Not a horrible trade for the Preds, they get a legitimate back up for Rinne, especially if he is out longer then expected. All they had to give up was one of their many grinder type utility forwards. They have a whole team full of utility forwards.

Yeah, the Olympic break adds an interesting dynamic to the season, no doubt. I can't wait for the Olympic tournament.

I'm starting to believe that the Oilers may not be a very good franchise.