Archive for NLSHL
Is Senior Hockey This Fragile in Newfoundland?
Posted by: | CommentsHockey Newfoundland and Labrador (HNL) has rendered its decision. The venues for the Herder Memorial will remain as they had previously announced – Mile One in St. John’s and the Pepsi Centre in Corner Brook.
If you were to listen to the fans and management of the Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts, the sky is falling. There will be no hockey in central Newfoundland next season, this is the end of the Cataracts organization and sponsors will drop the team like a hot potato.
Is this the end of the newly formed Newfoundland Senior Hockey League (NLSHL)? Are the teams in the league so fragile that this decision will cause the whole thing to topple like a house of cards?
Poll the fans across the island and we’re pretty confident everyone will sympathize with the plight felt by the Cataracts organization, its fans and its sponsors. Who wouldn’t want to bring such a high profile hockey game into their backyard especially if you are a small town team where hockey is the big ticket?
HNL made its decision not to stick it to the Cataracts but to raise the profile of the game and to hopefully add some stability to the senior hockey scene. It wasn’t meant to stick it to the Cataracts or to any of the teams for that matter. It was a decision to support the game we all love and to showcase the great product that steps onto the ice each weekend for our entertainment.
Does the whole future of the NLSHL rest on the Cataracts hosting the Herder? Is the league that fragile?
History has shown us that Newfoundland senior hockey is vulnerable. It imploded in the 1980s when teams brought in high paid imports, ran large deficits and eventually buckled under the financial pressures.
The Cataracts have indicated their future is uncertain given HNL’s decision. Fans have called for a boycott of the Herder games and some suggested should the Cats make it to the Herder finals, the team itself should send a message and boycott the coveted championship.
What would this prove other than driving a final nail in a fragile league?
When senior hockey disappeared from the province 20 years ago, it was a sad day. No one wants to go back there and hearing the doom-and-gloom statements coming from some senior teams is disheartening.
The revival of senior hockey in the province was a Godsend to the many hockey fans. Teams such as the Corner Brook Royals, Deer Lake Red Wings and Grand Falls Cataracts brought the game back to local rinks. Volunteers resurrected the Phoenix from the ashes and nurtured their fragile teams into contenders. They worked long and hard and succeeded when many doubted what they were attempting to do.
With Deer Lake withdrawing from the old West Coast Senior Hockey League before the start of this current season, many around thought this was once again the end of another hockey era. Once again, volunteers and dedicated organizations stepped up to the plate and hit a homerun.
They gave us the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League, embraced the concept that had been tossed around for years and expanded to incorporate teams from the east.
It was a good day for hockey in this province.
Still, as a hockey fan, a loyal supporter of the game we all love, one can’t help but feel vulnerable after watching the month-long drama over the Herder venues playing out in the realm of public opinion.
It showed a dirty side of the game, one that is about business, about making money and about doing everything that can be done to give individual teams an advantage over their competition financially.
The loyalty shown to their local fans and sponsors by the Cataracts organization cannot be questioned. They’ve done nothing but great things for their organization and have built a winner when many had them written off just a few short years ago.
We can question their motives that resulted in drama that unfolded in the wake of HNL’s decision. They have exposed the league, its fans and sponsors to the darker side of the game, one that should have been left in the boardrooms.
Some of the volunteers have been vilified and ridiculed. People have questioned their character and their loyalty to their respective towns and organizations when it’s been those same volunteers that fought for years to bring the game back for the fans.
There’s no questioning the reason behind all the fuss. All the fallout was for one thing and one thing only. It had nothing to do with the fans. This was a fight over money. It’s that simple.
Is senior hockey here in Newfoundland as fragile as people want us to believe? Most definitely!
HNL’s decision is a move in the right direction. It is at least an attempt to share the wealth throughout the entire league, not just the teams that make it to the Herder.
In the off-season it is important both the league and HNL work to improve communications and to promote the league. Hockey doesn’t stop because the ice is gone off the rink.
It lives on in the hearts of the players and in the dreams of the fans, something that many involved with today’s senior league have forgotten.
A New Reality in Newfoundland Senior Hockey
Posted by: | CommentsApproximately 14 months ago, Newfoundland Hockey Talk posted about a decision made by Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador (HNL) around the Herder Memorial Championship. We had received a series of email messages from a source, indicating there had been discussion and perhaps some decisions around declaring the Corner Brook’s Pepsi Centre and St. John’s Mile One Centre as the venues for all games for the Herder.
When we broke the story, we were criticized and people indicated this could never happen. It was up to the individual teams to decide where they would play the games.
Fast forward 14 months and we are here now in one of the biggest controversies of the season. Reality has sunk in and one team in particular, the Grand Falls-Windsor Cataracts are taking exception to HNL’s decision. The team sees this as a slap in the face to the team, its fans, the town and every sponsor/supporter that stepped up over the years to build the Cats into the great organization they have.
Why did HNL make this decision?
From what we have ascertained, this decision is meant to help spread the wealth, an attempt to introduce “revenue sharing” to assist struggling teams and perhaps “save” senior hockey in the province.
The Cats don’t see it that way and they see this as a money grab by HNL and they have been criticized the governing body for making the decision.
HNL has fired back indicating the decision is good for the senior hockey and it would not reverse its decision.
Newfoundland Hockey Talk can sympathize with the Cats position. We also understand where HNL is coming from with its stand.
However, what we do think, there’s something else happening behind the scenes that we are all not hearing.
If everyone thinks this is just about the Herder venue, they are truly mistaken. There are more things happening behind the scenes than HNL or NLSHL probably wants to even comment on.
The league has issues that include HNL’s Herder venue decision but ask why the other teams have been pretty much silent. One would think if this was such a major issue for the teams, their owners and representatives would be on this like white on rice.
Truly, this sucks for the Cats organization, its fan and the team supporters. Is this the signs the league is about to crumble?
If senior hockey is to survive here in Newfoundland, something has to change and there has to be a new approach taken to attract fans and change the impressions of the game. Teams must somehow make the game more entertaining off the ice and improve the product that’s on the ice.
Drop your thoughts about this on the Newfoundland Hockey Talk Discussion Forum.
The New Corner Brook Royals
Posted by: | CommentsThe first half of the season is gone by and the Royals are sitting with 5 wins, 5 losses. If you read the discussions taking place about the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League you will hear some good and some bad things about the Corner Brook Royals.
This year is a bit of an odd year.
With the Deer Lake Red Wings taking a year to rebuild their organization, many of the Deer Lake players such as the Robinsons and the Langdons have suited up in the red-white-and-blue. It’s a bit of different dynamic given the rich history and rivalry these two teams had on the ice.
That’s where the rivalry stops … on the ice.
Talking to the fans, many are impressed with what the Royals are doing this year. They are playing some of their best hockey and could have easily won every game. Sure, they had some bad luck and couldn’t put the puck in the net at times and were unable to finish some great scoring opportunities … but you have to look at the situation as it was unfolding.
The Corner Brook Royals once again had a new coach. He may have had experience and some successes behind the bench in minor hockey but this is much different. Fitzgerald needed time to get his footing, feel out his players and understand the dynamics of the game. Some of his inexperience has shown through at times, quite evident in his lines and his on-ice match-ups but he has adjusted and is doing a fine job.
The players needed some time to also gel, to find their legs and to get a feel for how their new line mates played. It has taken some time and over the course of 10 games, the Royals have started to find their stride. Their passing has improved, they’ve finished their checks, have shown so much emotion and heart as of late, they have started to turn heads in this league.
Many had written the Royals off after their first weekend.
Big mistake.
This is a team that is filled with competitors. Contrary to popular beliefs, there is no animosity in the dressing room, just a bunch of guys having fun and wanting to win.
For the fans who have decided to stay away from the game this year … you’re really missing a treat.
The new Corner Brook Royals is a great team. The organization is keeping true to its plan to rebuild this great organization.
Newfoundland Senior Hockey 2011-2012 Schedule
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s the latest schedule for the newly formed Newfoundland Senior Hockey League for 2011-2012 (click to load a full view of the schedule).
