NHL schedule, I hate it!!

Happy New Year people!

This weeks blog is for hockey fans, its kind of old news now but I decided I would finally reveal how I feel about the current NHL schedule situation.

Like most die hard hockey fans in western Canada and perhaps all of North America, I was very dissapointed in the NHL schedule laid out by the board of goveners in 2005. This current format sees divisional opponents face each other 8 times during the course of the season. This also causes the interconference games to become very scarce. This was never more evident than when Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburge Penguins paid a visit to Edmonton last month. That was the first time since 2001 that Oiler fans got to see the Penguins. As an NHL fan that pays top dollar to watch these games, I find it very frusterating. The fans out west hardly get to see any eastern conference teams. This season we will only see 6 out of the 15 eastern conference teams play in Edmonton while we will see teams like Vancouver and Calgary come to town 4 times.

The reasoning the league gave for this type of schedule was the need to build rivalries within the divisions, to add to the provincal and state rivalries like the battle of Alberta (Edmonton vs Calgary) battle of Ontario (Ottawa vs Toronto) etc. I can understand the need for this but I think there can be more balanced approach to all this, even cutting the number of divisonal games to 6 instead of 8 would really help. The other reasons for the schedule are purely economic and geographical. The eastern teams clearly bennefit geographically, just look at how much easier the travel situations are for teams like the New York Rangers, The New York Islanders, The New Jersey Devils, The Montreal Canadians, The Toront Maple Leafs, etc. All these teams are within a very short flight from each other. In some cases I believe the New York Rangers do not even need to fly for certain games like when they go to Long Island or New Jersey, its a short bus ride for them. Out west its a very different picture. In the northwest division every team HAS to fly to EVERY game. Edmonton for example has the farthest to travel, the closest city is Calgary which is about a 40 minute flight, but beyond that Edmonton has to fly 1.5 hours or more to play the road games. Theres a large economic impact as well, eastern teams save a ton of money by playing most of their games regionally. Im not sure if the powers at be at the NHL are biased and want to cater to the east more since most of the TV dollars and the large populations are out there but I know that the east teams bennefit from the schedule. Im sure the fans acrosss the league including the eastern fans would like to see more teams like the Oilers and Canucks play out there as well.

From what I understand, the league is working on a new schedule that will take effect in the 2009-2010 season (I think). Hopefully this one is more balanced and will bring more teams to each city every year so the fans can see more of the youger superstars like Crosby and Ovechkin and not have to wait 3 years or travel across the country to see them.

Denny.

The obnoxious nature of cell phones

I was out doing some last minute Christmas shopping today, and although I was always aware of just how popular and over used cellphones were, it wasn’t untill today that it really made me think about why things have gotten to such an extreme. Like most of you, I own a cellphone and I like having it, its definatley one of the most convienient tools we can posess. Perhaps the increased use and constant development of cellphone technology is out of neccessity? There is a huge population explosion, ever changing technology, global economics, lifestyle change, etc. Maybe we all NEED to carry this little communication device?

I’m one of those people that use my cellphone only when I really NEED it. Its kinda funny seeing everyone and their dog constantly texting, looking at the screen or yapping away in public. There is no way all this talk and text is important. My biggest pet peeve is the driving while talking or even worse, texting while driving, I mean are you INSANE!!? I live in a larger city and I think the average commute to and from work if you live in the city is 20 minutes. If you can’t put down the phone for 20 minutes and wait till you get home, then maybe a lifestyle change is in order.

I think what also bothers me is the human interaction aspect that has seems to fall by the wayside since the cellphones have become popular. Of course fewer people are gonna say ’Hi’ to you on the street if theyre on the phone. I think people are becoming more isolated, this device allows people to keep to themselves more, its almost an auto-pilot response for people to pick up their phone, start texting, checking messages, etc even though there is no real need to do so. There must be an addictive element to this type of technology, thats why they call it the ’’crack-berry’’ What happened to the good ole days when people could not reach you unless you were at home?

In closing I think that if cellphone and similar devices were so positive, then maybe people would be a little more at ease, more helpful etc. This hasn’t changed peoples behaviors for the better. People are just as stressed if not more, still rude at times and with that phone in hand, they can be very obnoxious!! I don’t want to overlook the positive of the technology. Its a great device to have in case of emergency. It helps people in business and managing their crazy lives so I can’t hate on it too much. I just find the overuse and popularity really amusing and cliche.