NHL expanding to Las Vegas

Viva Las Vegas! According to the Providence, the NHL is expanding to Las Vegas, Nevada. Place your bets. I picture an arena with one armed bandits and black jack tables in it. All jokes aside, I think it's a great move. Now, I wonder if we can get a Frozen Four there?

Tony Gallagher, The Providence -- Sources close to the situation have indicated Las Vegas is a done deal, the only thing to be determined being which owner will be entitled to proclaim that he brought the first major league sports franchise to Sin City.

And given how dead set against a team in the gambling haven the commissioner was 10 years ago, this move into another player friendly state-tax-free zone represents a considerable about-face indeed.

But people have been betting on hockey games for years and to pretend games couldn’t be fixed just as easily anywhere as in Vegas is pretty ridiculous, so that posturing has fallen by the wayside.

A new team close to the newly renamed Arizona squad and California’s big three is all but assured, the only question being when and with which other city. Or should that be plural?

With all the activity going on in the Seattle area in the last little bit it would be quite a stretch to imagine that much time and effort being spent by so many wealthy men being frittered away for nothing.

Report: #NHL expansion to Las Vegas ‘a done deal’ http://t.co/r8p1ZNDNkv pic.twitter.com/TP3zPmXwFE
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 27, 2014

NHL lockout: raw power to the players

This is a good read that I found today’s Vancouver newspaper the Providence – this year’s CBA negotiations almost seems like a case of déjà vu – we have seen this act before – didn’t like it very much the first time. The Owners led by Gary Bettman are going to bully the players – the owners are hoping that the players will start squabbling among themselves – when this happens the owners begin the break the players down they will then get an agreement.

Tony Gallagher, The Province --- It is about naked power and leverage, nothing more. The players had to know that, because after they hoisted the white flag and agreed to give the owners everything they wanted after the last lockout, the owners retained the same leadership. To expect a different approach now would be unrealistic.

And the key word in that last paragraph is ‘agreed.’ The players eventually agreed to those conditions.

Not only is Gary Bettman still at the helm, it’s the same law firm calling the same shots, which were called the last time, from the same firm calling the shots employed by the NFL and the NBA owners. So there are no surprises here.

In an excellent piece a couple of weeks back, Larry Brooks of the New York Post asked what people would think of the players if they, like the owners are doing now, basically insisted upon a 24 per cent raise in all their negotiated salaries before they took the ice this season. And he pointed out that’s exactly what the owners are doing by insisting the players take rollbacks again this time on contracts that both parties have already freely entered into. Good point.

We are going to have a lockout this season. I believe that there is no way to avoid it; It’s my prediction that hockey fans are going to lose at least a ¼ to ½ of the 2012-13 season.

Why the whole season won’t be lost… During the 2004-05 season the owners waited the players out. This time we won’t lose the whole season. When the lessor paid players hockey players start feeling the pinch of the lockout – this is when the players will succumb to the owners demands. The lesser paid players will pressure the higher paid players to settle so they can go back to work and make a pay check.

Much like 2004-05, fans are going to fill the void of not having the NHL with NCAA Hockey, AHL and JR hockey. One will also have more time, to keep up with their favorite sitcoms. Lastly, there will be more time for family members because there will not be as much hockey on the television.

Shawn Thornton vs Tony Gallagher

If you haven't seen this video it's funnier than heck. Talk about being PWND. Shawn Thornton has a point too, he had like six or seven guys on him after Alex Burrows chopped/speared him with his stick.

Here's NESN's Michael Hurley's take on the exchange. This is some good stuff, nice thing about Thornton he held his own and put Gallagher in his place.

he Province columnist Tony Gallagher from Vancouver. The writer was explaining to the host some of the finer points of fighting, and he claimed that to try to fight a player in the same period he's already fought is not OK, that it crosses some sort of line. In this case, the player was Dale Weise, who had already fought Nathan Horton but looked ready to dance with Thornton later that period. Once Thornton dropped his gloves, though, Weise backed out.

Little did Gallagher know that Thornton was waiting in the wings, ready to be the third man in, so to speak.

"You think it was easier fighting seven guys for a minute than fighting one guy?" Thornton said with his opening jab.

He was, of course, referring to the pile of Canucks players that toppled him in the first period on Saturday, including one player getting in on the action from the bench. One of the players in that 5- or 6-on-1 was Weise, and once Thornton had the chance to square off with him face-to-face, the B's tough guy was ready and willing. Weise? Not so much. He backed away and offered a wry smile as Thornton was escorted to the penalty box. That smirk quickly disappeared, though, when Weise himself was ushered to the sin bin for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Related articles

• Watch Shawn Thornton own a Vancouver columnist (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Thornton On Canucks: 'I Got Jumped By Seven Guys' (boston.cbslocal.com)
• Toucher & Rich: Thornton Vs. Vancouver Writer (boston.cbslocal.com)