Quote:
Originally Posted by N-E-B
Absolutely nothing. The NHL isn't selling hockey, they're selling entertainment in the form of hockey. You pay to be entertained, not to watch an even fight.
Having said that, I don't buy that the NHL is rigged and I don't buy the Wideman effect. I think this team is terribly undisciplined. Sure they get a weak call against them but so does everyone. All 30 fan bases think the refs are out to get them. If the NHL was fixed I think that would get out pretty quickly in this day and age. Maybe I'm wrong and it is fixed, but from what I gather I don't believe it to be true.
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You're looking too deep with regards to the Wideman effect, that's why it seems unreasonable to you. The NHL doesn't have to be rigged for the refs to come together and get back at the Flames for a player ending the career of one of their own and Flames management coming out against the league and fighting the suspension.
fact: Gary Bettmen was pissed at the Flames for the way they handled it and did what he could to get back at them. Does that extend past what we publicly know? Probably, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it with any certainty
fact: The entire reffing community was pissed at Wideman and the Flames
fact: The way our team was officiated was altered IMMEDIATLY following the incident.
Those first two facts are large enough to sink a team in a league with so little difference between the top and bottom teams. It doesn't take some giant, intricate league wide rig job to put a 5-6th place western team in the 9-11 range. Just a slight against them with 2 officials on the ice affecting them with their bias.