There has been a long-standing debate in the NHL on how long the preseason should be, and how many games need to be played before starting the regular season. Now, more than ever, the question needs to be raised on how important these games really are.
Yes, the games bring in more money to both the teams involved and the league as a whole; they also give cities without a team the opportunity to host an actual NHL game. And finally, they give coaches a final look at the young players who are on the bubble to make the team.
The preseason does have its positives to be sure, but the argument can also be made that selling half the seats in a small arena for a cheap price brings the league peanuts in comparison to what they would make in a regular season game.
The fact that games are held in smaller towns is great for those communities, but there still is no need for each team to play so many games. And as for the young players getting one last look—if the coaches still aren't sure about a player by the end of the preseason, they're not doing their job anyway.
So you can see, this is a debate that can go either way, but if you're a me ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Jon Neely
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September 6th, 2010 by Jon Neely Leave a reply »
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