Monday Mailbag – November 3rd

Welcome, welcome to another edition of the Monday Mailbag. By now, I’m sure you guys know the rules of said mailbag, but if you don’t this whole feature is dependant on you. If you have a question, you can email it to me at baggedmilk@oilersnation.com or hit me up on Twitter at @jsbmbaggedmilk.  Without further adieu, you should grab a coffee and waste as much company time as humanly possible. Enjoy.

Not sure the NHL can do much in U.S. markets, where it’s behind NFL, MLB and the NBA. It’s particularly difficult, and always has been, in southern cities where few people play hockey growing up. Does anybody really care about hockey in Florida unless the teams reach the SC final? Even in original six cities, hockey is behind the big three and always will be. Affordable ticket prices on both sides of the border will sell a certain segment of sports fans, but the bottom line in many of the U.S. cities is simply that hockey isn’t part of the social fabric like it is in places like Montreal and Edmonton.

As for the fastest growing sport, what I read tells me it’s soccer, even though it’s way, way behind  the big three.

I think the NHL is a splendid sport as it is, and would only suggest the league stop making ridiculous and self serving decisions that alter the game in subtle ways. An example would be the insane requirements surrounding qualifications for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. 

Fastest growing sport? MMA

There are individuals with great personalities in the NHL. They need to show them so fans can get to know them. Twitter and other social media has helped a lot. Look at the change in the way Roberto Luongo is perceived.

LET THE PLAYERS HAVE PERSONALITIES! Sidney Crosby is obviously an amazing player, but he’s got the personality of a soggy cardboard box. Blah blah blah great ambassador for the game, respectful, blah blah blah, I get that. But he and most other players in the league regurgitating the same cliches about teamwork and never saying anything remotely interesting isn’t getting coverage on Deadspin or Pardon The Interruption. You know what is? Milan Lucic telling Dale Weise he’s going to kill him in the handshake line after a hard fought playoff series. Joe Thornton talking about whipping out his hog if he scored four goals in a game. Literally anything Sean Avery did or said. 

I’m not necessarily saying players should be shooting off their mouths in every interview, but the hockey media, and hockey culture as a whole needs to stop acting like any player who says anything remotely resembling an opinion is “classless” or anyone showing even a tiny bit of emotion on the ice is a selfish, terrible monster who is clearly locker room cancer. 

The public at large loves a spectacle. Want to promote the game and get people to pay attention? Give them something to pay attention to. 

And anyone who’s been paying attention knows the fastest growing sport in North America is PICKLE-BALL! 

The NHL needs to connect with personalities. Casual fans will be more inclined to watch if they relate personally to players. Statistically the fastest growing sports in NA aren’t any of the big four…they don’t have room to grow. Lacrosse is growing very quickly amongst kids, but that won’t translate into more people watching pro lacrosse. Soccer has always had a high participation rate, but that didn’t translate into success at a pro level. Hockey needs to have more shows like 24/7 that allow non-hockey fans to get to know the players.

I’m really not sure; I’m not a marketing guy. But I’m also pretty indifferent to the answer, too. I barely even have a guess as to the fastest growing sport in North America; soccer maybe? 

The first thing they could do is MORE SNACK ATTACKS! I am so excited for the new arena to have a properly size concourse.  What were talking about again? Oh right, surpassing the NFL. Actually, I thought they had the right idea with having cameras go behind the scenes. HBO’s 24/7 was awesome for taking fans behind the scenes. I think having more shows like 24/7 and Oil Change would show some of the player’s personalities rather than the rehearsed cliches that they have to shell out after games. MOAR ACCESS I SAY!

The full duration of any given penalty would be served even if the other team scores with the man advantage. Higher cost to those who play outside the rules and more power-play goals to address the desire for more pucks in the net.

Puck over glass. The only good thing about that rule is that goofy Aaron Ward song. 

More protection for the D men. That means stiffer penalties and suspensions for aggressive forwards that trip, hit or slide into D going back for pucks.

Get rid of the shootout. And I say that as a fully fledged hypocrite who will gladly watch and enjoy the damn spectacle of it all. But as many before me have said it’s ridiculous to settle a team game with a one on one skill challenge. They might as well just do a relay race like we did in minor hockey to see who had to pick up the pucks at the end of practice. At least that has more of a team element to it! 

I’d make every PP a full two minutes. The NFL and NBA are changing rules to generate more offence, which is what majority of fans deem exciting. NHL is the opposite.

Well, there are a bunch of changes I’d make, but the one that comes to mind is the ‘intent to blow’ rule. It’s a terrible rule; the action should continue until the sound of the whistle, period.

I think pucks should be allowed to be kicked in, provided that the skate remain on the ice.  I want to see more goals, not amputations. 

I’d take it to my son’s school, stage a road hockey game with his classmates and and award the winning team the Cup.

I’d have a big party and invite Oilers Nation, we’d have it at Wanye’s castle and Oodle Noodle would be there with food. BYOB, though. I’m old, cheap and drink A LOT!

If I had won the Cup I would have invited my family, friends and former coaches to share in the experience and to thanks them all for their support.

I’d charter a rocket to the moon because that way I’d actually be able to lift the cup over my head. THAT THING IS DAMN HEAVY (so I’ve been told). And then I’d forget where I was, take my helmet off to try and drink moon champagne out of it and explode my own head a la Total Recall.

I wouldn’t take it. I believe only those who win it should handle it, and since the NHL dream is long past for me, I politely decline.

I’ve never done anything to earn a day with the Cup, so I’d probably look into handing it off to a charity or a hospital for the day; it wouldn’t be right to do something selfish with a trophy I haven’t earned.

I think the better question is, what wouldn’t I do with it?  If I had the Stanley Cup for 24 hours I would literally take it everywhere. 

If I’m in the shower? Guess what I’m lathering with.

Eating Fruity Pebbles? Damned right it’s from the Cup.

Hockey game at Rexall? Put 49 beers in the top please, lady!

And you had better believe that if I could somehow convince the missus that go time was to be included in the menu, ol’ Silver Stanley would be riding shotgun right beside me.

Needless to say I’ve thought about this before.

2015 Corvette Z06

It depends, but I’d likely ask for a rye and coke if I wasn’t driving, beer or wine if I was driving. Rye is a demon liquor though, so you young people stay away from it. Angries up the blood. 

Bud Light.

Double Jack and Coke, small glass. Or the biggest donair money can buy.

Bacardi Limon and water.

Well, if you’re buying I’ll take a Highland Park 50. I love the scotch but I can’t afford to buy anything pricier than the 21-year-old (and normally I settle for the 15).

Spiced Rum and Coke (or Pepsi, who cares). 

Honestly, whatever you’re willing to buy me I will happily accept. 

First job was a paper route. Cash only, $16 a month as I recall. Lots of jaw breakers and PEZ.

I bought motor oil. 10w30. I bought a Chevy Bel Air Super Sport 1965, maroon with a white hard-top roof. 289? Maybe 283 engine. Anyway, it took more oil than gas but I loved that car.

A pair of Big Star jeans. It was almost illegal how good my ass looked in those things!

Oh boy. I made like 10 dollars a week helping my friend deliver papers when I was a kid, but I have no idea what I would have spent that on. Probably slurpies and candy? My first “real” job right after high school I most definitely bought booze.

My first job was being a gas jockey at the Mohawk in Beaumont. I was 14. I don’t recall buying anything extravagant, but it was likely a cassette tape.

I had a paper route when I was a kid and I can’t remember what I did with that money, but I got my first regular job when I was 14 and I ended up buying a KOHO hoodie and a Nintendo 64 with that first check.

The first time I ever made any money of my own was from a Kool Aid stand that I set up with my friend outside the Morinville Fire Department.  We made about $15 selling overpriced cups of warm Kool Aid (we ran out of ice almost immediately). I remember spending my half of the cash on candy and a roll of caps to pop in my mouth so that I could practice blowing smoke rings.