New Nhl, Post Strike

Mike Douglass

Annotated Bibliography

1) J.R. O'Dwyer Co., Inc. "PR powers NHL return to the ice." O'Dwyer's PR Services Report December 2005:6

This document is written by an author who takes the position that contraction of the NHL is not necessary. He states that since the strike in 2004-05, the league has prospered due to the changes it has implemented. He says that taking teams out of the league will not help and many financial problems have been solved due to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). He believes that attendance is up and teams are doing better financially because of public relations. The stasis seems to be in value because the author values the current state of the business side of the NHL as running smoothly. He does not believe further change is needed.

The ethos of the writer is assuring. He makes it reasonable to believe that the NHL is running better than it was before changes were made in July. He gives statistics on attendance as well as organizations' financial performance as evidence to his case. This gives the article more quality because it makes for a good logical appeal.

2) DiCesare Bob. "NHL's revival almost constitutes another miracle on ice." Buffalo News 26 February 2006: SPORTS D4

This document provides insight into how the new rule changes of the NHL have specifically led to a more enticing game. Supporters of contraction said that before the strike, one reason for contraction would be to eliminate the bottom crop of players, which some believed shouldn't be in the NHL. This would lead to more scoring they believed. Without contraction, but with new tweaks to rules, scoring has risen and the game has become more exciting. The article argues that this is because players are now penalized for clutching and grabbing at opposing players who are flying by them. This of course would create more open-ice and more scoring chances. The article argues that players do not need to be cut; the rules just have to be enforced properly. The stasis is in value, whether the NHL is running smoothly.

The paper provides a good ethos for the author by including quotes from NHL players about how they feel the rule changes have helped increase excitement in the game and bring more fans. This ethos is also backed up by comparisons of the new NHL game to the open-ice, highly-skilled Olympic game.

3) Barnes, Ed. "Contract the NHL." ContractBud.com 1 March 2004. 27 March 2006 http://www.contractbud.com/article.php?source=front&article=esb_contractnhl

The author is in favor of contracting the NHL. He feels that the league expanded too rapidly and is now paying the cost. He says that the league is still financially troubled and the only way to save it is to get minor-market teams out of areas that don't have strong hockey fan bases. His main point is that the majority of the best players are Europeans who speak English as a second language. As a result, the