The Mighty Ducks Sign JS Giguere to 4 years, $24 million
The Ducks, much to my own surprise, signed Giguere to a multi-year deal, and in the process taking the biggest, and only real name goalie off the UFA market. The deal is reasonable, and definitely a home town discount as Giguere surely would have gotten more and for longer on the open market. Now that their cup winning goalie is locked up, the Bryzgalov rumors will be flying.
Toronto acquires Vesa Toskala and Mark Bell for a 1st, 2nd and a 4th round picks
Despite the rumors of Toronto seeking a goalie, I didn’t think they would actually deal for one. But over the weekend they pried Toskala from the Sharks for a bevy of draft picks. Toskala is affordable and has one year remaining so he easily fit into the Leafs cap. If one of he or Raycroft, whose deal also expires after next year, don’t work out then the other will most likely be retained (I have a feeling that would be Toskala).
Bell was a salary dump for the Sharks, not working out with a career low twenty one points. The year before he scored more goals alone than that. If he can return to form like he was with the Blackhawks, and Toskala provides solid goaltending, this can be a very good deal for Toronto.
Florida acquires Tomas Vokoun for a 1st, and two 2nd round picks
With Giguere off the market, Florida, like Toronto, decided to go the trade route and obtain a higher caliber goalie than the mediocre ones that will be available come July 1st. The recent play, not to mention cost cutting measures, of the Predators made Vokoun expendable. The Preds site that wanting to retain free agents like Paul Kariya as the main source of the deal, though many believe it is the attempt to sell the team as the true reason.
Florida gets a good goalie to replace the aging Belfour and shaky Auld. With a young and rising team, and possibly some decent free agent signings, you can expect Florida to be in the run for the playoffs again.
Florida signs Nathan Horton to a 6 year, $24 million contract
What appears to be an emerging trend in the cap era, Florida signed on of their best young players to a long term deal. The deal seems to be based around the same deal Scott Hartnell got from the Flyers, and is also based on how good the team believes the player will become.
Horton though I think is more deserving of this deal than Hartnell. He has steadily improved in his three seasons of play, scoring 31 goals and added the same in assists, both higher than Hartnell’s totals. While the short term the salary is a bit much, but if he improves the way he has, in a few years this deal could be a steal for the Panthers.
Flames trade Andrei Zyuzin and Steve Marr for Adrian Aucoin and a 7th round pick
Much to everyone’s surprise the Blackhawks unloaded Aucoin’s salary unto the Flames, where Aucoin has a past history of playing with new coach Mike Keenan.
The trade more than anything signifies that the Flames will be unable to reach a deal with Brad Stuart, and severely lessens the chance of resigning Roman Hamrlik. Zyuzin though did not play well for the Flames so his loss will not be that great.
If Aucoin can return to form (read as “stay healthy”) than he can be a valuable asset to the Flames. But if he continues to be plagued by injuries, expect the Flames to be caught with a large contract just like Chicago was.
Penguins resign Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts to one year deals
The Penguins kept their two key veterans in Recchi and Roberts for at least one more year. Recchi’s deal is worth up to $2 million if he reaches incentives, and Roberts is worth $2.5 million. Both will continue to add much needed leadership and secondary scoring to the young penguins team.
Sharks sign Craig Rivet to 4 years $14 million dollars
The Sharks signed deadline acquisition Rivet to a long term deal over the weekend. Rivet played well for the Sharks, but I question how much they gave this at best mid-pairing defenseman, even with an inflated market for defensemen. Rivet can definitely be solid, but for $3.5 you would think that the Sharks would try and put that money to the soon to be UFA and more effective Scott Hannan. If rivet can continue his good play for the Sharks, he may b worth it. But if he plays like he did in Montreal they will be overpaying for him.
Kings buy out Alyn McCauley
A surprising move that took pretty much everyone off guard. McCauley only spend a single year with the Kings, and most of it was spend on the long term IR. It seems more that the Kings feel he will not be able to return from a bad knee injury more than anything else. Look for teams that need depth at center to give him a look.
-Jordan
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Wild Weekend and a Manic Monday
When I wrote my Thursday Throwdown article, I figured “there probably won’t be enough that happens from now until the next weekend to warrant a post about recent happenings.” Well, how wrong I was.
Sergei Samsanov dealt to Chicago for Jassen Cullimore and Tony Salmelainen
Gainey pulled off a fast one and removed the biggest albatross from his roster in the horribly underachieving Samsanov. IN return they took a small albatross of Chicago’s hands in Cullimore and immediately bought him out with a $600k cap hit over the next two years. Also thrown in was twenty five year old Tony Salmelainen who may still make the NHL, but unlikely at this point.
Chicago is banking on Samsanov regaining some of his scoring touch, and most likely replacing the departure of Handzus who they most assuredly will lose to free agency. If he continues to play poorly, he will be a UFA and off of Chicago’s hands. Of course if he plays well he will be an added boost and quite possibly a valuable trade deadline commodity.
Flames hire Mike Keenan as coach
Good god, how does this man keep getting a job? I thought it would be years until his name even came up again after nearly single handedly destroying the Panthers. But apparently Daryl Sutter thinks that his old teacher is the flame needed (no pun intended) to spark his team after coach Jim Playfair apparently would not hold his players accountable.
Some are saying this is just what the Panthers need and that if things go wrong Sutter will easily dispatch of Keenan. I have no doubt of the latter, but the former is quite the “if.” Keenan always wants things his way, and he always aggressive in getting it. And outside of the few players like Messier and Jokinen all come to hate his guts. This is especially risky with the Flames top two player in Iginla and Kiprussof going into contract years. You can bet that if one of those two (but probably both) go to Sutter and say “I go or he goes” Keenan will be out of a job once more.
I give it this year.
Bruins fire head coach Dave Lewis
This took everyone by surprise even more than Keenan’s hiring. Lewis was assured at the end of the season his job was safe, only to have it ripped out from under him. It came at an odd time too. But then again I guess this is what you can expect from Jeremy Jacobs, and I do mean Jacobs because though I don’t think Chiarelli has proven anything as GM, I don’t think he is that dumb.
Here’s a hint for the Bruins: it’s not the coaches fault the owner keeps ruining the team, though the sheer amount of bench bosses there has suggested so. Lewis may not have been great, but he was far from the biggest problem of that team.
Senators fire John Muckler and promote Bryan Murray to GM
Not much was said as to why Murray got the boot, though speculation has he was not enough of a risk taker at the deadline, or even his failure to land Gary Roberts “at any costs.” The former is definitely true though, as he was always cautious in his player movement.
Murray, the former GM of the Ducks, who had quite the hand in building the team that beat him in the cup finals, may be what the Sens need in someone who takes risks and immediately addresses team needs (how many years in a row did we hear the Sens needed to be tougher?).
This off season will be interesting for Ottawa.
Flyers trade for, and sign, Scott Hartnell and Kimo Timonen
Flyers GM Paul Holmgren yet again made a splash, but before free agency even started. He handed back the Predators the first they gave them in the Forsberg deal and got the exclusive rights to negotiate with Hartnell and Timonen.
However, the for what the Flyers gave these players (Hartnell 6 years $25.2 million, Timonen 5 years $37.8 million) they might as well have gotten into a bidding war, because these are what the salaries would have looked like if one had happened. Six years is a long time to have a cap hit, especially for $4.2 and $6.3 a year respectively. Timonen will be 38 when his contract is up, and I sincerely doubt by then he will be playing like a $6.3 million dollar guy (if he ever had). Good luck getting rid of that contract. And $4.2 million for a guy that had one 20 goal season is a lot, though they are obviously paying for potential.
Many are saying this is the sign of cost cutting for the Predators. I say it was a smart move. It became obvious they were going to lose both of these guys even before the announced sale. Liepold had been going on about how he’s been losing money for years, and they already had $33 million locked up in thirteen players for the coming year. Their leaving was inevitable with Hartnell’s young age and grit, and Timonen’s All Star year. They did good to get something rather than nothing.
Bruins hire Claude Julien as Coach
Of course AFTER i post this there is more happening with the Bruins hiring Julien as coach. Such a quick hire could mean that this was planned for weeks, and Lewis got the ax after the Bruins negotiated a deal with Julien.
Man, what a weird year for coaching...
Rumored: Sens sign McAmmond to 2 years, $1.75 million deal
I stress unconfirmed. Seeing reports that Muckler had come to this agreement and Murray plans to honor it, but as always, dont believe a rumor until it's official.
Bret Hull leaves NBC
I know a lot of people hate him, but a lot of these people think Roenick would be a good replacement. But that's like replacing an Oldsmobile with a Ford Pinto. If you think Hull is a dumb jackass, Roenick far surpasses him because Hull at least gave insight into the game. but that's a subject for another time.
-Jordan
Sergei Samsanov dealt to Chicago for Jassen Cullimore and Tony Salmelainen
Gainey pulled off a fast one and removed the biggest albatross from his roster in the horribly underachieving Samsanov. IN return they took a small albatross of Chicago’s hands in Cullimore and immediately bought him out with a $600k cap hit over the next two years. Also thrown in was twenty five year old Tony Salmelainen who may still make the NHL, but unlikely at this point.
Chicago is banking on Samsanov regaining some of his scoring touch, and most likely replacing the departure of Handzus who they most assuredly will lose to free agency. If he continues to play poorly, he will be a UFA and off of Chicago’s hands. Of course if he plays well he will be an added boost and quite possibly a valuable trade deadline commodity.
Flames hire Mike Keenan as coach
Good god, how does this man keep getting a job? I thought it would be years until his name even came up again after nearly single handedly destroying the Panthers. But apparently Daryl Sutter thinks that his old teacher is the flame needed (no pun intended) to spark his team after coach Jim Playfair apparently would not hold his players accountable.
Some are saying this is just what the Panthers need and that if things go wrong Sutter will easily dispatch of Keenan. I have no doubt of the latter, but the former is quite the “if.” Keenan always wants things his way, and he always aggressive in getting it. And outside of the few players like Messier and Jokinen all come to hate his guts. This is especially risky with the Flames top two player in Iginla and Kiprussof going into contract years. You can bet that if one of those two (but probably both) go to Sutter and say “I go or he goes” Keenan will be out of a job once more.
I give it this year.
Bruins fire head coach Dave Lewis
This took everyone by surprise even more than Keenan’s hiring. Lewis was assured at the end of the season his job was safe, only to have it ripped out from under him. It came at an odd time too. But then again I guess this is what you can expect from Jeremy Jacobs, and I do mean Jacobs because though I don’t think Chiarelli has proven anything as GM, I don’t think he is that dumb.
Here’s a hint for the Bruins: it’s not the coaches fault the owner keeps ruining the team, though the sheer amount of bench bosses there has suggested so. Lewis may not have been great, but he was far from the biggest problem of that team.
Senators fire John Muckler and promote Bryan Murray to GM
Not much was said as to why Murray got the boot, though speculation has he was not enough of a risk taker at the deadline, or even his failure to land Gary Roberts “at any costs.” The former is definitely true though, as he was always cautious in his player movement.
Murray, the former GM of the Ducks, who had quite the hand in building the team that beat him in the cup finals, may be what the Sens need in someone who takes risks and immediately addresses team needs (how many years in a row did we hear the Sens needed to be tougher?).
This off season will be interesting for Ottawa.
Flyers trade for, and sign, Scott Hartnell and Kimo Timonen
Flyers GM Paul Holmgren yet again made a splash, but before free agency even started. He handed back the Predators the first they gave them in the Forsberg deal and got the exclusive rights to negotiate with Hartnell and Timonen.
However, the for what the Flyers gave these players (Hartnell 6 years $25.2 million, Timonen 5 years $37.8 million) they might as well have gotten into a bidding war, because these are what the salaries would have looked like if one had happened. Six years is a long time to have a cap hit, especially for $4.2 and $6.3 a year respectively. Timonen will be 38 when his contract is up, and I sincerely doubt by then he will be playing like a $6.3 million dollar guy (if he ever had). Good luck getting rid of that contract. And $4.2 million for a guy that had one 20 goal season is a lot, though they are obviously paying for potential.
Many are saying this is the sign of cost cutting for the Predators. I say it was a smart move. It became obvious they were going to lose both of these guys even before the announced sale. Liepold had been going on about how he’s been losing money for years, and they already had $33 million locked up in thirteen players for the coming year. Their leaving was inevitable with Hartnell’s young age and grit, and Timonen’s All Star year. They did good to get something rather than nothing.
Bruins hire Claude Julien as Coach
Of course AFTER i post this there is more happening with the Bruins hiring Julien as coach. Such a quick hire could mean that this was planned for weeks, and Lewis got the ax after the Bruins negotiated a deal with Julien.
Man, what a weird year for coaching...
Rumored: Sens sign McAmmond to 2 years, $1.75 million deal
I stress unconfirmed. Seeing reports that Muckler had come to this agreement and Murray plans to honor it, but as always, dont believe a rumor until it's official.
Bret Hull leaves NBC
I know a lot of people hate him, but a lot of these people think Roenick would be a good replacement. But that's like replacing an Oldsmobile with a Ford Pinto. If you think Hull is a dumb jackass, Roenick far surpasses him because Hull at least gave insight into the game. but that's a subject for another time.
-Jordan
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Thursday Throwdown
Well a few things have happened in the past couple of days, so let’s review what went on.
Florida Panthers trade center Chris Gratton to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2nd round pick in either 2007 or 2008.
I think the Panthers get the better of this deal. While Gratton is a decent third line center, a 2nd round pick is too much for him. There are two things that make this deal peculiar. First is that we are a mere three weeks from free agency. Tampa could have gotten a third line center for free (as in not giving up more than the money for the contract) in the market a few short weeks away. Second is that Tampa has one of the worst prospects pools in the NHL, and gave up a 2nd rounder for a career underachiever. I cannot agree with this move, but then again that’s why I think Feaster is the worst (employed) GM in the NHL.
Also of interest is Gratton’s history with Tampa.
1993: drafted 3rd over all 1998: traded Mikael Renberg and Daymond Langkow to the Flyers for Chris Gratton and Mike Sillinger 2007: traded a second round pick to Florida
That’s a lot of resources going into one player.
Hasek will Return.
Dominic Hasek announced that he will be returning another with the Red Wings. The deal needs to be negotiated but it is expected he will get a substantial raise over the 750k base he earned last year (though he got almost $1mm in bonuses). Wings fans should breathe a sigh of relief with this as the goalie market is very weak this year after Giguere, who will be going for top dollar and most likely not fit into Detroit’s cap.
Ruff, Regier and Carlyle all given extensions
No real surprise here. Buffalo kept the GM and coach that has brought them success these past two years. Carlyle won the cup, and pretty much any coach that does that gets an extension, though of interest it was only a single year extension.
Theodore expected to stay with the Avalanche
Theodore and his agent, Don Meehan, said they expect to be with the Avalanche for next season and not be bought out. This isn’t surprising as Colorado will be better off taking the one year cap hit and free up around $5mm for next year for additional help.
-Jordan
Florida Panthers trade center Chris Gratton to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2nd round pick in either 2007 or 2008.
I think the Panthers get the better of this deal. While Gratton is a decent third line center, a 2nd round pick is too much for him. There are two things that make this deal peculiar. First is that we are a mere three weeks from free agency. Tampa could have gotten a third line center for free (as in not giving up more than the money for the contract) in the market a few short weeks away. Second is that Tampa has one of the worst prospects pools in the NHL, and gave up a 2nd rounder for a career underachiever. I cannot agree with this move, but then again that’s why I think Feaster is the worst (employed) GM in the NHL.
Also of interest is Gratton’s history with Tampa.
1993: drafted 3rd over all 1998: traded Mikael Renberg and Daymond Langkow to the Flyers for Chris Gratton and Mike Sillinger 2007: traded a second round pick to Florida
That’s a lot of resources going into one player.
Hasek will Return.
Dominic Hasek announced that he will be returning another with the Red Wings. The deal needs to be negotiated but it is expected he will get a substantial raise over the 750k base he earned last year (though he got almost $1mm in bonuses). Wings fans should breathe a sigh of relief with this as the goalie market is very weak this year after Giguere, who will be going for top dollar and most likely not fit into Detroit’s cap.
Ruff, Regier and Carlyle all given extensions
No real surprise here. Buffalo kept the GM and coach that has brought them success these past two years. Carlyle won the cup, and pretty much any coach that does that gets an extension, though of interest it was only a single year extension.
Theodore expected to stay with the Avalanche
Theodore and his agent, Don Meehan, said they expect to be with the Avalanche for next season and not be bought out. This isn’t surprising as Colorado will be better off taking the one year cap hit and free up around $5mm for next year for additional help.
-Jordan
Monday, June 11, 2007
Shitty Suggestions
I love reading upon people’s opinions on “HOW TO FIX THE NHL” specifically the special Olympic brigade over at ESPN. The same network that loves to jump all over hockey and call it crappy, terrible, boring, etc yet somehow finds racing 500 laps around a circular track to be quite the thrilling experience. The same network that showed a good minute of the Stanley Cup Final Game 5 only to return to the Mike Vick/TO/ Brady and Belichek are awesome/Red Sox are awesome/ racing is groovy pukefests. I like many others have tried to curb my ESPN watching unless there is an NFL draft or NFL game on it.
One of the guys that has actually supported hockey and is actually fairly knowledgeable on the subject, at least in ESPN terms, recently published an article stating some of the changes that he would like to see. While I like Cowlishaw in general and I did enjoy him giving the NHL some props on Around the Horn, his suggestions for the most part are foolhardy:
1: Put microphones on all coaches and captains for all games. One of the things that the millions of fans that flock to NASCAR races each year really enjoy is the ability to hear every word exchanged between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr.
The scanner technology is there to let every fan in the seats eavesdrop on what's being said. We don't want lame interviews conducted by bench reporters. We want to hear the real thing, and if we're paying $100 a ticket, we deserve it.
I have no problem with this. The NHL is a bunch of “nice guys” who say all the right things and act the same way. Interviews in the NHL are crap and will always be that way. The problem is hockey needs to give these players an outlet to showcase their personality. Is it sad that people continue to refer to the Patrick Roy and Roenick feud from a decade ago still? As much of a dbag as Roenick is he did provide for some banter and as a result was one of the more popular and recognizable players from the 90s. This isn’t because he was a great player but rather more so his personality and the fact is he wasn’t the typical cookie cutter interviewee who wishes the other team well and is really happy for the how the team is coming together. The world revolves around personalities which hockey desperately needs and does have. You don't think Sean Avery on the mic would be entertaining at all. Hockey has personalities we just don't know it yet.
2: Start the season a month later. The Stanley Cup Finals should be starting when the NBA Finals are ending. For two weeks, you get the closest thing you're ever going to get to undivided attention. The technology is good enough to make ice playable in late June. Starting the season a month before the NBA in the heart of college and pro football season does nothing for the NHL.
Retarded. First off the ice in general after March takes a nose dive as is. This is eliminating a “cold” month in favor of another summer month. More so, the quality of the ice will be even worse especially when combined with the southern NHL teams. What this means more of shoddy play with a puck bouncing around, no skating and defensive snooze fests. If Tim’s idea was to turn hockey into basketball than I guess he’s on to something.
3: Convince the selfish Eastern Conference general managers to act in the best interests of the game and change the schedule. This was voted on and rejected a few months ago. But Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, moving into the prime of what's going to be a fantastic career, needs to play a game in Dallas and Los Angeles and Chicago every year. Not once every three years.
This I actually agree with. The 8 game divisional games are a bit excessive with watered down play and games without meaning. I agree that we should all see each team at least twice. While that plays into a mess with scheduling and the various options available, the NHL should look into finding a way to appease this demand. Crosby must go to LA, Chicago and most importantly places like Phoenix, Columbus, and Nashville etc. Furthermore, with fewer conference games, it will make the games played have far more consequence leading to more urgency and overall better hockey. Some may point out to those epic Phoenix vs Panther shootouts but this is the case in every sport. How many times have we seen a Raider vs. Texan game. Shit happens.
4: Kiss up to ESPN. Make amends. There's still enough room for programming at the world-wide leader to get your games back there. Versus gives the NHL no presence at all. The studio show has Bill Clement, a great analyst, in the misguided role of host.
Get back to ESPN – even if it's ESPN2 – and get your highlights back on SportsCenter.
Absolutely not. ESPN will come crawling once hockey gets the ratings and the money. More so with all the pot shots coming from ESPN columnists and sportcenter anchors, would it really do the league justice to get back in bed with them? Back in the mid 90s, ESPN did do wonders for hockey with multiple programming and including ESPN national hockey night. They even supplanted the coverage with the now defunct NHL tonight at an hour a night. It was glorious. Since than, the ratings have dwindled and ESPN responded in turn. Moreover, is there really enough room for it in their programming as is? I mean I’m sure there is but let me rephrase it. Is it really possible to devote enough time on the air to the sport? The answer is a resounding no. Moreover, would they really want to work with NHL when Bettman already sold his soul to NBC? Negative kemosobe. Espn/ABC would only be involved if the deal with NBC is through. Look Versus, isn't special and does a lot of things wrong but jeez they do a lot of things right too. As they get more accustomed to having the NHL and getting more programming around it, it will take off. There are a lot of people who don't like ESPN and crave some competition to it. Give Versus time and it may not reach that level but it could be a damn fine alternative to the BOOYAH MTV 2.0 ESPN.
5: Let the skaters in shootouts go without their helmets. In the Sixties and Seventies, we could easily identify Bobby Hull, Jean Beliveau, the flowing locks of Guy LaFleur.
Then safety reared its ugly head, and now we have no idea what these players look like. Most of the regular-season highlights we see of the NHL are from shootouts. Let's see the players. Women will like this one.
I mean I guess they could do this but come on. This isn’t peewee hockey were the players wear a full cage. This is the NHL were for the most part the fans of the team knows what the individual players look like. I would believe women already seem to enjoy the sport of hockey. This could and should be a moot point if the NHL would market its players rather than the just upcoming games.
As Canada does already:
Iginla and Naslund
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn-cH53dDKY
Sundin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4ghL3yWD-I
Naslund and Kolvachuk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNtESQFAO3o
Ads like this are awesome and should be done to get the NHL players out there and known. Also i'm sure wearing a helmet goes a long way in not identifying NFL players. Please outside of the general sport newbie, most fans know what the players look like especially the superstars. Do you think the general public cares and wants to know what Ville Niemenen looks like?
6: Eliminate the ability to ice the puck during penalty killing. You can't do it 5-on-5 but you can do it when you're being penalized? Montreal GM Bob Gainey never really thought that made sense and he's right. If they ice it, bring back the puck back for the face-off and the penalty killers have to stay on the ice. What that would do is increase scoring from the game's best players, make power plays more powerful and cut down on penalties which would increase the flow of the game. All of those are good things.
I can understand the logic of this but honestly is this really a big deal? Why change the rules of the game that has lasted this long without alteration. Why must we change these rules for the game for no conceivable reason outside of just making a change? I can see it for consistency sake but if you were to survey fans of hockey this thing would not be anywhere near the things most vital to change. I like the way things are now as is and Powerplays and PKs are as nerve racking as ever. Taking the icing aspect of the shorthanded situations away seems to be too much and would likely shift the balance even more. Is it the worst thing that could happen no? I could actually live with it but it does put way more pressure on defenders and with some of the atrocious calls taking place currently is it really fair to punish teams this much?
7: Adopt the 2-3-2 travel format for all series. Commissioner David Stern did it for the NBA Finals after the 1984 season to ease the travel for newspapers. Those Boston-to-Los Angeles-to-Boston-to Los Angeles-to Boston trips were hard on the budget, not to mention hangovers.
Do it for all series. Increase (even by a fraction) news media coverage of the playoffs. It can't hurt.
I can see how it will help the media but this is an entirely different time and place. In almost 20 years, the landscape has changed. Now a lot of us are able to work from home, check email, send documents and be as if not more productive. With the wall to wall coverage available now this should be nothing but a way for Gm’s to save a couple thousand dollars. I also seem to believe that the 2-3-2 format means less of an advantage for the team with the better record. Think about it. The only games they would have the advantage are would be the first 2. If they happen to blow one of the first games than they are already screwd with 3 straight road games. Chances are that they would be already done. I feel that by going with the 2-2-1-1-1 format, the higher ranked team does get the money games (1,2,5,7) and thus is rewarded with home ice as it should be. While road teams in general are able to win a lot of the times, we shouldn’t disregard a team’s work in the regular season and that team should have the opportunity to benefit from the chances it made for itself.
8: Adopt the shootout after 40 minutes of playoff overtime hockey. Once you get past that point, the hockey gets ugly. Fans need to know that if they stick around until a little after midnight, they are going to see a winner. Networks need to know that, too. They aren't making any money with that long ad-less overtimes.
I would keep unlimited overtime for any game that could decide the Cup Finals.
Suggestions like this make me swear profusely. I’m sorry this is retarded. Let’s change the only good thing about the sport for hick so he can go to bed early. Usually though the effect is just the opposite. I remember staying up to watch Dallas and Vancouver because god dammit I wanted to see a winner. The games are also moving much more rapid because as you point out there are no ads. NHL could easily rectify this by having a company buy ads for the period and just have their logo show up by the scoreboard on TV for a period. Fans know that with playoff overtimes that they will see a winner. Rules of the hockey game should not be changed because 5% of the viewing public has beef with the games. Not to mention, a lot of people also happen to stumble upon the games and watch it when normally they wouldn’t even think about hockey. Playoff hockey is the best thing about sports in general and should not be changed under any circumstances.
9: Move the U.S. league office to Atlanta. Being in New York, the NHL can at least pretend it's a big deal. Bettman and other league officials need to walk the streets of Atlanta or, I don't care, Raleigh or Nashville and learn that nobody knows who they are. It will help them figure out what they have done to the game.
I actually agree with this. What they should even consider is having just their marketing offices down there anyway. These people are the ones that should be receiving much of the persuasion of watching hockey in the first place. Majority speaking, this is the group of people that made NASCAR into something and also voted a moron into office. By being with people in the South or learning about the culture and what attracts them to things, the NHL could finally take advantage and actually reach these people and show them why hockey is such a great sport to begin with. This area also offers the greatest opportunity to strike if they can sway a couple of people’s opinions. Hockey could be huge down there with the speed, hitting and way the new NHL is.
10: Contract to 26 teams. Arrive at a formula based on revenue, attendance, won-lost record and local ratings. The two worst performing teams are dropped and their players are dispersed after next season. Two more go a year later.
Now you have fewer and better teams and you get to see the stars more often and you increase your chances of making the playoffs. Those are good things.
Someone should let Bettman know how his grand plan of "expanding the league's footprint" has really gone.
It is easy for someone in the media or with a blog to simply say to contract a team and than all these problems will be solved. The fact is contraction should only be used as a last resort. No matter how bad the Montreal Expos were with their shoddy attendance, low payroll and general operating in the red, they were never contracted. People seem to think that this league is watered down but there seems to be a lot of talented guys sprouting up all around the place. The game despite what the ratings are saying is growing and revenues increasing. Young players are coming up from Canada, Europe and even the US and becoming key contributors to winning teams displacing the so called watered down talent that arose to the expansion/trap era. Contraction does not solve the ratings issue which is far and way the only major problem people seem to be consistently having with the NHL product.
So Tim thanks for the trying to help but honestly stick to sticking up for hockey on Espn and Around the Horn. You are more good to us that way.
-op
One of the guys that has actually supported hockey and is actually fairly knowledgeable on the subject, at least in ESPN terms, recently published an article stating some of the changes that he would like to see. While I like Cowlishaw in general and I did enjoy him giving the NHL some props on Around the Horn, his suggestions for the most part are foolhardy:
1: Put microphones on all coaches and captains for all games. One of the things that the millions of fans that flock to NASCAR races each year really enjoy is the ability to hear every word exchanged between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr.
The scanner technology is there to let every fan in the seats eavesdrop on what's being said. We don't want lame interviews conducted by bench reporters. We want to hear the real thing, and if we're paying $100 a ticket, we deserve it.
I have no problem with this. The NHL is a bunch of “nice guys” who say all the right things and act the same way. Interviews in the NHL are crap and will always be that way. The problem is hockey needs to give these players an outlet to showcase their personality. Is it sad that people continue to refer to the Patrick Roy and Roenick feud from a decade ago still? As much of a dbag as Roenick is he did provide for some banter and as a result was one of the more popular and recognizable players from the 90s. This isn’t because he was a great player but rather more so his personality and the fact is he wasn’t the typical cookie cutter interviewee who wishes the other team well and is really happy for the how the team is coming together. The world revolves around personalities which hockey desperately needs and does have. You don't think Sean Avery on the mic would be entertaining at all. Hockey has personalities we just don't know it yet.
2: Start the season a month later. The Stanley Cup Finals should be starting when the NBA Finals are ending. For two weeks, you get the closest thing you're ever going to get to undivided attention. The technology is good enough to make ice playable in late June. Starting the season a month before the NBA in the heart of college and pro football season does nothing for the NHL.
Retarded. First off the ice in general after March takes a nose dive as is. This is eliminating a “cold” month in favor of another summer month. More so, the quality of the ice will be even worse especially when combined with the southern NHL teams. What this means more of shoddy play with a puck bouncing around, no skating and defensive snooze fests. If Tim’s idea was to turn hockey into basketball than I guess he’s on to something.
3: Convince the selfish Eastern Conference general managers to act in the best interests of the game and change the schedule. This was voted on and rejected a few months ago. But Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, moving into the prime of what's going to be a fantastic career, needs to play a game in Dallas and Los Angeles and Chicago every year. Not once every three years.
This I actually agree with. The 8 game divisional games are a bit excessive with watered down play and games without meaning. I agree that we should all see each team at least twice. While that plays into a mess with scheduling and the various options available, the NHL should look into finding a way to appease this demand. Crosby must go to LA, Chicago and most importantly places like Phoenix, Columbus, and Nashville etc. Furthermore, with fewer conference games, it will make the games played have far more consequence leading to more urgency and overall better hockey. Some may point out to those epic Phoenix vs Panther shootouts but this is the case in every sport. How many times have we seen a Raider vs. Texan game. Shit happens.
4: Kiss up to ESPN. Make amends. There's still enough room for programming at the world-wide leader to get your games back there. Versus gives the NHL no presence at all. The studio show has Bill Clement, a great analyst, in the misguided role of host.
Get back to ESPN – even if it's ESPN2 – and get your highlights back on SportsCenter.
Absolutely not. ESPN will come crawling once hockey gets the ratings and the money. More so with all the pot shots coming from ESPN columnists and sportcenter anchors, would it really do the league justice to get back in bed with them? Back in the mid 90s, ESPN did do wonders for hockey with multiple programming and including ESPN national hockey night. They even supplanted the coverage with the now defunct NHL tonight at an hour a night. It was glorious. Since than, the ratings have dwindled and ESPN responded in turn. Moreover, is there really enough room for it in their programming as is? I mean I’m sure there is but let me rephrase it. Is it really possible to devote enough time on the air to the sport? The answer is a resounding no. Moreover, would they really want to work with NHL when Bettman already sold his soul to NBC? Negative kemosobe. Espn/ABC would only be involved if the deal with NBC is through. Look Versus, isn't special and does a lot of things wrong but jeez they do a lot of things right too. As they get more accustomed to having the NHL and getting more programming around it, it will take off. There are a lot of people who don't like ESPN and crave some competition to it. Give Versus time and it may not reach that level but it could be a damn fine alternative to the BOOYAH MTV 2.0 ESPN.
5: Let the skaters in shootouts go without their helmets. In the Sixties and Seventies, we could easily identify Bobby Hull, Jean Beliveau, the flowing locks of Guy LaFleur.
Then safety reared its ugly head, and now we have no idea what these players look like. Most of the regular-season highlights we see of the NHL are from shootouts. Let's see the players. Women will like this one.
I mean I guess they could do this but come on. This isn’t peewee hockey were the players wear a full cage. This is the NHL were for the most part the fans of the team knows what the individual players look like. I would believe women already seem to enjoy the sport of hockey. This could and should be a moot point if the NHL would market its players rather than the just upcoming games.
As Canada does already:
Iginla and Naslund
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn-cH53dDKY
Sundin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4ghL3yWD-I
Naslund and Kolvachuk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNtESQFAO3o
Ads like this are awesome and should be done to get the NHL players out there and known. Also i'm sure wearing a helmet goes a long way in not identifying NFL players. Please outside of the general sport newbie, most fans know what the players look like especially the superstars. Do you think the general public cares and wants to know what Ville Niemenen looks like?
6: Eliminate the ability to ice the puck during penalty killing. You can't do it 5-on-5 but you can do it when you're being penalized? Montreal GM Bob Gainey never really thought that made sense and he's right. If they ice it, bring back the puck back for the face-off and the penalty killers have to stay on the ice. What that would do is increase scoring from the game's best players, make power plays more powerful and cut down on penalties which would increase the flow of the game. All of those are good things.
I can understand the logic of this but honestly is this really a big deal? Why change the rules of the game that has lasted this long without alteration. Why must we change these rules for the game for no conceivable reason outside of just making a change? I can see it for consistency sake but if you were to survey fans of hockey this thing would not be anywhere near the things most vital to change. I like the way things are now as is and Powerplays and PKs are as nerve racking as ever. Taking the icing aspect of the shorthanded situations away seems to be too much and would likely shift the balance even more. Is it the worst thing that could happen no? I could actually live with it but it does put way more pressure on defenders and with some of the atrocious calls taking place currently is it really fair to punish teams this much?
7: Adopt the 2-3-2 travel format for all series. Commissioner David Stern did it for the NBA Finals after the 1984 season to ease the travel for newspapers. Those Boston-to-Los Angeles-to-Boston-to Los Angeles-to Boston trips were hard on the budget, not to mention hangovers.
Do it for all series. Increase (even by a fraction) news media coverage of the playoffs. It can't hurt.
I can see how it will help the media but this is an entirely different time and place. In almost 20 years, the landscape has changed. Now a lot of us are able to work from home, check email, send documents and be as if not more productive. With the wall to wall coverage available now this should be nothing but a way for Gm’s to save a couple thousand dollars. I also seem to believe that the 2-3-2 format means less of an advantage for the team with the better record. Think about it. The only games they would have the advantage are would be the first 2. If they happen to blow one of the first games than they are already screwd with 3 straight road games. Chances are that they would be already done. I feel that by going with the 2-2-1-1-1 format, the higher ranked team does get the money games (1,2,5,7) and thus is rewarded with home ice as it should be. While road teams in general are able to win a lot of the times, we shouldn’t disregard a team’s work in the regular season and that team should have the opportunity to benefit from the chances it made for itself.
8: Adopt the shootout after 40 minutes of playoff overtime hockey. Once you get past that point, the hockey gets ugly. Fans need to know that if they stick around until a little after midnight, they are going to see a winner. Networks need to know that, too. They aren't making any money with that long ad-less overtimes.
I would keep unlimited overtime for any game that could decide the Cup Finals.
Suggestions like this make me swear profusely. I’m sorry this is retarded. Let’s change the only good thing about the sport for hick so he can go to bed early. Usually though the effect is just the opposite. I remember staying up to watch Dallas and Vancouver because god dammit I wanted to see a winner. The games are also moving much more rapid because as you point out there are no ads. NHL could easily rectify this by having a company buy ads for the period and just have their logo show up by the scoreboard on TV for a period. Fans know that with playoff overtimes that they will see a winner. Rules of the hockey game should not be changed because 5% of the viewing public has beef with the games. Not to mention, a lot of people also happen to stumble upon the games and watch it when normally they wouldn’t even think about hockey. Playoff hockey is the best thing about sports in general and should not be changed under any circumstances.
9: Move the U.S. league office to Atlanta. Being in New York, the NHL can at least pretend it's a big deal. Bettman and other league officials need to walk the streets of Atlanta or, I don't care, Raleigh or Nashville and learn that nobody knows who they are. It will help them figure out what they have done to the game.
I actually agree with this. What they should even consider is having just their marketing offices down there anyway. These people are the ones that should be receiving much of the persuasion of watching hockey in the first place. Majority speaking, this is the group of people that made NASCAR into something and also voted a moron into office. By being with people in the South or learning about the culture and what attracts them to things, the NHL could finally take advantage and actually reach these people and show them why hockey is such a great sport to begin with. This area also offers the greatest opportunity to strike if they can sway a couple of people’s opinions. Hockey could be huge down there with the speed, hitting and way the new NHL is.
10: Contract to 26 teams. Arrive at a formula based on revenue, attendance, won-lost record and local ratings. The two worst performing teams are dropped and their players are dispersed after next season. Two more go a year later.
Now you have fewer and better teams and you get to see the stars more often and you increase your chances of making the playoffs. Those are good things.
Someone should let Bettman know how his grand plan of "expanding the league's footprint" has really gone.
It is easy for someone in the media or with a blog to simply say to contract a team and than all these problems will be solved. The fact is contraction should only be used as a last resort. No matter how bad the Montreal Expos were with their shoddy attendance, low payroll and general operating in the red, they were never contracted. People seem to think that this league is watered down but there seems to be a lot of talented guys sprouting up all around the place. The game despite what the ratings are saying is growing and revenues increasing. Young players are coming up from Canada, Europe and even the US and becoming key contributors to winning teams displacing the so called watered down talent that arose to the expansion/trap era. Contraction does not solve the ratings issue which is far and way the only major problem people seem to be consistently having with the NHL product.
So Tim thanks for the trying to help but honestly stick to sticking up for hockey on Espn and Around the Horn. You are more good to us that way.
-op
Friday, June 08, 2007
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Yashin + Free Agent Signings
It was announced today that the New York Islanders would buy out the remaining four years on Alexei Yashin’s deal and letting him become a free agent. The move will cost the Islanders $17.6 million total, with a cap hit of $2.2 million over the next eight years (remember, cap hits for contract buyouts are spread over double the remaining life of the existing contract).
This move was necessitated not because of on ice performance, locker room problems, or even finances. No, this move was necessitated by the Islanders fans, the ones Mike Milbury and Charles Wang have managed not to already alienate, being practically ready to storm the gates and have an fashioned lynching and castle burning.
Yashin has been the ire of Islanders fans nearly since he was obtained for Bill Mackult, Zdeno Chara and the 2nd over all pick which was Jason Spezza. In the end, Yashin was worth not even Chara or Spezza straight up.
While his on ice production wasn’t bad, it was worth making the cap max; not even close. Pair that with his constant off ice problems (read as “ego”) and lack of motivation and effort he was constantly faced with a maelstrom of criticism that was well deserved.
However, another part of the ire for Yashin was not totally his fault. Part of it was the legacy of Mike Milbury, who despite ruining the Islanders year after year maintained his job. Yashin was Milbury’s biggest gaff; greater than the Jokinen and Luongo for Kvasha and Parrish deal. In addition to giving up so much for him, Milbury gave Yashin a ridiculous ten year deal for $90 million dollars which he could never live up to.
Wang has done the right thing in listening to the fans for once. After a summer of turmoil where he hired and promptly fired Neil Smith, promoted back up goalie Garth Snow to GM and chased away Islanders great Pat Lafointaine from the front office in a matter of weeks, Wang has finally done something right to give the Islanders good publicity.
With the stepping down of Milbury from his executive position last week, Islanders fans are now rid of their two biggest albatrosses. There will be partying on the Island tonight.
Other Free Agent News
There have been some minor free agent signings this past week that I will add on to this post.
Vancouver resigns Taylor Pyatt 2 years, $3 million
This is about what everyone expected a deal to be for Pyatt. Given a greater role he finally had a break out season scoring 26 goals playing on the second line. The deal is fair for both sides involved, and the Canucks will look for Pyatt to give them additional secondary scoring next year also.
Toronto resigns Nik Antropov 2 years, $4 million
Antropov had a good year for Toronto scoring 18 goals and 15 assists, his highest point totals yet. But $2 million for Antropov is too much. He made only $1 million this past season and no way should Ferguson have doubled his pay day. To me this proves that last years spending was not a fluke and Ferguson just doesn’t know how to spend money. Look for him to be replaced after this year if the Leafs fail to make the playoffs again.
-Jordan
This move was necessitated not because of on ice performance, locker room problems, or even finances. No, this move was necessitated by the Islanders fans, the ones Mike Milbury and Charles Wang have managed not to already alienate, being practically ready to storm the gates and have an fashioned lynching and castle burning.
Yashin has been the ire of Islanders fans nearly since he was obtained for Bill Mackult, Zdeno Chara and the 2nd over all pick which was Jason Spezza. In the end, Yashin was worth not even Chara or Spezza straight up.
While his on ice production wasn’t bad, it was worth making the cap max; not even close. Pair that with his constant off ice problems (read as “ego”) and lack of motivation and effort he was constantly faced with a maelstrom of criticism that was well deserved.
However, another part of the ire for Yashin was not totally his fault. Part of it was the legacy of Mike Milbury, who despite ruining the Islanders year after year maintained his job. Yashin was Milbury’s biggest gaff; greater than the Jokinen and Luongo for Kvasha and Parrish deal. In addition to giving up so much for him, Milbury gave Yashin a ridiculous ten year deal for $90 million dollars which he could never live up to.
Wang has done the right thing in listening to the fans for once. After a summer of turmoil where he hired and promptly fired Neil Smith, promoted back up goalie Garth Snow to GM and chased away Islanders great Pat Lafointaine from the front office in a matter of weeks, Wang has finally done something right to give the Islanders good publicity.
With the stepping down of Milbury from his executive position last week, Islanders fans are now rid of their two biggest albatrosses. There will be partying on the Island tonight.
Other Free Agent News
There have been some minor free agent signings this past week that I will add on to this post.
Vancouver resigns Taylor Pyatt 2 years, $3 million
This is about what everyone expected a deal to be for Pyatt. Given a greater role he finally had a break out season scoring 26 goals playing on the second line. The deal is fair for both sides involved, and the Canucks will look for Pyatt to give them additional secondary scoring next year also.
Toronto resigns Nik Antropov 2 years, $4 million
Antropov had a good year for Toronto scoring 18 goals and 15 assists, his highest point totals yet. But $2 million for Antropov is too much. He made only $1 million this past season and no way should Ferguson have doubled his pay day. To me this proves that last years spending was not a fluke and Ferguson just doesn’t know how to spend money. Look for him to be replaced after this year if the Leafs fail to make the playoffs again.
-Jordan
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Alfredsson's Actions not Surprising
There is quite a bit of buzz about Daniel Alfredsson’s attempted injuring of Scott Niedermayer via a slap shot at the end of the second period of last nights game. Many showed surprised that a Captain, especially one as cool and collected as Alfredsson would so such a thing.
Me? I am not surprised one bit. This kind of action fits right into Alfredsson’s character. It’s a sleaze move from a sleaze player.
You need to watch Alfredsson during games. Watch him closely. There are a few things you will notice.
1) He cheap shots. When players backs are turned he will strike with a slash, elbow, sucker punch or whatever else comes to mind. When faced with confrontation he turns tail like the true coward he is. Watch especially close during scrums where a player on the other team is already occupied with someone else and he will get a shot in at them, knowing they can’t retaliate.
2) He dives. Alfredsson isn’t weak, yet he always falls to the ice. When he wants he can hold another player off the puck, but when it suits his purpose more he falls to the ground like a rag doll. I’m surprised Sweden hasn’t contacted him for their Olympic diving team.
3) He complains. And complains, and complains. When he doesn’t get his way he pulls a Chelios and continues to whine on like a five year old. This goes beyond his captaincy duty of talking to the refs.
4) He’s a hypocrite. Well, you won’t really see this watching him on the ice but instead listening to his comments after the game. He often whines about other players, says they dove, cheap shotted etc. etc. when he is one of the kings at it.
Here’s what I am getting at. Alfredsson is not the great clean respectful leader he is made out to be. Yes, he is a good player and long time captain of the Senators. But when you listen to his words, and watch his actions on the ice, you will see he is a rather despicable person. I know Ottawa fans will be quick to defend his actions, and believe his outright lie about the puck getting caught in his skates, but the truth is: Ottawa can do much better for a captain. In fact, of all the captains in the NHL, I think he would be the last I choose.
Alfredsson’s actions surprised many, but when you truly pay attention to him, you will see this is nothing out of the ordinary and it is, and always has been, the kind of player he is.
-Jordan
Me? I am not surprised one bit. This kind of action fits right into Alfredsson’s character. It’s a sleaze move from a sleaze player.
You need to watch Alfredsson during games. Watch him closely. There are a few things you will notice.
1) He cheap shots. When players backs are turned he will strike with a slash, elbow, sucker punch or whatever else comes to mind. When faced with confrontation he turns tail like the true coward he is. Watch especially close during scrums where a player on the other team is already occupied with someone else and he will get a shot in at them, knowing they can’t retaliate.
2) He dives. Alfredsson isn’t weak, yet he always falls to the ice. When he wants he can hold another player off the puck, but when it suits his purpose more he falls to the ground like a rag doll. I’m surprised Sweden hasn’t contacted him for their Olympic diving team.
3) He complains. And complains, and complains. When he doesn’t get his way he pulls a Chelios and continues to whine on like a five year old. This goes beyond his captaincy duty of talking to the refs.
4) He’s a hypocrite. Well, you won’t really see this watching him on the ice but instead listening to his comments after the game. He often whines about other players, says they dove, cheap shotted etc. etc. when he is one of the kings at it.
Here’s what I am getting at. Alfredsson is not the great clean respectful leader he is made out to be. Yes, he is a good player and long time captain of the Senators. But when you listen to his words, and watch his actions on the ice, you will see he is a rather despicable person. I know Ottawa fans will be quick to defend his actions, and believe his outright lie about the puck getting caught in his skates, but the truth is: Ottawa can do much better for a captain. In fact, of all the captains in the NHL, I think he would be the last I choose.
Alfredsson’s actions surprised many, but when you truly pay attention to him, you will see this is nothing out of the ordinary and it is, and always has been, the kind of player he is.
-Jordan
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