Gone for a Week
I’m leaving tomorrow morning for a week vacation with my family in Florida. I’ll be returning next Saturday so unless I miraculously get some internet connection down there, I will unfortunately not be able to update or even get college hockey scores (most likely).
Michigan soundly beat Wisconsin tonight, 4-1, which made me a happy camper. Colorado College, also in the same region as Michigan, had a hard time beating bottom seed in that region, Colgate. I hope that’s a good sign of the game to come, Michigan vs. CC on Sunday (I believe). North Dakota beat Boston University, 4-0, and believe it or not Boston College narrowly defeated No. 4 regional seed, Mercyhurst, by one goal after a close game.
For any college hockey updates while I’m gone, visit ncaa.com or insidecollegehockey.com. I’ll see everyone a week from now!
Quick Hockey Notes
NHL cancels 2005 Entry Draft
As most of you have already learned, the 2005 Entry Draft has been canceled because the CBA has not been finalized and they had to tell the hotels in Ottawa in enough time. I feel awful for the city of Ottawa and all those kids looking forward to being drafted and fulfilling part of their childhood hockey dreams.
The annual amateur draft had been scheduled for June 25-26 in Ottawa, but it was scrapped along with the entire 2004-05 season that was called off Feb. 16. Bill Daly, the NHL’s chief legal officer, said the draft could not proceed without a collective bargaining agreement. He apologized to fans, the city of Ottawa and “to everyone who already had put so much time and effort into creating a memorable weekend for the players and their families.”Â
Just like the city of Atlanta, which lost the chance to host this year’s All-Star game, it is unknown when Ottawa will be able to hold the draft in Canada’s capital. The NHL said the league is committed to bringing the event back there as soon as possible…The earliest Atlanta can host the All-Star festivities is 2008 since the sites for the next two years have been assigned. Roy Mlakar, president and chief executive officer of the Ottawa Senators and Corel Centre, said “‘Hockey Country’ would have put on one of the best NHL entry drafts.”
Kris Draper joins Team Canada for 2005 Tourney
According to TSN.ca, Team Canada’s GM Steve Tambellini successfully recruited the Detroit Red Wings’ Kris Draper for the 2005 World Hockey Championship tournament. Scott Hannan, Ed Jovanovski, and Wade Redden have “reportedly accepted invitations to Team Canada’s training camp [in Calgary] to prepare for next month’s tournament.” Roberto Luongo, Robin Regehr, Martin Brodeur, and Jarome Iginla have all received invitations to joine the team.
Red Wings alumni charity tour
The Detroit Free Press reports that Igor Larionov will be leading a group of Red Wing alumni to play numerous games in Russia.
Igor Larionov will lead Red Wings alumni in a charity game in Minsk, Belarus, against a team whose roster will include Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko. Thursday’s contest is one in a string of seven that will take Larionov, Wings coach Dave Lewis, Kocur and more on a 12-day Russian tour that includes an excursion into Siberia. “We’re going to places I’ve never been,” Lewis said. “The cities in Siberia we’re going to, I can’t pronounce. I’m looking forward to the whole environment, how the culture there differs from Moscow, from Detroit.”Â
The last three games all are around Moscow, where former Wings defenseman Slava Fetisov, now the Russian minister of sport, will join the team. A film crew will document the experience for an eventual TV special. In each city, Larionov hopes to donate equipment to youth hockey programs. Larionov, who retired from the NHL last season, was approached late last year by a group of alumni teams in Russia about the tour. Ever the good sportsman, Larionov readily agreed. “It’s all about making some new friends and promoting the game,” he said.
Sports Illustrated Website
Earlier today I visited the SI website to see if there were any interesting hockey stories to my dismay I noticed that in the main links on the top of the website- the NHL link was missing. I had to search the website to find hockey news. That’s bad news.
For any Philly fans, you can catch a glimpse of goaltender Robert Esche’s iPod playlist.
Lots of Hockey Notes
NHL & Steroids
The Ice Block had an entry on the NHL and its steroids/stimulant usage. David Singer pointed back to the 1998 Nagano Olympics when the use of Sudafed and similar stimulanets in hockey players were in question. Sudafen is estimated to have begun appearing in NHL dressing rooms in the mid-to-late 1980s.
The exact number of players who use Sudafed, a nonprescription drug that contains the stimulant pseudoephedrine, in an effort to boost their performance on the ice, is unclear. Two NHL trainers estimate that before a game 20% of the league’s players routinely take over-the-counter medications that contain pseudoephedrine, not to combat the sniffles, as the manufacturers intended, but to feel a little buzz.
A former coach says one of his players built up such a tolerance to the medication that he had to gobble 20 pills to get the desired boost. “There are all kinds of overdose stories—guys not being able to finish the first period because they get the shakes, paranoia, anxiety,” says Detroit Red Wings athletic trainer John Wharton, who’s been with the club since February 1991. “There are some guys who have been able to tolerate [large doses of pseudoephedrine]. The most I’ve seen a player take is eight pills. That dose would put some people in the hospital.” Wharton says he has seen four or five abusers in the last seven years.
Dave Morissette’s book, Memoires d’Un Dur a Cuire (Memoires of an Enforcer), told his story about his start with steroids and then stimulants. Through this book he hopes to “make my little contribution towards stopping these dangerous practices.” I suggest reading the article I just linked to so you can learn more about the book and Morissette’s thoughts - it was a good read. In the article, defenceman Stephane Quintal of the Los Angeles Kings said the following at the Morissette’s book launch.
When asked if doping was common in the NHL, Quintal said: “Sudafed is something a lot of guys use but steroids, I’ve seen it a couple of times but on tough guys, but not on skill guys.”
Red Wings Prospect: Evan McGrath
FOXSports.com conducted an interview with Red Wings prospect, Evan McGrath, about his junior team and being drafted by the Detroit Red Wings. Here’s a small portion of the interview:
FOXSports.com: You were draft eligible last year and wound up being selected by the Detroit Red Wings. What was that whole experience like for you?
EM: It was mixed (feelings). I thought I was going to go earlier (than the fourth round), but things worked out with Detroit. It’s a great organization and a great team and great people all around and I’m proud to be a part of it.FOXSports.com: It had to be exciting, too, going to a team like the Red Wings considering the success that the organization has had over the years?
EM: Yeah, they’re awesome. I couldn’t ask for anything else from the team. Hopefully one day I’ll be wearing the jersey like the players on the team now.FOXSports.com: Last thing, with the NHL season recently being cancelled, give me your thoughts on the NHL lockout.
EM: It’s pretty unfortunate. It’s tough. Everyone wants to see the NHL, even if you don’t play. Everybody growing up in Canada watches it and without it this year is tough but I think people are going to deal with it by coming to junior games and hopefully next year they’ll be back.
NHL vs. Tilt Ratings
Paul at Breaking Sports found this sad piece of information regarding hockey. NHL’s ratings lost out to ESPN’s Tilt.
The inaugural season of ESPN’s “Tilt†averaged a combined 0.97 Nielsen cable rating for airings Sunday and Thursday from 9:00-10:00pm ET, up 28% over the 0.76 during the same period in Q1 ’04, “when ESPN mostly aired NHL games,†according to R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News.
Red Wings Scout: HÃ¥kan Andersson
When I interviewed Jim Nill, Red Wings Asst. GM and family friend, through email, he credited HÃ¥kan Andersson with the discovery of Pavel Datsyuk:
Christy: Pavel Datsyuk seems to have really stepped up this year following Sergei’s leave. Who was it that ‘found’ Datsyuk? Did you have any role in his discovery?
Nill: Hakan Andersson, our European scout was the first person to see Pavel. I was the person who drafted him and then I worked on his development after we drafted Pavel.
So who is this HÃ¥kan Andersson? My friend, Matt at On The Wings, found an article on Andersson that talks about his workload, travels, and the draft.
Jeff & Steve Tambellini
Jeff Tambellini is a junior on the University of Michigan squad. I didn’t realize it until today while reading an article that his father is the vice president of player personnel of the Vancouver Canucks. Ok, so what? He sat and watched during the 2003 NHL draft as the Canucks passed over his son in the first round to select Ryan Kesler. That would be quite an awkward situation, but I credit Tambellini for sticking to his job and not letting family interfere in this situation.
“We’re really consistent on our draft process. We cross names off our list and pick the best guy available,” explained Tambellini. “Jeff was a couple of players away on our list.”
The Canucks took Kesler 23rd overall while Jeff Tambellini went 27th to Los Angeles. Vancouver GM Brian Burke made no apologies. “I think it’s important for people to understand that we had Jeff rated high,” Burke said. “But we couldn’t draft him just because his dad was Steve Tambellini. That wasn’t the right thing to do. Besides, we don’t know how long Steve is going to be with us.”
Kesler, a Michigan native, had 11 goals and 20 assists in 40 games with Ohio State last season and played for the U.S. at the world junior championship. The six-foot-one centre must now decide when he’ll leave U.S. college and sign with the Canucks.
Michigan & Whalers in playoffs
University of Michigan in NCAA Tournament
The Michigan Wolverines will play the Wisconsin Badgers, ranked No. 11 overall, on Friday at 8:35 pm. Michigan head coach Red Berenson was pleasantly surprised to find that his team was playing close to home where friends and family could come out and support their Wolverines unlike last year when they had to head out east.
“I think if they went by the book, we would have went to Worcester to play BU,” said Berenson, alluding to what might have happened had the committee ranked the 16 teams and had No. 1 play 16, and so on.
The Badgers are 3-7-3 in the last 13 games and lost to North Dakota in the WCHA conference tourney, 3-2. On the other hand, Michigan is unbeaten in the last 12 games with only two ties. They also have recently received the regular season CCHA title with a record 48 points in the conference and then winning the CCHA conference over Ohio State at the Joe. “We’re pretty comfortable with the draw,” senior alternate captain Brandon Rogers said to The Michigan Daily. “We have some good teams in our region, but you have to beat the best teams to get to the end anyways.”
To determine where each team goes in the NCAA tourney, pairwise rankings is used. Michigan is the No. 6 team overall through this system even though they have the best record in the country. Many of their CCHA opponents have had weak seasons and that hurt Michigan in gaining bonus points in the pairwise rankings system. “This year, the CCHA might be on a little bit of a downer, and that hurts us when we win a lot of games,” senior captain Eric Nystrom said. “But this is the way it works, and, if this is the only way they can figure it out, so be it.”
If the Wolverines defeat Wisconsin Friday, they will go on to play the winner of Colorado College vs. Colgate Saturday at 5pm.
Berenson believes Colorado College was the best team in the West and will be difficult for any team to beat this weekend. “Colorado (College) has a lot of offensive skill,” Berenson said. “When you look at the schedule they’ve played, the teams they beat, they’re just a fine team.”
So where is Michigan ranked? Inside College Hockey and USA Today puts the Wolverines at No. 5 with Cornell, Denver, Boston College, and Colorado College above them. U.S. College Hockey Online placed Michigan tied in fourth with Boston College. Colorado College, Denver, and Cornell are ranked highter than the Wolverines in the USCHO.com poll.
“Expectations are high anyway,” Berenson said to The Detroit Free Press. “We’re going to Grand Rapids knowing we’re playing a real good team in Wisconsin. And if we have a good game, we’re going to play a real good team the next night. The games just get better and tougher, regardless of the expectations.”
Other NCAA hockey tournament news
FOXSports.com conducted an interview with senior Brendan Cook of the Bemidji State University Beavers. Cook was named to the CHA All-Tournament and has led his team in scoring. In 135 games, he has 54 goals and 47 assists. The Beavers won the College Hockey Tournament to win an automatic bid into the tournament. The CHA champ will face the No. 1 ranked team, Denver. Here’s what Cook had to say about playing the top seed in the tournament and their goal in this tournament.
FOXSports.com: Assuming you could play whatever team you wanted in the NCAA tournament, is there a team that you would like to face?
BC: No, not really. There are pluses and minuses to facing each team. Most likely, we will play Colorado College or maybe Denver and it’s a case of picking your poison with those two teams. So, we haven’t really thought about any of the teams in particular. We don’t really have a preference. We’re going in with the mindset that we are representing the school and moving the hockey program forward and we want to win a game in the NCAAs.
I recently discovered Inside College Hockey and their INCH Newstand which “will share links to the best coverage from around the world of college hockey – highlighting the great (and occasionally not-so-great) writing that has us talking. It’s meant to be part web log and part links page, with constantly updated content so you can keep checking back for the latest college hockey news.” I found it really useful in finding relative links to webcontent in the NCAA tournament and other college hockey news.
Plymouth Whalers 1st Round of Playoffs
The Plymouth Whalers finished sixth in the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League (2nd in the West Division) and will play the No. 3 seed, Owen Sound Attack, in the first round of the playoffs. Like the NHL, the OHL series is best four out of seven games. Here are playoff game dates:
Game 1 - Fri. Mar. 25 - Plymouth at Owen Sound, 7:30 pm.
Game 2 - Sat. Mar. 26 - Owen Sound at Plymouth, 7:30 pm.
Game 3 - Tues. Mar. 29 - Plymouth at Owen Sound, 7:00 pm.
Game 4 - Thur. Mar. 31 - Owen Sound at Plymouth, 7:30 pm.
* Game 5 - Sat. Apr. 2 - Plymouth at Owen Sound, 7:30 pm.
* Game 6 - Sun. Apr. 3 - Owen Sound at Plymouth, 6:00 pm.
* Game 7 - Tues. Apr. 5 - Plymouth at Owen Sound at 7:00 pm.
* if necessary.Tickets are available for all playoff games at the Compuware Sports Arena. Call (734) 453-8400 to order by phone. Ticket prices range from $10 for Executive Reserved to $15 for VIP. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm and is open this Saturday at 11:00 am until the end of the second period of the Plymouth-London game.
The other Western Confrence playoff pairings are set:
#1 London vs. # 8 Guelph
#2 Sault Ste. Marie vs. #7 Windsor
#4 Kitchener vs. #5 Erie
Unfortunately, I’m in Florida for vacation during all of those games except the first one and I don’t have any internet access over that period of time to fill you guys in on the outcomes. I hope they can move on to the next round so I can see some games at Compuware but it will be a challenging series for the Whalers to defeat the Sound Attack.
Update (3/22/05): Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, the Whalers are going to have a hard time in this series since they’re seen as huge underdogs against the Sound Attack. At the start of this season, it was expected to be a rebuilding one with 10 rookies this year. And for that, they did well finishing with 69 points but against the Sound Attack, who ended with 90 points, it will take a lot of effort. Owen Sound won the season series 2-0-1-1.
“All the pressure is on Owen Sound, it’s expected to win this series,” Whalers coach Mike Vellucci said. “We’re going in with not as much pressure. We’ll have fun, we’ll play hard and we’ll see how it comes out.”
Owen Sound has a deep bunch of talented offensive forwards, so the Whalers will look to clamp down defensively and depend on goalie Ryan Nie. Having led the Whalers into the second round of the playoffs last spring, Nie has an edge on Attack goalie Mike Brown, who has yet to compete in the OHL playoffs.
CCHA champs and NCAA hockey tournament
University of Michigan hockey news
Last night the University of Michigan Wolverines (#1) played the Ohio State Buckeyes (#2) in the CCHA finals at the Joe Louis Arena in front of 16,891 people. After a close game at the end of the second period tied 2-2, the Wolverines pulled ahead to win 4-2 and thus received an automatic bid into the 16-team NCAA tournament - for an NCAA-record 15th consecutive season. “This is a great tournament to win and it will give us a strong start into the NCAA Tournament,” said Michigan head coach Red Berenson to Daily News-Miner.
Last year in the CCHA final, Ohio State beat Michigan by the same score, 4-2, and marked their first CCHA title. “Them coming out and beating us last year in the final - that didn’t taste too good going home after losing to a team that kind of came from behind and worked their way to the top,” junior Jeff Tambellini said to The Ann Arbor News.
Michigan senior Milan Gajic scored the first two goals in the power play while junior right wing Jeff Tambellini netted the game-winning goal and the CCHA Tournament’s Bill Beagan Trophy for being the MVP. “Any time the game is on the line and you’re going against your top rival … to raise that banner is a great feeling,” Tambellini said.
Michigan beat Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks, 3-1, in the semi-finals to face the Buckeyes. The Wolverines who are 30-7-3 had already won the CCHA regular-season championship. In total, Michigan has won seven CCHA championships including three in the last four years.
In an article by DJ Powers of HockeysFuture.com, it lists and describes the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award. This year marks the 25th anniversary that is presented to the nation’s top collegiate player. The 10 finalists this season are made up of five forwards, four goaltenders, and one defenseman. Four of these players are current NHL prospects. Michigan sophomore forward T.J. Henisck leads his team and the conference with 51 points (22 goals, 29 assists) putting him fourth in the nation. This past winter, he was selected to the United States’ team at the World Junior Championships. He has also received other honors such as his selection to the CCHA’s All-Conference First Team and three CCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors. Hensick is eligible for the 2005 NHL Entry Draft and is currently ranked 94th among all North American skaters eligible.
Attendance Problems in Conference Playoffs
Here’s a report on attendance playoffs by The Ann Arbor News:
Thursday’s attendance of 3,436 for the opening day of the CCHA Super Six was the smallest crowd ever for a session since the league tournament moved into Joe Louis Arena in 1982. Friday’s crowd of 10,128 was the smallest semifinal session in 22 years.
And don’t just blame that on the NHL lockout or St. Patrick’s Day. At the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn., 15,586 attended Thursday’s play-in game and 17,794 came out to the Xcel Energy Center on Friday. At the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Friday’s Hockey East semifinals drew 17,565.
NCAA Hockey Tournament News
Six teams received automotic bids for winning their conference: Boston College in Hockey East, Mercyhurst in Atlantic Hockey, Cornell in ECACHL, Michigan in CCHA, Denver in WCHA, and Bemidji State in CHA. The other 10 team bids go to: North Dakota, Boston University, Minnesota, Ohio State, Maine, Colorado College, Wisconsion, Colgate, New Hampshire, and Harvard.
Here are all the matchups thanks to ESPN.com:
East Regional (Worchester, Mass.) -
Friday, March 25
No. 1 Boston College (25-6-7) vs. No. 4 Mercyhurst (18-15-4), 4:30 p.m.
No. 2 North Dakota (22-14-5) vs. No. 3 Boston U. (23-13-4), 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 26
Boston College-Mercyhurst winner vs. North Dakota-Boston U. winner, 8 p.m.West Regional (Minneapolis)
Saturday, March 26
No. 1 Minnesota (26-14-1) vs. No. 4 Maine (20-12-7), 2:30 p.m.
No. 2 Cornell (26-4-3) vs. No. 3 Ohio State (27-10-4), 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 27
Minnesota-Maine winner vs. Cornell-Ohio State winner, 3:30 p.m.Midwest Regional (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
Friday, March 25
No. 1 Colorado College (29-8-3) vs. No. 4 Colgate (25-10-3), 5 p.m.
No. 2 Michigan (30-7-3) vs. No. 3 Wisconsin (23-13-4), 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 26
Colorado College-Colgate winner vs. Michigan-Wisconsin winner, 5 p.m.Northeast Regional (Amherst, Massachusetts)
Saturday, March 26
No. 1 Denver (28-9-2) vs. Bemidji State (23-12-1), Noon
No. 2 New Hampshire (25-10-5) vs. No. 3 Harvard (21-9-3), 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 27
Denver-Bemidji State winner vs. New Hampshire-Harvard winner, NoonFrozen Four (Columbus, Ohio)
Thursday, April 7
East Regional winner vs. West Regional winner, 2 or 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Midwest Regional winner vs. Northeast Regional winner, 2 or 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, April 10
Championship
Semifinal winners, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Fans, WHA, & Lost Jobs
A USA Today article reports that the National Hockey Group, founded by hockey fan Patrick Malyszek, proposes a new way to go about “fixing” the lockout. Have the current league with its 30 teams be fan-owned and operated. Obviously, a professional sports league has never been done like this before but it supposedly would be like the publicly owned and non-profit Green Bay Packers Inc. The league’s governing board would consist of elected fans and players “which Malyszek says will depart from the league vs. players union mentality.” It might do that, but I feel that even then the governing board would be owners (the elected fans who probably would have a big stake in the stock) vs. players.
For this to work, an estimated 35 percent of hockey fans (this based on fans who attended an NHL game last season) would invest $557.16 at the minimum to put the league back where it was financially before the lockout happened. Players could even see a pay increase if the league’s stock rose. So would these stock owners/fans get a discount on season tickets or how would that work? I don’t see fans paying that much and then not being able to go to the hockey game. The National Hockey Group is planning a small tournament with some NHL players in either late April or early May. So why would his fan-owned league work and not Bain’s offer (the Boston business who offered $3.5 billion to buy the league)? According to Malyszek, “(Fans) have a share in ownership and a share in the control. We can offer a very unique product that the NHL no longer can.”
According to an article in the Post-Gazette, Penguins winger Mark Recchi somehow made it on to the WHA’s tournament players list on the WHA website even though he hasn’t committed to playing in the tournament. His former teammate, Jeremy Roenick, briefly talked to him about the tournament, but Recchi is still waiting on more details before he commits. The WHA’s players list has around 60 individuals “signed up” to play some hockey. The Bobby Hull Invitational has been designed to prepare the WHA for the start of their season, once they get up and running.
WHA president/owner Ricky Smith confirmed yesterday each player will be paid $20,000 US and that a $2-million prize will be awarded to the winning team. Players listed on the WHA website yesterday as participating in the tournament ranged from stars such as Jarome Iginla and Dany Heatley to journeymen such as Jim Cummins and Jeremy Stevenson. Smith said there are going to be some Maple Leafs involved, but none were listed. Games, scheduled to begin May 20, will be played in Vancouver and Hamilton.
Keith Primeau would definately consider playing in the WHA if the NHL is still locked out next season since going over to Europe is not an option for him. Primeau told Slam! Sports, “I’ve played in several charity games but the competition level has not been the same. I’m just excited about getting on the ice again. It would interest me because I have no intention of going to Europe. If there is any chance of playing somewhere on this continent, I’m interested.”
Another USA Today hockey article talked about how some of the newer teams are doing during the lockout. What I personally found the most interesting is the following excerpt below:
Many NHL jobs have been lost during the lockout, though, through layoffs or vacated positions that haven’t been filled. The SportsBusiness Journal has reported about 1,000 total NHL-related jobs have been lost among teams, business partners and the league.
In Anaheim, Ducks GM Al Coates says his staff has been reduced from 90 to 55 and might be trimmed further, but he doesn’t necessarily see that as a problem.
“We’re looking for efficiency,” Coates says. “When I started in 1980 (with Calgary) we had a full-time staff of eight. Sometimes I wonder how we ever got to this point in terms of the needs we thought we had to have… Sometimes you go for a long walk and say, ‘How did we get here?’”
1000 people have lost jobs because of the NHL lockout. 1000 lost jobs. The NHL and NHLPA need to wake up and make a deal because there are plenty of people being dealt hard times because of their ties to the league.
Legace comments & NHL memo
Thanks to the NHL Gong Show for pointing this out: The Calgary Herald learned that NHL teams received a memo from Gary Bettman asking them to “identify players in their organizations who they believe might be replacement players in the fall.” According to the Herald, other NHL clubs have confirmed that this memo was sent to them. The article went on to say that this would include minor league players on team rosters and maybe even players who make less then a million (so about 60% of the roster since the average NHL salary was $800,000).
I guess Shanny isn’t the only Red Wings player speaking up about the prospect of teams using replacement players. Manny Legace told the Montreal Gazette the following:
“I think there would be a lot of resentment, but it might be some guys’ only chance to make an impact and you can’t blame those guys. If anyone would cross, it would probably be somebody like me (salary range of $1.5 million US), but I have no intention of crossing. If regular (NHL players) cross, that’s a totally different story. We’re all supposed to stick together as one big family.”
A recent article by The Oakland Press pointed out that over the past few years, Detroit auto companies have been spending more and more advertising money on sporting events like the NCAA tourney and less and less on hockey. That’s pretty sad considering Detroit calls itself Hockeytown. Understandably, the automobile companies can’t market during hockey games this year but whenever it returns GM, Chrysler, and Ford have taken notice.
The industry’s marketing gurus noticed when college basketball games, which replaced the National Hockey League on ESPN after the NHL season was canceled, drew a bigger audience than professional hockey…Automotive industry ad buyers will, no doubt, listen politely when sellers from the NHL finally show up to make their pitches. Auto executives, after all, do believe in sports as a vehicle for selling their brands, so they’ll probably listen.
But getting them interested again, to the point where they’ll actually commit serious money to the sport, will probably take some doing, particularly given the popularity of college basketball tournaments that have now become a big rite of spring.
The Associated Press noted that Detroit will be holding a NHL general manager meeting with GMs from all 30 teams on April 7-8. The purpose of this meeting is to review the new rule changes made in the AHL this season and get an update on the talks between the NHL and NHLPA.
All ideas for rule changes would need to be approved by the board of governors before they can be implemented. Others will also have to be approved by the players’ association, particularly changes that would reduce the size of goalie equipment.
If anyone has any suggestions or anything they’d like to see in my blog, leave a comment and let me know. I’m interested in hearing any constructive criticism people would like to offer so I can get more visitors and then keep them coming back- thanks!
NHL & NHLPA Meet Today
The NHL issued the following statement on its website after a 1.5 hour long meeting with the NHLPA. As usual, nothing was probably accomplished and even if something was accomplished- maybe they’ve learned to keep their mouths shut. However, I feel it’s the former that occurred and not the latter.
TORONTO (March 11, 2005) - The National Hockey League and NHL Players’ Association today resumed negotiations in Toronto. Attending the meeting for the NHL were Commissioner Gary Bettman, Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer Bill Daly, Senior Vice President & General Counsel David Zimmerman, as well as outside counsel Bob Batterman.
Following the meeting, Daly issued the following statement:
“We met with the NHL Players’ Association today in Toronto for approximately 1 1/2 hours. No progress was made towards a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The parties have agreed to meet again next week.”
The following was issued by NHLPA Executive Director Bob Goodenow in a statement on NHLPA.com
“Gary and I engaged in general discussions today and we plan to meet again next week for further dialogue. There were no proposals exchanged today.”
I have a feeling this is going to be a long spring and potentially summer while they try to agree on something.
Everyone should check out Paul’s hockey blog, Breaking Sports. We used to chat about the Red Wings on mlive.com and I’m happy to see that he has a blog now because he’s so informative!
Wall Street Journal & Hockey
I was looking at my referrals (in my site meter statistics) and I saw that I had around 80 of them from the Wall Street Journal.
Even in their apology letters to fans over the cancelled season, NHL teams can’t avoid messing up. Chicago Sun-Times Columnist Greg Couch notices that a seemingly sincere missive from the hometown Blackhawks reads just like one from the Boston Bruins. Turns out, they both probably originated from the league’s public-relations staff. “No one ever has claimed that the person who signed these letters actually wrote them,” Mr. Couch writes. “The argument is only over which PR department expressed our loving owners’ heartfelt feelings best.” (Other teams used similar language; the blog Behind the Jersey rounded up owners’ statements.)
So let’s just say that it made my day and I really don’t have anything to post today…sorry!
Buy out the NHL?
What were Bain Capital LLC and Game Plan LLC thinking when they offered to buy the NHL for $3.5 billion? It had to be some sort of PR scheme on the part of the owners - I don’t know. I do know that they would have to get all 30 team owners to agree to the deal. And I could never see it happening in a buyout. Most of these team owners bought a team to either show off how rich they were or because they liked the sport and saw it as a hobby.
I could never see Mike and Marian Ilitch selling their beloved Detroit Red Wings. With all the sweat and tears that they’ve poured into this team, it’s become almost a part of them. They took this team from the Dead Wings era to a modern day hockey dynasty. The Wings were valued by Forbes, Inc. to be worth around $266 million, more than any other NHL team.
“For 23 years the Ilitches have poured millions into their NHL team, watching it blossom from perennial loser into a three-time Stanley Cup champion. Even the nasty business of a season canceled by a labor dispute hasn’t altered their affection.
“Remember,” said Jimmy Devellano, the Ilitches’ first Wings employee, “all 30 teams have to sell. Mike and Marian don’t want to sell. They like their team. So it can’t happen. It won’t work. Once one owner didn’t want to sell, it was over.”
So if by some miracle the buyout did occur, what would happen?
Each team would be given a set budget and make its own decision regarding personnel without any involvement from the owners (similar to Major League Soccer). Everything would be under the owners - teams, arenas, pucks, etc. This would be very beneficial to the owners, but not really the players.
“Game Plan chairman Robert Caporale later told a Boston radio station: “It’s taking the National Hockey League and its 30 teams and operating it as any large corporation does with each team essentially being a division of one company. We would keep in place team management, team presidents, the GMs. They would be completely autonomous.”
And thanks to Michael @ Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic for his nice compliments about Behind the Jersey in a recent entry of his:
“Through my searches around the internet, I came up on a new blog that apparently have been reading my blog and had a link, but never bothered to tell me about it. Behind the Jersey is a well-done hockey blog that is dedicated to the Detroit Red Wings. I like the dark maroon color layout, and the writing is top notch thus far. I encourage all of you to give her perspective a look every now and then. Especially since my concentration of interest doesn’t always bring me back to Motown/Motor City.”
I’ve been watching my Red Wings DVD that I got as a present for Christmas and it just reminds me how much I really miss Red Wings hockey. My room is covered in signed Wings’ pictures and other memoribilia but it doesn’t seem to help much. I enjoy watching sports, but nothing is better than hockey at its best. NHL and NHLPA get your act together and bring hockey back in time for next season!