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i would not trade Kopitar for Meszaros and Gerber, especially with the wealth of talent that LA already has on the backend through their drafting...
I agree Ali, if someone is getting a steal of a deal it would be CHI, not OTT. IMO
can you imagine Toews, Kane and Kopitar on a line? Gotta give props to Rocky Wirtz...when it comes to running a hockey club, thankfully the apple fell very far from the tree. His dad destroyed that franchise through neglect, and in one season this guy is starting to turn it around.
Living in Ottawa, I've come to the conclusion that just about everything the sports writers at the Sun write is total bull$#it. Their stories are about as reliable as the stuff Eklund prints.
Remember for the last two years, these are the geniuses who have been saying that both Gerber and Emery were on their way to _____________(fill in the blank) for ____________ (make up some name, preferably a high profile star).
Gerber is a back up goalie (at best) who loses his confindence easily. I won't even comment on Emery.
BTW You can buy the sun for $0.25. You can't even make a phone call for that anymore.
Gerber to me is on par with guys like, Huet, Conklin and Thomas. They all have there moments, but I wouldn't try to build a team around or believe I could win a championship with any of them.
Hey, be nice to Eklund. He's had the Habs pretty consistently as the main contenders for Sundin... don't jinx it!
I'd rather he jinx it so Eklund says he's not coming here anymore. That would only mean he IS coming here.
Laraque will make them Pay the Price!
Interesting article by Stephen Brunt. Ironically, if Bettman is ousted by the owners, it won't be for turning down Jim Balsille's $240MM for Del Biaggio's $193MM bid (which on its own no doubt cost the owners millions in franchise value). It will be for accepting an owner without completing the due diligence.
It irks me that Balsille and Del Biaggio both had the same intentions, but the one with more money, who did his homework and loves hockey (albeit was a little too public about his intentions) was turned down due to Bettman's ego and his taking Canadian hockey fans for granted in order to suck up to disinterested US fans.
With this exercise, the NHL has been exposed as a wannabe league not a legitimate business empire like the other 3 major leagues. It's time for a change and time to take a real hard look at the finances of the teams losing money, and repatriate some teams home to Canada (at least Hamilton/Winnipeg, and maybe Quebec City).
Lorne - I understand your heartfelt sentiment but the 21st century NHL has passed by minor markets like Winnipeg and Quebec City. As for Hamilton, Buffalo and Toronto would never allow a franchise to go into that city. As well, Hamilton's rink is now out of date.
The Original 24 Cups
Hear hear! Off with his sniveling little head!
I personally can't wait to see the fans reaction to Bettman when he takes the stage at the draft. Imagine, he was even booed in Columbus two years ago (didn't see this years as I was in Greece)...
i kind of look forward to it.
OMG, I'll be there just for the pleasure of giving him a 10 minute booing ovation.
Laraque will make them Pay the Price!
I wonder how long the longest booing ovation directed at one person ever was at a sporting event? I know bush did pretty badly tossing out baseballs to open steroidball season the last couple of times, but I figure some players must have done worse. As unfair as that comparison may seem to any player in any sport.
Yeah, that will be a nice(?) opportunity for the good people of Habland. :o)
That to me was uncalled for (booing Bettman at draft and when he handed the Cup to Detroit).
Sure, not everyone loves the guy but I personally don't think he should be booed at public appearances. I mean, I know we all hate him for not letting Basillie buy the Preds and bring them back to Canada, calling the Lockout (that eventually didn't fix anything) and all the other "not so good" things he pulled while managing the NHL, but, the NHL is still there. I'm sure there's a lot of background stuff that we, the fans, do not know about.
Can you imagine how hard it must be to manage a multi-billion $$$ enterprise while trying to please everyone, including an association (NHLPA) that represents roughly 750 "employees", not including all the outside influences and the other "employees" in the minors etc...lawyers, governments, lobbyists, shareholders etc involved??? I think there's way more to it than saying Yes to fans who want another Canadian team...
I, for one, am glad I'm not in his little shoes...
HE will get booed but he is not all that is bad with hockey. He is the front man for the owners and the league so I guess he takes the blame but he is by no means a single man making all of these decisions. The ownership group, the players association,etc....they are all looking out for themselves and although Bettman is comical at times I am not naive enough to blame him for all of the problems without realizing the there is plenty of blame to go around. So we get rid of Gary and bring in another puppet ...will anything really change??? I don't think so.
I think if they had the right guy in there, someone who had different and more realistic goals, the league would be better off. Look at the NHLPA for example. Bob Goodenow seemed just as misleading and crooked as Bettman did, but now the PA seems to have the right guy. Paul Kelly is much more down to earth, and doesn't seem to have that hidden agenda that we got from Goodenow and currently Bettman.
All we need is a commisioner with a clear and common sense goal. One that the entire league and it's fans agree with, not just himself and a few selected owners.
The right guy is whoever will cater to the most owners and those with those most clout as far as the requirements for the position go. As Canadians we have a hostile temperment because of the loss of the Nordiques and Jets and the shady dealings that prevented Balsille from acquiring a team and bringing it North. Bettman is a business man and a very good one at that ...his track record proves it. As a public figure and from a Canadian perspective especially he is perhaps not the greatest but let's not lose sight of the fact that he is trying to better the league not Canada. Canada is already sold on the game and from a business perspective he has millions of potential new fans in the USA to help grow the game. Some trials will fail, some will and have succeeded but the days of hockey being our game should be reserved for the Olympics unless we prefer to set ourselves up for disappointment.
I would love more Canadian franchises but I am Canadian and not a multi million dollar investor or owner ....who is more important to Gary??? The answer is quite simple and as for Paul Kelly vs Goodenow.......let's see how Kelly fares when the real S&%t htis the fan before claiming him a saviour type. He has yet to deal with the pressures and cracking union woes that result during strike or lockout times. 750 people although unionized will not all agree and there will be differences and a war from from within should something arise again....after that ....then we can judge Paul Kelly (although it will be unfairly because like Goodenow he has to support the majority opinion).
Owners and fans will never have the same goals in mind....they want more of our money and we want a better product for less money. Personally I think the more information we as fans are privy to the more divided we become and the more fans become alienated. Both sides failed and the game should never have been interrupted....Gary Bettman is no more guilty then a player who wouldn't compromise, Goodenow, an owner,etc. They all played their roles and ultimately they let us down....as fans......they didn't lose any owners or players because of the lockout so obviously they are still involved. Either we watch the game and enjoy it as it is presented to us or we don't ......booing one guy and blaming him for all that is wrong with the game is kind of silly to me and it will be embarrassing to me because it will happen.
Altogether an insightful post-- very nice to see a reasoned, rational discussion taking place here (other posts have not been so well thought out around here lately...)
Two items of interest.
1) You mention that Bettman is trying to better the league. Some would argue that this contradicts your statement regarding him being a businessman representing other business men who "want more of our money". Unless of course you don't think the league is watered down "talent-wise." Of course the NHLPA is guilty here too. I don't think they'd ever piss off the membership by suggesting that there are a good 6-10 teams who should just pack it in and a commensurate number of players who need to find a new career path. :)
2) To say that a player who refused to compromise is just as guilty/responsible as Bettman seems a bit of a stretch, no?
Otherwise, thank you for a a very interesting post.
I look forward to more.
I just wrote a very quick and general response and I apologize for the lack of real clarity but the more of my posts you read the more you will learn that is just me...that's why I often have to wirte such long posts to try and get my message across. You are right about the first point and you are exactly right and I tried to say that in the first line that Bettman works for the owners and his directive is to do what is best for the league from the perspective of the owners and as a business. As for the second point I think the palyers have to take some of the blame inthis as well....they are not making chump change but I do feel they deserve their fair share of the blame (which is probably significantly less than the bureaucrats invoved)for not being able to deal with these issues during the offseason. Everyone shares that blame and the negotiating tactics and both sides trying to use time as a weapon backfired. I don't blame individual players I jsut say the collective is partly responsible as are all parties involved in the whole matter. If the owners who were represented by Bettman are to blame (which I feel they are) then I can't contradict myself and say that the players representede by Goodenow are not also to blame. To blame a player is silly because there are so many that would likely have just wanted to play, unfortunately the players with clout and the ability to influence the collective and those in charge of the NHLPA tried similar tactics to those of the owners. A vicious circle with only the game and fans as losers.......and those level headed persons that surely existed on both sides but were buried by each side and it's "collective" might. It would have been really interesting if the opposition factions within each group (and they had to exist)had joined forces and begun a movement to mediate. Egos, dollars and a long term business model ran the show and unfortuantely I see no reason the situation will be any different again next time noegotiations are due.
gUYS WHO GENUINELY CARE ABOUT HE GAME LIKE wAYNE gRETZKY, sTEVE yZERMAN, bRENDAN sHANAHAN,etc need to rise to the forefront and form a "competition committee" like group to involve themselves as an ombudsman like entity (just a suggestion)and help to influence discussions from the games perspective in conjunction with the organizational objectives that are sternly in place whether people are willing to accept it or not. Whatever deal is eventally ironed out can be retroactive to the expiration of the existing agreement but the show must go on......I don't ahve the business background to know how much truth there was to Bettman's "the league will save money by not playing" suggestion but that little tidbit was and is quite key IMO. If that is truly the case then what is to prevent him from once again taking a step back to try and take two forward with the long term plan obviously his objective.
Again, another excellent post. I will definitely take the time to read your future posts (with gusto).
As for point #1-- I figured it was a time/space issue. But I just wanted to clarify (one thing about me, I absolutely can't stand to see a begged question stand!). As an aside, (i'm interested in having your opinion)do you think there's an arugment to be made that better quality hockey makes better business sense? Part of me would really like to think that it would, but another part of me thinks I'm clinging to a fantasy... sigh.
As for point #2-- Again, got your gist in original post, just wasn't sure if i was maybe misinterpreting it and you were in fact going to rant about "rich athletes" (a not infrequent topic here ). I totally agree with you on the point about both sides taking blame (collectively). I also think you might be on to something with the whole ombudsman thing. Former greats could have an important role to play in helping shape the future of the league-- particularly if it's not tied to a particular business model (owner or players' union). Could be this might just be the ticket. Or I might be fantasizing again.
Anyway, look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Bravo.
Oh I understand that Bettman wants to expand in the US. But you know what? Eventually he has to realize it's not working. Sure it's great to have huge goals, but there comes a time when you have to be realistic. If it weren't for the Canadian teams, the league would not have any profit. Regardless of the "potential" fans in the US, Canada is the majority money maker for the league. Why not move teams like Nashville and Atlanta to Winnipeg and Quebec City when you know they will succeed. Will that take away from his overall goal? No, because we already know the game doesn't sell well in those markets. Even if a team like Nashville went on to win the cup and built a solid fan base, they would not bring in the revenue of a Canadian based team. Bettman has to wake up from this dream of competing against the NBA and other US sports. It's one thing to initially have the dream and strive for it, but it has been about 15 years in the making and it's not working.
This may be off the wall but here it goes. This is a personal opinion but I think the real reason the US hasn't bought into hockey is because they still aren't producing enough NHL quality players. If the player ratio resembled teh ratio of US to Canadian teams then I think they may view teh sport differently.....much like the CFL here...who are we kidding even with quotas dictating the minimum number of Canadians football is still very much an American game regardless of what we call the league and do to the rules. Canadians would buy into the CFL if more hometowns produced heroes much like the States would rally behind their hometown boys if not for the fact there aren't many. Until there are several thousand more rinks and kids playing the game in the Southern US the game will not take off there. The game needs to grow from the ground up and that si what they are attempting and I'm afraid the league is in it for the long haul. The NHL only had six teams after half a century so if you look at the bigger picture in that context they are actually doing failry well at growing the game in the US.
Too long. Next! :P j/k
Laraque will make them Pay the Price!
lol Nice. I saw that the other day.
Exactly...at least Bettman is entertaining! lmao
You want to read on a good article related to this try this out. This is from the same guy who did the Kurt Sauer/ Jeff Finger piece at the deadline. http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=16174
LA Kings have plenty of spending to do - Salary Cap Ceiling woes .. by Ken Campbell .. The Hockey News ..... http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/17206-THNcom-Blog-Kings-have-some-...
It's misleading. About $4m in cap space is being set aside for Drew Doughty to sign (that includes his potential performance bonuses), and O'Sullivan will get a pretty decent deal out of his 53 point season. In reality, they only need to add probably one player of significant salary, likely in the $3m range.