If Balsillie were allowed to buy the Predators...

From the Globe & Mail:

If the National Hockey League had played its cards right, one of its most troubled franchises would soon have a new home in a stable hockey market, with stable ownership and a stable future. Instead, having outsmarted itself in blocking the move of a U.S.-based team to Canada, the league has an unholy mess.

Little more than a year ago, Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie was set to buy the foundering Nashville Predators and move them to Hamilton. It was a marriage made in heaven. Mr. Balsillie, the co-CEO of Research In Motion, is a dynamic and deep-pocketed owner of a kind the NHL needs more of. And a team in Hamilton would have thrived; more than 12,000 fans quickly put down deposits for season tickets in expectation of the Predators' arrival.

Read the entire editorial here. (Hat tip to Puck Daddy)

I tend to agree with this editorial. If the NHL was not going to give Balsillie the option of moving the team, why did it essentially give that option to Del Biaggio? Would NHL hockey be more profitable in Kansas City than Hamilton? C'mon.

Bettman under the microscope

From Stephen Brunt of the Globe & Mail:

That "portability" became Del Biaggio's No. 1 marketing plank in trying to attract fresh money.

Unfortunately, the local Nashville ownership and the local politicians who were subsidizing the franchise didn't know a thing about that quiet arrangement.

And just a little bit of due diligence on Boots might have revealed that he was broke, that he may have been securing loans on false premises, that he was a very, very bad risk — before he wound up in bankruptcy protection, being sued from all angles, and under investigation by the FBI.

In any other walk of life, in any other business, bad judgment on that scale would get a chief executive fired.

Read the entire article here.

This story is turning into a disaster for the NHL. Clearly "Boots" should have been nowhere near an NHL franchise. I'm sure Bettman will release a statement in the next day or two containing an explanation for what exactly happened.

Jim Dolan does not back down from Bettman and the NHL

From John Dellapina of the New York Daily News:

The Garden filed its response Thursday night to that June 18 counterclaim in which the league asked the U.S. District Court for Southern New York to not only dismiss the Garden's original lawsuit from last September but also permit the commencement of in-house disciplinary action that could result in the Rangers franchise being stripped from MSG's ownership.

In its response, the Garden argued again that specific league policies were illegal - even if ratified by a vote of clubs - and that the NHL rule prohibiting a member club from suing it (under penalty of franchise forfeiture) also was illegal.

Read the short story here.

It is no surprise that Dolan has gone right back at the NHL with his complaints. The relationship between MSG and the NHL is sure to become more strained than cordial over the next little while.

Burke responds to Lowe's comments...kind of

From Dan Wood of the Orange County Register:

More importantly, we believe our fan base is as supportive and as rabid and as loyal as any fan base in pro sports, not just in the National Hockey League. We’ve played to 77 (consecutive home) sellouts, which I believe is the third-best streak in the NHL. All of our suites are sold. Club seats are at record levels. No one can question the commitment and support and loyalty of the Anaheim Ducks fan base. We believe they’re the best fans in professional sports.

Read the entire story here.

Obviously the NHL's directive has limited the entertainment value of Burke's comments.

It comes as no surprise that Burke has defended his market to the press. One of his strengths as a GM has been his ability to increase his team's prominence in its particular market.

Is the NHL's revenue sharing system flawed?

From Al Strachan of Fox Sports:

The idea was that the small-market teams would get some of the revenues of the large-market teams and thereby be allowed to compete. But there are flaws in that system.

For instance, in order to qualify for full revenue sharing, a team's revenue must increase faster than the league average and certain attendance levels must be met. But how can you meet those goals without spending more on players? Fans won't come to see a struggling team.

Read more Strachan's entire article here.

Strachan doesn't like Gary Bettman and never has, so his objectiveness may be called into question. That said, he raises many valid points in this article and makes a convincing argument that the system really hasn't accomplished what it set out to do.

New York to host the 2010 Winter Classic?

From John Dellapina of the NY Daily News:

The Daily News has learned that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Yankees COO Lonn Trost and mayor Mike Bloomberg concluded their discussions on the topic recently with each pledging their interest in playing a Winter Classic in the new Yankee Stadium - perhaps on New Year's Day 2010.

Read the entire article here.

Good idea for the NHL. The Winter Classic should become an annual event and including the league's major cities has to be a must.

NHL ownership and the meaning of "due diligence"

From Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch:

By all appearances, the local franchise is a healthy operation being run by intelligent people. There is a strong sense that a change in fortune will be orchestrated, on the ice and at the box office. At least, it is possible.

In sharp contrast is the league office in New York. At a time when the strong Canadian dollar has helped boost league-wide profits to an unprecedented level, commissioner Gary Bettman has been juggling scandals to the point where his leadership must be called into question.

Bettman is a corporate lawyer of some repute. Yet he has, unfathomably, forgotten the meaning of "due diligence."

Read the entire article here.

The NHL needs to ramp up its due diligence on incoming owners to ensure that scandals, like the ones that have happened recently, don't happen again.

Bettman caught off-guard

From Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star:

Even the smug man in charge at NHL headquarters would surely agree last week was an especially bad one.

As he addressed the league's board of governors in New York, Gary Bettman admitted he had no clue that two of his closest NHL confidants – L.A.'s Philip Anschutz and Minnesota's Craig Leipold – had lent San Jose banker Boots Del Biaggio a combined $17 million (U.S.) to help him pay for a $25 million stake in the Nashville Predators.

NHL owners were speechless, according to a source who attended the meeting, as Bettman grumbled he had been in the dark. Neither Anschutz nor Leipold had made him aware of the cozy back-door deal.

Read the entire article here.

The news just keeps getting worse for the NHL. It is reports like this that make me pass on posting news of Edmonton and Tampa's sales being approved by the Board of Governors. If the NHL approved Del Biaggio's bid, then those groups will obviously be approved.

News you can use

In this article, Globe and mail columnist/preacher Stephen Brunt discusses the abject failure that Gary Bettman has been. Not that this is a surprise to our dedicated readers, but still it's nice to see that my rantings against Bettman have not fallen on deaf ears. (Note: My tongue is planted firmly in cheek) Now if we can just get more NHL articles written in the newspapers that service the Tri-State area. Wink, wink.

For Illegal curve, I am Andrew M.

Penguins versus Flyers at Penn State?

Gary Bettman: "The possibility of having the Penguins play the Flyers at some point in Happy Valley is intriguing and it's on the list of possibilities that we are and will explore. I also have no doubt that if you played every year in Happy Valley the weather would not cooperate every year. These games are difficult to put on. They're risky. They're expensive. And they're dependent on things that are not within our control."

Here is the full article from Philly.com.

I am not overly surprised by Bettman's comments. First off, without any concrete information about outdoor games in the future, I do not expect Bettman to start curbing fan enthusiasm over this particular possibility. He is better off feeding the fire which he has done with these vague comments. In the end, there is not much to read into here.

NHL Morning Papers: Stanley Cup Finals Edition (Sunday)

Here are the NHL morning papers for the Stanley Cup Finals which began last night:

Detroit Red Wings (1) versus Pittsburgh Penguins (2):

• Detroit really seemed like Hockeytown again last night, writes Michael Rosenberg. If you did not know before, Mikael Samuelsson loves to score goals. Chris Osgood was terrific in the first period last night. Last night's game made one thing apparent, Tomas Holmstrom is a marked man. Here is the video of Marc-Andre Fleury's hilarious fall out of the Pittsburgh bench when coming onto the ice.
• Even after last night's game, Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette thinks the Red Wings are beatable. Last night's game would have been different had the Penguins capitalized on their first period power plays. The Penguins may have their hands full with Zetterberg and Datsyuk, but they are not going to let the media bother them. Apparently Gary Bettman is happy the Penguins stayed put in Pittsburgh.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Email any thoughts, ideas or suggestions to illegalcurve@gmail.com

Cold Hard Rants presents Positive Thinking

For the past number of months I have been (sporadically) regaling my loyal reading audience with my rants, usually of the angry variety, as rantings are wont to be, as it relates to the NHL. Well, in an effort to prevent the pre-conceived notion from developing that I am nothing but a critic (and as we all know, it is easier to be a critic), this column will be nothing but positive things relating to the NHL. Perhaps it’s the beautiful lunar eclipse occurring outside, or maybe the cold weather has frozen me in a positive feeling, but whatever its reason, here is a list of positive things relating to the NHL:

1) I’m thankful to the NHL for putting teams in outposts like Atlanta, Carolina, Nashville, Miami and Tampa Bay. Without doing so, these cities would be woefully unprepared in case home freezers could no longer perform their complicated duties
2) I’m thankful to Gary Bettman for performing his job so woefully, as without his incompetence, hockey’s popularity would have increased and there would be even more hockey on TV thus preventing me from maximizing my usefulness
3) I’m thankful Bettman did everything in his power to remove a team from Winnipeg, thus ensuring I can not spend recklessly on Jets tickets and assorted paraphernalia
4) I’m thankful the CBC still employs Don Cherry. In society, when we are doing everything in our power to eliminate xenophobia, it’s refreshing that the CBC still employs someone not afraid to appeal to everyone’s base prejudices and pre-conceived notions of people
5) I’m thankful the NHL hasn’t clearly established rules for the shoot-out. It’s only been 3 years already. Controversy puts butts in the seats.
6) I’m thankful that hockey, a game best appreciated for it’s speed, has now slowed to a crawl thanks to all the stoppages for TV timeouts, radio timeouts, web-cast timeouts, and live-blog timeouts. It’s nice that the NHL is stretching games out over a longer time period so paying customers feel they are getting their money’s worth. Considerate, really.

So, as you can see there are many things to be thankful for as a hockey fan. And next time someone accuses me of being a jaded, bitter hockey fan this article will prove differently. What are some of the things in the NHL you are positive about/thankful for? Feel free to comment below, and broaden my horizons.

For Illegal Curve, I am Andrew M.

News You Can Use Late in the Day

-Fernando Pisani is back skating with some of the Oilers, and plans on playing this year.
-Gary Bettman will host a show on XM Satellite Radio.
-Jason Spezza has resumed skating with the Ottawa Senators.
-The Hockey Hall of Fame welcomes a distinguished class.
-A look around the CHL.
-Canada wins the Four Nations Cup in women's hockey.
-Canada West captures its second straight World Jr. A Challenge.
-NHL.com profiles Flyer's prospect Jonathan Matsumoto.
-Former Philadelphia Phantom Ben Stafford joins the Marines.
-North Dakota slips to #5 in this week's college hockey rankings. Note the story about Joe Finley allegedly slashing a Badger as they made their way to their dressing rooms.
-The Bruins send Matt Lashoff and Tuukka Rask back to Providence.
-The Leafs have recalled Stefan Kronwall.
-The Offside Blog reports that the Hawks may be scouting Bryan McCabe.
-Garth Snow insists he is not stockpiling defensemen, despite his recent re-acquisition of Freddy Meyer.
-Taking Note examines the possibility that Casey Pierro-Zabotel, a Penguins 3rd rounder, may ditch his NCAA commitment to play for the Vancouver Giants.
-The Moose Jaw Warriors and Kamloops Blazers swap Florida Panther's draft picks. Keaton Ellerby for Brady Calla.
-Some Torontonians have invented leaf-blower hockey.
-Bill Guerin will sit out tonight after suffering an eye injury.
-Randy Sportak notes that the Flames confidence is suffering due to their 5-game losing streak.
-Darren Eliot writes that the current edition of the Blackhawks bear some similarities to the 1992 Cup Finalist team.
-Vincent Lecavalier is named top star for the week.
-Wade Belak mentions that someone is eventually going to "kill" Sean Avery.
-News You Can Use noted last week that the LA Kings were involved in an Amazing Race type bonding exercise. Here is a partial list of their tasks.
-Tucker v. Avery. Slayen, there is no need to look this up on Westlaw. Its a hockey fight bra.
-Stan Fischler with a few interesting tid-bits from around the NHL.
-The Score with a list of questions for NHL goalies.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior

Cold Hard Rants

Sitting here in my shirtsleeves on October 25^th with the sun shining through the windows, a cold thirst quenching slurpee in my hand, a bike ride on my mind, and a day by my pool in my dreams, my thoughts naturally turned to hockey and the NHL. As is my wont, those thoughts were along the lines of how dumb the NHL and its schedule makers are.

This week, I read with bemusement about how the Detroit Red Wings’ proposal to extend the season to 84 games had been rejected by the fellow NHL governors. Only in the NHL would owners be delusional enough to think that more games are the solution to one of the myriad of problems currently plaguing the NHL. Currently the NHL season stretches from September to June. That’s ten months for our readers who are mathematically challenged. Arguably, the coldest city that has an NHL team is Edmonton, Alberta. When the coldest city to house an NHL team only has cold weather for probably 6 months a year, does it not make sense to shorten the season rather than lengthen it? In my humble opinion, a game that is played on a cold surface (i.e. ice) works best when it is cold outside! Fans are in the mood for hockey on a cold winter’s night. No one has ever said, “it’s 95 degrees outside, I don’t want to play golf, or go swimming, or go sit on a patio with a cerveza, I want to watch people skate!”

Now while I am a strong advocate for a shorter NHL season, I am also not naive enough to think that there is a snowball’s chance in hell of this ever happening (pardon the pun). The reason why, comes down to the usual issue when discussing problems with the NHL, namely, dollars and cents. Currently and for the foreseeable future, and despite the Tiny Perfect Commissioner’s best spin efforts, the NHL is referred to as a gate driven league. In short, and taking away all the b.s. around that euphemism, it means that an NHL team receives the majority of their revenue by getting people to pay their way into the arena to see a game. The TV contract with NBC pays each team a percentage of the zero dollars NBC pays the NHL to televise their games. Believe it or not, any percentage of zero dollars equals zero dollars per team. (Again, the help is for our mathematically deficient readers—although if someone would copy and paste that fact to NHL head offices in either Toronto or New York, it might aid in their understanding of the mathematical equation.) To contrast, the NFL pays all of their players’ salaries via the revenue from their TV contract long before they have had one person pay for a ticket to see a game. So, when the Detroit Red Wings want to extend the season by two games, it is a blatant attempt at a cash grab, to help offset the loss of revenue they have experienced by no longer being able to refer to themselves as Hockeytown, a title that was stripped from them when they were unable to sell out playoff games, and this year’s home opener.

Now, as I know from my political days, it is easy to be a critic, but I can hear my readers yelling, what is your solution, Andrew M? The answer is easy (at least to me it is.) Fewer games played in a season would result in those games being viewed as more valuable. More valuable to the team’s season and potential playoff future, and as an intended consequence, the fans would put more value on each individual game. Thus, the team would be able to charge a higher amount for tickets to the games. It’s simple supply and demand, yet this basic economic concept seems lost on the NHL and the owners. When there is only 35 home games per year, they are played during an environmental season that actually befits hockey, and the Tuesday night in February against Atlanta seems a lot more important to the paying public than the Sunday afternoon in April versus Nashville does. Although why there are NHL teams in Atlanta and Nashville in the first place is another issue for another time and day.

For Illegal Curve, I am Andrew M.

About the writer: Formerly a speech writer for a Canadian Federal Politician, Andrew will be bringing his unique take on the hockey world to the illegal curve blog once a week, or more often if the rage needs to be released in a manner other than clobbering a referee over the head with a whiskey bottle. Mainly because he doesn’t have enough empty whiskey bottles at his disposal.

Opening Night

The NHL season officially opened tonight, and it was an exciting one. Three of the games went to overtime and one game was within a goal. Hockey's back baby!

New visitors: This is last nights news post. This morning's Morning Musings can be found here.


In the news

• TSN Insider Bob McKenzie lists who is on the "hot seat" for this season
• The full details on Dany Heatleys new contract. Next up, Jason Spezza
• Gary Bettman is very busy at this time of year. Winnipeg is singled out as a city in which Bettman has had the most discussion for expansion. Notable quote by Commissioner Bettman: "It's always fun to come to a game at the Air Canada Centre. It makes you feel like you're in the centre of the universe." He's absolutely right Toronto IS the centre of the universe.
• Speaking of Gary Bettman, here is a nice Q&A with him via CBC.ca
  
• Nashville could be looking for a new buyer...again. Jim Balsilile have your blackberry ready, a call may be coming your way.
• Flyers GM John Stevens was active tonight as he inked Jim Dowd and Jesse Boulerice to one year deals.

Can I Get a Recap?

• Dany Heatley proves he was worth the cash, he scores 3 points including the OT winner in a victory over the Leafs. The Leafs top line of Blake, Sundin and Antropov was solid in their first regular season game together.
• The Red Wings failed to sell out their first regular season game since 1996 as they defeated the Anaheim Ducks on Jiri Hudlers shootout winner
• The Habs powerplay success of last year carries over in their 3-2 OT victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Saku Koivu scored 2 PP goals including the OT winner.
• Paul Stastny shows no effects of a sophomore slump. He makes it rain hats in Denver as the Avs win a close one over the Stars 4-3.
  

Morning Musings

I am going to catch the Sabres' morning skate so I will be skipping my usual preamble for two consecutive days. The normal Morning Musings format will return on Tuesday.

On to the morning papers:

• According to Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Ryan Malone is in the best shape of his career and coach Michel Therrien believes Malone has matured as a player and person.
• President John Davidson thinks the Blues have played "sloppy" thus far in the pre-season and need to get rid of some of their bad habits so the team doesn't have a bad start like it did last season. The Blues lost 4-3 to Chicago in exhibition play on Sunday.
• Dan Boyle severed three tendons in what can only be termed as a freak accident after the Bolts' pre-season loss to the Capitals on Saturday. The good news is the surgery to repair the wrist went "perfectly." Boyle is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. (Writer's note: This is a big loss for the Bolts. I am interested to see how the team will start off the season w/o their best defenseman by a country mile.)
• Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star takes a look at the forward options for the Leafs heading into the season without Kyle Wellwood or Mark Bell for significant time. (Writer's note: After looking at these forward lines, Leaf fans may cancel their subscription to Leafs TV.)
• Alain Vigneault was not happy with the play of Brad Isbister and Curtis Sanford in the team's 5-0 exhibition loss to the Ducks on Sunday. To make matters worse, former Canuck Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and two assists in the first game against his former club.
• Pierre LeBrun of the Canadian Press has Gary Bettman's thoughts on the NHL in Europe and the success of the salary cap system thus far.
• Scott Taylor of the National Post has a good article about the NHL and the city of Winnipeg. (Writer's note: In the article an unnamed TSN commentator questions whether Winnipeg can support a team if they can't even sell out one game a year. I'd love to know who this genius is. Last season the MTS Centre was sold out for an exhibition game between Edmonton and Phoenix. First off, no one cares about either team in Winnipeg. Secondly, you are paying regular season prices to watch wannabe NHL'ers who will be in the AHL, playing in the MTS Centre the next week, for a quarter of the price. I have one question: Who else sells out arenas for exhibition games?)
• As Dan Wood of the Orange County Register details, Bobby Ryan is making his case to stay up with the big club when final cuts come in the next week. The youngster had four assists in the Ducks 5-0 victory over the Canucks on Sunday night.
• Coach Bob Hartley wants to see a more intense attitude and an increased number of battles at Thrashers' camp.
• It looks like Bobby Allen will be in a fight to make the Bruins as a seventh defenseman. Fluto Shinzawa has this story and other notes from around Bruins' camp in this morning's Boston Globe.
• With eleven games before the Bruins' first game, Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald takes a look at how the team's forward lines might look heading into the season.
• The Sabres defeated the Blue Jackets 3-2 in a shootout on Sunday.
• Blue Jackets' camp is about to get more serious as cuts are expected to be handed down today. Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch has that story and other notes from Jackets' camp.
• Flames' prospect Brent Krahn can't catch a break and the injury he incurred in the first rookie skate has cost him a chance at beginning the season as the team's backup goaltender.
• As Scott Cruickshank of the Calgary Herald writes, David Moss is doing his best to forget about the missed opportunity he had to win game six for the Flames in last year's first round. (Writer's note: He shouldn't feel bad. The Flames were thoroughly outclassed and were lucky to take the series to six games.)
• The Canes somehow only scored one shootout goal all of last season and are hoping Matt Cullen's ability to score in the one-on-one battle will rub off on his teammates. Here are some notes from around Hurricanes' camp.
• Hawks' forward Jason Williams had a goal and two assists in his team's 4-3 victory over St. Louis on Sunday. Hawks' coach Denis Savard is encouraging his players to go to the net to generate more scoring chances.
• The Sakic-Brunette-Smyth line has yet to develop good chemistry but the Avs aren't overly worried.
• The Stars fourth line may be all "goons" this season but, as Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News writes, Dave Tippett likes to have that presence and energy on the ice.
• It is rather evident that age is just a number to Chris Chelios as he goes into the 2007/08 season at age 45.
• Andrew Cogliano is impressing the Oilers' brass at training camp and is looking to secure a full-time roster spot. However, he is not the only youngster turning heads at Oilers' camp.
• With the roster being slimmed down, Jacques Martin is getting down to what he does best and that is teaching.
• Lonnie White of the L.A. Times details the Kings' plans in Europe before they play the Ducks on Saturday in London, England.
• With roster spots still available, coach Jacques Lemaire wants one of the Wild's youngsters to prove that they warrant a roster spot with their play.
• While Carey Price is the future in Montreal, Cristobal Huet is the present writes Dave Stubbs in this morning's Montreal Gazette.
• Tomas Plekanec had a hat trick on Sunday as the Habs defeated the rival Bruins 4-3 in Halifax.
• John Glennon of the Tennessean tells us that the Preds may lose Josh Langfeld is they place him on waivers.
• Kevin Weekes of the Devils will be back on the ice today after a CT scan proved his head is in normal shape.
• While most of the attention goes to the big-name signings, the Islanders' signings of Jon Sim and Josef Vasicek have looked good so far in Isles' camp.
• The Coyotes could be icing one of the bigger forward lines in the entire league writes Jim Gintonio in this morning's Arizona Republic. Meanwhile at camp, even after being sent down, David LeNeveu still believes he can be a solid NHL goaltender.
• After turning down the Flyers' captaincy twice during the 2005-06 season, Simon Gagne says he will now proudly accept the captaincy if it is offered to him.
• Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen documents the worry surrounding the injuries to keep players at Sens' camp. Ray Emery's wrist isn't fully healed, and he is being joined on the sidelines by Wade Redden and Mike Fisher.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

The HD Corner - HNIC's The Headliner

Well, it’s official. The Headliner on HNIC has been terminated. Tragic, I know. *Tear. No more riveting Scott Oake interviews with Steve Moore about how his NHL career is basically over after that fateful Vancouver evening (Steve Moore had an NHL career? Could have fooled me). No more features with Lou Lamorello showing his office with a chart of every NHL team’s roster. No more stories about Gary Bettman’s failed attempt for hockey to become popular in the U.S. Sunbelt. How on Earth will I be able to survive the hockey season without these informative segments? In all seriousness, The Headliner will be replaced by two new segments called “Inside Hockey” and “Viewpoint”. Both of these new additions sound like they will be pretty much composed of the same content as The Headliner (ie: complete crap).

The biggest news of the day appears to be the fact that The Satellite Hotstove is staying on the air during the 2nd intermission for another season, after some off season rumours that it might be removed from the lineup. Definitely a smart move. Nothing is better on a Saturday night than seeing Pierre LeBrun’s pudgy face crammed into a small quadrant of my TV screen. Unfortunately, CBC will be adding some new personalities in the form of former players and league execs, in addition to the usual journalists normally featured. The best part of the Hot Stove was hearing the latest rumours from all the journalists’ hockey connections. I find it hard to believe that a former player such as Brett Hull would know of any insightful rumours, other than where a new Krispy Kreme franchise is possibly opening.

Finally, William Houston raises an interesting point from his most recent article about analogue vs. digital TV feeds on HDTV’s. NERD ALERT! Basically, what it comes down to is analogue signals on HDTV’s aren’t the greatest but do come out cleaner than digital signals on HDTV’s (I thought this would be the opposite, but what do I know. Sorry…I don’t work at Speaker City). Now that explains why Joe Bowen’s face looked like an old catchers mitt the other night. I knew there had to be some plausible explanation.

Cold Hard Rants

September 19, 2007

In the course of my daily jaunt through the local broadsheet, I noticed in an otherwise uneventful article by the Canadian Press’s Pierre LeBrun, this comment,

“…Owners will also hear from the league on possible expansion today, with Winnipeg, Las Vegas, Kansas City and Seattle among the cities on the radar.”

Now, as some of the throng of fans I have accumulated know very well, I used to work for a Member of Parliament. (For those readers who are confused as to what that is, or for those people who need a TV character to use as a frame of reference, think of my role as that of a Toby Ziegler or Joshua Lyman from the West Wing—only less irritating, and more well rounded.) Press releases, speech writing, mudslinging, and character assassination (kidding!) were all part of my job—in short I was a Communications Director. As part of the role of a communications director, you are responsible for ensuring that your message is being disseminated to the public, and is at the same time well received by the public you are targeting.

At this point, you may be thinking to yourself, “what is the point to this, I could be reading Perez Hilton.” But bare with me, as I am coming to the point, which, simply is, Gary Bettman, the Tiny Perfect Commissioner, heretofore known as the TPC™, has simply changed his communications strategy as it relates to the concept of the NHL returning to the city of Winnipeg.

For years, after deliberately sabotaging every effort the city of Winnipeg put forth to save our beloved Jets, the TPC refused to even listen to arguments advocating for the return of the NHL to Winnipeg. Rather then humor the people of Winnipeg with a couple of nice platitudes about Winnipeg’s strong legacy as a hockey city, or even a polite brush off, the TPC would go off on a rant against Winnipeg. Based on his comments, it was easy to see that for whatever reason, it was a personal vendetta he had against the NHL being in Winnipeg.

Fast-forward ten years (or so), and we have today an expansion into the American Deep South that has failed as poorly as the CFL’s did (see: Barracudas, Birmingham, Mad-Dogs, Memphis etc.). Yet, there still is no team in Winnipeg. However, what we have now, as evidenced by the aforementioned Pierre LeBrun article, is a communications director who has changed the talking points used by the commissioner.

Let me explain. A government, when defending a policy, or deflecting attention away from a scandal creates talking points for their spokespeople to use. They stick to these talking points, come hell, high water, or media ridicule. The TPC, for all his imperfections (I am aware of the irony), is smart enough to realize that his expansion has failed miserably, and he cannot continue to use the same talking points he has relied on for so many years, as it relates to the NHL returning to Winnipeg. Much like a government creating new talking points to defend a policy after the shelf life of the initial talking points has expired, the NHL is simply doing likewise.

Although he has softened his language in his new talking points, making it seem like a return to Winnipeg is plausible, his actions in the Balsillie-Nashville Predators debacle should be evidence to both the public and the media, that he has no interest now, or ever, in returning the NHL to Canada, let alone Winnipeg. All he has done is changed his tune ever so slightly and by seeming to be more amenable to the idea of the NHL in Winnipeg, he has kept the media wolves at bay, who are now willing to overlook the colossal error that is Bettman’s tenure, and instead focus on the remote possibility of seeing the NHL return to Winnipeg/Canadian markets, an idea planted by Bettman himself. Why no one in the media has commented to this effect, instead of swallowing the gruel served up by the TPC as it relates to Canadian expansion/a return to Winnipeg, I do not know, but I for one, will not believe anything coming out of the mouth of Gary Bettman. The NHL will return to Winnipeg when the TPC is no longer the Commissioner, and someone in the NHL realizes how catastrophic of a failure Commissioner Bettman was. His legacy won’t be that of a trailblazer, but rather as a commissioner who scorched the earth of NHL hockey in traditional hockey markets.

Here is all you need to know about Commissioner Bettman and his reign of terror in the NHL:

2004-05 Stanley Cup Champion: No Information Available

Thanks to him it will be a long time and Commissioner Bettman will be long gone before this is ever seen again: Winnipeg Wins the Cup!

For Illegal Curve, I’m Andrew M

About the writer: Formerly a speech writer for a Canadian Federal Politician, Andrew will be bringing his unique take on the hockey world to the illegal curve blog once a week, or more often if the rage needs to be released in a manner other than clobbering a referee over the head with a whiskey bottle. Mainly because he doesn’t have enough empty whiskey bottles at his disposal.

Cold Hard Rants

The people of Winnipeg are fools. They are in a relationship, but their partner is unfaithful. Repeatedly, and unrepentantly, their lover takes their heart and steps on it with a stiletto heel. Despite the countless sleepless nights, tears shed, and promises broken, they keep coming back, fooling themselves into thinking their partner can change for the better.
The partner is none other than the National Hockey League.

Since 1996 (and one can argue since its arrival in the league 1979), the NHL, headed by the Tiny Perfect Commissioner Gary Bruce Bettman, has taken an unusual amount of pleasure in torturing the people of Winnipeg. First, the NHL forced the Jets to break up the Hull/Hedberg/Nillson triumvirate, stole the beloved team, and as we were mourning at the tombstone, kicked mud in our face, stole the flowers we planted, and munged the body (™ Mutton).

You might think that after such despicable actions the victims, the city of Winnipeg, might hold some degree of resentment towards Bettman and his NHL.

Yet, more than likely, on the 20th of this month, 15000+ masochists will settle in the MTS Centre to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs play the erstwhile Winnipeg Jets, the Phoenix Coyotes. It will be sloppy hockey played by mainly minor league players and fringe veterans. Despite the absence of a quality product, Winnipeggers will descend on the arena sponsored by a provincial telecommunications company that will not be named without first agreeing to a sponsorship deal with me, like a group of squeegee kids do to cars stuck at a red light. They will do this, while paying full price for an inferior product. You wouldn’t drink a beer served warm, or accept a half eaten burger, yet Winnipeggers feel no qualms about paying big money for a piss poor NHL product. (Granted they have been doing this every night in Toronto for the past 50 or so years, but that is a column for another day and time).

Why do Winnipeggers continue to pay hard earned money (either their own or their spouses/parents/inheritance) to witness this nothingness first hand? Beats me.

Will they continue to pay for exhibition crap so long as there is no NHL team in Winnipeg? Yup.

Does this continued flocking to the teat of the NHL embarrass me as a Winnipegger? You betcha.

Does this make Winnipeggers fools? To answer that question, I simply remind my loyal readers of the old adage, “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”

And I end this virgin foray into the blogosphere, by simply pointing out that this isn’t the first exhibition hockey game in Winnipeg since the departure of the Jets in 1996.


About the writer: Formerly a speech writer for a Canadian Federal Politician, Andrew will be bringing his unique take on the hockey world to the illegal curve blog once a week, or more often if the rage needs to be released in a manner other than clobbering a referee over the head with a whiskey bottle. Mainly because he doesn’t have enough empty whiskey bottles at his disposal.