That's right - it's that time of year again. Ahhh, Christmas. There is
nothing like the spirit of the season. (That includes the spirit in the
eggnog.) Children laughing, sometimes crying. Carols playing in every
crevice of every mall and department store. Christmas lists to fill.
On Goal Analysis has the spirit! Eggnog (and Wassel!) are being prepared,
and carols are hummed off key as we chase around the crying children to line
them up and tell Santa what they want for Christmas.
Man, we can see by the line Santa sure is busy. This year, we big kids don't
think we will add to the Jolly Man's sleigh-delivered burden. There is
someone we can ask for some cheer, however.
O favorite deliverer of our favorite sport, Gary Bettmanclaus, can you please consider the lists we OGA Boys humbly send forward over the next three days? Let's start with the one from Big Tex...
Dear Gary Bettmanclaus,
How are you? I am fine. I have been a relatively good boy this year – better than Jim Balsillie, not as good as Pavel “I’ve won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy four straight years” Datsyuk. As such, I believe I am owed three Christmas gifts (per the CBA). I know you’re a busy man, so I’ll skip any further chit-chat and cut to the chase. Here’s what I want:
1. Better officiating, both on- and off-ice. Seriously. There’s no point to filling page after page with examples of bad, stupid, or nonsensical calls, non-calls and suspensions, because you and I both know that the officiating needs work. Off the ice, the suspension policy is simultaneously mysterious and pure crap. While we’ve come to expect that from the league office, what we didn’t see coming is cause for alarm: Blown calls from the War Room in Toronto. How can you watch the slo-mo replay from multiple angles and still screw the pooch? On ice, the “intent to blow” rule, well, blows. Too many good goals have been lost this season alone to that well-intentioned, but ultimately misguided rule. Overall, officiating (particularly on the ice) has improved significantly since the Lockout, but that has only elevated it to a level best described as “somewhat better than the NBA”. The Great Game deserves better.
2. Stability and success for all non-traditional market teams. I want this for several reasons: First, because the NHL as a whole stands to benefit from financially stable/healthy teams in Phoenix, Nashville, Atlanta, Florida, etc. Second, because I live in a non-traditional market (Dallas), and I remember well the dark ages before the NHL came to town. Third, because successful non-traditional market teams will inspire kids in those markets to lace up skates, and some of those kids will end up in the NHL. It’s already happening, in fact. And fourth, because the resulting increase in size of the talent pool will help my third Christmas wish come true…
3. Two expansion teams for Canada. That’s right: TWO expansion teams for Canada. These teams won’t help grow the game like the non-traditional market clubs do (because they’ll be “preaching to the converted”), but they will put the league on more solid financial footing. While the traditionalist in me would love to see the second coming of the Jets and Nordiques, I’d settle for the Jets and a second team in Toronto…And in 2030, when the Winnipeg Jets win the Stanley Cup, Canada will rejoice…And when the Cup is hoisted by the Jets’ Captain – who played his youth hockey in Atlanta, where he grew up idolizing Ilya Kovalchuk – we can all rejoice.
Take me back to On Goal Analysis.
Showing posts with label NHL Expansion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NHL Expansion. Show all posts
Monday, December 21, 2009
1. 4.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
What Canada Doesn't Understand About Hockey
Undoubtedly, hockey fans across Canada are in high spirits today: Not only did their Canucks defeat the Blackhawks, 3-1, to take a 2-1 series lead, but the Phoenix Coyotes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Since the franchise relocated to Phoenix from Winnipeg in 1996, many Canadians have been rooting/hoping/wishing/praying for its' failure. I've been a fan of The Great Game long enough to understand and appreciate the Canadian view of hockey (which, in many respects, is quite similar to the Texan view of football - somewhere between sport and religion, and closer to the latter). With all due respect to the country that gave birth to hockey, Canadians who would dance on the Coyotes' grave, and who would like to see the other "non-traditional market" teams - Dallas, Nashville, Atlanta, Tampa and Florida in particular - fail are, themselves, failing to see and understand the big picture.
Here's a (not so) crazy idea, Canada: Instead of focusing your efforts and prayers on the demise of the NHL in the southern U.S., why not cheer for the success of those franchises? If the Nashvilles, Atlantas and Floridas of the league can remain viable, the door can be opened for expansion. What did I just say? You heard me: EXPANSION.
Provided the southern U.S. franchises can stabilize and remain viable, I see the door opening for expansion to a 32-team NHL. Where would those new franchises go? While Las Vegas and Kansas City are most commonly mentioned, I think the league would be foolish not to pursue the recently-floated idea of a second franchise in Toronto, and on a personal level, I'd love to see the Jets (as an expansion franchise) flying high over Winnipeg again.
Why not simply relocate, say, the Coyotes and Thrashers? Because abandoning those (or any other) markets would be a step backwards, a defeat, for the NHL and for hockey itself. The truth of the matter is that any non-traditional market team can be viable - successful, even - provided they are successful on the ice. Even the Coyotes, whose previous owner shot them in the foot by building the arena across town from their fan base, could get fans to make the drive by putting up Ws and making a little noise in the playoffs. As General Patton (George C. Scott) said at the beginning of his biopic:
Won't expansion dilute the talent pool, lowering the quality of play and dragging the NHL back down the path toward the "dead puck" era? No, it won't, and here's why: Thanks to the NHL's expansion into non-traditional (southern U.S.) markets, the talent pool is now expanding. Look, for example, at the US National Team Developmental Program's Under-18 team: The roster features a goalie from Florida and two skaters from Texas. The US NTDP U-17 roster is even more diversified, with four forwards from California and one each from Texas, Colorado, Las Vegas and...wait for it...Arizona. Kids who grew up playing hockey in Texas and Florida are now popping up in Canada's major junior leagues and in big-time NCAA Division I programs. Kids across the southern U.S. (like Tex Jr.) who would otherwise be playing football, basketball, baseball or soccer, are now choosing hockey...and it's all because of the NHL's expansion/relocation below the Mason-Dixon line.
So Canada, I'd like to invite you aboard the NHL Expansion Train. Remember, though: It's because of the non-traditional market teams that the talent pool is growing, which will only improve the quality of play, which will, in turn, bring in new fans (increasing TV viewership and league revenues accordingly), which will allow the NHL to expand to 32 teams...And a note to Gary Bettman: When the NHL does expand again, it's time to reward the country that gave birth to The Great Game, and Toronto and Winnipeg would seem to be most deserving.
Take me back to On Goal Analysis
Since the franchise relocated to Phoenix from Winnipeg in 1996, many Canadians have been rooting/hoping/wishing/praying for its' failure. I've been a fan of The Great Game long enough to understand and appreciate the Canadian view of hockey (which, in many respects, is quite similar to the Texan view of football - somewhere between sport and religion, and closer to the latter). With all due respect to the country that gave birth to hockey, Canadians who would dance on the Coyotes' grave, and who would like to see the other "non-traditional market" teams - Dallas, Nashville, Atlanta, Tampa and Florida in particular - fail are, themselves, failing to see and understand the big picture.
Here's a (not so) crazy idea, Canada: Instead of focusing your efforts and prayers on the demise of the NHL in the southern U.S., why not cheer for the success of those franchises? If the Nashvilles, Atlantas and Floridas of the league can remain viable, the door can be opened for expansion. What did I just say? You heard me: EXPANSION.
Provided the southern U.S. franchises can stabilize and remain viable, I see the door opening for expansion to a 32-team NHL. Where would those new franchises go? While Las Vegas and Kansas City are most commonly mentioned, I think the league would be foolish not to pursue the recently-floated idea of a second franchise in Toronto, and on a personal level, I'd love to see the Jets (as an expansion franchise) flying high over Winnipeg again.
Why not simply relocate, say, the Coyotes and Thrashers? Because abandoning those (or any other) markets would be a step backwards, a defeat, for the NHL and for hockey itself. The truth of the matter is that any non-traditional market team can be viable - successful, even - provided they are successful on the ice. Even the Coyotes, whose previous owner shot them in the foot by building the arena across town from their fan base, could get fans to make the drive by putting up Ws and making a little noise in the playoffs. As General Patton (George C. Scott) said at the beginning of his biopic:
"...Americans love a winner, and will not tolerate a loser."
Won't expansion dilute the talent pool, lowering the quality of play and dragging the NHL back down the path toward the "dead puck" era? No, it won't, and here's why: Thanks to the NHL's expansion into non-traditional (southern U.S.) markets, the talent pool is now expanding. Look, for example, at the US National Team Developmental Program's Under-18 team: The roster features a goalie from Florida and two skaters from Texas. The US NTDP U-17 roster is even more diversified, with four forwards from California and one each from Texas, Colorado, Las Vegas and...wait for it...Arizona. Kids who grew up playing hockey in Texas and Florida are now popping up in Canada's major junior leagues and in big-time NCAA Division I programs. Kids across the southern U.S. (like Tex Jr.) who would otherwise be playing football, basketball, baseball or soccer, are now choosing hockey...and it's all because of the NHL's expansion/relocation below the Mason-Dixon line.
So Canada, I'd like to invite you aboard the NHL Expansion Train. Remember, though: It's because of the non-traditional market teams that the talent pool is growing, which will only improve the quality of play, which will, in turn, bring in new fans (increasing TV viewership and league revenues accordingly), which will allow the NHL to expand to 32 teams...And a note to Gary Bettman: When the NHL does expand again, it's time to reward the country that gave birth to The Great Game, and Toronto and Winnipeg would seem to be most deserving.
Take me back to On Goal Analysis
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