Stupid Heads

"Step right up you saps and lemmings! Give us your money and shut your face. And if we want your opinion we'll give it to you!"

You probably think I pulled that line off of the confidential NHL's marketing strategy documents. I didn't, but I can't blame you for thinking so. Bettman and Co. continue to do business on the spilled blood of their players, and as more of their franchises continue to go quietly broke, they're gonna need a whole lot more of the red stuff. God help you if you question violence and hockey and suggest they showcase the good part of the game - skating, stickhandling, and scoring. He's even got the whole country of Canada behind him - ask any Canadian hockey pundit about fighting and they'll tell you it's part of the game. I don't know what counts as sport up there, but in the rest of the sporting world, people don't put up with that bullshit in their leagues. Sure, you've got UFC and WWE, which are in good company with the NHL as it nudges its way toward the lunatic fringe.

Right off the bat, you can discount those sponsor letters to the League - those were all Montreal companies who have been conspicuous by their silence until now, when their favorite team got victimized, so their arguments about violence in hockey are inadmissible. You gotta admit though, the little Commish has some set of stones on him telling them to shove it. Hey, he makes a cool 7 mil, so in my books that counts as 'fuck you money,' so he has the cheddar to shoot back like that.

The problem here was summed up well by Ken Dryden in an article that appeared in the Globe and Mail, basically saying that peoples' justification of violence in hockey is "stupid." It is. Painfully stupid. That Todd Bertuzzi collects millions today after almost killing a guy is stupid. That headshots are subjected on anything less than zero tolerance is stupid. Don't even get me started on fighting. The talking goons will tell you that fighting is necessary because it prevents guys from using their stick on each other. That's as stupid as changing the law to let guys walk up and feel a girl's tits because it will prevent them from becoming all-out rapists.

The thing that's most concerning here is that stupid is not necessarily ineffective. Stupid can come out on top. Stupid can win people over, and stupid can keep coming back to life even when it gets so stupid it seems to self-destruct. 

Stupid gets peoples' attention - Charlie Sheen, Mohammar Ghadaffi, Sarah Palin, Lindsay Lohan, that stupid cat on YouTube! Maybe stupid is the strategy! Of course, how could I have been so stupid!

General Ganz

Portraits in Heroism

As we're back in action, folks, and picking up tonight against the 'were-red-hot-before-the-Olympic-break' Ottawa Senators and as the trade deadline of 3pm tomorrow will further define how Sather & Co. thinks he will get the New York Rangers into the playoffs -- I share with you a celebration of our Commissioner, Gary Bettman.

He is a rock star.

Though strangely unwilling to make an immediate deal for the Olympics four-years from now, please celebrate his heroism as a leader of our dear NHL.

If you've seen the following gallery, then go again..   If not, well.....just enjoy.  Thank Greg Wyshynski of PuckDaddy for posting the gallery -- a display of great work from one of the best hockey bloggers on the planet.

Go here for the Gary Bettman gallery and a good laugh before the Rangers hit the ice tonight.   Here we go...

tdr

Armageddon In The Desert

All hockey fans are watching closely as to whether or not NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will lose the fight to keep the Phoenix Coyotes in Phoenix, AZ and in/out of the hands of Blackberry-creator Jim Basillie.  The result will mark Bettman's greatest victory or greatest failure in his tenure running the league.  No middle ground here, folks.  This is serious stuff because it essentially vaporizes Bettman's expansion plans for the NHL and questions how the league has essentially controlled their own legal system.

Greg Esposito of Ultimate Faceoff did a nice recap:

And then there were two.
According to court filings by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, the third bidder in the Coyotes saga, IceEdge LLC, has in formed the NHL that they do not intend on taking part in the auction for the team scheduled for Thursday. That means the bankruptcy auction is down to a Rocky Balboa versus Apollo Creed-type showdown between the NHL and Canadian Superhero billionaire Jim Balsillie (not quite sure who is Balboa and who is Creed, but $140 million is certainly the underdog to $212 million).
With both Jerry Reinsdorf and IceEdge out, bidders are officially dropping faster than pants in Paris Hilton’s house. Or for you die hard hockey fans, they are dropping faster than personal references in a Jeremy Roenick press conference.   More here.

Slightly larger than MSG suing the NHL for a website, more interesting than wherever the hell Dany Heatley will play, and, most importantly, this entire Phoenix to Hamilton debacle has nothing to do with the New York Rangers and Glen Sather.  Whew.  Truth be told, if you like him or not, Gary Bettman is one mean son-of-a-beech when he needs to be, but can money ultimately beat the small-man's iron fists!!?

Enjoy the grudge match from a distance.

TDR

The Dark Ranger Is Not Alone!

from www.hockeyanalysis.com this morning:

The Bettman Cartel
June 19th, 2008 by David Johnson

Sometimes (ok, more than sometimes) I wonder if the NHL has a clue what it is doing. The latest breaking story is that the NHL is threatening the New York Rangers owners (Madison Square Garden, MSG) with possible expulsion from the league for accusing the league of violating antitrust laws. The background is that the Rangers sued the NHL claiming that the NHL had no right to take control of the Rangers website and other marketing and promotion programs. Last year a judge agreed with the NHL and said the NHL was well within its rights to take control of the rangers website.

But instead of accepting victory in a dignified way, as any reasonable organization would, it decided to fight back and “asked a judge to agree MSG has breached its contract by challenging league rules and that it can force out MSG.”

Two thinks come to mind when I read this story:

1. MSG is one of the best owners the NHL could possibly have and in a time when good law abiding owners are seemingly very hard to find (see NY Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, and recently Nashville Predators), it seems very counter productive to be booting out one of the best and most stable owners around. Not only is MSG stable, but they are one of the biggest media outlets in New York and even across the United States. For a league that is starving for hockey coverage in the United States, booting out one of your better owners and media partners seems counter productive too.

2. It seems like this is just further evidence of a Bettman cartel in the NHL where Bettman will do everything he can to get pro-Bettman owners in the league (see Williams ”Boots” Del Baggio) and do everything possible to keep independent minded owners out of the league (see Jim Balsillie). With this action the NHL is trying to send a statement to all other owners in the NHL: “Do what we want or you’ll be gone”. I am no lawyer but it seems to me that this must break some sort of anti-trust laws.

So far Bettman has been successful in keeping tight control over the NHL and silencing those who might want to challenge him and his rule. One has to wonder if and when this might come back to bite him in the foot. Challenging a media giant like MSG with expulsion is a bigger battle than he has undertaken in the past and one wonders when he will have bitten off more than he can chew. Now that the players get a fixed share of revenue I expect the NHLPA is going to want to have a say in matters like this since such moves will potentially affect league revenues. If MSG, Balsillie, NHLPA and possibly other big market owners choose to fight back it could be wildly lopsided fight that Bettman and his cronies are sure to lose. It will be interesting to see how this will unfold.

THE DARK RANGER says: the draft tonight will be special. Every time Bettman speaks, the crowds will 'BOO' him. No one likes a bully. At the very least, this counter-lawsuit will keep talk at an all-time high regarding the NHL -- and you know the Dolans are going to strike back in a big way over the next couple of weeks. Thank the hockey Gods that we can finally now talk about something other than Sean Avery's speedo and Vogue internship.

Speaking of which, it looks like Sean Avery is actively discussing a return to his LA Kings -- who in rumor accounts- will provide him with the $4 million per year he is seeking from the Rangers. Glen Sather has publicly stated he has no intentions of talking to Avery before July 1 and his offer is in Avery's agent's hands. Otherwise, no deal. It has been mentioned that Avery was potentially contemplating a move over to the Island of Ted Nolen -- which would be terrific in reinvigorating the rivalry between the NY Rangers and Islanders. Not since Dennis Potvin would we have seen such hatred in an ex-Ranger. Fun stuff ahead. Tonight the draft. In two weeks, free agency. Yee haw.

tdr

England - Our NHL Season Opener. Woo-hoo!

Fish 'n chips? Ice Hockey?

As we are counting weeks for the opening of the NHL season, I wanted to celebrate one very bad decision by the NHL that is further diluting our already troubled world of hockey. The Stanley Cup champion Ducks will open the league's 90th anniversary season with a two-game series against the Los Angeles Kings at the O2 Arena in London. It marks the first time the NHL will hold a regular-season game in England, and in fact, anywhere in Europe. There has been no announcement thus far which network in the States will be broadcasting these opening games. I posted here last month regarding this issue, and it was received with mixed emotion and downright disagreement.

The branding of the NHL in London is a bad idea. Some would disagree with me on this, but understand, on the positive side, I do believe exposing hockey anywhere is a good thing. Furthermore, I will acknowledge there are already established leagues throughout Europe, Russia, Czech, etc, that are powerhouse leagues (Elite) that provide some of the best NHL league players. England on the other hand is limited and audiences don't much care for it. Of all of the European cities to choose from, this one is a stinker.

Not for trying, huge efforts have been made to expand the game of hockey throughout the United Kingdom -- but unlike the national sports of soccer, rugby (and God help us, cricket) where one can play in any open field or park, equipment and ice skating facilities are much greater financial burdens on smaller towns, and in most cases, not accessible. In fact, the tiny country of Finland - where hockey is worshipped, has over 250 professional ice rinks used for the training of amateur & professional sports, recreational skating, etc., whereas, throughout all of England, they have under 40 workable ice rinks. Additionally, most of Englands' fan base identifies with their local sports team and admires those that are 'from our town' celebrities; there are historical rival cities and it is especially challenging for local fans to identify with players that are currently imported.

In order to objectively consider the NHL's 'London Calling', it is best to look at the history of hockey in England over the last decade or so. The Elite Ice Hockey League is the professional ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level of ice hockey competition in the United Kingdom. Unlike its North American counterparts, the Elite League is not divided into conferences; teams compete in a single division. The league currently consists of ten teams.

Ice hockey is a minor sport in the United Kingdom and the EIHL, like its predecessors, faces a constant struggle to stay on the ice. Turns out ice hockey receives little national media coverage in the United Kingdom. Some national newspapers list results and provide short summaries of the league's news but more extensive coverage remains minimal. There was a small surge in interest during the 2004-05 season when newspapers such as The (London) Times reported on the NHL players playing the Elite League as a result of the lockout but since the lockout ended, coverage has returned to its previous levels.

Elite League teams rely heavily on 'imports', players from outside the United Kingdom. The majority of these players are from North America, and typically played in the North American leagues such as the ECHL before coming to Britain. For example, of the 21 players to play for champions Belfast Giants in the 2005-06 season, 10 were Canadian, 7 were British and 4 were American. The league restricts the number of import players which can be on a team's roster at any one time, with a current limit of 10 imports. Player turnover is high, with a large proportion of players spending a single season at a team before moving on, and multi-year contracts are uncommon.

British ice hockey's structure underwent major reorganization in 1996. The British Hockey League (the highest senior competition since 1982) was disbanded and replaced by the Ice Hockey Superleague and British National League. The BNL pursued a British player orientated structure, while the Superleague increased the wage cap significantly and abolished limits on the number of overseas players, resulting in the highest standard of ice hockey seen in the United Kingdom in the modern era of the professional game. By 2002, both leagues were suffering financial problems and a shortage of attendees. The Superleague in particular was having great difficulty. Record attendance levels achieved shortly after the league was formed proved unsustainable, and as a result, the cost of maintaining the Superleague's high standard of ice hockey became unaffordable. A number of clubs folded amidst financial problems, and others had to seek new ownership in order to stay afloat. Hockey couldn't find an audience in England, so they attempted to reinvent hockey once again to it's current status.

So all in all, it suggests that if the English leagues cannot generate enough fan base and interest in their own hockey leagues, then the NHL's expansion effect on hockey in England will be, at best, minimal. We can thank our homeboy hockey-man leader, Gary Bettman, Overlord of the NHL, for opening our proud hockey season in London and for further 'spreading thin' the NHL brand - as one third of our own league needs more exposure, higher and more mainstream television coverage, and a good 'ole fashioned kick-in-the-pants.

Coincidentally, Bettman made this deal with Phil Anschutz who just so happens to own the Los Angeles Kings, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and also the O2 Arena in London - where the opening NHL games are taking place.

Perhaps Mr. Bettman is looking for employment over the next couple of years!!?

Cheers.

tdr