Monday, July 25, 2005

And the first pick in the 2005 NHL entry draft goes to. . .

the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Well, this past Friday afternoon the world (or at least Canada- I don't think anyone else in the world really cared) knew where the next "Great One" of hockey would begin his NHL sojourn. Sidney Crosby would be donning the yellow and black and joining the flock of Penguins in Pittsburgh.

This is great for both the NHL and for Sid "The Kid".

Why is it great for the NHL? Because he's going to the eastern US which, in my humble opinion, is FAR better then having him cast off to an NHL wasteland such as Florida, Anaheim or Carolina. Even though Pittsburgh was a franchise on the verge of extinction you have to remember that that was in the old NHL. With the new Ice Age Pittsburgh could very well recapture some of the magic they had when Mario was in his prime and they were winning Stanley Cups. Crosby's presence, coupled with the chance to see him on a line with Mario and Mark Recchi, will put butts in the seats. And not just in Pittsburgh either. This kid will sell out road games as well, much like Lebron does in the NBA.

This gives Pittsburgh yet another hard-working Canadian citizen to model before their blue-collar public. The Pirates have Jason Bay and the Penguins have Crosby. Add the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger into the mix and you've got 3 young, high-quality pro athletes practicing their trade in your city. Not bad for the U.S.A.'s version of Steeltown.

Going to Pittsburgh is also a great thing for Crosby. With all the hype surrounding this kid and all the pressure that is being hurled on him as the savior of pro hockey, who better to learn under than Mario? Not only will Mario take off some of the immense media pressure that will hound this kid in the next year, but it will also relieve a lot of the on-ice pressure that was sure to come his way. Imagine if he ended up in Florida or Minnesota, teams with no stars whatsoever. He'd be destroyed on a nightly basis.

In Pittsburgh, assuming Mario remains healthy, you can focus on Crosby but that means paying less attention to Mario. And who ever heard of paying LESS attention to Mario? That's crazy.

If I'm Sidney Crosby and his family I'm thinking that this is the best thing that could have happened to him. Well, perhaps next to going to Detroit and getting to learn from the Greatest One, Stevie Yzerman.

And let's not forget that the past two years the Pen's have already welcomed a couple of high-profile draft picks into the fold in Marc-Andre Fleury and Evgeni Malkin. Is there a team that has had 3 better first round picks in successive years at any time? I guess we can't really say that for another few years but all 3 look to be the real deal.

Anyways, I think the NHL and its fans should be excited about what lies ahead. Sure Crosby didn't end up in a bigger market such as New York or Chicago or Los Angeles but I think there's still great potential for an amazing story to be written here. I for one am really looking forward to watching each chapter unfold.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

The New Look NHL

The NHL & NHLPA has reached a tentative agreement on a new CBA.

A whole season wasted. If I'm an NHL player right now I'm wondering what the heck the past year was all about. Absolutely everything they said were not grounds for getting a deal done are now the foundational pieces to the new CBA.

Obviously the two things the players wanted nothing to do with was salary caps and linkage to league revenues. And now the two central pieces to the new deal is a hard salary cap and linkage tied back to league revenues. Not only that but the players also had to keep the 24% roll-back on the table. So, they lost the salary cap. They lost the linkage. And they're still giving back 24% of their salaries.

Anyone who thinks the players got anything but railroaded in this deal needs to get their head out of the stinky hockey bag.

But really, did anyone realistically think that the outcome would be any different than it has been? I knew the moment that Gary Bettman announced the cancellation of the season that the players would have to give up everything if they wanted another opportunity to play a game and get paid millions of dollars for doing so. There was no way the players were going to win this battle.

I for one am glad for that. I think if the players had won this battle it would have been the beginning of the end for the NHL. Say what you want about the greed of the owners versus the greed of the players but the fact remains that without big-pocketed owners and their willingness to spend millions on a game, there is no NHL. There will always be players but there may not always be people willing to put up the money to give those players a platform from which to showcase their considerable talents.

While the NHL may have to suffer through a couple of lean years as a result of the past years fiasco, I think it will be better off in the long-run with the changes that are rumored to be taking place.

First off, the new CBA is great for Canadian hockey fans and Canadian hockey teams because it will create parity throughout the league. No longer can the New York Rangers afford to pay Bobby Holik $9 million/yr to be a forth-line waste of space. The salary cap will usher the dinosaur's, who continue to hold on each year for more money and to break more records they don't deserve to break (hello Mark Messier), out the door a little quicker and welcome in younger players who will be more exciting to watch and will bring a renewed (and much needed) level of energy and enthusiasm to the game.

No longer do the faithful fans in Edmonton have to watch budding superstar after budding superstar leave the team for greener pastures. Now fans in Edmonton can realistically dream about having bonified stars on their team in their primes.

The playing field has now been levelled. I love that about the new NHL and I'm a Red Wings fan! My team looks to be one of the teams that will benefit least from the new CBA. But I'm okay with that as long as I get one more chance to see Yzerman play- so Stevie, if you're reading this, PLEASE PLAY ONE MORE SEASON!

If I'm Gary Bettman and I'm looking at what to do to rebuild the wall that came crumbling down with the cancellation of the 2004-05 season, I focus on quality over quantity.

It's time to eliminate a few teams and focus on those markets that are viable and still have some life in them. Wave bye-bye to Anaheim. Although with Brian Burke involved there now Anaheim could very easily become the next Tampa Bay. I hated Burkey in Vancouver a couple years ago but he has since become one of the hockey people I respect the most.

Say see ya later to Nashville, Florida and Carolina. These teams do nothing for the NHL.

Give the torch to Sydney Crosby and watch him run with it. This kid is the real deal. I am exceedingly more impressed with him each time I see him interviewed and each time I see him on the ice. Sure he's played in the softest Junior league around but there's no denying the skill sets that this kid has. Whoever lucks out and gets him in Friday's lottery draft had better make sure they've got the next Dave Semenko on their team as well because it's time to bring back old-time hockey with this kid.

I for one am really looking forward to getting all the paper work and technicalities out of the way this week so that teams can start doing all the juggling their going to have to do to get ready for the fall.

NHL teams (collectively) are going to go through such an extreme makeover during the next few weeks that I think they might consider hiring Ty Pennington as the next head of the PA.

Back in February I vowed that I would no longer care about the NHL nor its players. I knew then though that I was talking out of frustration and that, when a deal was finally reached, I would be one of many (especially in Canada) who would be excitedly anticipating the return of this great game. This past year aside, when it all comes down to it NHL hockey is still a great game. Now that both owners and players have had their "It's A Wonderful Life" moment, and have seen what their lives would be like without it, maybe they too will appreciate what they've been given the opportunity to do for a living and will seek out ways to make the most of it.