I would imagine that the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is having kittens with the prospects of one of their league faces/money makers being bounced out in the first round of the NHL Playoffs. In reality there is a good chance that one or both the Penguins and the Capitals could be out by the time the league finals roll around, neither the Pens or the Caps have looked that good in the first round.
It also looks like the Montreal Canadians have finally found a serviceable starting goalie that is a lot more consistent than former starter Carey Price in Jaroslav Halak. Halak has been nothing short of amazing in the first round.
Aren't the Canadiens bigger money makers than the Capitals?
ReplyDeleteMTL - $31.3 million operating income
WSH - $-4.9 million operating income
I know Washington is a key US NHL city that they want to continue to boast but I don't think the Canadiens moving on would be too bad for the league. People pay a lot of money for Canadiens' tickets!
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/31/hockey-values-09_NHL-Team-Valuations_Rank.html
ReplyDeleteThere's my source for that.
'have' Bettman sweating, not 'has'. (Delete this/my comment if you like.)
ReplyDeleteForce Blogger I don't doubt that number since Montreal is one of the hockey hot beds in Canada and the Caps well not so much historically... They are now a much better attractive draw with their present team. Doesn't Molson own the Habs?
ReplyDeleteGeorge Gillett, owns the Montreal Canadiens and the Bell Centre.
ReplyDeleteI believe he did buy it from Molson who I believe bought it from Labatts.
Force Blogger,
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right from a pure financial standpoint, but that's not the point.
The point is, there's only one thing worse in Bettman's mind than no AO in the second round:
No Crosby.
I don't believe for a second the Canadiens will win this series, but I'd be happy if they did. Here's why:
1. Like Goon mentioned, it would disappoint Bettman. It wouldn't piss him off because, financially, it's not a loss. However, the AO PR machine is second only to Crosby and it is a VERY distant second.
2. Jaroslav Halak. IMO, the best goaltender no one really cares about. Too bad so sad Gainey... You didn't think it and now you're sitting still rich (far too rich for the job he did) but out of work.
3. Big wins ensure the further demise of Carey Price. So damned overrated. It's kinda Vesa Toskala-like.
4. The opportunity, no matter how wrong it is, to hear the French commentators make cow sounds for a little while longer ("...en la mOOOOOOOOOOO!")
That being said, I think Montreal is all used up. Halak played the game of his career last night. It's done.
Lake_Low I thought it was something like that... Thanks for the clarification.
ReplyDeleteYeah I know they definitely want the league's biggest stars to make it as far as possible but they should realize that it wouldn't be terrible for other teams to make it so they could market other players! It seems like the only players the NHL markets are Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and then they are all about marketing teams like DET, CHI, NYR...
ReplyDeleteI think one way to begin marketing stars would be to start with putting the WJC on Versus. Look at the way the NFL is able to market future stars with college football and the NFL draft, everyone knows who these kids are right away. Same thing with the NHL in Canada. Everyone knows who the best junior players are and they follow the WJC closely on TSN. If the NHL got the WJC on Versus, at least it would give more hockey fans more coverage of upcoming stars.
Sorry, I went way off topic on that... haha :)