Friday Links --- Hockey dreaming.

More and more it's looking like there is going to be revenue sharing in the new CBA.

Every article you see has the words revenue sharing and haves and have nots included in it.

I can't imagine the haves of the NHL are going to be that crazy about the prospects of having to share the wealth with the lesser fortunate teams.

Tim Panaccio, CSNPHILLY.COM --- The two sides will meet again on Wednesday.

NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr would not take a stance on whether the union agreed entirely with the league on revenue sharing. Still, it’s widely known the players feel the expansion of such is not only necessary, but also the only way to resolve the vast revenue gaps between the “have” and “have nots,” while limiting the salary hit the players are expected to swallow in the next CBA.

What has not been discussed yet -- but figures to be -- is whether the owners will accept a luxury tax, similar to what Fehr negotiated with Major League Baseball.

There are no less than 10 teams in the NHL that annually spend to the salary cap limit or beyond. Those are the teams that support the underlings that can’t manage a profit.

There is some news from the UND Hockey front... Fighting Sioux senior forward Danny Kristo, is ranked 7th for the Montreal Canadiens.

7. Danny Kristo, RW: Kristo will be returning for his senior season with the Fighting Sioux of the University of North Dakota in 2012-13. The second-round pick in 2008 (No. 56) is coming off a junior season when he finished second on the team in scoring with 42 points in 45 games

Apparently Donald Fehr isn't all that worried about September 15th which is the day that the current CBA expires.

I also think the last thing the NHL owners want to do is have another lockout, especially if the there are teams that are suffering as bad as some claim. 

David Schoalts, The Globe and Mail ---- Bettman said he still thinks there is time to get a new agreement before the season starts in early October. Fehr once again pointed out the players are willing to work even after the current agreement expires.

"All I've said is Sept. 15 is not a magic date unless someone wants to make it so," Fehr said. "There's nothing that happens on Sept. 15 if we don't have an agreement, provided nobody says we're going to go on strike or says we're going to lock the doors."

I guess I am not expecting a counter proposal from the NHLPA anytime soon – the NHLPA just had 76,000 pages of financial information dumped in their laps from the NHL owners… No telling how long they will study the information to make their decision.

Jeff Z. Klein, Slap Shots --- Commissioner Gary Bettman emerged from a negotiating session with the N.H.L. Players’ Association on Tuesday and announced that the league had supplied 76,000 pages of audited financial documents that the union had requested.

 Its official former UNO Mavericks forward Jayson Megna has signed a professional contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL. [Official Press Release] Just like others I am perplexed by the move as well.

In case anyone is still wondering Matt Slovin nor the newspaper has not pulled the Jacob Trouba story from the Michigan Daily web page.

Be the NHL Commissioner for One Day - RW77

Ok, I got this idea from ESPN writers Tim Boughton, David Walton, and Paul Grant.  You can read their entries here.  Here are the "rules."  You are commissioner instead of Gary Bettman for one day.  Every rule you make would theoretically stand within reason.  EVERYTHING regarding the game is fair play.

The comment section is for readers to give suggestions of their own ideas.  I encourage all of the Goon World writers who are NHL fans to compose their own version.

Lastly:  All suggestions in this blog are my own.  They are not the opinions of anyone associated with the NHL, ESPN, or any outside entity.

Here we go!

First, contraction and relocation of teams.  I would relocate two teams:  Phoenix and New York Islanders.  It's hard to name a team like the Islanders for relocation after their storied history but their glory days are well in the past and they are now in a market that cannot do them justice.  Phoenix is just common sense.  The places I'd consider?  Houston, Texas, Las Vegas, NV, Hamilton, ON, and Quebec City, Que.  Houston is an intriguing, but risky option.  It may not be any better than Phoenix.  However, like Las Vegas, it does keep with the philosophy of trying to bring the NHL product to a non-conventional market.  Las Vegas has its own issues, but I can't see it being any worse than Columbus, Atlanta, and Phoenix.  ESPN talks about places like Halifax, NS and Seattle, WA.  Halifax probably won't work, but if you were to take a risk on a Canadian market, it might be the city to go to.  As for Seattle?  No.  Lived there for two years and NO ONE cared about hockey.  NO ONE.  This has Florida Panthers written ALL OVER IT. 

Anyways, contraction is next.  Florida and Columbus, you'd been great.  Gave it the old try, but.  See ya later.  Hold no regrets because there was nothing you could have done.  Hold the dispersal draft in September.  Earlier in he month the better.

Second, redesignation of the job currently held by Brenden Shanahan.  Brenden Shanahan's position currently is under the direction of one of the possibly worst discipline bosses in NHL history in Colin Campbell.  Unless I can fire Campbell, I would remove Shanahan's position from Campbell's department and make Shanahan report directly to the Commissioner and no one else.  I believe that Shanahan was hamstrung by idiocy above him and in many ways was forced to make some of the decisions he did or was completely removed from the equation altogether.  Reemphasize that NO ONE is exempt.  Not some noname 1 game wonder.  Not Sidney "Hockey Jesus" Crosby.  No one.  Then sit back and watch what happens.  If things do not improve next season, then Shanahan is removed and someone else takes over.

Third, ok, I said assuming I cannot fire Campbell...  well I'm contradicting myself because I'm firing Gary Bettman.  The guy is a snake.  Yes, you can argue that in many cases the NHL has improved under his watch but in other cases, such as overexpansion, TV contracts, and labor negotiations, it's been a train wreck.  His penchant for latching onto one player and/or one team and riding them like a show pony at the 4-H Invitational isn't helping.  We need a commissioner that sees value in ALL teams equally regardless of whether or not blockbuster players like Crosby or Malkin or Ovechkin play for them.  Bettman sees the rest of the league outside Pittsburgh as an afterthought and all other than Crosby as also rans.  It might have worked for Michael Jordan but it doesn't work here.  I don't know who I'd hire.  The blog writers at ESPN suggested George McPhee and a list of HOFers like Gretzky, Lemieux, Yzerman, etc.  I'm not connected enough to make a suggestion.  All I know is who NOT to make commissioner.  That falls to Gretzky and Lemieux.  Gretzky because he's shown that in administrative capacities, he's a failure.  Lemieux because he is two faced.  He despises cheap shots and foul play in the NHL yet refuses to point out his own team as leading the way in that category.

Fourth, fighting.  I will not ban fighting.  However, I do not like fighting either.  The instigator rule has been a black eye on the sport.  Yes, it's done some good:  Such as making the carrying of an Enforcer type player very costly to a team.  But it also has promoted more cheap shots.  But the problem of fighting goes BEYOND just this in the fact that fights often happen after clean, legit hits that are interpretted as dirty.  Hockey is a fast game, sure, but just because there was a big hit doesn't mean you need to drop the gloves.  So in the end, I'd drop the instigator rule and then start up a committee consisting of former NHL players, current NHL players, and NHL officials, under the directorship of Brendan Shanahan to study this issue and make rule changes accordingly.

Fifth, rule changes in general.  Keep the Hybrid icing.  Lose the Tapezoid.  Listen to innovators and be active trying things out in junior leagues or whatnot.  But when the next big batch of rule changes come out..... STOP.  Let's not change the rules every year or two or five.  And lets not make drastic changes to the game without giving it some serious thought through observation at a lower level of hockey.

Lastly, I'd make revenue sharing as close to 50-50 as feasible.  I cannot in good conscience make it 50-50 but I could see something like 52-48 or 53-47.

Fehr gets next move in labor talks

I have been reading some of the articles about the CBA discussions and the Blue Jackets Extra has had an interesting article about the on-going CBA discussion.

You have to wonder what the players are going to do next in the CBA talks. I am a little anxious, because Donald Fehr is involved in the talks on the side of the players - that being said, Fehr was successful in 1990, as he won a negotiated settlement worth $280 million against the MLB owners over free agency collusion when he was the executive director of the MLBPA.

It will be interesting to see what the players come up with in the way of a counter proposal. None of us want to see another work stoppage.

Aaron Portzline, Bluejacketsxtra.com --- If whispers around the league are any indication, and if union executive director Donald Fehr’s reputation still holds true from his days atop major league baseball’s union, it will include aggressive, creative ideas to dramatically increase the NHL’s level of revenue sharing.

It will pit not just owners vs. players, but owners vs. owners.

“Knowing Donald Fehr, I will be shocked if that’s not part of his proposal, and a big part of it,” said Gary Roberts, dean of the Indiana University School of Law. “Salary caps do not work very well — or for very long — if you have a great disparity of revenue between clubs.

“You either set the cap so low that some teams make enormous profits — that doesn’t sit well with the players — or you set it so high that the clubs in smaller markets just can’t keep up.”

Here is one proposal that the players are kicking around according to the Columbus Dispatch beat writer for the Columbus Blue Jackets Aaron Portzline.

One source told The Dispatch that Fehr “has considered lots of creative ideas.” One idea, the source said, would allow small-market clubs to “trade” their salary-cap space to wealthy clubs for draft picks or cash.

“The mechanism isn’t hard to come up with,” Roberts said. “It’s the internal politics of it that make it difficult to put in place. You have the most wealthy, most powerful owners in the sport who are going to rise up and fight this. “But before you label them as greedy, and unwilling to share for the good of the league, you have to consider their perspectives. They bought those franchises and paid a price that was based on the expected revenue stream. Now, all of a sudden, you’re telling them they have to take a big chunk of that stream and give it to somebody else.”

This is definitely a creative proposal and it will be interesting to see if the owners accept this idea or not because it will pit the big market owners against the small market owners.

NHL Owners can't claim they're poor - not after the latest free agent signings

I touched on this in the last blog post... The battle lines are being drawn up. The good news is, the two sides are talking to attempt to avoid another lock out. I doubt either the players or the NHL owners want another repeat of the lockout that cost the NHL the entire 2004-05 season.

Scott Burnside, ESPN.com --- Never mind the spreadsheets and the pie graphs breaking down the NHL's revenue streams, all union head Donald Fehr needs to do when the NHL and its players sit down to try to hammer out a new labor deal is to bring the clippings from the first four days of free agency.

Zach Parise and Ryan Suter combining for $196 million over the next 13 seasons.

Forty-year-olds Ray Whitney and Jaromir Jagr combining to bring in a hair more than $9 million next season.

Matt Carle, 20th among NHL defensemen in point production last season, was lured back to Tampa by a six-year deal that will pay him an average of $5.5 million annually.

Jiri Hudler struck it rich with a four-year, $16 million contract after a career-best 25-goal campaign in Detroit.

Brandon Prust -- seriously -- got $10 million over four years to bring toughness to the Montreal lineup.

Every time a new contract was added to the list of bloated contracts that came before, commissioner Gary Bettman must have given a grim shake of his head.

When the NHL announced that they had a record breaking $3.3 billion in revenue this past season and then they turned around and said that the NHL owners we're hurting is going to fall upon deaf ears. I don’t believe it and I am sure most of the fans don’t as well.

Seriously! The NHL Owners are going to have a hard time convincing most sane people that the NHL owners are suffering financially. Sure, there is no doubt that certain teams are not as well off as financially as others – that’s life.

I also don’t doubt that are probably a half dozen NHL teams that would fold tomorrow if there is another lockout, but the owners made this bed for themselves. I don’t blame the players in this mess, the owners are the ones that signed free agents for astronomically high contracts and then turn around and say we want to reel in player contracts and that we’re broke.

The players and owners get to work and try avoid a work stoppage.

Gary Bettman reduces Raffi Torres suspension

s/t to George Malik of Kuklas Korner. This action by Gary Bettman really makes my blood boil. Raffi Torres is a multiple time offender and was given the correct number of games, now Bettman decides to reduce the Torres Suspension by 4 games.

From TSN’s Darren Dreger: It appears that Raffi Torres won’t serve the 25 games he was slated to sit out for concussing Marian Hossa:

Sources say Gary Bettman has reached a decision on Raffi Torres suspension appeal.

Expected to reduce suspension by 4 games. 12 down to 8. ... Torres was suspended 25 games after a hit on Chicago’s Marian Hossa in game 3 of 1st round of the playoffs. ...

To be clear, my math shows Torres had 12 games remaining in suspension. Reduction by 4 and 8 games remain next season

So the NHL is saying by reducing this suspension that they don’t care about “Player Safety.” If not, what statement are they trying to make? You have a player in Raffi Torres that is the poster boy of what is wrong with the NHL. Torres is a dirty player that skates all over the ice taking runs at players and many times making contact with the head.

Another NHL Lockout?

The possibility of the NHL having another lockout is looking more and more like a reality. I don’t believe we will see a season long lock out like we did during the 2004-05 season. There is also a possibility that if there is a lockout there are a half dozen teams that might not survive if there is a lockout.

NEWARK, N.J. - NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr confirmed on Wednesday that their sides hope to begin discussions on a new collective agreement in the next few weeks.

This was one of several topics Bettman spoke about in his annual pre-Stanley Cup final state-of-the-union address. Fehr was in attendance to listen to Bettman speak in the bowels of the Prudential Center and afterwards the NHLPA boss held his own Q-and-A session with reporters.

It was ironic that Bettman announced in his session that the league enjoyed record revenues of $3.3-billion US this season. Yet, there is a strong possibility that the 2012-13 NHL season will not begin on time because of prolonged CBA fight.

So as we watch the Stanley Cup Finals between the New Jersey Devils and the Los Angeles Kings – there is a possibility that this could be the only NHL hockey we have for a long time.

The State of the NHL Officiating Corps.

English: NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman in 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have to be the guy to agree with a lot of what has been said regarding officiating but I also am going to be the guy to pose a theory to the masses for public consumption.

And, yeah, it is going to sound a lot like an apology for Brenden Shanahan but it isn't.

Brenden Shanahan is in a position no one wants to have but everyone has an opinion of what should be done by a person in such a position.  However, he's not done a good job or even an ok job with the position.  He has been inconsistent and unsatisfying in his performance.  It's just presented all glitzy with videos and bulleted lists.  But looking at it from afar, there's a lot that doesn't add up.

Look at the inconsistency and the double standards of Shanahan's actions doesn't appear to me that the decisions regarding whether or not to suspend players was actually being made by Shanahan.  His actions this year seemed almost identical to that of Colin Campbell's Wheel of Justice system.  There were a few times during Campbell's administration of this position and during Shanahan's administration where they went against the trend (such as suspending Ovechkin and perhaps you can argue that it was the case for Giroux and Backstrom but I'll get to that shortly) but that may only be to prevent appearance to the players that they are playing favors.

Add onto the fact that no matter what, when a fanbase sees their guys suspended for a hit they get mad and point out flaws in previous decisions and also when a fanbase sees their guys get hit and even injured they point to it as justification for the hitting player to get pummeled with the book.

It becomes a mess.

So where does Shanahan come in?  He comes in having never served in such a level of authority.  He only comes in as a face.  People know who he is.  That's about it.  So, when thrust into the limelight like this you have to sink or swim.  And here's where it gets interesting:

Can you improve the quality of a weakness when the primary weakness are the people above you on the chain of command?

Can Shanahan even suspend players like Malkin even if he wants to?  There is no secret that Bettman and Campbell's love children are Malkin, Crosby, and the Pittsburgh Penguins (to a certain extent).  Bettman has certain placed the emphasis on the PR marking campaign on the shoulders of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin by extension.  So would it do for the NHL to see either suspended?  I'm sure not.  So, I doubt Campbell would allow Shanahan to suspend either player (even though Crosby really has yet to administer an illegal or even questionable hit). 

As for Giroux and Backstrom being exceptions, I argue not so much.  I truly don't think that anyone other than Malkin and Crosby are truly exempt from suspension if the situation is right. 

But in the end, all it comes down to is Shanahan's bosses.  They truly do seem to be calling the shots and simply use Shanahan's player profile to deflect all the criticism away from Campbell and onto Shanahan.  Therefore, if it does fail (which it appears that it is so) Bettman can step forward and say "Look, we listened to you and we tried your idea and it failed.  Campbell knows what he's doing and we're just going to go back to the old way and try to hammer out some of the troubles through traditional channels."  Bettman still doesn't look bad that way and the only harm done is Shanahan's image being obliterated.  Shanahan never was a Crosby type so why would Bettman care. 

If this season was a first run test and next year is the real test for Shanahan, I'm betting he fails again because I don't think Shanahan truly has the autonomy necessary for Shanahan to live up to what he talks about.  He can suspend anyone with impunity (provided the situation and circumstances warrant it). 

I claim that Shanahan is nothing more than lipstick on a pig when it comes to the NHL Front Office.  It looks nice and he tries hard but in the end, you're not going to improve on officiating and Shanahan's job description with the likes of Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell still in positions of power.

What says you?

NHL's Bettman: Suspension criticism 'gamesmanship'

NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman in 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this one. I mean seriously, you can’t make this stuff up; this is the ultimate display of buffoonery in action. Does Gary Bettman not get it? This is why many people, fans, coaches and players look at the NHL commissioner and the NHL League front office as a gong show.

 NEW YORK (AP) - NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman calls teams' complaints about player suspensions during the postseason "gamesmanship."

Bettman said Friday that criticism of the league's disciplinary decisions as inconsistent simply reflected clubs disliking rulings that hurt them. He used the one-game suspension of Washington center Nicklas Backstrom for an illegal cross-check as an example. Bettman says of the Capitals' disagreement: "That doesn't mean anything; they didn't like it."

Bettman says he has confidence in league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. The commissioner spoke at an Associated Press Sports Editors meeting shortly before Shanahan was to hold a hearing with Phoenix forward Raffi Torres. Torres is suspended indefinitely for launching himself into Chicago's Marian Hossa on Tuesday.

Nine players were issued suspensions through the first eight days of the playoffs.

The reason the team’s management, the players and fans of various NHL teams are upset is that they see the current state of affairs in the NHL to be disgusting. I don't mind the rough stuff and the after the whistle stuff because it adds to the drama and the rancor, however, when a a player drive another players head into the glass and only get a $2,500.00 fine, you have to think that something is wrong here. Then other players get a random one game or a three game suspension, it's like the Wheel of Justice is back in the NHL.

Then we have star players getting off without even getting a fine for acts that would get other players a two to three game suspension.

Related articles

• NHL's Bettman: Suspension Criticism 'Gamesmanship'
• Bettman: Teams' complaints on suspensions 'gamesmanship'
• Nicklas Grossman injuried by Malkin Elbow.
• Bettman calls complaints about player suspensions 'gamesmanship'
• NHL's punishment must be swift and severe for Raffi Torres hit on Marian Hossa

The end of the Colin Campbell Wheel of Justice.

It would appear that the Colin Campbell Wheel of Justice has finally been retired, this is good news because it will probably finally silence the conspiracy theorists who thought that Colin Campbell was in the tank for the Boston Bruins.

Nicholas J. Cotsonika, Yahoo.com --- The NHL has a new disciplinarian: Brendan Shanahan(notes). It has rewritten the rules regarding boarding and illegal checks to the head, broadening their scope. And now, every time Shanahan and his colleagues announce a suspension, they will release a video simultaneously explaining what they saw, everything they deliberated and why they settled on that certain sanction. It might be on a case-by-case basis, but they hope to release a video after each disciplinary hearing, not just each suspension, so they can give an explanation when they decide not to take action, too.

I think going forward that the NHL under the direction of Brendan Shanahan is going to be run more smoothly and be more transparent when making their disciplinary decisions than the league did under Colin Campbell… In the past Colin Campbell’s decisions seem to lack consistency and where far from transparent and most of the time Campbell's decisions just left people scratching their heads.

Related articles

• Colin Campbell Out As NHL's Discipline Chief; Brendan Shanahan To Take Over (sbnation.com)
• Colin Campbell to step down as NHL disciplinarian: report (thestar.com)
• Colin Campbell Out as NHL Disciplinarian (nytimes.com)
• Shanahan explains how he'll approach his new role as league disciplinarian (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)

Time for Gary Bettman to go?

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeMy buddy Redwing77 would probably agree with some of the things written in Ken Gray’s Ottawa Citizen Newspaper article; Gary Bettman must go. Of course I am also in favor of the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stepping aside; I have never been a fan of the man because I find him to be a very unlikable person, he is smug, arrogant, condescending and a very pompous person. Whenever I hear Bettman talk he reminds me of a Washington D.C. Politician that talks in circles, never answers direct questions and says very little in the way of substance. We can only dream that some day we will have an NHL without Gary Bettman.

Ken Gray; Ottawa Citizen --- Bettman has orchestrated a league that has absolutely glorified violence to the point where the players are being irreparably harmed. Concussions from head hits and fighting would have normal business owners concerned. Sutcliffe would do something about it in his workplace. The pads are too hard. Bettman should have acted.

Furthermore, the game is basically flawed. The players are so big, so fast and so well trained that even legal hits are causing brain damage. Something fundamentally needs to change in hockey or players will face brain disease later in life. Why Bettman could not protect the game’s biggest asset, Sidney Crosby. The NHL should be examining how the game can be basically changed to protect the players and provide a good life lesson on Saturday night instead of fighting.

Bettman has failed horribly in his southern U.S. franchise strategy and failed when Fox TV tried to make NHL hockey a national U.S. sport. He failed so badly that he had to bring Winnipeg back into the NHL and will probably do the same for Quebec City in the near future. There is room for new teams in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. In fact, you could probably put a NHL club in Dawson City and draw better than Atlanta.

The reason Bettman signed a big TV contract recently is because networks and cable companies are trying to secure programming as sports in the increasingly diverse broadcasting universe is one of the few places where people (and advertisers) continue to gather in one place. It had little to do with Bettman. At least he didn’t screw it up.

No it’s time for Bettman to go. Perhaps it has always been time for Bettman to go.

Related articles

• Gary Bettman Earned $7.5 Million Last Year; Do You Care? (sbnation.com)
• Bettman's salary tops $7.5-million (theglobeandmail.com)
• SBD: NHL czar Gary Bettman's compensation reaches $7.5 million (aol.sportingnews.com)
• Bettman's salary skyrockets (thestar.com)

NHL realignment for the 2012-13 season

Image via WikipediaWith the Atlanta Thrashers moving to Winnipeg Manitoba, it appears that the Detroit Redwings will be moving to the Eastern Conference like many of the hockey pundits had suggested. I also like the idea of having a home-and-home against teams outside their division.

Bruce Garrioch ,Ottawa Sun - The NHL could be ready to make drastic changes with a major realignment for the 2012-13 season.

Two league executives told QMI Agency Wednesday that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman presented a proposal during Tuesday’s board of governors meetings in New York to scrap the current format used by the league.

Sources say under Bettman’s proposal, the league will have four divisions: Pacific, Midwest, East and South. It’s believed the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets would both get their wish to move to the East conference.

Changes need to be made with the Atlanta Thrashers’ move to Winnipeg now official. The two conferences and six divisions will be kept this year, but Bettman is pushing for a major change.

The realignment is by no means final. It’s still in the discussion stages.

Teams would play a balanced 82-game schedule with home-and-home against teams outside their division.

The top four teams in each division would make the playoffs. The first round would be divisonal play, the teams would then re-seed for conference play. Bettman’s idea would not affect a East-West Stanley Cup final matchup.

It's official Thrashers to Winnipeg

Illegal Curve

The NHL will officially will now only be about 150 miles from Grand Forks, ND. I believe one reader told me I was out of touch and delusional if I thought that the NHL would make it's return to Winnipeg, Manitoba. I guess I wasn't delusional after all. The vote to move the Thrashers to Winnipeg was unanimous as well. For all of you're Jets news visit the Illegal Curve blog.

NEW YORK (AP) —Don Waddell has been through it all with the Atlanta Thrashers since they entered the NHL in 1999.

From general manager to coach to team president, Waddell endured the ups and downs—mostly downs—as the franchise struggled on and off the ice.

After 13 years and only one playoff appearance that produced no wins, Tuesday was the day for Waddell and Atlanta to finally say goodbye to its second hockey team.

The NHL board of governors unanimously approved the sale and relocation of the Thrashers to Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Tuesday, clearing the final big hurdle in the process.

“We’ve been through the emotions and the frustrations the last few weeks, but when I look back and being there 13 years, it’s been a great run,” said Waddell, who served as general manager from the start until the 2009-10 season. “Since ’98 when I got hired, there are only four general managers that are currently with their teams.

“You’ve got to look at the positives. To be able to stay in one place for so long, it’s been tremendous for me.”

The same can’t be said of the team that once featured star players such as Dany Heatley(notes) and Ilya Kovalchuk(notes) and Marian Hossa(notes), but couldn’t keep them for one reason or another.

True North Sports and Entertainment bought the team last month and announced it was bringing the Thrashers to Winnipeg, which lost the Jets to Phoenix after the 1995-96 season.

“Obviously, everybody is sorry and distressed and unhappy that we found ourselves in the circumstance where our franchise was leaving Atlanta,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We’re particularly sorry for the fans that are there, but obviously based on the reception that we’ve gotten, everybody is extremely excited about the opportunities in Winnipeg for our return.”

Commissioner promises harsher penalties for head hits - "Next Year."

Image via WikipediaKey word is next year... I guess we will have have more of the same during the Stanley Cup Finals.

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was talking tough Wednesday, promising harsher penalties for violence "next season"and introducing the league's new chief disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan.

Bettman used his state of the league address ahead of Game One of the Stanley Cup final between the Vancouver Canucks and Boston Bruins to announce that Shanahan would be taking over the most thankless job in ice hockey.

A tough as nails former-player, Shanahan replaces Colin Campbell, who had been in charge of dispensing NHL supplemental discipline for 13 years but had come under increasing criticism for what was viewed as wildly inconsistent punishment.

The league continues to struggle to find a balance between player safety and removing the physical component of the game, which is at the heart of the sport and its appeal.

Concussions and the hits that cause them have become the hot button issue in sport this year, particularly in the NHL, and Campbell's uneven suspensions created the perception the league was unconcerned, sparking an uproar among fans and sponsors.

Bettman said Campbell had approached him and suggested a change.

"Collie and I believe it is time to take a fresh look at the standards that we use and if we are going to move to harsher discipline that change needs to send a clear message and we think it would probably be best to do it on a clean slate," Bettman told reporters.

Related articles

• NHL Commissioner Bettman expects realignment in 2012 season (cbssports.com)
• NHL Commissioner Bettman expects 2012 realignment (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Commissioner promises harsher penalties for head hits (reuters.com)
• NHL Commissioner Bettman expects 2012 realignment (sfgate.com)
• Bettman expects NHL realignment for 2012-13 (sports.espn.go.com)

Winnipeg press conference with Gary Bettman

Wow!!! I can’t be the only one that thinks the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is a smug little pompous jerk? When I watch Gary Bettman talk in press conferences on television or listen to him speak on XM radio; Bettman reminds me of one of the many empty suits that make up Washington, D.C., arrogant, condescending, smug, gets short with people… Frankly I think Bettman is a jerk the way he conducts himself. I would have loved to hook up a lie detector during his press conference today.

 Related articles

• Bettman say MTS Centre must sell out for success (ctv.ca)
• Thrashers sale, move to Winnipeg decision announced (aol.sportingnews.com)
• NHL back in Winnipeg (macleans.ca)
• B&C Morning Show: Gary Bettman Calls In To Talk About Boomer Buying The Coyotes (newyork.cbslocal.com)

Thrashers, Atlanta were never given a chance

Image via Wikipedia Here is an interesting perspective from Atlanta.

Jeff Schultz; AJC.COM --- This is how it ends: With the weasel of a commissioner not stepping foot in the city, with another season passing without a playoff game, with a lying ownership group maintaining it did all it could to save a franchise that in reality it spent most of seven years wrecking.

Atlanta has lost an NHL expansion team to a Canadian outpost for the second time. The Thrashers are going to Winnipeg just like the Flames went to Calgary in 1980. A noon press conference today is expected to make this long, slow death official.

This isn’t about the fans or the market or certainly Gary Bettman’s fictional “covenant” with fans, which I believe he left in the same sock drawer with his conscience. It’s about greed and abandonment, plain and simple. It’s about a disingenuous ownership group, which had long lost any semblance of credibility, serving up fans swill and gruel and then wondering why the turnstiles sleep at night.

They’ll tell you they care. They don’t. They’re walking away with a fat check. While you mourn the loss of a franchise, they’re waving goodbye with one middle finger.

The NHL is leaving a city that never really was given a chance. It’s going back to a city that it left 15 years ago and that has grown by about 60,000 people and a couple of doughnut shops since. They will be discussing this decision one day at business schools, right after the sections on Charles Ponzi and Enron.

Winnipeg Appears NHL's Only Option for Thrashers.

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeHere is an interesting article from the Spector blog about the NHL possibly making a return to Winnipeg. All I can say is whatever KDP, what does he know about Winnipeg? I wonder if Kevin can find Winnipeg on a map or even knows where the city of Winnipeg is at?

Spector Blog --- Since mid-May various reports suggesting the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers to True North Sports & Entertainment and their subsequent relocation this summer to the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, may occur in the near future has generated considerable stir in the NHL world.

As of this writing there's been no confirmation a deal is in place or imminent but various media sources claim it's either all but done, or will be in a matter of weeks, perhaps even days.

It remains to be seen when an official announcement could be made, but unquestionably this is the closest the city of Winnipeg has come to getting back an NHL franchise since their beloved Jets were sold and moved to Phoenix, becoming the Coyotes, in 1996.

Winnpegers in particular and a majority of Canadian-based hockey fans in general are thrilled by the prospect, but there is some question if the city of roughly 750,000 souls can be a viable hockey market, given its market size, location and other economic factors.

Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe raised those questions in his May 22, 2011 column, suggesting the Thrashers would enjoy an initial rush of strong support in Winnipeg until the team's losses started to pile up, Winnipegers realize the sticker shock of attending NHL games, and American TV interests make it clear they're not interested in televising games involving a Winnipeg team.

So are the Thrashing moving to Winnipeg?

Image via WikipediaThere seems to be a buzz around the "Internet" that the Atlanta Thrashers are going to be moving to Winnipeg, I know we have seen and heard this story before but this time it sounds like this might actually be true. Of course Gary Bettman denies that there is a deal in place to sell the Thrashers to True North, which would in turn relocate the team from Atlanta to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Here is the link to the interview that was on Sports Radio 1290 A.M. CFRW out of Winnipeg, Manitoba. [Click to listen]

Stephen Brunt; Globe and Mail ---- An agreement to sell the National Hockey League’s Atlanta Thrashers to a Winnipeg group which plans to relocate the franchise to the Manitoba capital is done.

Sources confirmed tonight that preparations are being made for an announcement Tuesday, confirming the sale and transfer of the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League and the MTS Centre arena, which would become the NHL team’s new home.

Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the National Hockey League, is expected to travel to Winnipeg to make the news official.

The announcement would end months of speculation about whether one of the NHL’s financially-troubled American sunbelt teams might move north, filling the void left when the Winnipeg Jets packed up and left for Phoenix in 1996, where they became the Coyotes.

Much of the talk this spring had centred on that failing franchise, which was bought by the league after being placed in bankruptcy by its former owner Jerry Moyes in 2009.

But sources in Winnipeg suggest that the Thrashers had in fact been the primary target of potential owners Mark Chipman and David Thomson all along, and that some months back, the NHL board of governors quietly approved the sale and transfer of the team, pending the negotiation of a purchase agreement between Atlanta Spirit LLC, the Thrashers’ owners, and True North.

In the meantime, no potential owner materialized who was prepared to keep the team in Georgia, and local governments there showed no interest in propping up the Thrashers.

“There seems to be a consensus there is going to be a team in Winnpeg,” former major league pitcher Tom Glavine, who had tried unsuccessfully to find new ownership for the hockey team in Atlanta, acknowledged last week. ““The question is who, and unfortunately the bullseye seems to be on the Thrashers’ back.”

Ut...Oh... (Redwing77)

It's been a while since my last rant so here goes...

Poor Poor Bettman

NHL Ninconpoop Gary Bettman is now demoralized again. First, his beloved Pens were eliminated. Next, he finds out that Crosby was holding out on him on his condition (so all along Gary held onto the hope that Crosby would be back just in time for naught). Now, his second favorite team (albeit red headed stepchild indeed) is gone. Tampa Bay eliminated the Craps in 4 games today. This behind 75 year old Dwayne Roloson's stellar play. Hey Wild fans, Roloson is in the Eastern Conference Finals. At least one former Wild is enjoying life right now.

In any case, I can revert back to being a general hockey fan now that the Craps are gone too. Perhaps we'll get to see what the NHL PR department has up its sleeve now that they have to try to promote someone not named Ovechkin or Crosby and not teams like Pittsburgh or Washington. I can't wait to see their creative juices flow.

Finishers anyone? Maybe finished is the better term.

Yup, I'm calling out the Red Wings. They've played San Jose close. Too bad they've rarely played San Jose well. They seemed lackadaisical at times and almost over confident. This OT was the first time I saw Detroit actually taking it to San Jose... only to see the D abandon them once again.

They now find themselves down 3-0 to San Jose. The big question, from my seat, is thus: Will Detroit end their season being swept or will they at least take one game? Right now, they seem to be unable to finish. San Jose seems to find finishers when they need it the most. Oh, and weak goals are great, right Howard? Setoguchi's second goal was W-E-A-K. Detroit's stupidity at D helped San Jose tie the game.

It's a stupid charge but... if Detroit wants to prove something, they're going to have to win Game 4 in big fashion... like by 3+ goals. I'm not saying Howard has to pitch a shutout, because with the D in front of him, that's like asking positive thinking along to stop mudslides from occurring in California. It's just not going to happen. Game 3 was a must win. They lost. buy a lottery ticket folks, you have a better chance at winning than Detroit has to move on. Stats and odds be darned.

Win or you're considered a pretender not a contender. I'm not going to say that Detroit has to win out to prove themselves because, this Red Wings fan thinks that there's now way Detroit advances. But if they want to have ANY respect at all from me, they're going to have to challenge San Jose more than they already have.

Color me a pessimist, but I doubt it.

And before anyone calls me out for daring point to a bunch of hockey players and call them pretenders or losers and then cite how I vehemently defend UND and collegiate hockey players know this: Datsyuk isn't an amateur. Howard isn't an amateur. Detroit isn't a member of the NCAA. These guys are PROs. They are being paid hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars per year to push their team towards the Stanley Cup. Detroit, further more, isn't the Atlanta Thrashers or Florida Panthers. They shouldn't just be happy to have made the playoffs.

Play like you want to be there or dress all your young players so they can get playoff experience and pack it in.

Oh, and last but not least...

Anyone want to earn some notoriety? I hear they're looking for a goaltender in Philadelphia. They've got plenty of backup goaltenders ready to push for your starting job so there is some pressure involved. The good news is, if you can stop a beach ball from going behind you, you have a pretty decent team in front of you. With Pronger on the ice, your team may even injure enough players to make it even if it isn't!

RW77's 2010 Playoff Good, Bad, and Ugly

Ok, a little review of the 2010 Playoffs in Good, Bad, and Ugly Format. Some will review previous posts but I think it will all sum up here.

The Good

The Chicago Blackhawks - They won the Cup. They did so with a ROOKIE goaltender... Ok, NHL rookie goaltender. Niemi was already well established in the Finnish Elite Leagues before coming to Chicago. It was really amazing to see such a team effort pay off. And like I said, Ubersieve Huet gets his name on the Cup. He's probably the happiest on the team (think about it... railed on unmercifully with some calling him the most overpaid bust in the NHL and it wasn't me and he gets his name on the cup.

The Philadelphia Flyers - Goon covered the storyline aspect but lets face it folks... this series could have gone either way. As aggravating as they are to watch, they did a great job. I don't like Pronger and I despise Carcillo but they did play the game about as well as anyone could ask. Not to mention the fact that, and it's been driven home like the beating of a dead horse but, Philly basically played the entire season and playoffs with 1 career backup (Leighton), 1 career nutjob/disappointment (Emery), and 1 almost was (Boucher) in net. And an ex Red Wing gets my nod as the Flyer MVP imo (Ville Leino). Ok, Pronger probably got the actual award from the team but still...

Jaroslav Halak - I still maintain that he was THE best goaltender in this year's playoffs. Period. Just look at what happened to the Habs when Price started in net? He made incredible saves. I do not know if this type of dominance he displayed will carry over (it didn't for Jose Theodore) but I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was fun to watch.

Jonathon Toews - Yup. Talked about before. I think Sidney Crosby will be one of the best young players statistically but I think Toews is all around right with Crosby. And the best part is that only Chicago has the expectations. No one else seems to care. So he's under far less pressure than Crosby is and he's, imo, just as good.

Dustin Byfuglien - He's what an enforcer or instigator should be. Yappin at the mouth and making big hits. And the kid who lived for a long time in a mobile home behind grandma and grandpa's house makes it good. I wonder if there's anything in Roseau, MN left standing?

Chris Pronger - Dislike him and his methods but... I doubt the Flyers would have made it as far as they did without him playing as well as he did.

Mike Richards - He did great too.

Sidney Crosby - Bettman's golden boy did pretty good all things considered. Luckily for all involved his team folded at the end.

The Bad

The Pittsburgh Penguins - They folded at the end. This was supposed to be THE team to beat in the playoffs... or at least that's what the media and Bettman wanted you to believe. Fleury still is a vastly overrated goaltender that got VERY lucky (see Giguere and the Ducks) last year. This year, luck ran out.

The Detroit Red Wings - Too bad they used all of their energy and talent to get past the Coyotes. I'm sure San Jose was looking for a competitive series. In the end, the ruse worked. Red Wings turtle, giving San Jose a superiority complex and a big ego. They go into Chicago and get beat. The bright spot is that the core of the team is still good and Jimmy Howard looks good too.

The officiating - It wasn't ugly but it was close at times. I hate the playoff rulebook.

The ugly

Gary Bettman - I don't need to rant too much on this one but I still give a glowing response to his reception after the game yesterday. I think it couldn't happen to a "better" man. I wonder what it is like to have a likeable or even competent commissioner?

The Bruins - See Goon's Post

Daniel Carcillo - His dives... need I say more?

The Blackhawk salary cap situation - Rumors are flying on ESPN.com's Rumor Central about the Blackhawks are soon to be broken up. I don't know if I believe that as ESPN is known for bending reality for ratings and not really caring too much about anything hockey related, but it will be interesting. I just don't see the current team being able to continue with the amount of money being paid out. It could be the end of the time in Chicago for players like Ladd, Sharp, and Madden.