Ever since the fateful day in May, when the NHL was officially announced as returning to Winnipeg, the water cooler conversations throughout the city have been predominantly related to the Winnipeg Jets. The quest for season tickets begat the conversation about the team’s nickname, begat the actual make-up of the roster we will be cheering on come the first puck drop on October 9, 2011.

The excitement surrounding the return of the NHL to Winnipeg has yet to wane

With the start of the free agency period now firmly in the rear view mirror, and the Winnipeg Jets roster beginning to take final shape, we see that their commitment to “character” was not simply lip service—rather it seems to be the driving force behind many of their roster decisions. The free agent signings, Tanner Glass, Derek Meech, Aaron Gagnon, Randy Jones, Rick Rypien and Mark Flood, are all of questionable NHL talent, but what they are lacking in on-ice capabilities, they more than make up for in the great intangible, “character”.  The question though, especially in light of the team’s refusal to give Anthony Stewart a qualifying offer (covered in more detail here) is why is the team putting so much stock into character, potentially at the expense of skill and talent?

More after the jump.

Throughout the previous existence of the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL, they were often blessed/cursed with teams that weren’t loaded with dynamic skill. Yet, for the most part, fans still turned out in droves to cheer on teams that were most often on the losing end of contests. While there is no one reason why fans continually came to cheer on the team, it certainly helped that the team featured players that were, for the most part, well liked in the community. They were teams with high character.

Photo courtesy canescountry.com

As this new team gets established in the community, they will be doing their best to build a brand. For a franchise, in any sport, their brand is of the utmost importance. A franchise is asking fans to part with their hard earned money (lots of it), and in return, fans hope for a winning product but demand a brand that they can be proud to call their own. Ask fans of the Portland Trail Blazers and they will tell you they were embarrassed to call themselves fans during the “Jail Blazers” era. Same goes for fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the current debacle surrounding the ownership of Frank McCourt. When Mike Kelly was alleged to have committed domestic abuse, the management team of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was fortunate for the timing, as it allowed the team to fire him and thus prevent him from doing any more damage to the team’s brand. Damage the brand, and fans will repel from the franchise, as we saw in Portland and Los Angeles, regardless of the team’s performance.

The team that will take to the ice at the MTS Centre this coming season will, more than likely, lose more games than they will win. The educated and intelligent hockey fans of Winnipeg know this, and will temper their expectations accordingly. What they will demand is that the Winnipeg Jets put forth a top level of effort night in and night out. The words effort and character often go hand in hand. From Mark Chipman, to Craig Heisinger, to Kevin Cheveldayoff, to Claude Noel, we have come to know that the off–ice people responsible for the Jets are of the highest character. Come October, we will find that the on-ice talent will be average, but the effort will be top notch. The result of that night in-night out effort will be that the Winnipeg Jets brand will begin to manifest itself, both on and off the ice as a brand of the highest character, a brand that the fans of the Winnipeg Jets can be immensely proud to call their own.

Ottawa is a difficult city, sports wise. As I quickly learned, it’s rare to find someone who is actually a born and bred Ottawanian (Ottawatonian? I never really found a definitive answer what to call someone from Ottawa, which I suppose somewhat proves my above point.) When you have a city like Ottawa that is filled with transplants from another city, and who bring with them loyalties to another city/team it’s hard to build a passionate fan base that will stick with their newly adopted team through thick and thin. All of a sudden, at the first sign of a distinct struggle, the adopted team is of no priority and attending their games is far down the list of things that must be done.

The second problem that is undoubtedly afflicting the Senators’ attendance is the location of their arena. When the Senators are winning, and playing quality hockey, the Scotiabank Place, located in Kanata, Ontario, is a delightful place to watch a winning hockey team. When the Senators are a mediocre team, as they currently are, Scotiabank Place is still a nice facility to watch a hockey game but the fact it is upwards of 30-45 minutes away from downtown Ottawa becomes a real drawback. Oftentimes the alternative of watching the game in a downtown sports bar, and avoiding the hassle that is attending a Senators game is the better option. At it’s core, this is a serious problem the Senators have yet to solve; anytime the fan base thinks getting to the game is too much of a hassle and not worth it, you are going to have serious problems.

Continuing on with the locale difficulties surrounding Scotiabank Place is that, in my humble opinion, hockey fans want an atmosphere surrounding the arena/game. They want to feel a buzz in the local shops and businesses near the arena, adding to the hype and the excitement. This isn’t possible with Scotiabank Place as it’s in the middle of a former farmer’s field, with no businesses around it. There is no spin-off nightlife to the Senators game. You drive to the arena in bumper-to-bumper traffic, you park in the parking lot, and you walk into the game. There are no places to get a pre-game meal or a post game drink. You drive, you watch, you depart. Sure, downtown businesses get on the Sens bandwagon, but when there is a 45 minute drive to the actual game that buzz dissipates to a whimper of enthusiasm.

When I lived in Ottawa, the Senators were an upper-echelon NHL team, icing, at the time, one of the best lines in the NHL with Heatley, Spezza, and Alfredsson. They played an exciting brand of hockey, and as a result of their style of play and subsequent on ice success, the Scotiabank Place was THE place to be. Of course, as with all teams in professional sports, peaks quickly become valleys, and the Senators began a re-tooling faze. Still, on most nights the Senators are competitive, and a fringe playoff team. What is proven by their attendance struggles this year is that for the Senators to be a hot ticket they must be playing hockey in an upper echelon. As I documented, there are a number of different factors playing into this, but ultimately I think the biggest problem is the lack of born and bred Senators fans. Looking around to the other Canadian NHL clubs, they are experiencing struggles similar to and worse than those of the Senators, and yet they are still filling the building night in, night out. The Edmonton Oilers are still “God-like” in Edmonton, despite playing an atrocious excuse for hockey. I think that this can only be explained due to the intense loyalty of their fan base. Given the truths that Ottawa is very much a transient town, and with this unlikely to end anytime soon, I don’t see these problems dissipating. It’s good to see though that the Senators ownership are pro-active and aware of their trouble spots and are doing their part to try and attract more people back to Scotiabank Place. A “cognizant to the situation” ownership group is a must in trying to solve any problems.

For IllegalCurve.com, I am Drew Mindell.

Do you have any thoughts on what ails the Senators, attendance wise? Let’s hear from you in the comments.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

While I am not certain if Backstreet is back or not, one thing I do know for sure, is that The Monster, Jonas Gustavsson is close to returning to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

For those of you who may have forgotten, Gustavsson, the highly touted rookie goaltender and perceived goal-tending saviour of the Leafs, is soon to be returning to game action mere days after undergoing a heart ablation, performed to regulate abnormal heart rhythms. This is the second ablation he has undergone in the past three months, the first time being after he passed out during training camp, and the second time after exiting a game versus the Montreal Canadians with an elevated heart rate. The question, simply, is it too soon for him to return?

I don’t believe that the Leafs training staff and medical professionals would dare return a player before he is perfectly healthy, and thus into a life threatening situation, however, I can’t help wonder about the psychological effects these two procedures have had on Gustavsson. For a twenty five year old to have to undergo one heart procedure is rare, never mind two in three months. Now, as the second procedure is declared a success, I can’t help but wonder if Gustavsson really feels “healed”.

As I mentioned, Gustavsson has the weight of the most desperate hockey fan base on his shoulders. He is also twenty five years of age. As the media is wont to do, especially when it comes to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Gustavsson, upon his signing with the Leafs, was declared a key to the puzzle to returning the Leafs to Stanley Cup glory. To say that the expectations heaped upon him were unfair would be an understatement. Anyone, least of all a twenty five year old, would feel the pressure to return to the Leafs ASAP. But, I can’t help but wonder if Gustavsson really feels “healed”.

I can’t help it, but when I think of this issue with Gustavsson, my mind immediately takes me back to Detroit, Michigan on November 21, 2005. I can still picture it in my mind, when in the middle of a shift, streams of Detroit Red Wings began to flee the bench. It was the textbook example of too many men on the ice, but it was for good reason, as they were fleeing to give medical personnel room to ply their trade, because Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fischer had collapsed and was in cardiac arrest.

Fischer too was 25 years old.

Fischer too was aware of the slight abnormality to his heart, it having been diagnosed three years earlier.

Recently, hockey has had a far too long list of heart related tragedies. Ex-NHL player Sergei Zholtok died shortly after leaving the ice during a game in Latvia. Micky Renaud, captain of the Windsor Spitfires, died in 2008 from a previously undiagnosed heart condition. Most vividly (a little over a year ago), the image is still clear of New York Rangers first round draft pick Alexei Cherepanov being carried of the bench and subsequently dying while playing in Russia. Tragically, these names are but a few on the list of heart related hockey deaths.

The case of Jiri Fischer goes to show the benefit (and to some degree, luck) in having CPR trained professionals and defibrillator equipment immediately available. Had he not received immediate attention, he too would have been a casualty on this list. My goal is not to terrify or tell Jonas Gustavsson not play hockey anymore. I am sure, more than anyone, he is well aware of the risks. All I know is that when it was first announced that he would be under going another procedure to fix his heart ailment, all of us involved in the IllegalCurve.com Radio Show predicted, on the air, that Gustavsson would be out for a lengthier period of time, if not the rest of the season. If I was Gustavsson, I would take the lyrics of the Backstreet Boys to heart, and he should ensure that no one is playing games with his heart.

For IllegalCurve.com, I am Drew Mindell.

Do I have some valid points, or am I engaging in fear mongering ? Let’s hear from you in the comments.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

Also, you can get more Cold Hard Rants by following me on Twitter, under the name Coldhardranter

]]> http://illegalcurve.com/2009/12/16/cold-hard-rants-quit-playing-games-with-my-heart/feed/ 1 http://illegalcurve.com/2009/12/08/23123/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=23123 http://illegalcurve.com/2009/12/08/23123/#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:30:11 +0000 Drew Mindell http://illegalcurve.com/?p=23123 The Liberty Bell. Rocky (the boxer, not the former Illegal Curve contributor.) Cheese-steaks. Will Smith (circa the Fresh Prince era.) The Broad Street Bullies.

When one thinks of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, these are the immediate thoughts that come to mind. We can all close our eyes and see Sly Stallone running up those steps in Rocky I. We can all smell and taste the unmistakable aroma that comes from combining grade “E” meat with Cheese and Onions. We can all picture the Fresh Prince, the quintessential fish out of water in Bel-Air with the high fade, the tough exterior, and the heart of gold. Most applicable to hockey fans (and presumably if you are reading this, you qualify as one, or you Googled Philadelphia landmarks and are now very confused), we can all picture the Broad Street Bullies who terrorized and dominated the NHL in the 1970’s.

Their fierce on-ice antics were made all the more tolerable by their on ice dominance, culminating with their back to back championships in 1973-74 and 1974-75. Since the revolutionary play by the bullies, the Flyers have more or less stuck to the same raison d’être, valuing toughness and grit more than any other NHL franchise, evidenced by their frequency in the top portion of most penalized NHL teams. However, with the firing of John Stevens earlier this week, and the hiring of Peter Laviolette, if history is any indicator, it will be time to begin to write the obituary for the Broad Street Bullies era of the Philadelphia Flyers.

When the season began in Philadelphia, expectations were high. The team had a moderately successful season the year prior, giving the future Stanley Cup Champion Penguins all they could handle in the first round. They added perennial Norris Trophy Candidate Chris Pronger in an off season trade, and they resolved their often-in-flux goaltending situation by rescuing Ray Emery from the KHL. Both of these acquisitions solidified this team and both players play the game the supposed “bullies” way, as any opponent will tell you how rough and tumble Pronger is, and Ray Emery famously adorned his mask in Ottawa with a picture of Mike Tyson. The Broad Street Bullies were alive and well.

Fast forward a quarter of the way through this season and we have a Flyers team that is underperforming and in a tailspin out of the playoffs, resulting in John Stevens losing his job, and the hiring of Peter Laviolette. It is this hiring that is the basis for the hypothesis that we are about to see the end of the Broad Street Bullies era.

Looking back at the past performances of Laviolette coached teams, it’s obvious he puts an emphasis on responsible, penalty free play. In the four years Laviolette coached in Carolina, the Hurricanes finished with the 5^th fewest penalty minutes (05-06), 7^th fewest penalty minutes (06-07), 8^th most penalty minutes (an aberration in 07-08), and the fewest in the NHL (08-09). The numbers look similar when examining his tenure in New York with the Islanders, as they were in the middle of the pack as it relates to penalty in minutes in 2001-02 and 2002-03.

The Flyers, on the other hand, finished with the 10^th fewest PIM in 05-06 (their aberration), 5^th most in 06-07, 3^rd most in 07-08, and most in the NHL last year (08-09).

It’s too soon in the Laviolette era in Philadelphia to officially and undoubtedly declare that it is the end of the Broad Street Bullies era. I do think that a good litmus test will occur later this week when Flyers winger Daniel Carcillo returns from his four game suspension. In case you missed it, Carcillo was suspended after amassing an amazing twenty-nine minutes of penalties during last Saturday’s blow-out loss to the Ovechkin-less Washington Capitals. Carcillo’s performance was highlighted by him handing the Capitals a nine minute power-play which, needless to say, does not bode well for achieving a victory in the game. Laviolette’s post game quote that, “there has got to be some accountability to the discipline, because we’re not going to kill penalties all night,” puts the writing on the wall that an undisciplined bully like team will not be stood for under his watch.

When Carcillo is able to return from his suspension later this week, his status should tell us all we need to know about the health of the Broad Street Bullies. If he takes a regular shift, then Laviolette is not fully committed to changing the mentality of the Flyers, but if Carcillo is seated high above the ice in the press box, we will know that the obituary writers can begin to write about the era of the Broad Street Bullies, born 1970, died 2009.

For IllegalCurve.com, I am Drew Mindell.

Do you wish that the original Broad Street Bullies would treat me like they did the Russian Red Army in 1976? Let’s hear from you in the comments.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

(8)   Anaheim Ducks (7) Columbus Blue Jackets (6) St. Louis Blues

Ryan Getzlaf                      Rick Nash                              Brad Boyes

Corey Perry                       Kristian Huselius               David Backes

Scott Niedermayer              RJ Umberger                       David Perron

Chris Pronger                    Rotislav Klesla                    TJ Oshie

Teemu Selanne                 Jakub Voracek                    Keith Tkachuk

Bobby Ryan                       Fredrik Modin                     Andy McDonald

Now, you are the San Jose Sharks. You have just concluded an exhausting and, most importantly, successful 82 game season. As the regular season comes to an end, and you eagerly await the start of the “real season”, where heroes are made, and dreams are realized, you come to the harsh realization that your “reward” for finishing first in the Western Conference is a first round playoff date against the eighth place team, an experienced, “built for the playoffs”, Anaheim team. Look at the above chart, and answer me this, is facing the Anaheim Ducks as opposed to the Blue Jackets or Blues any reward whatsoever?

It’s time for the NHL to revolutionize their playoff structure. As I have argued in this column umpteen times, the NHL season is far too long, but given that the league relies on attendance (“the gate”) for the bulk of their revenues, I have begrudgingly accepted that the season is not going to get any shorter, any time soon. That being the case, the NHL needs to ensure that the team that does perform the best over the 82 game season, truly does get a reward for their accomplishment in finishing at the top of the standings. The reward needs to be as follows: that team gets to choose their opponent in the first round of the playoffs. Consequently, the 2^nd overall team in each conference gets the second choice of opponent, and so on. By instituting this type of playoff format, there would be no issues of “tanking” by a lower seeded team (once confirmed of a playoff spot of course) to face a specific opponent that may be higher ranked, but that you also match up well with. Simply put, the Sharks should never have had to play the Ducks in the first round, as you damn well know that had the Sharks known how things would play out, they gladly would have lost an extra game or two in the regular season if it meant avoiding the Ducks and playing one of the Blues or Blue Jackets instead. Under this new system, the Sharks would have really garnered an advantage for finishing first (don’t begin to talk about home ice advantage to me, it’s been proven ad nauseum to be a nominal advantage at best.)

The NHL is in need of a shake-up, something revolutionary that would do something to garner it (positive) attention, especially in the United States. It is a generally agreed upon fact that the NHL already has the best playoff system, but that’s not to say it shouldn’t be better. This new wrinkle would do that, without causing fundamental changes to the game that cause so many traditionalists consternation (hello shootouts!). Can you imagine the motivation a lower ranked team would garner by being picked to be the supposed sacrificial lamb of a top ranked opponent? How about the arm chair conversations this system would lead to, over what team should be selected as the opponent, thus engaging the casual fan in yet another aspect of the game. Can’t you see the national networks chomping at the bit to conduct a television special where the match-ups would be unveiled? One thing I know for sure, the San Jose Sharks definitely would not have faced the Anaheim Ducks last year. This system would finally bring just rewards for a successful season’s body of work.

For IllegalCurve.com, I am Drew Mindell.

Do you think this idea has merit, or do you prefer the status quo? Let’s hear from you in the comments.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

Clicking on the article, because nothing makes me smile more than articles documenting the failures of the NHL’s Southern Expansion, I read the following passage,

Operationally, the team has been stable this season, with co-owner Oren Koules and general manager Brian Lawton running things, and co-owner Len Barrie, as per Commissioner Gary Bettman, involved only in transactions worth more than $2 million.

Reading this, it got me thinking, of all the disastrous moves in the legacy of Gary Bettman, has one ever rivaled the approval of ownership to the two clowns currently “owning” the Tampa Bay Lightning?

So, with that in mind, I did what I do best (ridicule Gary Bettman), and I compiled a list of all of the ownership catastrophes that have occurred under his tiny perfect management. Without further adieu, here is my top ten list (with apologies to David Letterman) of epic ownership failures under the watch of Gary Bettman:

10) Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk is placed under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

9) Anaheim Mighty Ducks owner Henry Samueli takes it up a notch and he too is placed under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In June of 2008, Samueli is suspended as owner of the Ducks, and is only reinstated this month after pleading guilty to a felony charge of lying to the SEC. In newspaper articles he is referred to as a “billionaire philanthropist.”

8 ) Alan Cohen sells the Florida Panthers to minority owners Cliff Viner and Stu Siegel. The price tag was a cool $0.00 and instead the only thing Cohen got from the sale was no longer being responsible for the teams growing debts. In less promising news for the financial success of Viner and Siegel’s enterprise, you can currently get a free Florida Panthers ticket simply by showing a State of Florida driver’s license.

7) The Pittsburgh Penguins, a team with a solid legacy in the NHL thanks to Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr are “near death” before Mario Lemieux purchases the franchise. The cost? $0.00 as Lemieux is owed many millions in deferred pay.

6) The Atlanta Thrashers ownership group is in the midst of a divorce that the writers of “War of the Roses” would describe as excessively messy. Don’t worry though, this apocalypse of a franchise has had its owners locked in this court battle since 2005, so it’s just status quo in Dixie.

5) Is your majority owner in jail? If you answered no, you are doing better than former Sabres owner John Rigas, who is currently doing 15 years in prison for bank, wire, and securities fraud. In George W. Bush’s only good decision, he chose not to respond to Rigas’s plea for a presidential pardon.

4) Much like two petulant teenagers, Gary Bettman had to separate Tampa Bay owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie from each other. Now Barrie has no say unless the issue involves more than 2 million dollars. No confirmation was available to the rumour that Koules threatened to treat Barrie like one of the characters in his “Saw” movie franchise.

3) It takes a rare breed to of incompetence to not only fail in an attempt to be an NHL owner, but to then end up in prison over this failure. Fortunately William “Boots” Del Biaggio was up to the challenge as he is now serving eight years in prison for bilking investors and a bank he used to own out of millions of dollars. The best part of this incompetent’s failed scheme is that two of the investors he bilked were existing NHL owners Craig Leopold of the Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings owner AEG. Oh yeah, he pulled this off after the NHL introduced a new, rigorous, due diligence process.

2) Prospective New York Islanders owner John Spano had the NHL’s approval to buy the Isles, and all systems were a go until the time came for Spano to pay for the team. Only then was it discovered he actually had no money and all of his documents were forgeries. Maybe, in hindsight, the NHL should have paid more than $600.00 to investigate the financial wherewithal of Mr. Spano.

1) The Phoenix Coyotes. Need I say more?

For IllegalCurve.com, I am Drew Mindell.

Do you have a top ten list that you want to see in the future, or do you disagree with my rankings? Let’s hear from you in the comments.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

Colorado 3 – Vancouver 0 Attendance 13,416 (74.5 % of capacity)

(AVS record entering the game 1 win-0 losses-0 overtime losses)

Friday October 23, 2009

Colorado 5 – Carolina 4 Attendance 13,673 (75.9 % of capacity)

(AVS record entering the game 6 wins-1 loss-2 overtime losses)

Saturday October 24, 2009

Colorado 3 – Detroit 1 Attendance 17,690 (98.2 % of capacity)

(AVS record entering the game 7 wins-1 loss-2 overtime losses)

Wednesday November 4, 2009

Colorado 4 – Phoenix 1 Attendance 11,012 (61.2 % of capacity)

(AVS record entering the game 10 wins-3 losses-2 overtime losses)

Friday November 6, 2009

Colorado 4 – Chicago 3 Attendance 15,616 (86.7% of capacity)

(AVS record entering the game 11 wins-3 losses-2 overtime losses)

Sunday November 8, 2009

Colorado 3 – Edmonton 5 Attendance 12,118 (67.3% of capacity)

(AVS record entering the game 12 wins-3 losses-2 overtime losses)

Saturday November 14, 2009

Colorado 2 – Vancouver 8 Attendance 15,823 (87.9% of capacity)

(AVS record entering the game 12 wins-4 losses-3 overtime losses)

Currently

AVS record (12 wins-5 losses-3 overtime losses, 2^nd in Western Conference)

Attendance (Averaging 14,504, slightly over 80 % in capacity, 25^th in NHL)

In short, what gives fans of the Avalanche?

To say expectations were low in Colorado this year would be an understatement. To the impartial observer, the team had several holes in their roster, and those players that they were icing on a regular basis were woefully inexperienced. Most prognosticators ranked the Avalanche out of the playoff picture, and many had them battling the Coyotes of Parts Unknown for last place in the conference. (In Illegal Curve’s own season preview, the ceiling for the AVS this season was 12^th in the West, 4^th in the Northwest Division.)

Given the well documented low expectations, it could be expected that the fans would be hesitant to throw their hard earned money at the team early on the season. For better or worse, this is now a “show me” world, and very few teams in professional sport will have unyielding support regardless of record. However, the Avalanche has shown their success, as demonstrated by their current holding of 2^nd place in the Western Conference, almost a quarter of the way through the season. So, with the attendance improving only modestly at best throughout their strong start to the season, the question becomes is Denver a good hockey town or is it a town that only supports their team when they are a front runner?

It has long been documented, the love-hate relationship that the city of Denver has had with hockey. The Colorado Rockies (the ex-hockey team, not the current baseball team for our readers who may not be old enough to remember all the way back to the early eighties) were a flop, to put it mildly. Of course, some would say they were a flop because of the ineptitude of the on and off ice hockey product that was being marketed. It was not until 1994 that hockey exploded onto the Colorado scene, with the tremendous success that was the International Hockey League’s Denver Grizzlies. Of course, some would say they were a success because of the team’s on ice record, culminating in winning the Turner Cup (the IHL championship).

When the Nordiques moved to Colorado in 1995, the owners had a built in base of season ticket holders (thanks to the Grizzlies of the IHL who had relocated to Salt Lake City with the arrival of the Avalanche), and more importantly they had immediate on-ice success thanks to the years of futility of the Nordiques which culminated with the Avalanche being the lucky recipients of a “new” franchise with many future Hall of Famers already aboard. The AVS had an eleven year run of sellouts that (coincidentally enough!) ran concurrently with eight division championships, two Presidents Trophies and two Stanley Cups.

Of course, as with most professional sports teams, success is very much cyclical and since the lockout the AVS have been hard pressed to make the playoffs, and success has been in fleeting amounts. Shockingly, this has coincided with the downturn in Avalanche attendance.

I am not so blind as to believe that under no circumstances should attendance be tied to success. It’s a fairly obvious corollary that success is an important factor in positive attendance figures. However, what I can’t figure out is why a city like Denver, which is intimately familiar with the concept of winter, and one would think ice hockey, has attendance patterns eerily similar to the untraditional hockey markets that populate the sun-belt of the United States. I am not saying attendance should always be at peak capacity, but at some point in time, especially when the team is playing well and having tremendous on-ice success, the fans should be turning out in droves (droves=an arena full to capacity) to cheer their success. Even when the team is only middling along through a season, fighting for a playoff spot, the arena needs to be at capacity during the “traditional” hockey season (i.e. a Saturday night in January).

It appears that the challenge for the Avalanche and their marketing department is to engage a fan base that is only especially tuned in when the team is realistically fighting for a Stanley Cup. Surprising good play from a young team that had minimal expectations is not enough to dial in the fans and make them shell out the dollars to attend an NHL game. The seeds of a consistent, unequivocal, hockey market with the accompanying fan base, which exists predominantly north of the border and in some U.S. marketplaces, does not exist in Denver with the Avalanche. Unfortunately, it’s a situation replicated far too often in the NHL.

For IllegalCurve.com, I am Drew Mindell.

Agree? Disagree? Think there is another explanation for the Avalanche lamentable attendance figures? Let’s hear from you in the comments.

Follow me on Twitter, user name Cold Hard Ranter!

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner. This week’s guests are Craig Custance of The Sporting News and David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News.

I don’t blame the inductees that the event is boring, it’s an impossibility that it would be anything other than boring given the sanitized atmosphere that plays host to the event.  What I do not comprehend is why the powers that be at the Hockey Hall of Fame have done nothing to change that atmosphere.  The best way to demonstrate the dullness of the Hockey Hall of Fame induction is to compare it to that of the three other major sports.

In the case of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, you have the scene every summer of legions of fans descending upon Canton to witness firsth and the inductions of their team’s favorite player.  Whether it be Bills fans showing up to salute owner Ralph Wilson and Thurman Thomas, or Steelers fans showing up en masse to pay respects to Rod Woodson, the Pro Football Hall of Fame does the induction ceremony properly by bringing players close to their fans in a mutual outpouring of respect and thanks.  The scenes created by having the players give their speeches outdoors in front of the throngs of fans leaves an indelible impression that the Hockey Hall of Fame fails to even remotely emulate. To a lesser extent the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York and the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusets also provide remembrances of this kind (even if the only reason the basketball induction was memorable this year was because of a petty, vindictive and mean spirited induction speech from Michael Jordan.)

The biggest shame of the current Hockey Hall of Fame inductions is because the readymade solution is just sitting right there, waiting for someone to implement.  If the goal is to remove the bland from the current recipe and add in some spice (or at the very least some No-Doze), the answer lies in removing the event from Toronto. Toronto is a very nice city and has a lot going for it, but it’s a boring hockey town.  The true hockey fans have been priced out of the marketplace and as we see every Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada corporate suits don’t make noise.  If they don’t cheer on Saturday night, why would they start to cheer at the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony?

When and where to hold the ceremony you ask?  The answer is one that will bring the NHL superstars that much closer to the people who fully appreciate their feats.  The answer will bring the inductees the roaring crowd they deserve, hanging on their every word, eager and thrilled to salute them wildly.  The answer is a throwback to how most of us began to play this game, on local ice rinks, in small towns from coast to coast to coast.  The answer is to hold the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the same town, on the same weekend, that CBC conducts its annual salute to hockey, Hockey Day in Canada.  Can you imagine the reaction in Salmon Arm, British Columbia if the Hockey Hall of Fame was to hold its induction ceremony for Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, Steve Yzerman etc. at the same time that they were privileged to be the home base for Hockey Day in Canada?  Very soon, as Hockey Day in Canada/the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony moves from town to town in this great country, the roaring crowds and overwhelming reaction would too become a staple of the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

It is upon the backs of these great hockey legends that the answers lie to why we love this sport so very much.  To continually subject them to an event that could charitably be considered as a medical remedy for insomnia is an inglorious salute to their accomplishments.  A little outside the box thinking could doubly serve as a cure for this problem, while simultaneously bringing the Hockey Hall of Fame to a new audience.  Let’s move beyond Toronto, the inductees deserve that little.

For IllegalCurve.com, I am Drew Mindell. Follow me on Twitter at ColdHardRanter.

Agree? Disagree? Think I should be nominated for the Hall of Fame of D-Bags? Let’s hear from you in the comments.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

Originally published on October 16, 2007

(Note: The article was published immediately upon my return from a trip to Las Vegas)

As I was wiling away my hours in the Excalibur Hotel and Casino Sports-book, I noticed in one of the smallest televisions in the furthest away corner, an NHL game was being shown. Immediately suspecting that this was an egregious oversight on the part of the sports-book operators I expected them to change it to another series of greyhound races. But for some reason I have yet to figure out, they actually showed an entire NHL game!

The only reason I mention this game, is not because people were watching it (because they certainly weren’t), or because people were gambling on it (I think the exhibition Raptors-Celtics game from Italy got more action), but rather because of the criminal element involved in the game, namely one Todd Bertuzzi.

For whatever reason, during the recent out-cry against illegal hits, or blows to the head, or guys attempting to use their sticks as machetes, the name Todd Bertuzzi has gone unmentioned. More important than the name Bertuzzi, is the name Moore, as in Steve, the long forgotten, unlamented original victim of hockey’s recent on-ice violent spree. No matter what isn’t said by TVs chattering heads, this writer has not forgotten about Steve Moore, and the unprovoked, deliberate attack that was perpetrated against him by Todd Bertuzzi. I have heard all of the excuses for why Bertuzzi did it. I have heard all the defenses provided for him by people in the hockey world (believe me, I lived with someone from Vancouver, I have heard ALL the excuses), but in my humble opinion, the attack of Todd Bertuzzi was worse than any of the other recent incidences we have seen.

Todd Bertuzzi was skating behind Steve Moore. Moore was the definition of unsuspecting as last time I checked he didn’t have eyes in the back of his head. Bertuzzi sucker punched him in a way a WWE bad guy would have applauded. He grabbed his body as it was about to hit the ice, and pile-drove him head first into the ice. His intention can be understood in no other way than an attempt to severely injure Steve Moore. It wasn’t a spur of the moment reaction to someone coming after him. It wasn’t a Darwinist survival of the fittest moment, it was simply the cold-hearted, deliberate and mean action of an individual who was upset with being on the short end of the outcome of a hockey game.

At the end of the day, twenty games are what Todd Bertuzzi served. Twenty games for fracturing three vertebrae in Steve Moore’s neck. Twenty games for a grade three concussion. Twenty games for vertebral ligament damage. Twenty games for damaging the brachial plexus nerves. Twenty games for ruining someone and ending their livelihood. Twenty games.

And after twenty games, Todd Bertuzzi was re-instated into the NHL in part because of the, “significant uncertainty, anxiety, stress and emotional pain caused to Bertuzzi’s family.”

Every time Todd Bertuzzi dresses for an NHL game, every time he touches the puck, every time his skates make a cut into the ice, every time he “face-washes” an opposing player, the NHL and Bertuzzi should be ashamed of themselves, for no one remembers the person who suffered the real “significant uncertainty, anxiety, stress and emotional pain”—Steve Moore.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Want me to drop this issue, or should I continue harping on it? Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

With this latest departure in mind, I thought I would take a quick look at the respective websites of the three networks who broadcast NHL hockey in Canada, and the quality of work they are putting online. (Note: I make no comment about layout etc. I possess no expertise of this subject matter, and it would be irresponsible of me to comment on it. My commentary is focussed only on content matters.)

New and Improved! Those cliché tag lines kept flying at me as I was tuned into the MLB playoffs on Sportsnet (at least until the games went into extra innings and Sportsnet cut away from the dramatic ending to show international darts or something equally terrible.) So, despite my new found hostility to Sportsnet thanks to their terrible programming decisions, I ventured over to their website to actually see if it was new and improved. Much to my surprise, I somewhat enjoyed what I found. The webpage had all of the “important” NHL news readily available, and what I particularly enjoyed was the game videos from last night’s on-ice action right there, front and centre. Columnists/commentators Mike Brophy, and Mark Spector provide insight into the game, and I particularly enjoyed their no-nonsense analysis style. It’s almost like they simply wanted to provide information without feeling the need to pimp their name ad nauseam. The ability to personalize the page based on the region of the country you are in, is a nice touch.

Speaking of pimping their name ad nauseam and creating controversy where none actually exists, we move onto TSN. As the undisputed lead voice of twenty four hour sports coverage in Canada, one would expect more from TSN.ca then we currently get. My main issue with TSN.ca is that everything is breathlessly reported as being THE BIGGEST DEAL EVER. I am sorry to the Peverly family for this, but today’s “news” that Rich Peverly resigning with the Atlanta Thrashers is not that important. Even as a Winnipegger who is likely to see Rich Peverly play here in the next two years after the Thrashers finally give up in Atlanta, I just don’t care that much. Treat stories with the appropriate level of coverage they deserve. Do that, and people will respect your voice more. As for columnists, Bob McKenzie is as connected in hockey as you can be and he does a good job of giving information. Unfortunately, he sort of gets swallowed up by the fact TSN has approximately 842 “experts” in their employ, and as such the most valuable and connected of those experts get their voices heard less than they should. That’s a shame.

Moving onto the Pinko Commie Rag (Morty Seinfeld™) of the broadcasters, we get to the new home of Tim Wharnsby, CBC.CA. The CBC website is probably the “Johnny come lately” to the online wave, as previous incarnations of their hockey website have been poor in comparison to TSN and Sportsnet. I am pleased to report that has improved. Their video component is as solid as both Sportsnet and TSN, but where they are dominating is in the voices of their analysts. Respected hockey insiders like Scott Morrison, Elliotte Friedman, and Jeff Marek (to name a few) contribute constantly to the website. Additionally, CBC.CA has gotten on board with the wave of the future by partnering with the citizen journalists of the blogosphere and using the resources and in-depth expertise that these bloggers provide. (For example, take today’s online chat with Tim Wharnsby and the blog “Nucks Misconduct” in which they discuss the struggles of the Vancouver Canucks thus far this year.) At this point they are the only site using online chats, and for TSN and Sportsnet to not be doing so is somewhat shocking and a huge loss to both of them.

So there you have it. One man’s quasi-insightful opinion to the ways or the world(wide web) as it relates to the online arm of NHL broadcasters. What do you think? Love TSN but hate Sportsnet? Think that CBC is destroying the rest of the competition? Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

As a country that is so singularly fanatic about our hockey, it is only natural and appropriate that there be a hockey league whose sole purpose is to nurture and develop the next generation of hockey players. However, the need for this developmental league needs to be balanced against the developmental needs of maturing teenagers, of the young players it relies on. Currently, the CHL accepts players between the ages of sixteen and twenty. Each team also plays a minimum of sixty eight games, not including playoffs. When you are playing that many games, and when you factor in the long hours of travel often involved moving from one small town to another, something has to give. Unfortunately, when your sole purpose for doing all this travelling is to play hockey, the sacrifice you make is usually school work and assorted other “coming of age” moments the typical teenager experiences, and eventually cherishes. It is a sad state of affairs that the coming of age moments involving junior hockey often refer to players’ first group sex experience.

With the legal age of consent eighteen, I begrudgingly admit nothing can be done, or should be done regarding players who have reached that threshold. They are, in the eyes of the law free to mortgage their future in the hopes of achieving a professional hockey career to their heart’s content. It is the sixteen and seventeen year olds who demand attention at this crucial juncture. In the case of Theoren Fleury, he went to Winnipeg with Graham James leaving behind him what could charitably be described as a dysfunctional family, with an alcoholic father and a mother in a prescription-drug induced haze. He had the weight of his family’s future upon his shoulders, so it’s no wonder he was susceptible to the evil that Graham James inflicted upon him. While the horrors that Theoren Fleury faced occur in only the smallest of cases, you cannot tell me that junior hockey players who are sixteen and seventeen are getting the appropriate nurture that they require to develop into well rounded mature adults.

Unfortunately, as with most difficult situations, there are no easy answers. However, that fact doesn’t excuse us from doing nothing to rectify this situation. To begin with, a reduced hockey season and some increased mechanism of supervision on a team-by-team basis is a must. This person must be from an outside agency/organisation, which have the skill and expertise to properly a monitor a situation of this nature. When dealing with issues of minors, respective Child and Family Services agencies must take a more active role, as they do in all other avenues involving youth at risk. It cannot be a rooster watching the hen house situation. It must not be. We cannot have more Theoren Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy situations emerge now that our eyes are wide open. Junior hockey must change.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Do you think anything should be done regarding junior hockey or is it all hunky-dory? Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

Overture, curtains, lights,
This is it, the night of nights
No more rehearsing and nursing a part
We know every part by heart
Overture, curtains, lights
This is it, you’ll hit the heights
And oh what heights we’ll hit
On with the show this is it

Tonight what heights we’ll hit
On with the show this is it

With those words, spoken by legendary philosophers Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, the NHL season has kicked off/puck dropped. (I am aware they actually didn’t start the season with Bugs & Daffy, but who would have complained if they had?—would have been way better than whatever that crap was in Edmonton on Saturday night)

Because the season has just started, and I am full of optimism and warm, cuddly feelings (thank you lithium!) and because I am sure the NHL season will avail me more than enough opportunities to be a Negative Nelly, I will instead begin this season of Cold Hard Rants with a wish list that I would like to see occur this coming year.

Western Conference

• Dany Heatley getting his comeuppance and getting sh*t kicked for 82 games, while tallying the worst goal total of his career. You don’t mess with karma the way Mr. Heatley did and escape unscathed.
• The Detroit Red Wings getting knocked from their usual perch atop the NHL standings. Not because I regularly dislike the Red Wings, or the manner in which they are successful year in, year out, (in fact I admire them for that) but simply because they signed the criminal Todd Bertuzzi. So long as he gets signed by NHL teams, while Steve Moore sits at home, the team that signs him deserves to fail.
• Saku Koivu stays healthy for the entire year, and he and countryman Teemu Selanne play like twenty eight year olds in contributing to the Ducks having a successful season. Best of all no one asks him why he doesn’t speak French.
• Oilers fans realize early on that their team isn’t that good, and they won’t make the playoffs. Will save a lot of anguish and hand-wringing later in the season. (But Khabby plays well.)
• The Phoenix Coyotes play before more than 2000 paying customers once this season.

Eastern Conference

• Carey Price returns to form as one of the most promising young goaltenders in the NHL and the Canadians have a year free and clear of the turmoil of last year. By the by, Sergei Kostitsyn, you stay classy.
• Ray Emery proves not to be the answer in net in Philadelphia, and yet again the Flyers fail to have a suitable answer for the most important position in hockey. Two decades and counting, Flyers fans.
• The Sabres and Senators play each-other tooth and nail each and every time they meet this year, and the NHL’s most under-rated rivalry gets the just desserts and publicity it deserves, culminating in a battle for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
• Martin Brodeur bounces back from the disastrous final ninety seconds of last year, and leads the Devils to the playoffs, but most importantly backstops Team Canada to gold in Vancouver, as the final act in his remarkable career.
• The Carolina Hurricanes shock the NHL and overtake the Capitals for the Southeast division title. Cam Ward registers 40+ wins on the season and is finally heralded as one of the three best goalies in the NHL.
• Marion Gaborik “suffers” a day-to-day leg injury that results in him missing four months, causing John Tortorella to snap and eventually attempt to amputate the “injured” leg. With his teeth. Larry Brooks insists many teams are interested in trading for a one legged Marion Gaborik while Stan Fischler demands that a sandwich commemorating the occasion be made available at his favourite deli.

Until next Tuesday, “That’s all Folks.”

Photo courtesy http://www.asifa-hollywood.org/taf2.jpg

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

What is on your wish list? Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

We have been hearing this a lot lately in sports. The desire to leave one team, often even while under contract to go to another team, in a specific market, because it is closer to home and to family. Personally, I am sick and tired about hearing about this nonsense. When a player, or in this instance, a coach signs a contract with a club, they should be obligated to stick with that club for the duration of the contract. Nowhere else in society are employees permitted the type of freedom and ability to break binding contracts as they are in the world of professional sport. Can you imagine if you tried to pull these shenanigans in your workplace? You would be out on your ass so quick you wouldn’t have time to gather up the picture of your family that theoretically adorns your desk.

I don’t doubt Brent Sutter’s sincerity when he says he wants to spend more time with his family. I am sure being out there in New Jersey was very difficult for him, with all his twelve hundred siblings and wife and kids in Red Deer and surrounding areas. I also don’t think that missing his family was a brand new revelation, one he could not have predicted prior to signing on for three years with the New Jersey Devils. Anyone with a little bit of foresight should have seen this coming (in fact people began to predict this scenario unfolding early this past season), and if Brent Sutter had been truthful and honest with the New Jersey Devils from the outset he would have only signed a one year contract. Of course, he didn’t, because like everyone else in life he wanted the job security that comes with a binding contract. Had he been fired prior to exhausting his contract, I guarantee you he would have demanded the salary he had expected to come to him.

It is beyond me why athletes/coaches in professional sports are granted this latitude to freely break contracts, when no one else is availed the same opportunity. If there is any karma in sports, the New Jersey Devils, led now by Jacques Lemaire who returns to the Devils after his mutually agreed upon departure from the Minnesota Wild, will do better than the Calgary Flames this coming season. Why do I think that this would be fair karma wise? Because I am fairly certain the soldiers serving overseas would too rather be closer to their families.      

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

Unfortunately, there is a situation currently going on in the NHL that can only be properly articulated by using one of George Carlin’s seven words you can’t say on TV. That is namely the Dany Heatley saga in Ottawa.

My take, in five words; Dany Heatley is an Asshole.    

The Ottawa Senators, when they acquired Dany Heatley threw a lifeline to a player who was in an inconceivably bad position (of his own making). He had just killed a teammate of his through his own reckless activities, and while he avoided incarceration in the penal system, he certainly could have and arguably should have been sentenced to play out a number of years in the hockey purgatory that is Atlanta. Ottawa bailed him out, sacrificing a player of (arguably) greater skill in Marian Hossa to acquire him, and allow him to leave the ghosts of Atlanta behind him.

How does this ingrate repay them? By bailing on his team-mates and the franchise at the first sign of trouble and personality clash.

Beyond my comprehension as to why, Dany Heatley escaped the wrath of a vengeful sports world after the death of Dan Snyder. I don’t know why that was. Perhaps it was because people believed his sorrow, real as it seemed at the time. (Not for one second do I believe that he wasn’t truly sorrowful and remorseful.) We really can’t comprehend the pain and mental anguish that Dany Heatley suffered and I am sure continues to suffer. All I know is that when Dany Heatley could conceivably been viewed as persona non grata, the Ottawa Senators were there to lend him a hand. When they in turn needed Dany Heatley to lend them a hand and grow with the team through a moderate rebuilding effort, he turned his back on them. For that, he is an asshole.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

Unfortunately, come this Friday night, Montreal won’t be the headquarters for fun and excitement in Canada, rather it will be the headquarters for illogical hype, and extreme boredom. I am speaking of course about the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

As with all drafts, there are great unknowns. As with all drafts, an inordinate amount of time is spent analyzing and evaluating and speculating. The question I ask, is why? Why focus all this time, energy, and analysis on players who are just as likely, if not more likely, to be duds then superstars. Can you imagine if we spent this much time speculating on the best law students, med students, and culinary arts students?

Announcer one, “In watching video, I didn’t like that med student’s bedside manner”

Announcer two, “That’s going to cost him his first round pick—looks like he is destined to do his residency in Sault Ste. Marie now”

It’s utter nonsense that all this effort is spent on analyzing 16, 17, and 18 year olds. You want to know why we should all be saving our breath? Because we are talking about 16, 17, and 18 year old boys, and I don’t think I need to tell any of the readers of this fine column that those are some unpredictable ages, at best.

Come Friday night, undoubtedly there will be many people who will not venture outside and will instead spend their time in front of TSN watching the draft. Good for them if that’s what they choose. To me, the draft is just another day, and certainly does not constitute required viewing. I am a firm believer in the “what have you done for me recently” axiom. And in the case of NHL draft picks, they have done nothing for me lately. Call me when they perform in the NHL. Until then, I will be happy to sit on a patio, enjoy the sunshine and short skirts and miss the draft.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

This week, we unveil, live on-air, the Illegal Curve mock draft of the entire first round.

When the buzzer sounded after those hectic final few seconds, and the exuberance was etched all over the faces of the Penguins, and the devastation was visible for all to see on the faces of the Red Wings, the interminably long hockey season ended on a high note and everything was sunshine and rainbows in the NHL.

Unfortunately, unto every rainbow must fall a drip, and in this case the name of the drip was Kris Draper.

The Stanley Cup playoffs post series handshake is the best tradition in sports, bar none. In fact there is no competition for the title. The two teams of warriors, having spent between four and seven games battling each other, see the handshake as the culmination of that battle and for that one split second, when congratulations are exchanged bygones become bygones. It is the NHL’s equivalent of the Paris Peace Treaties. Every combatant should shake hands.

Last Friday, Sidney Crosby achieved his boyhood dream. The excitement, joy, relief, in the manifestation of his destiny was evident on his face. In that excitement, did he faux pas in not going over to shake the Red Wings hands promptly enough? Of course. Can you chalk that up to the youthful indiscretion of a twenty one year old (born August 7, 1987)? Yes. Was it a capital offense as some of the Red Wings, most notably Kris Draper, would have you believe? Of course not. Should we still be talking about this utter nonsense almost one week after the final game. Of course not, of course not, of course not, to the Nth power.

Kris Draper has made himself into a quality NHL player. One who is on the downside of his career and one who is seeing his final chances at more Stanley Cup rings spill away like sands through the hour glass. Are his gripes about Sidney Crosby sour grapes and him being a poor loser? Yes. Should he know better than to keep harping on this issue? Yes. Is he doing damage to his reputation as a hard nosed, gritty, “self made” player who just plays the game and leaves the rest of the B.S. to others? Yes.

Draper is used to being sold for a dollar. Now let’s see if he can use a dollar and acquire some class

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

Deliberately, and with full awareness I have yet to write an op-ed on the Fiasco in Phoenix. I have intentionally stuck to analysing the court proceedings and analysing the newsworthy public acrimony between the groups up until now. Unfortunately, my acidic tongue cannot be held back any longer, as I have read too much of Mr. Balsillie’s faux patriotism to let it go unchallenged any longer

Earlier today in the former (and maybe future?) home of the Phoenix Coyotes, Winnipeg, Jim Balsillie received an award from the University of Manitoba’s business school. Rightfully so he deserves this award, as his legendary product, the Blackberry, is a true Canadian success story. However, when the press conference accompanying his receiving of the International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award dared to venture into discussions surrounding his erstwhile purchase of the Coyotes, Mr. Balsillie acted like a petulant child and refused to discuss the issue in even the most rudimentary of fashions. Every reporter at that press conference this morning had an obligation as a reporter to ask about Phoenix, and for Mr. Balsillie to act surprised or ticked off at receiving those questions is only further proof that he may not be cut out to be in the public spotlight he has begun to shine on himself recently. The fact he did it in Winnipeg, which is as worthy, if not more so, to be the seventh city that hosts an NHL hockey team in Canada speaks volumes of the honesty surrounding Mr. Balsillie’s makeitseven.ca campaign.

In his previous attempts to acquire a hockey team for the Hamilton area, Mr. Balsillie has gone about doing so in a manner in which I may not have recommended, but at least he was honest about his intentions. This time though, from the outset of his quest to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes, he has been underhanded, condescending, and manipulative of Canadians. The launch of his makeitseven.ca website and the subsequent wrapping of himself in the Canadian flag, for me, is nothing but a cynical ploy to supposedly ramp up pressure on the NHL. If Jim Balsillie cares about a seventh NHL team in Canada anywhere other than Hamilton/Southern Ontario than I have some beach front property in Flin Flon to sell you.

Jim Balsillie has every right to want to own an NHL team in Hamilton, Ontario, London, Ontario, or even Red Lake, Ontario. If he thinks it could be successful, all the power to you, God speed in your quest. What Mr. Balsillie doesn’t have the right to do, and what he should be ashamed at himself for doing, is wrapping himself in the Canadian flag in his quest to put a team only in a very small, localized part of Canada. The Canadian flag should not be used as a pawn and a prop. It means too much to too many people to see it sold short by one individual’s quest for NHL franchise ownership. Mr. Balsillie should stop using the dot CA at the end of makeitseven, and instead use the Province of Ontario’s dot ON. Only then, would he be truly honest with Canadians as to his actual want and desire.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

This year’s playoffs have seen, in my mind, the worst officiating that the NHL has produced since Stephen Walkom became public enemy number one in Winnipeg with his atrocious officiating of a Jets game. (I was at the game, don’t remember the opponent, but remember us losing in overtime after a horrendous non call. The entire game was a spectacle in incompetent officiating. Imagine my horror when he became Director of Officiating and Vice President for the entire league.) We have seen multiple incidences of non-calls, blown calls, repealed calls and countless questionable calls that lead the average fan to scratch their head in puzzlement over what actually constitutes an infraction in an NHL game.

For this, I blame, as I am wont to do, the head office of the NHL and their post-lockout creation of the “new NHL rules.” While ostensibly introduced to eliminate stick checking and return the game to one of speed and skill, I believe the unstated intent was to artificially increase penalties called, thus increasing power plays, thus increasing scoring. The whole “Chicks Dig the Long Ball/High Scores” phenomenon brought to life on ice. The NHL knew there was no way to actually increase scoring back to 1980s levels (thanks to over expansion and dilution of the on-ice product) without using gimmickry, hence the “new rules” which is just an NHL marketing department euphemism for gimmickry.

Hockey is probably the most breath-taking of all the major sports when the skill set is played to its utmost capacity. A combination of size, speed, and skill all on the width of a blade that can leave viewers amazed at what they are seeing. At it’s best, hockey is a non-stop series of wind sprints, a constancy of actions being performed by magicians who can fly without having their blades leave the ice surface. When it’s occurring I defy anyone who is watching it, in person or on television, to change the channel. It is the reason the phrase, “we will sell you the whole seat, but you will only need the edge” has entered our lexicon. At its worse, unfortunately, hockey is a constant series of whistles, and artificial stoppages in play. For whatever reason, the NHL head office seems intent on ensuring its games are a constant start and stop, all in the name of (hopefully) artificially increasing scoring and scoring chances. It’s a shame, because in the (paraphrased) words of Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke when he was on The Illegalcurve.com Radio Show, “it’s been a great game for a long time-they need to stop trying to change it now.”

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night from 7PM – 9PM CST on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

The National Hockey League has set start dates for the Stanley Cup Final.

If both conference finals end in sweeps, the Cup Finals will begin Thursday, May 28. If either series is extended past four games, the Cup Finals will start Friday, June 5……

Instant analysis: Nothing says Ice hockey like a warm summer’s night. It’s like the NHL is scheduling the playoffs for the sole purpose of giving me something to rant about. I suppose I should be thankful for that. Can someone explain to me why, hypothetically speaking, if both series end in 5 games, the Cup Finals can’t start two days later? Instead, there is a (distinct) possibility of both teams having a full week off between clinching their cup birth and playing their first game in the finals. Asinine.

For simplicity sake, here are the important points to note from today’s court proceedings in Balsillie v. Bettman:

• Judge Baum sent both sides to mediation in the hope that they can reach agreement on who owns and controls the Coyotes
• The Judge expects an agreement on ownership will have been reached by May 27, as that is when Judge Baum scheduled an update on the mediation proceedings. Ominously, his honour said, “you guys are going to mediate this, or I’m going to rule on it.”
• The secondary matter, if Mr. Balsillie is within his rights to purchase the team and relocate them to Hamilton, will be adjudicated on June 22. Of course, if the NHL ends up in control of the franchise, and presumably they will ask that the bankruptcy be disqualified, that date will become moot.
• All briefs related to the legalities surrounding the relocation of the franchise need to be submitted on June 12.
• The NHL requested that the relocation issue be handled immediately in court today–his honour refused.
• The Phoenix lawyer for Jim Balsillie, Susan Freeman, agreed to the Judge’s request that Mr. Balsillie file with the NHL an official request for relocation.
• Both sides pressed his honour for a quick decision, as they were in agreement that the outcome must be determined by June 29 as a later date would cause tremendous hardship to the well being of the franchise, where ever they may reside come September 2009.

Instant analysis: Call me a pessimist if you must, but I have the strangest hunch that the mediation ordered by the Judge may not have the positive outcome that Judge Baum is hoping for. Maybe it’s the obvious animosity between the chief protagonists, Bettman and Balsillie, or maybe it’s the public acrimony between everyone involved, but I just don’t see them coming to a decision that doesn’t involve the banging of a Judge’s gavel.

It looks like the first hurdle that Team Balsillie has to overcome will be the ownership question, and that will be decided May 27. After that, Balsillie still needs the Judge to rule against the NHL’s relocation provisions, which even if it happens, will undoubtedly be appealed by the NHL.

Given that both sides targetted June 29 as a date when this issue needs to be resolved by, I think a lot will need to happen in the next 6 weeks for that date to be met. If Balsille proves successful during the first two acts of this melodrama, and the NHL appeals as I expect would happen, could we be faced with the situation of the NHL having to put the Coyotes franchise into hiatus for one year?

Like sands through the hour glass, these are the days of our lives.

The question though, of who indeed is taking a dalliance into the black art of deception will be determined tomorrow afternoon, as that is when after a couple of weeks of public posturing, the filing of briefs and counter briefs, various public campaigns and rallies, and no shortage of acrimony from both sides, the Honourable Judge Redfield T. Baum will decide the fate of the Phoenix Coyotes in terms of who is the actual owner of the franchise.

On one side you have the contention of Team Balsillie that Jerry Moyes is the rightful owner of the club, and is within his rights to take the franchise into bankruptcy protection, and once there, Balsillie made the most beneficial offer to satisfy the financial needs of Moyes in ensuring his creditors get paid. He feels that he should be granted the franchise.

On the other side, the NHL contends that since November when Jerry Moyes stopped paying the bills of the Phoenix Coyotes, the NHL became owner, and claim that Jerry Moyes signed documents giving the NHL a proxy authorization over the Coyotes and their operations. In court, Gary Bettman claimed that it was under this authority that Jeff Shumway was fired as team Chairman and CEO.

The acrimony in both sides is apparent, as both lawyers for the NHL and Moyes have characterized eachother’s statements of claim as false, and Moyes’ lawyer Earl Scudder has gone so far as to call the NHL filing “inaccurate and incomplete.” Interestingly enough, especially for fans pining for the return of NHL hockey to Winnipeg, the only thing that both sides agree upon is that in early April, Gary Bettman told Jerry Moyes’ representatives that the only city the NHL will return to via relocation of a franchise is Winnipeg.

Interestingly enough, the white elephant not currently being discussed in regards to these proceedings, is the caveat and asterisk that Balsillie’s offer has attached to it. Not withstanding the ownership questions, what will happen if Judge Redfield approves Balsillie’s offer, but will decline to enforce or rule upon the issues regarding the relocation of a franchise? Even though I am not a lawyer (though I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night), I do believe that it is in his honour’s discretion not to rule about the relocation provisions currently in effect in the NHL by-laws. The legalities surrounding those provisions will, more than likely, wind up in another court room at another date and time. An interesting point that was unveiled in court documents filed earlier today is that the NFL, NBA, and MLB filed affadavits in support of the NHL and their right to control where their franchises ply their trade. Whether or not this will impact Judge Baum will be unknown until tomorrow afternoon.

To put it mildly, the drama unfolding in Phoenix is a tale that has had more twists, turns, curves, and angles than Lombard Street in San Francisco. (That’s the curviest street in the world for the uninformed). What will happen tomorrow in court? Great question, I am glad I asked it. Since I don’t know the answer, I will role play as Carnac the Magnificent, and predict that tomorrow in court, Judge Baum will find in favour of the NHL, rule that they were in legal control of the team, and accordingly rule that Jerry Moyes had no legal standing to place the Coyotes in bankruptcy court thus rendering Jim Balsillie’s latest efforts to acquire an NHL franchise null and void. After this decision, the future of the Phoenix Coyotes and the NHL in Phoenix, Hamilton, and Winnipeg is anyone’s guess. Time will tell, but one thing I can be assured of is that the battle of Balsille v. Bettman will continue unabated.

For Illegalcurve.com, I am Drew Mindell

Agree? Disagree? Make your opinion heard in the comments section, and remember to become a fan of Illegalcurve on Facebook.

In all honesty, I was prepared to move on from this topic. I really was. I was expecting that there is no way they could screw up the scheduling of the Conference Finals, especially as there are only two series occurring, and they can simply play them on opposite nights. Game 1 followed by game 2, with one day in between games. Sounds simple enough, and then this is what the NHL schedule makers came up with for the Conference Finals:

Game              Date                                       Matchup/Result

1                      Sunday, May 17, 2:30pm et                  Blackhawks at Red Wings

1                      Monday, May 18, 7pm et                     Hurricanes at Penguins

2                      Tuesday, May 19, 7pm et                     Blackhawks at Red Wings

2                      Thursday, May 21, 7pm et                    Hurricanes at Penguins

3                      Friday, May 22, 8pm et                        Red Wings at Blackhawks

3                      Saturday, May 23, 7:30pm et               Penguins at Hurricanes

4                      Sunday, May 24, 3pm et                      Red Wings at Blackhawks

4                      Tuesday, May 26, 7:30pm et                Penguins at Hurricanes

*5                    Wednesday, May 27, 7:30pm et           Blackhawks at Red Wings

5                      Friday, May 29, 7:30pm et                   Hurricanes at Penguins

*6                    Saturday, May 30, 8pm et                    Red Wings at Blackhawks

6                      Sunday, May 31, 7:30pm et                  Penguins at Hurricanes

*7                    Monday, June 1, 7:30pm et                  Blackhawks at Red Wings

7                      Tuesday, June 2, 7:30pm et                  Hurricanes at Penguins

When I saw this schedule unveiled, my eyes went cross-eyed, my tongue got tied, and I went even woozier than I normally am. From what I understood, the NHL’s logic in their early round scheduling, and their willingness to overlap games, is that lengthy breaks between games is anathema to the NHL playoffs, as the “warrior” aspect of the playoffs is what entices fans the most. I don’t necessarily disagree with that in principle, but given that TV exposure is the ticket to success it’s a passe policy that needs to go the way of the do-do bird.

Consider my surprise then, when abruptly, randomly, and nonsensically they abandon this policy come the Conference finals. Someone explain to me, why Detroit who took seven full games to defeat Anaheim deserves 2 full days off? In a logical world, in which I think I live, shouldn’t that series start on Saturday night, a night which is synonymous with hockey, much like the NFL and Sunday? This way, the Blackhawks get their rightful advantage for having finished off their opponent quicker, and hockey fans get to watch hockey on the night they most expect to.

Moving along the path of incompetence (I feel like Dorothy, following the yellow brick road–or that awful Price is Right game of the same name), someone explain to me, please, why the Hurricanes and Penguins need two full days off between games one and two? Game one is Monday night, and game three isn’t until Thursday night. That means, for those of you following along at home, the NHL is going dark on Wednesday night. I repeat, there will be no playoff games on Wednesday night of next week. Who do they think they are? Broadway, with going dark on Monday nights? It’s mind boggling. Talk about killing off all of your momentum, and I for one, am curious as to the logic behind it, because certainly it isn’t a travel issue because they aren’t even leaving Pittsburgh!

Stupefyingly enough, the same thing happens twice more in this playoff round as there isn’t a game on Monday May 25 (due to the Penguins and Hurricanes getting an extra day off) and on Thursday May 28 when the Penguins and Hurricanes get yet another extra day off between games.  Honestly, please, someone tell me why the Penguins and Hurricanes who have been killing themselves for the past two playoff rounds playing every second night, all of a sudden get two full days off between games 3 and 4 and games 4 and 5?

Under no circumstances should the NHL be granting extra days off between games if it means that no playoff games will be played on those nights. The players expect to play every second night, especially in the playoffs. Does the rest undoubtedly do them some good? Of course. Who wanted extra rest after close to 100 regular season and playoff games? However, you cannot, under any circumstances, lose the momentum that playoffs create when fans expect you to be on the air every single night showcasing the best your sport has to offer. I suppose, if one needed to look for a silver lining, they could find solace in the fact that at least none of the games are scheduled for the same time. God bless the NHL schedule makers.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell

Agree? Disagree? We would love to hear from you–Leave your comments below.

You are the son of those parents, that sister’s brother, and you have a skill. An ability to play hockey. All those long hours on the neighbourhood ice rink, playing with a donated set of skates, a sub-standard hockey stick, and a chipped and broken hockey puck, seem as though they will pay off. Scouts are buzzing around you. They are making noise about your future in professional hockey. Making a living playing hockey would be a dream come true; a ticket out of your poor surroundings for you and your family. However, as in all great Shakespearean tragedies, your success won’t come for a few more years. You need seasoning in the Juniors, then to toil in the minors, then you may be ready for the big leagues, and the chances to earn some serious coin. By then, more years will have passed, three, five, seven years-who knows how many lost opportunities and bad nights in a crime laden neighbourhood for your beloved family.

What would you do?

You are seventeen. The KHL, a league in Russia is willing to allow seventeen year olds to play as professionals. You have heard a little bit about the league, but not a lot and nothing tremendously positive. The important part for you is they are paying out big salaries immediately. That means the money you would have had to wait for in North America will be on your door-step tomorrow. No more sleepless nights for your family, with the echoes of gun-shots ringing throughout your neighbourhood. No more worrying about your little sister, and the company she is keeping. No more worrying about who of your family will become a statistic as well as the tragic story du jour on the evening news.

What would you do?

You are seventeen. You swallow hard. Mother Russia, here you come. Talk about a culture shock for a kid from the projects. On the ice, everything is good. The rink is a little bigger, but that’s nothing to fear. The guys seem nice enough, language barrier not withstanding. Some cultures transcend borders, and hockey is one of them. However, as good as things are going, and you individually are playing well, the team is scuffling and management is demanding changes. The Russians take their hockey seriously, and your team’s deep pocketed owner demands nothing less than complete success. Management approaches you, wanting you to try a new technique to increase stamina and recuperate from games quicker. You aren’t sure about its legitimacy, but they promise you a cash bonus for doing so.

You are seventeen. What would you do?

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

It was while watching these games, that I came upon my glorious, eureka!, moment of these Stanley Cup Playoffs, that being specifically that the crowd at Vancouver Canucks games is woeful, and shamefully quiet.

Beginning my viewing day while watching the Capitals-Penguins game, I was struck by, and admittedly amazed by how energetic, loud and “into” the game the crowd was. I believe that some of the excitement I felt while watching the game, was enhanced by the fact the entire crowd was wearing red (probably due to some sort of T-shirt promotional give-away update: Thanks to readers CapsGirlVA and waterzooi, who pointed out I was incorrect in assuming that the colour co-ordination was thanks to a promotional give away. As always the lesson is I am an asshole when I assume. Carry on accordingly.) Despite the artificiality of having to hand out red shirts in order to get the entire crowd in the same colour, the crowd was an undeniable asset to the Capitals, providing them with an excellent boost that a home town crowd should provide to their warriors. (As an aside, kudos to the Calgary Flames fans who undoubtedly have the largest contingent of fans who pay for their team’s jersey. While they may not all be in the same colour, I am continually amazed at how many flames fans wear the flaming horse to the Saddledome.)

In the night cap, I was expecting, simply, for the Canucks and their fans to bring it. While I leave the analysis of the play on the ice to those better equipped to handle such detailed analysis, I was off-put by the reaction the Canucks fans displayed. I have heard rumours and innuendo to the fact that Canucks fans were bandwagon fans of the worst variety, and I must say that nothing I witnessed and heard on Saturday night did anything to dispel that notion. Despite jumping out to an early lead versus the Blackhawks, putting them on the ropes where one more goal may have ended the game early on, the crowd failed to continue and build on the momentum initially provided by the Canucks. Not only that, but the apprehensiveness I detected in the crowd, may have contributed to the Canucks falling apart, and playing instead like they were the ones facing the deficit and not the ones holding the advantage.

In the playoffs, it is imperative that everyone step up their game. Goalies cannot get away with giving up a soft goal in the playoffs like they can in the regular season. Defenseman have to be more weary about joining the offensive rush, lest that leave them vulnerable on the back end. The fore-checking and back-checking of forwards has to be more tenacious, aggressive and committed. The same is true for fans. This isn’t Tuesday night in February versus Atlanta, when a crowd can be forgiven for keeping quiet and preferring to watch paint dry (shout out Thrashers fans!) This is the time when the crowd must provide an extra boost, giving an adrenaline shot to the players whose legs may be extra weary from an overly long season, and many playoff games in few nights. This is the time for the crowd to rise as one and be the sixth man. This is the time for the crowd to be the difference. The Vancouver Canucks fans should be embarrassed by their half-hearted effort, much like the players should be for letting their lead dissipate with minimal resistance. In short, this is the time for the Canucks fans to emulate the fans of their supposed farm team in Winnipeg, and their dear, departed Jets. Copy the white out, Canucks fans, lord knows Phoenix won’t ever, or hasn’t ever used it properly. Now is the time for you to prove your worth. Otherwise, game five may be your last hurrah this year.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome. Please be aware that Cold Hard Rants, effective immediately, is moving to its new time slot of Tuesday afternoons.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

Last night, for some reason that presumably only the tall foreheads at NHL headquarters in Toronto/New York understood, the NHL scheduled five playoff games. Of those five games, four were played at exactly the same time. If you wanted to watch Vancouver versus St. Louis, and Pittsburgh versus Philadelphia, both being broadcast on CBC, sorry hockey fans, you were s**t out of luck. I think this deserves repeating; if you wanted to watch Sidney Crosby, the marquee poster boy for the NHL, play in the third period of a playoff game versus their hated in-state rivals from Philadelphia the only way you could do it was by watching it on the internet, or on some random station from Peterborough, Ontario that oddly enough was broadcasting that game. Over on TSN, a similar problem existed, as they had the contractual rights to two games occurring at the same time (New Jersey-Carolina, Columbus-Detroit), and one of the two was on a network (TSN2) not presently available in the Province of Ontario, only the most populace of all the Canadian provinces. It boggles the mind.

Contrast these nonsensical broadcasting decisions with those of a well-run sporting organisation, the NBA. The NBA is the best comparison to the NHL, as both leagues offer a first round of 16 playoff teams. The broadcasting difference between the two is that the NBA does not run games simultaneous to one another, or if they are forced to do so, they make them available on different networks. Rarely will the NBA have two games starting at 7 PM, but if they do, one game is available on TNT, and another is available on ESPN, making sure that a basketball fan can be guaranteed that they can see their favourite player/team. Seems pretty logical right? Can you imagine if Lebron James was not available to the entire country, instead only viewable by a small market in the greater Cleveland area? Fans would riot, and the television networks would scream bloody murder. They know where their bread is buttered, and it’s buttered with the superstars that make viewers tune the dial to that game.

I know the NHL will tell you that part of the charm of their playoffs is the warrior mentality, no room for the weak, constant flow to the playoff games, with no more than one day off between games. Fine, I appreciate that, and understand that. However, if you are so worried about maintaining this “warrior” dynamic that you feel entices people to their televisions, what good does it do if the game isn’t available on your TV?

In this day and age of hundreds and hundreds of television networks, all of whom are desperate for programming, and a viewer having at their easy disposal the same hundreds and hundreds of viewing options, it is beyond belief that the NHL hasn’t recognized that each and every one of their playoff games must be available to be watched, and few if any of those games should overlap with one another. For Canadians to not have been able to watch all of Pittsburgh-Philadelphia, and Americans not able to watch St. Louis-Vancouver (at least in Michigan, as Illegal Curve Detroit correspondent David Minuk was lamenting to me last night), is evidence of the shameful job done by the NHL in ensuring that their best product, playoff hockey, is available to as wide an audience as possible. I would say I am surprised, but as this column has outlined ad nauseum, the NHL is best at being as incompetent as possible.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night from 8-930 PM CST on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the Illegal Curve Radio link in the top right corner.

Upon coming to the article outlining last night’s riveting contest between the Washington Capitals and the worst franchise in the NHL (WFITNHL), the Atlanta Thrashers, I came upon what passes for comedy in the front office of the aforementioned WFITNHL. Apparently, the Thrashers thought that the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of empty seats that count as “paying customers” in Georgia would find it entertaining to poke fun of Alexander Ovechkin, his broken English, and his propensity to be involved in somewhat cheesy commercials. In typical Ovechkin fashion, he laughed off the lame attempt at humour, and went out and dominated the game pocketing two assists.

Now, if I am the Thrashers organisation, and god willing, sooner rather than later they will be in Winnipeg, I am focusing a little less on making fun of some one’s forays into the world of “acting” and a little more on stocking my team with players who are, you know, NHL calibre. At the present moment, instead of teasing Ovechkin, I am telling my players to emulate Ovechkin. To emulate the successes of the Capitals organisation. To emulate the amount of fans in the stands at Capitals games.

To put it simply, and in as blunt a manner as I can, the Atlanta Thrashers are a joke of epic proportions. Ownership that is currently mired in a never-ending court case. A General Manager who has not proven to be worthy of the title. A fan base that is not existent. A farm team that caters to its own needs, and its own success, never-mind developing players ready to step in and make a significant contribution in Atlanta. From top to bottom, they are the biggest joke in the NHL, as best expressed by Ovechkin’s post game comments last night,

“There was no emotion, no good crowd, and it was hard to play hockey here. It’s a hard situation for Atlanta right now. There’s only two games left in the season and then it’s vacation…”

Last summer, I got into trouble with the great state of North Carolina for demeaning their franchise’s worth in the NHL.  I was called out, and vilified by fans of the Hurricanes, and I was pleased to hear from them. Now, I cheer for the Hurricanes, as the small but hearty band who voiced their displeasure with me won me over. Thrashers fans, let me hear from you. Tell me why your franchise is worthy of being in the NHL, and why Atlanta deserves a team. Win me over.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Please join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night from 8-9 PM CST on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or at www.kick.fm.

The same can be said for the importance of momentum in relation to broadcasting. A TV show builds a loyal audience. Those fans know to expect that TV show will be broadcast on a certain day at a certain time. They tune in. They check it out. They tell their friends, and the ratings grow. In sports broadcasting, it is the same. The NFL broadcasts all day on Sundays. Monday Night Football is a long standing tradition. In Canada, Hockey Night in Canada, with or without a theme song, still drives ratings like nothing else.  Unfortunately, the only broadcaster not subscribing to the momentum theory is the NHL’s largest partner in the United States, NBC.

For a few weeks in a row, a hockey fan south of the 49^th parallel could count on Sunday late morning/early afternoon as their opportunity to watch the NHL on national television. Marquee match-ups featuring some of the NHL’s best and brightest were showcased, and to NBC’s credit, the quality of the broadcast was fairly high. The studio show, featuring noted blowhards Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury were entertaining, albeit contrived. You could feel a little bit of momentum growing for the NHL as they enter the stretch-drive of the season.

Unfortunately, this all came crashing to a halt this past Sunday. As I was meandering around my house, doing nothing of any significance, imagine my surprise when I went to tune into the Sunday afternoon matinee to find, much to my chagrin, that the NHL had been bumped in favour of some cockamamie snowboarding or bull fighting or whatever it was. In one simple network broadcasting decision the momentum had been eliminated and the NHL was back to square one.

If the NHL is to ever succeed in the entire United States, it needs a consistent network presence. This hurky-jerky scheduling serves to do nothing other than confuse, irritate, and sour those hockey fans looking to view your product on a consistent date and time. Alas, for those hoping that this might change for the better come playoff and Stanley Cup time, and the NHL will build momentum extraordinaire remember that NBC is going to broadcast games one and two of the cup finals and then go dark until game 5, if necessary. Nomentum (sic), indeed.

*****************************

The answer to the trivia question I posted on Monday night was John Markell.

Thank you to all those who emailed an answer, and congratulations to Bob Roberts who was the first to respond with the correct answer, and is now the lucky winner of an Illegal Curve touque. Stay tuned for future contests!

Please note that you can now get more Cold Hard Rants all week long, as I am now Twittering. User name is ColdHardRanter.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night from 8-930 PM CST on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or by clicking the link in the top right corner.

First person to correctly identify the Winnipeg Jet in the background of that picture will win an official Illegal Curve Touque.

May the best man/woman/child win.

Email your answer to drew@illegalcurve.com .

Tune back in on Wednesday for the answer, the winner, and a new Cold Hard Rant.

To begin, a multiple choice question:

Q: You are a semi-established sporting organisation trying to gain a foothold in a presently untapped, but in your mind, potentially lucrative market. As a way to draw attention to your sport in said market, you decide to hold your grand, end of season awards ceremony, in one of the area’s many hotel and conference centers. Keep in mind, the denizens of this region are not fully aware or appreciative of your sport. The question is thus; what price level would you charge for tickets to your awards ceremony?

A) Bargain basement pricing so you can guarantee a good audience, and garner interest amongst local residents

B) Reasonable priced tickets so you can guarantee that the people in attendance truly want to be there, and will be appreciative of the evening they spend in the grand company of your fine tuned athletes

C) Outrageous pricing, well beyond what any rational person would pay even in your biggest market, never mind a market where most of your players and your sport is completely inconsequential and anonymous.

If you answered C, congratulations because you are Gary Bettman and the commissioner of the NHL!

Earlier this week, tickets went on sale for the NHL awards ceremony being held in Las Vegas. I have already ranted earlier this year about the idiocy of holding the awards in Vegas, but that mistake (in my humble opinion) had already been committed, and now it was up to the NHL to make the best of a bad situation. In typical NHL fashion they have gone and done the exact opposite, instead amplifying that mistake by charging a price so outlandish that I can only think their hope is to have ticket sales be such a disaster that they have to pull the awards from Vegas and move them back to an actual hockey community.

Brace yourself, here is the ticket price. (Just to be sporting I won’t even mention the service charges and additional fees that go along with purchasing a ticket.)

You can get one seat, anywhere in the Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort, for the low low price of $504.00 USD.

I repeat, $504.00 USD.

(I will now pause to allow you to catch your breath, stop crying/laughing, and regain your faculties.)

You have to hand it to the NHL. In a time of recession and penny pinching, the NHL continues on, unabated, in their Pollyanna, everything is super-duper, hunky-dory world. Delusional is the best word I can use to describe them. When the United States got their new President they got HOPE. Unfortunately, the NHL is stuck with this:

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Please note that you can now get more Cold Hard Rants all week long, as I am now Twittering. User name is ColdHardRanter.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night from 8-9 PM CST on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or at www.kick.fm.

New rule to CBC: If a player, any player, is about to equal or tie an NHL career milestone, that game must be broadcast to as many people as possible. For the majority of Canadians to have missed out on seeing Martin Brodeur play in his hometown (Montreal) on Hockey Night in Canada while one win shy of tying the all-time record for victories by a goalie, simply was a travesty of a broadcasting decision.

New rule to CBC (2): Along the lines of the first new rule, if in the game being shown to the majority of Canadians has the visiting team’s fans (Calgary) out-number and are significantly louder than the fans of the home team (Toronto), that’s a game that should not be broadcast to anyone outside those two cities. Or it should be made exclusively available on the new specialty CBC channel, Masochist TV.

New rule to TSN: Stop showing us the standings in the “race” for season long futility/Tavares. There’s a reason no one goes to watch teams that are at the bottom of the standings. It’s because they are bad. If the home town fans aren’t interested in following that team, use that as a pretty good gauge of the interest level of the rest of the country.

New rule to TSN (2): When the winner of the aforementioned “race” is actually determined by a random drawing, really, truly, pretty please, stop showing us the standings.

New rule to the NHL: Under no circumstances can a potential Stanley Cup winning game not be broadcast on network television in the United States. The decision to have games three and four of the Stanley Cup Finals on Versus instead of on NBC is simply mind boggling in its stupidity.

New rule to the NHL (2): Stop trying to out-think yourselves. You have enough trouble with basic thinking. The idea to put games one and two of the Stanley Cup Finals on NBC instead of Versus is a decent one, with the goal being to build up an audience. Unfortunately, when the majority of the audience that you are trying to gather does not get the channel that is broadcasting games three and four, your good idea dissolves into nothingness.

New rule to the NHL (3): Kansas City? Really, NHL? Really?

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell. Please note that you can now get more Cold Hard Rants all week long, as I am now Twittering. User name is ColdHardRanter.

Feel free to comment on my “new rules” or add your own below, in the comments section.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night from 8-9 PM CST on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or at www.kick.fm.

The year began with such optimism in Montreal (read: high expectations). On the centennial anniversary of the most storied franchise in hockey (and arguably sports), the season began with the thought process being Stanley Cup or bust. (Whether or not these expectations were realistic, based on the skill set of the players assembled in Montreal, I will leave for someone more informed to explore.) My point is that from the moment this was the mindset in Montreal, they were doomed to fail (relative to their expectations.)

In sports, the worst role to play is that of the favourite. The front runner. No one ever roots for the front runner. It’s always the underdog who wins the adoration of the crowd. Who wins the accolades. Often times, they receive these even if they lose. We expect that the favourite should win, and take care of business. The praise handed to them is rarely as boisterous as the praise handed to the scrappy underdog who keeps the game/match/series close. Sports are littered with these examples. That’s why NCAA March Madness and the concept of the Cinderella team are so appealing. In the NFL, the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants were Cinderellas competing against heavily favoured teams who were expected to win. In Major League Baseball it was the sad-sack Tampa Bay Rays who were everyone’s favourite underdog. At no time does the bandwagon of the favourite grow—that’s like cheering for the government to win. It just doesn’t happen.

In Montreal, at the beginning of this year, Bob Gainey and the rest of the organization should have been doing everything in their power to lessen expectations. The card best played by professional athletes is the “nobody believed in us card.” In Montreal, they played the “take care of business/unfinished business card.” It’s no surprise then, that by playing the wrong card from the outset of the season, they have had to pink slip the dealer of the card’s Guy Carbonneau. Expectations were just too high, and unreasonable, in Montreal all season.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell. Please note that you can now get more Cold Hard Rants all week long, as I am now Twittering. User name is ColdHardRanter.

If you want to praise me/criticize me please join the discussion below.

Remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night from 8-9 PM CST on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or at www.kick.fm.

So if my usual Wednesday evening column has not been sufficient for you, please follow along with me on Twitter by searching for ColdHardRanter.

Thanks for joining, and as always feel free to share with me your dreams, fears, and expectations.

See you always on Twitter and twice on Wednesdays for a rant and the illegalcurve.com Radio Show.

Sometimes, when watching television you see and hear things that are so hard to believe, it makes you ponder if you actually heard and saw what you think. Normally, most of these existential, “question your own existence” situations occur while watching and listening to some of our more “informed” columnists and analysts pontificate about topics they know naught about. (Look for this phenomenon anytime John Garrett, he of the Dale Hawerchuk does not belong in the hall of fame argument, opens his mouth.) Recently though, a situation of historic proportions took place when a commercial, designed to sell me on a product (in this case Tim Horton’s), made me pause in bewilderment.

The commercial in question, of which our Canadian viewers I am sure are familiar with (and can be viewed here), features NHL marketing poster boy Sidney Crosby purportedly on the team bus with his fellow Pittsburgh Penguins. To make a long, painful commercial short, the bus breaks down, yet Sidney is not phased by this, as he sees in the distance a game of shinny being played on an outdoor rink and he decides to join the kids in their game. Besides the obvious problems in the commercial, namely that 1) NHL teams don’t travel from game to game by bus, and 2) that in the hypothetical situation the Penguins were to travel by bus, their would be a zero chance of them stopping to play in a game of shinny lest they get hit from a stray bullet emanating from somewhere near the Pennsylvania turnpike, the commercial does nothing to make me want a Tim Horton’s product. Now obviously, the marketing of Tim Horton’s is not an issue for me or this blog to tackle, but what the commercial did get me thinking about, is whether real, hardcore hockey fans like Sidney Crosby.

Not to sound like Don Cherry whose criticisms of Crosby have been well documented by better writers than I, but I think the anointment of Crosby as the next be all and end all of hockey has caused serious resentment amongst the NHL fraternity. I believe that materialized on national TV this past Sunday when Alex Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals handled the Penguins with ease, and weren’t shy about telling Crosby about his failures. In Canada, the failing of the Penguins this year is especially poignant given the saturation of Sidney Crosby we are over exposed to thanks to his endless appearances in various TV commercials. In all these commercials, Crosby plays different versions of this sweet humble kid who would be just as happy on the shinny rink as he is playing in Joe Louis Arena. There is no edge to him, no “dark side”, and I think this corporate whitewashing of his personality is what has hurt him in the eyes of real NHL fans.

Compare and contrast Crosby with Ovechkin, his most likely competitor for the mantle of best NHL player. A hockey fan’s first knowledge of Ovechkin (not including the die-hards who pay attention to the funny Russian kids Canada’s Junior team runs rough-shod over every year) was the grainy video of Ovechkin getting a hole-in-one during his first golf outing ever. Here was this gangly, awkward, ugly, Russian guy, with minimal command of the language, celebrating his hole in one. The biggest difference between our contact with Ovechkin in this video, and Crosby in all other experiences is that in this video Ovechkin seemed real and genuine. He was just like any of us would have been had we gotten a hole in one. Had that been Crosby, the video probably would have been sanitized, cleaned up, touched up, and air-brushed before we would be able to view it.

In short, this is what I feel the biggest difference is between Ovechkin and Crosby and their popularities. Ovechkin seems human, flaws and all. Crosby seems sanitized, flaws never to be seen by the public. Oh, and his constant whining, begging, complaining, and sucker punching doesn’t help him at all. He might want to work on that.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Join the discussion below and remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night from 8-9 PM CST on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or at www.kick.fm.

No matter how often it is lamented, for whatever reason, we look upon our athletes as role models. We do this despite knowing, and reading about their frequent brushes with the law, and their reputation’s as philanderers and occasionally drug cheats. It makes me wonder why, someone like Charles Barkley (who admittedly I like, but do not worship or remotely consider a hero) is glorified, and why many other players toil in anonymity despite exemplifying many of the “hero attributes” we claim to be seeking. The best answer I can come up with is marketing, which, given how this is a hockey related website, got me thinking of the marketing of NHL players.

I remember reading a Bill Simmons running diary of the NHL Draft from a couple of years ago, and he remarked somewhere about the fifteenth pick into the draft that already the amount of two parent families had exceeded the combined totals of the NBA and NFL drafts of years past. Of course, as Simmons is known for doing, he engages in hyperbole, but often you hear from the media how NHL players are (Sean Avery notwithstanding) the most articulate, polite and respectful of all the professional athletes. So why don’t we hear about more of these players? Why doesn’t the NHL do a better job emphasizing that these NHL players, of all the athletes in the sports world today, are the ones who should be the heroes. The ones who should be the role models. The ones who should be idolized. Not only by rural Canadian kids, but also by inner city kids who need positive role models, not the “thug life” options they often are subjected to in the NBA and the NFL.

The most recent NHL marketing campaign I remember was some convoluted series of ads portraying NHL players as gladiators, or warriors of some kind. Dressed in funny costumes, and wearing faux armour this was supposed to draw casual fans to the game. Needless to say, it flopped. The NHL needs to abandon this type of campaign, and instead focus on its strongest attribute at its disposal; the players. Articulate, polite, well mannered. I know that I, as a hypothetical parent, would be far more eager to spend my dollar taking my child to a game featuring an athlete they could look up to, than spending it at an event that would glorify cheaters, criminals and losers like Alex Rodriguez, Allen Iverson, Jeremy Shockey, and Terrell Owens.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Join the discussion below and remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night from 8-9 PM CST on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or at www.kick.fm.

So, with this in mind where else but Las Vegas would the NHL decide to place the biggest non-event in the history of events, the NHL awards show. A faux celebration of all things hockey, being staged in a place that barely knows what hockey is, and where a hockey fan wanting to place a sporting wager and watch the outcome has to beg to have a game put on the smallest television in the darkest corner of any sports-book. And even then, only when there are no better EuroLeague basketball games being played on ESPN Desportes.

For conversation sake lets look at the acts that are currently playing in Las Vegas that will be more popular than the NHL awards ceremony:

Carrot Top and Liza Minelli—Together at last!

Living La Vida Loca–A retrospective of the career of Ricky Martin starring William Hung

In Treatment: Relationship Edition—with guest counsellor Sloppy Seconds Sean Avery

The Sopornos starring Hortense the Mule Faced Woman

You really do have to hand it to the NHL. You never do know when they will out do themselves in the Bad Idea Jeans department. The only professional sports league that still clings to the idea that people want to see an awards show, decides to put on the aforementioned awards show in a climate that has seen snow once every thirty five years. With the exception of Illegal Curve’s own Neil, does anyone watch the NHL awards show? If you had anything marginally better to do, for example, watch grass grow on a nice July night, wouldn’t you rather do that?

The last time the NHL made their way to Vegas was during an exhibition game in 1991. The game, played outdoors at Caesar’s Palace between the Kings and Rangers was televised tape delayed. In “previewing” the game, Sports Illustrated wrote that if you are sitting at home to watch this, “you need to have you head Zambonied.” For years, I have been waiting for an opportunity to re-tell that story and trot out that phrase again. Thanks to this latest boneheaded decision from the NHL, that time is now upon us. I suppose for that, I should be thankful.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Join the discussion below and remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night from 8-9 PM CST on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or at www.kick.fm.

Let’s pause and let that blast of applause die down.

For those unfamiliar with the story, and really if you are, where have you been, Eugene Melnyk, owner of the sad-sack Ottawa Senators, recently told the fans of his team that if they think the Senators should be blown up (a euphemism for re-built), they should go blow themselves up (a euphemism for, uh, death, I guess.)

(I note, and not with the least bit of irony, that given the locker room problems the Sens have been having the past few years, the owner of the Senators might want to refrain from using the word BLOW anywhere in the vicinity of discussions surrounding his team.)

As a former Sens fan, having lived in Ottawa for a few years, and having had made the trek to the arena in the middle of nowhere (Kanata) more than a few times, I can say honestly, that I regret lining the pockets of Mr. Melnyk. Never before has the ownership of a team, done more to poison the well of good-will between franchise and fan base than has Mr. Melnyk with his insensitive, inappropriate, and in-conceivable comments of last week. Does Mr. Melnyk truly think that there will be no residual damage from his comments? Lord knows that if I was still in the Ottawa area I would think twice about shelling out 50 plus dollars to see this team of slacking, underachieving players and their loser owner. I like to think I am not alone.

Oh, and the best part to this whole sordid, sad, saga? Since Mr. Melnyk made his comments, the Sens have fired their head coach, and are likely to blow up their entire team in the offseason. They should start in the owner’s box.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Join the discussion below and remember to listen to the Illegal Curve.com radio show every Wednesday night from 8-9 PM CST on 92.9 KICK FM in Winnipeg or at www.kick.fm.

For better or worse, and much to the chagrin of the squawkers, fighting is an intimate part of the NHL. From the Broadstreet Bullies of the 1970s to the bench clearing brawls of the 1980s to the mano-a-mano fisticuffs of the 1990s, fighting is intertwined with hockey just like slap-shots, breakaways, and group sex parties. Have people in the past been injured by fighting? Of course. Broken hands and noses come automatically with repeated punches to someone’s head. Prior to the past two weeks, have the squawkers been demanding the end of hockey fights? No. I wonder why that is? I wonder if the squawkers aren’t just using the two aforementioned tragedies as a soapbox to get their voices heard?

Does the NHL need to do something to curtail some of the violence we have seen on the ice? Yes. Does banning fighting from the NHL curtail that violence? Absolutely not. Want to know what will curtail that violence and prevent Todd Bertuzzi from ending someone’s career again? The answer is contraction.

In the 1980s there was fighting. Teams had enforcers. They could and would drop their gloves at the drop of a hat. But at the same time as they were occasionally chucking a few knuckles, they were also scoring 20+ goals for their team. In short, their fighting skills supplemented their all around game. Now, the fighters on respective NHL teams are lucky to score 20+ goals in their entire career. The reason for that is that the NHL has expanded well beyond the actual number of NHL caliber players there are available to play in the supposed “best hockey league” in the world. If the NHL was to eliminate eight teams, that is 160 fewer players who don’t currently belong in the same league as the Crosby’s, Malkin’s, Ovechkin’s and Iginla’s of the NHL. Goodbye Jared Boll, whoever you are. So long Riley Cote, don’t worry there is always room for you at Earls on Main back in Winnipeg. Adios George Parros, but don’t worry there will always be room for your moustache.

With the departure of these 160 players, whose primary “attribute” is the ability to fight and thus intimidate other players, perhaps, we will then go back to the era of 8-6 games, and hockey will return to being a game of skill, speed, and substance, as opposed to this hodge-podge of Greco-Roman Wrestling on ice we are currently subjected to. Somehow, I think the squawkers will be able to survive and will in short form, find another topic to wail about.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell

If you think I need to take a few blows to the head, please join the discussion below.

Warm weather. White sandy beaches with waves of blue water lapping within reach. Non-existent state income taxes. Zero Pressure.

Icy winters. Grey tinged snow with puddles of dirty water to splash you. Taxes galore. Expectations that make those facing President Obama seem like child’s play.

The choice is yours.

Vincent Lecavalier, current captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning has the choice before him. (Note: For the purposes of this column I will render ignored any trade potential denials made by the three stooges currently running and owning the Tampa Bay Lightning).

If he stays in Tampa Bay, his life will be the envy of every hockey player. A huge guaranteed contract, with a no trade clause. He will end his career having played for one team his entire tenure. A career that was already fulfilled having won the Stanley Cup a few years ago, thus, no matter what else happens, he will be validated as a championship player. No notoriety, no pressure, no worries.

In Montreal, the risk-reward is stupendous. His contract will remain the same, but it has great potential to cause him problems. Words he may become synonymous with include, overpaid, under-performing, a bust. The attention will be relentless. The expectations will be even higher. If he doesn’t win a cup, again, he will be vilified, criticized, and ridiculed.

The choice is yours.

To me, the wild card in Vincent Lecavalier’s decision has to be the relentless Quebec media. Especially the French media. How dare he give an interview in English? Doesn’t he know he is French? I must criticize him. The Canadiens won 6-1. Lecavalier only had one goal. Is he a bust? I must criticize him.

The choice is yours. But remember the sad tale of Saku Koivu when you make your decision. The long-serving captain of the Canadiens, Saku gave 110 percent to the talent poor Canadiens. He never ducked a question, or a challenge. When befallen with cancer, he fought through it, and defeated it, only to return to the Canadiens and be challenged by the media as to why he has not, in his time with the Canadiens, learned more French.

The ball is in your court Vincent. The choice is yours.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell

Join the discussion below and tell me what choice you would make.

After the starting line-ups were unveiled and it was announced that four (Alexei Kovalev, Andrei Markov, Mike Komisarek, and Carey price) of the six Eastern Conference representatives were Montreal Canadiens, the squawking was loud, immediate and over the top. Bruce Boudreau, head coach of the Capitals referred to the voting, as “dumb”. Other columnists, media personalities, and talking heads echoed his statement. What all of these insightful members of the commentariat fail to realize, is that it should come as no shock that the host city’s fans want to see their own players. These are their heroes, their superstars, their idols. If I was a young boy in Montreal, who would I rather see—one of the players I watch every night, and have the poster on the wall, or Ilya Kovalchuk and other random names they never get to see firsthand? It’s a no brainer that I would stuff the ballot box and do everything in my power to ensure my idol gets to play.

Very little involving professional sports in the twenty first century is fan friendly. Most of it is strictly business, bottom line, and profit margins. Allowing the fans to vote for the starters in an all star game is one of the last bones that the NHL throws to their fans. I readily admit, that had the Jets been able to host an all star game during their tenure in Winnipeg, I would have stuffed the ballot box to the nth degree to see my team’s players in the game. If that resulted in the likes of Randy Cunneyworth, Brent Ashton, and Mike Eagles starting, so be it. Ultimately, we are talking about one shift of hockey. Fourty seconds. If all the NHL fans have left to their control is the first fourty seconds in an exhibition game, the NHL has more serious problems, and can leave alone the one area left in the NHL that allows the fans control. To change the current system, would be as Bruce Boudreau so articulately described it, “dumb”.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell.

Agree? Disagree? Join the discussion below.

As with every year the holiday season also means it’s time for Canada to re-assert its dominance on the Junior Hockey scene through the tournament known as the World Junior Hockey Championship. Each year, seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen year olds leave their families for the right (if they are from Canada) to win a gold medal, or (if they aren’t from Canada) a chance to be embarrassed on national Canadian television. What could be more in line with the spirit of love, peace, and goodwill to all, than body checking a Kazhaki (Kazakh?) teenager into a piece of plexi-glass?

Each year the hype for the tournament is more intense, more elaborate, and more non-sensical than the year before. TSN covers the tournament with the baited breath usually reserved for the crowning of a new Pope or American Idol. The question I have, after being subjected to this overwhelming hype, is why? Why should we be treating this tournament with the reverence that it has been recently receiving? Why should I sit at home and be excited at the thought of Canadians winning a tournament that only Canadians care about? When only Canadians pour resources into it?

Look, I was once a big supporter of the tournament. I sat with thousands of my fellow Manitobans and screamed until I was red in the face, cheering for Canada to bring the title home. I made the road trip down to Grand Forks, North Dakota to turn the tournament into a gigantic home game for the Canadian side. I cringed at Marc Andre Fleury’s gaffe in the gold medal game, and celebrated like mad when John Slaney scored in Saskatoon in 1991 to bring the title home. Recently however, as the tournament has reached record levels of hype thanks to the over-bearing nature of Canada’s ESPN-lite, TSN, it has begun to turn me off and make me disinterested. Yesterday, Canada beat Kazakhstan fifteen to nothing. This victory is supposed to make me proud?

As with most everything in sport, the influence of television has brought it more squarely into the spotlight, and conversely attracted attention to it, that it probably did not need or deserve. There are now two types of World Junior Championships. The ones that take place in Canada (every second year as dictated by the rules) are over-bearing, over wrought, over-hyped coronations of Canada as champions and rulers of teenage hockey. The ones in Europe are smaller, played in front of small crowds, in small towns, and more accurately reflect the humble roots of the tournament. I for one prefer those tournaments. They are more pure and better reflect the humble roots of the World Junior Hockey Tournament. A tournament that, when Canada won their inaugural title in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1982, didn’t even have a recording of “Oh Canada” to play when the gold medals were awarded. Having seen the visual of that group of delirious Canadian teenagers, with arms intertwined, belting out Oh Canada A Capella, when there was no recording to do it for them, I realize that I would rather see that version of impromptu patriotism, than I would see the sight of 15000 sycophants at the Scotia Bank Centre in Ottawa muttering along with Lyndon Slewidge, in some fraudulent, choreographed, version of that scene from Saint Paul. It’s time for the World Juniors to return to its humble roots.

For Illegal Curve, I am Drew Mindell

Join the discussion below. Your comments are always welcome.