In today's Ottawa Citizen, Senators owners Eugene Melnyk is quoted as saying he wants to be more hands on with the club. That's one of the worst things that can happen to a sports franchise.

There isn't an owner in the NHL, with the possible exception of Gretzky, that knows more about managing an NHL roster then the current GMs in the league. All that will happen if the owner started getting more hands on is that it annoys the President and/or GM. Bug them for too long or too much and they start looking for greener pastures.

Owners either need to show confidence in the job that their employees can do or replace them with ones that they do have confidence in. Looking over their shoulder isn't going to make the franchise any better. (0) comments

The best comment I've heard in the media about the upcoming CBA battle was on the Ottawa Senators Pregame radio show last night.

To paraphrase, "The owners want a system that is idiotproof. Instead of doing that, why don't they just fire the idiots?"

Indeed. And it would give the fans what they want - uninterrupted NHL hockey. (0) comments

The Toronto Maple Leafs, especially Tie Domi, were very critical of Daniel Alfredsson's broken stick throwing gesture during Ottawa's 7-1 victory over Toronto on Jan 8. They felt Alfredsson was showing up their team.

But during last night's 4-1 victory over Columbus, from Slam Sports:

Tie Domi delivered an autographed stick to the Columbus Blue Jackets bench last night, but don't expect Jody Shelley to treasure it.

Rebuffed in attempts throughout the game to fight the famous Leafs enforcer, Shelley became more enraged when Domi took a stick at the Toronto bench, scribbled something and tossed it over the glass to him at the Jackets bench in the third period.

So Domi decides that instead of dropping the gloves he's going to start dropping sticks into his opponent's bench?

Domi has gone from one of the tougher guys in the NHL to a cowardly, hypocrital joke. He only goes after middleweights these days. He's shied away from Sens' enforcer Chris Neil in the past two meetings between the clubs. He acted like a maniac in response to Alfredsson's joke but he's more then willing to show up an opponent?

I wonder if his teammates and coach think Domi's actions are classless? Or are they hypocrites too? (0) comments

Arthur Levitt released the details of his report, commissioned on behalf of the NHL, on the NHL's finances today. To no big surprise, they seemed closely in line with what the NHL has been claiming.

I really wish there were more details released from the report.

Two teams had profits over $10M US last year. One was surely the Maple Leafs, who was the other team? Could it be the Canucks? Could the two most "profitable" teams in the NHL be Canadian?

I'm also curious which category the Senators were in last year. Did they lose money or make money? If they lost money, did the revenue from the 148 Corel Centre suites go to the Senators?

The problem with his is that the public sees this and thinks it is the definitive answer to whether or not the NHL is struggling. A look at the feedback on tsn.ca for this article demonstrates that this report is putting the public on the owners side.

I always keep in mind of this quote from Paul Beeston, "Anyone who quotes profits of a baseball club is missing the point. Under generally accepted accounting principles, I can turn a $4 million profit into a $2 million loss and I could get every national accounting firm to agree with me."

Change baseball to hockey and you understand the NHLPA's point with regards to the numbers.

I suspect that Levitts is just taking the questions the owners give him and coming up with the answers to those questions. What hockey fans really want to know is what are the right questions to ask the owners and what are the answers to those questions.

I find it suspicious that Levitt arrives at appoximately 10% off the owners' claims. Enough to suggest maybe the study is independant and that the owners have tweaked the numbers a bit but not enough to suggest that the owners aren't in financial trouble. (0) comments

The 2005 NHL Entry Draft, with uberphenom Sidney Crosby expected to go first overall, has been awarded to Ottawa. The question then is, will it happen?

At first blush it would appear that it should be business as usual because it doesn't involve NHL players. However, when you think about it a little you wonder what would happen.

The problem with not having a CBA is that the draft is a product of the CBA. The CBA includes the rules that govern how the owners and players deal with each other. The rules of the Entry Draft are included in it. If there's a lockout this fall, the owners are essentially ripping up the rules and new rules have to be created. How can you have a draft without having rules? (0) comments

The Senators have gone through GM's in recent years like other teams go through head coaches. Randy Sexton, Pierre Gauthier, Rick Dudley, Marshall Johnston, John Muckler have all been the GM during the past ten years.

I don't think it is a stretch to think that the Sens could have another GM in the not too distant future. John Muckler turns 70 this year. When Muckler was interviewed by Sens President Roy Mlakar while Mlakar was guesthosting an Ottawa radio show this week, I was amazed at how inarticulate Muckler sounded. Normally, Muckler is articulate in his interviews but in this one he sounded like an old man at a loss for words.

Now maybe Muckler was just tired that day but none the less, he isn't getting any younger and there aren't a whole lot of 70 year old GM's hanging around the league. I don't know how long the multiyear contract Muckler signed with the Senators in the summer of 2002 but if it does expire this year will Muckler return? And if he doesn't, who takes over?

If there was an opening for Ottawa's GM position, it would be one of the hottest positions in hockey. The Sens might have the best set of talent in the league playing in front of a state of the art arena. As well, new owner Eugene Melnyk appears to be the kind of owner who will pay the money it takes to get the best and that would include a new GM.

Because the Senators are so close to becoming so dominant, I can't see the Sens bringing in a neophyte GM to learn on the job. The Sens want to win now and they can't afford the growing pains of someone without experience.

Brian Burke would be a great choice but would he want to report to Mlakar instead of Melnyk? Tom Benjamin weighs in on Burke's situation with Canucks' ownership.

Another choice might be Sharks GM Doug Wilson. He's from Ottawa and was considered for the position when Johnston resigned. The problem for him would be getting out of his commitment with San Jose.

A real longshot, but one that would make for great headlines, would be Pat Quinn. If John Ferguson Jr would rather go with his own coach despite Quinn's great job this season, Quinn would be more then qualified to take over the GM position in Ottawa. The problem here is that Quinn has always appeared to prefer coaching over being a GM.

There is always the option of hiring from within - Peter Chiarelli, Anders Hedberg or Jacques Martin come to mind although none have been an NHL GM before. (0) comments

By now every hockey fan worth their salt has heard about the changes to the NHL rulebook for the next season, whenever it may be. The only rule change that I hate is the proposed 3 point for a win system that is being trialed in the AHL next year. I'm glad it will only be in the AHL and I hope it doesn't go any further then that.

As for the other changes, the one that has caused the most controversy is the changes to goalies - where they can play the puck and what they can wear on their legs. The smaller pads will inevitably lead to more goals. Although some people think that more goals isn't the solution the game - it is more scoring chances. But more goals can lead to more scoring chances because if it becomes harder to keep the puck out of the net, it becomes harder to protect a one goal lead. That means that teams will need to keep applying offensive pressure because a one goal lead will be a lot less of a guarantee then it used to be. Teams will be able to come back from bigger leads if goals can be scored more easily. The smaller pads are going to make it a lot easier to score on the goalies and the new puck playing restrictions on the goalies will make forechecking a more viable strategy.

I'm not someone who's been beating the drums for a more exciting game. But I'm a Senator fan and my team is one of the most exciting in the league. I might feel differently if I were cheering for a less talented team.

But if they can make the game more exciting I'm fine with it, I'm okay with the changes. Just leave the untraditional three point wins in the AHL, please. (0) comments

The Hockey Rodent is amazed how the Toronto Maple Leafs have a tendency to be "lucky". He thought they were especially "lucky" last night against Tampa Bay.

All this "luck" makes me wonder how many officials are "lucky" enough to make the NHL from Southern Ontario. (0) comments

The best idea yet I've heard to fix the way the NHL standing appear is from PecaFan on HFBoards.

His idea is:

... change the current OTL column. Instead of using it to track ot losses, we should use it for OT wins. At the end of regulation time, record a Tie for each team. Every time, regardless of what is about to happen in overtime. If nobody wins, you do nothing, since you've already handed out the point each.

But if someone wins in overtime, give them the extra point, store it in the Bonus Point column (BP). So, the winner in overtime gets 2 points, one in the tie, one in the BP. The loser gets 1 in the tie column.

The only problem I see is that the totals in the four columns will be greater then the number of games played. But I'll take that over the silly 3 points for a win stuff that keeps popping up from fans.

Read his full post here (0) comments

The Flyers have reacquired goalie Sean Burke from Phoenix along with winger Branko Radivojevic and prospect Ben Eager for Mike Comrie. Burke's really revived his career in the desert after going in a tailspin that began when he left Hartford and included a short stop in Philly.

As for who wins the trade, the old axiom is that whoever gets the best player wins the trade. While Comrie is struggling this year, that's too be expected from a young player who held out at the start of the season. He's the best player in the deal right now. However, I think that Radivojevic will prosper in Philly. He's really underrated and I wish he was wearing a Senator jersey. Burke should be able to help Philly this year but after that... well, I wonder if Bobby Clarke wishes he still had Maxime Ouellet in his system.

I think Eager was really a throw in for the deal. Some people, especially in his hometown of Ottawa, think he'll turn out to be a power forward. However, I know someone who knows Eager personally and has been on the ice with him on numerous occasions. His take is that he's a REALLY good guy but he'll probably end up being like Tie Domi but without the mouth and sideshow crap. Since he was a first round pick, he'll be looking for a contract of over a million a year, if he hasn't signed one already. That's a lot of money for a guy who has an upside of a third line enforcer.

As for who won the trade, I think both teams made out pretty well. Philly's got lots of depth at center and a couple of good center prospects in Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. They got someone in Radivojevic who could turn out to be as good as Comrie. And they solved a question in goal. Whether they like the answer remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Phoenix upgraded the talent on their roster for a guy who had become expendable, a prospect with a questionable upside and a player that's for now probably a step below the one they got back. (0) comments

Don Cherry has been in the news a lot lately for his comments about different groups of people. Unfortunately, he never seems to come under the same scrutiny when he's the most dangerous. And Cherry is dangerous because of his platform and his popularity.

It is almost routine for him to make up lies about people in order to justify his opinions or gind his axe. For example, Cherry would tell blatant lies about former Ottawa Senators GM Marshall Johnston because of his grudges against either Johnston himself or the Ottawa Senators organization. Rumour has it that Cherry has held a grudge against the Senators since Brad Marsh got the rights to a restaurant at the Corel Centre over one of Don Cherry's Grapevine restaurants.

But a story told a few weeks by former NHL defenceman Garry Galley on his local sports talk radio show demonstated how dangerous Cherry really is.

Galley was talking about the recent, at the time, knee injury to Darius Kasparaitis and relayed a story about his playing days. Galley collided with Gary Roberts and accidentally injured Roberts knee. On the plane ride home Roberts' leg swelled up so much that his pants had to be cut off and he required medical attention. Galley later called Roberts to apologize for the accident and Roberts told Galley that it was no big deal, that these things happen and that he knows that it was an accident.

Anyways, the next Saturday on Coach's Corner, the old queen goes off on Galley for hitting Roberts, insinuating that he had talked to Roberts and that Roberts was upset at Galley for the hit. Shortly afterwards Galley received death threats because of the accident.

But maybe those death threats weren't a result of Coach's Corner. After all, who would think that Cherry would appeal to segments of the lunatic fringe.
(0) comments

The CBA appeared to be the main focus of CBC's coverage of the NHL All-Star Game this weekend. The main event of that focus was Ron MacLean's interview with Gary Bettman.

I agree wholeheartedly with the comments of Tom Benjamin from Canucks Corner about the interview.

Listening to Gary Bettman disagree with an Economics professor about the relationship between ticket prices and the CBA leads me to one simple conclusion.

The NHL doesn't need a new CBA to fix their problems. They just need to hire a talented economist. (0) comments

Don Cherry is finally being disciplined by the CBC for his comments about, well they it is about Europeans and French Canadians but let's be honest, it is about his remarks regarding Quebecers. Although Cherry had made controversial comments about Quebecers in the past, his comments never generalized about them as a group.

Cherry doesn't seem to realize that Quebec holds more then its fair share of power in the federal government because they hold the ultimate hammer - if they don't like the way they are treated they can leave. (I know some Western Canadians will make the claim that Western alienation could lead them to seperate but their claims are difficult to hold in the same regard because they don't have a unifying bond the way that Quebecers have the French language.) With an election coming up, the federal Liberals can't look powerless to Quebecers when dealing with a crazy old queen like Cherry on their federally run network. Cherry picked on the wrong group of people at the wrong point in time.

Joe at Tasca's Take thinks the French Canadians are just suffering an inferiority complex. But as an American, I don't think Joe understands the dynamics of the French/English relationship in Canada. To put in context, the situation is comparable to Jimmy the Greek's comments about blacks that got him taken off CBS. It isn't about whether or not Cherry has a point. It has to do with picking at a historical sore. (0) comments

After several years of the NHL having more good goalies then starting jobs, it appears that the goalie glut is gone. It seems like the game is in a period where all the best goalies, with the exception of Brodeur, is either too old, too young or has major question marks.

Are Hasek, Belfour, Kolzig, Burke, Joseph, etc nearing the end? Will Luongo, Theodore, and Turco step up as the next wave of dominant goalies? Can Dan Cloutier step up in the playoffs? Was Giguere's performance last year a fluke? Is Patrick Lalime a product of an average goalie on a great team or a guy in a slump?

Goalies who haven't proven much in the playoffs, like Sean Burke, appear to be in high demand according to trade rumours that involve Mike Comrie going back for Burke. The Rangers and Flyers appear to be desperate for goaltending. The Sens have their fans clamouring for a change in nets. Can the Canucks expect Cloutier to finally deliver in the playoffs?

So many questions and the only team with a solid answer in goal is the defending champions with Brodeur. (0) comments

I don't really care for the All Star games. Probably care about this one even less since Hossa and Redden couldn't make the game.

That being said, I HATE the Eastern Conference sweaters. I don't mind nostalgia. But there's a reason teams don't wear cream coloured sweaters anymore - they are UGLY!

That being said, at least they don't have two teams in dark sweaters this year. That's a step forward. (0) comments

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that the Penguins can survive a work stoppage. The interesting part though it the assertion that:

The Penguins project a loss of $5 million this season after breaking even over Mario Lemieux's first four years as owner.

The Penguins have had a really bad team in the oldest arena in the league and they haven't lost money until this year? That sounds pretty good.

"In my view, Pittsburgh is operating as well as you can operate," said Bill Daly, NHL vice president and chief legal officer

Operating as well as you can? The team has done a brutal job developing young players and trading away their older players.

The Penguins have the league's lowest player payroll at $22.6 million, its worst record at 11-36-5-3 and its second-lowest average attendance at 11,988. They also maintain that they need a more favorable CBA and a new, publicly financed arena in place by 2007 to remain viable in Pittsburgh.

They need a new CBA AND a new arena? If they're breaking even now, wouldn't just one of those things fix their problems? Hell, I think a new GM and a new scouting staff could solve their problems a lot better then a new CBA. (0) comments