For anyone who doesn't think Burke being fired by MLSE wasn't a shot at "The Count" sitting
next to him, you really don't know how much some businesses were hurt by the NHL Lockout
As much as I hate to admit it, I am back to watching as much as I can, just as passionate about the game as ever but there is one thing I will not bow down and do this year. Mostly, i refuse to do it because I really feel it would have been a sign of good faith on the part of the league to give it to us for free for whats left of the 48 game season. What am I referring to? The NHL Center Ice Package. I WILL NOT order it this year. I absolutely refuse to do it and no one should order it for the last 3 months of the season.
Sure, for the first 12 days of the season it was on for free for anyone who had a Rogers digital terminal or Bell Expressvu but once the calendar flipped over, it was gone. And really, with all the games TSN is desperately cramming into their programming scheduled between now and the end of the year, we have no need to spend cash on Centre Ice. We should be using this time to send a LOUD message to the League about how retarded they are with regards to their fiscal stance against the players.
At least now we can focus on these incompetent boobs instead of Bettman and his merry
band of dysfunctional and out of touch morons
The same deal they signed on January 10th, could have been agreed to back at the end of NOVEMBER had they been honorable enough to actually present it to the union at that time. Owners like Jeremy Jacobs, who acts shocked when the news leaks about just how much he detests his OWN players and belittles them like the way he mocked Cam Neely, former Bruin player and current Executive, during their Stanley Cup Parade by chastising him for never being able to do the same as a player himself during his career. These owners are such asses that they have no concept of just how a joke of that nature is in such bad taste that it makes them look like clowns.
As much as we as fans are thrilled that the game is back and (at least in cities where they care for the sport) have returned in record numbers, we need to send a clear message to Bettman and the Hawks (Like Jacobs in Boston) among the owners who seem to revel in the idea of crushing their players union or at least want to attempt to do it each and every time they DARE to want something close to a "fair deal". We need to ensure that 8 years from now, we are not stuck in yet another mess of a lockout imposed by greedy owners who want "more" of a cut then they deserve.
To me, a simple first step is not paying at all or ordering NHL Center Ice. Its calculated based on how many games TSN broadcasts nationally, plus all the Leaf games on TV but it still sends a message with the only thing they seem to care about: Our pocket books. If that doesn't make it clear to them that they have pissed off their fans, nothing will.
Then again, the financial mess that the league is in (or claims to be in) is their own fault. They are the idiots that expanded into the US South into places that do not need, like or want to support the sport and they have already seen Atlanta fail, twice (with the Flames in the early 80's and the Thrashers recently both moving to Calgary and Winnipeg respectively) and they are STILL stuck in Phoenix with no end in sight to that problem. Maybe now that there is some stability in place with the union, the league will finally say enough is enough and get that team out of there.
With all the empty seats creating an even larger hole in the NHL wallet, when will
they finally wake up and realize its time to pull the plug on Phoenix?
Sure they sold out their first game back this season but ever since, they have been averaging 50% capacity of their building. They are the ONLY team below 80% capacity in the entire league which is really telling considering how much anger many fans have and still feel towards the League after the lockout. Even after the massive snowfall we had over the last 2 days here, I would GUARANTEE that the Leafs would have had a sell out tonight had they actually been playing here tonight instead of Montreal, who I am also sure will have a sellout tonight despite that same storm now moving in on them.Phoenix is just not a hockey market and i think at this point, with all the evidence mounting and mounting, someone in the NHL head office needs to come to that same realization.
My point is that if the League won't or refuses to see the problem with a market like Phoenix and how that single team is depressing the economics of the league as a whole, then it's time the Union started to make some noise about moving that team out of Phoenix. They need to flex some muscle quietly behind the scenes as the only way the salary cap will explode the way it did over the last 7 years (creating another large increase in the salary cap each year as it did) going forward will be tied to the future of that team as well as possible expansion teams in Quebec City and a 2nd team in Toronto.
Currently there are 30 NHL teams. Here is how they breakdown by conference at the moment;
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference | |
| Atlantic | Central | |
| New Jersey Devils | Chicago Blackhawks | |
| New York Islanders | Columbus Blue Jackets | |
| New York Rangers | Detroit Red Wings | |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Nashville Predators | |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | St. Louis Blues | |
| Northeast | Northwest | |
| Boston Bruins | Calgary Flames | |
| Buffalo Sabres | Colorado Avalanche | |
| Montreal Canadiens | Edmonton Oilers | |
| Ottawa Senators | Minnesota Wild | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Vancouver Canucks | |
| Southeast | Pacific | |
| Carolina Hurricanes | Anaheim Ducks | |
| Florida Panthers | Dallas Stars | |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Los Angeles Kings | |
| Washington Capitals | Phoenix Coyotes | |
| Winnipeg Jets | San Jose Sharks |
As you can see there are some teams that are in Divisions they should not be based upon geography and most recently re-location. Detroit and Columbus should not be in the West and Winnipeg should not be in the East in a division with Tampa Bay and the Florida Panthers. The easy move would be to switch either Detroit or Columbus with Winnipeg but there is more that should be done and I have a better idea as a whole to help fix the situation.
First and foremost, there should be confirmation of 2 expansion teams confirmed to begin play in 2 years. 1 in Toronto and 1 in Quebec City. This of course means that there would be 17 teams in the East and 15 in the West which would be very unbalanced, without even addressing the Winnipeg or Phoenix issues yet. The next thing that obviously would need to happen is to move Winnipeg to the West. Just doing that brings the numbers back to 16 in each conference. What to do with Phoenix. Well, as much as it would be better and more fitting to have them move to Quebec City, the NHL clearly wants to maximize the amount of money they get for Franchise fees so Quebec will have to wait. Phoenix has failed as an NHL city which means it needs to move to another market.
In happier times (before Billy Hunter was on the verge of being fired by the players he represents), the
NBA Players Union rep and David Stern seem poised to allow Seattle to get their Sonics back by Summer
The most logical one to me will be confirmed as an option by the end of this summer and it is the city of Seattle. The reason why it has taken this long and will take at least another 6 months to confirm this eventual move is that with the fact that the NBA's Sacramento Kings are on the verge of moving to Seattle themselves bringing back with them the old Sonic nickname. If that happens (and it's about 95% certain), then the arena that the new owners want to build will need a 2nd tenant to make it economically viable.
Add in the fact that Seattle has already won the Stanley Cup twice (back in the early 20th century with the Seattle Metropolitans) and the Western Junior Hockey League's Seattle Thunderbirds being among the best run WHL teams with great attendance figures to back that up and you have a community that seems more then ready to welcome back the NHL. One other re-alignment idea to conclude this segment. With an even number of teams in each conference, this would allow for each conference to have 2 divisions of 8 teams, much better then the current 3 division set up.
Now on to some tidbits about not only hockey but of course the Super Bowl and other things.
The Leafs are 5-1 on the road and 1-4 at home which, for some people, is a huge shock. Not to me and not to a real Leaf fan. The atmosphere in the ACC is just brutal. The corporate suits take up all the good seats (of course, given their over-priced nature) and spend most of the game chatting with their latest squeeze or on their Blackberry Z10 (yes, I will talk about that too) or try to sell their product to the stiff they brought with them who doesn't give a shit about the team.
Doubt by most of Leafs Nation (including me) and even rumoured to be on their way to Van City
for Roberto Luongo, Kadri and Bozak are the main reasons the Leafs have been pretty good this season
The players on the team will probably never admit this but they prefer playing outside of Toronto for several reasons, the first of which being that in some places like Buffalo and Montreal, games there are evenly split with fans of both teams. Another reason has to do with how many Ontario born and bred players are in the league and playing on other teams in the NHL. When they come "home" they get to play in front of family and friends which only serves to motivate them even more. Added with that is the fact that these same players, in some cases (think Tyler Seguin) could have been members of the team or were in the farm system as some point and give it that much more effort when it comes to playing here as they just do not want to lose to the Leafs at any cost.
Those are the outside factors. Internally, given the fact that these players are under such intense media scrutiny (only the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys would have anything close in terms of accredited media after each game), these players are analyzed and dissected about 1000 times over before, during and after each and every game. The media crush in this city at times isn't even fair with the way they cover the team. Just look at how they handled the Phill Kessel goal drought. About 1 minute after the game was over and he had scored his first of the year, the Game winner mind you, the media was then turning it's full attention to Captain Dion Phaneuf and HIS goalless drought.
Funny how after he gets canned, the Leafs are now that tough, no nonsense, aggressive, in your face bunch
he had always said he wanted them to be since he was first hired
While I find athletes who refuse to come here because of the media crush to be extremely soft, to a certain extent I would agree with them that the negative attention of the media can be overbearing at times. Still, being an Ontario boy, you should be falling all over yourself to come back home and try to win the Cup for a team that has this passionate a fan base. If you refuse because of the media (Re: Cammalari, Mike), then you are a pussy and the team is better off without you anyway.
This new rule about covering the puck with your hand leading to a penalty is stupid and needs to be eliminated about as quickly as the stupid trapezoid behind the net and the instigator. Of course, it will take about 3 years before they figure it out so I won't hold my breath.
Teemu Selanne is still going strong at the age of 42. He and his Ducks are off to a great start and the entire hockey world is better off with him still playing like a man 10 years younger then he actually is. His teammate though, Ryan Getzlaf, made a comment I saw on the TSN season preview show the night before the season started which has made me detest the man and hope he never becomes a Maple Leaf (as is rumoured to be possible if he does not sign an extension this summer with the Ducks). To paraphrase, he essentially blamed the changes in his family life (his wife having his 2nd child) for his bad season. Who does that? He sounded like a douchbag when he said it.
The Super Bowl was memorable on several levels. It was a lopsided game at half which turned into one for the history books after that (NFL sponsored) power outage. A 35 minute delay is absolutely ridiculous and would not have been tolerated had it not been something that the NFL clearly felt would level out the game and it did just that. Asmuch as I appreciate the Ravens win also giving me $250 in earnings that night, there are just too many players on that team that I do not believe deserved to win that game due to personal reasons and circumstances which make me question their character and moral fiber as individuals. The only one I am happy for is Michael Oher.
Michael Oher's story (and the $250 I won) are the only good things that came out of the Ravens
winning the Super Bowl
The man behind the story for the movie "The Blind Side" now has a Super Bowl ring to add to his already incredible life story. It's a shame that he had to play on a team with a Linebacker who is a double murderer and an arrogant ass for a QB.
Why are we still seeing those annoying kids on those Rogers commercials? I thought they were gone but nope, they brought back one of the most annoying ones yet where the red headed guy is trying to test the speed of one phone against another and his ass of a friend won't do it. To me, that kid who won't do it needs a beating but maybe it's just Rogers way of showing that they are actually scared to test their "fastest ever LTE speed". Hmmmm.
Still on annoying commercials, ever see that one where the girl gets the wait staff to sing to her soon to be ex about her breaking up with him? The end of that song makes no sense. They sing "once we were 2 and now we are 1" but that makes no sense. When you are with someone, you become 1, it's when you end things that you go back to being "single" or 1. Even changing the words to say something like "once we were 1 and now we are done" makes more sense. Who hires these marketing firms? Such morons.
So the Fiberals have selected Katherine Wynne as the Premier-elect and just before doing that, Laurel Broten, Education Minister for Ontario repeals Bill 115 (the one which basically took away teachers rights to strike) claiming victory and that the Bill had "accomplished what it was designed to do". WTF?!?! Are these people on crack? If you were planning on turning the wrath of your biggest union supporters against you, causing them to make you look like fools for months and ruining the supposed "legacy" of their "beloved" former Premier Mc-Liar, then hey, you did a bang up job. What a colossal mistake in judgement it was to go after the teachers like they did. They have incurred the wrath of thousands of registered voters and made parents and students angry because of the work to rule campaign the teachers have been on since they had their rights infringed upon.
I don't think I could trust any of these 3 people to do anything for me let alone run the Province...
The Raptors finally pulled the trigger on a massive deal and traded away a long time loyal player in Jose Calderon. The return was Rudy Gay and, after the early returns, he seems to have been exactly what this team has lacked since they had an injury-free Vince Carter patrolling the court at the ACC. He has been dynamic and visibly happy to be playing on a team that is (FINALLY) trending upwardly.
If the rumoured deal of Andrea Bargnani to Chicago for Carlos Boozer happens next, then I will publicly state right now that the Raptors will claw their way into the Playoffs THIS year. I know they are well back right now but something tells me that this young core will finally gel and make a serious run down the stretch when they play 75% of their games at home.
With his master plan finally starting to come to fruition, Bryan Colangelo has proven his worth to
MLSE and should remain at the helm of the team for the next few years
What's with the sudden influx of new, young announcers on Sportsnet and TSN? By my count, TSN has 2 new, young hot women working their various Sportscentre telecasts (Natasha and Kate) and Sportsnet brought back Martine Gaillard and has brought in Erin Hawksworth who used to work for the Seattle Seahawks in their local pre-game show. I'm defintely not complaining, hell, Erin, Natasha and Kate are all just gorgeous women and all 4 are pretty good at different sports (no one is perfect) but the fact that this kind of beauty is now on these shows (and when you recall that CBC has Andi Petrullo and Hazel Mae is also back doing Jays pre-game shows but is now on Mat leave, that makes 6 hot women now all over the sports scene in Canada) it makes you wonder if the new pre-requisite is to either be a hot woman or ethnic (at least 5 new young male journalists have been added at the same time, none of which I would classify as "White").
Her first night on air, I thought she was going to pop out of her shirt she had so much cleavage showing....
I will do my best to talk about a few other things that have been gnawing at me lately with a more concerted effort to write more blog entries going forward. Feel free to make suggestions about topics as I am always open to new ideas.
Until next time....
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