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Jets Send Scheifele Back. Take Big Step With Comeback Win.

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment
129992706 slide 300x260 Jets Send Scheifele Back. Take Big Step With Comeback Win.

Jim Slater Scores for the Jets

The Winnipeg Jets took a big step on Saturday night. Besides recording their second victory of the season, of course.

This time, the Jets came back. And don’t think that isn’t huge for team morale.

After all, this is a team that blew a 3-1 lead in Toronto and lost 4-3 in a shootout and then blew a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes in Ottawa and got blitzed 4-1. This is a Jets team that has started the season blowing leads, not beating the opposition after it takes the lead.

129992913 slide 232x300 Jets Send Scheifele Back. Take Big Step With Comeback Win.

A Goalie Change Does the Trick

But on Saturday night, after falling behind 2-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Jets switched goalies and appeared to switch gears at exactly the same time. The Hurricanes scored on Ondrej Pavelec at 4:40 (Jussi Jokinen) and 6:43 (Jeff Skinner) and appeared to be cruising, but that’s when Jets coach Claude Noel took Pavelec out, replaced him with Chris Mason and the Jets just seemed to have new life.

Alexander Burmistrov and Kyle Wellwood scored power-play goals before the end of the first period (Wellwood scored at 19:58) and the Jets proceeded to beat their intra-divisional rivals 5-3.

This was a Jets team that outhit, out-hustled, out-worked and as a result out-scored their opposition and it could be argued that it was Winnipeg’s best performance of the first two weeks of the campaign. Hard work pays off and it’s paid off twice at home for the Jets already this season. In Saturday’s game, the team’s puck pursuit and puck support was unmatched and suddenly, at 2-4-1, things don’t look so hopeless anymore.

Monday night’s game with the skilled, but under-performing New York Rangers (2-2-2) will be a nice test.

Meanwhile, on Sunday afternoon, the Jets announced that the team had returned 18-year-old draft pick Mark Scheifele to his junior team, the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League.

That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

A surprise pick in the draft at No. 7 back in June, Scheifele was terrific in the pre-season. Trouble was, he was playing against AHL, ECHL and junior players. As an NHLer in regular season games, he’d make a great ECHL star.

He had a goal, no assists and no penalty minutes in his first seven games on a struggling team. He was averaging 14-15 shifts and playing about 10 minutes a game (he played only 7:21 on Saturday night). That’s a waste for a skinny 6-foot-2, 180-pound kid who is only going to get better in junior.

In fact, it’s a terrible waste of talent to have Scheifele playing on a checking line. If he’s not a Top 6 player he shouldn’t be playing in the NHL. Fact is, the only reason he made the Jets is because the team had little or no offensive punch. In their first six games, the Jets were averaging fewer than two goals per outing. It was the wrong place for a kid like Scheifele and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff made the right decision yesterday.

Scheifele needs to go back to junior, play 23 minutes a game, score 150 points, play on the World Junior Championship team and go deep in the OHL playoffs. It’s the best thing that could have happened to Scheifele.

He’s going to be a star. Just not yet.

111022 RecapFull Jets Send Scheifele Back. Take Big Step With Comeback Win.

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The Devils: Now That’s a Story Worth Writing

Posted on February 20, 2011 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

When the New Jersey Devils woke up, the team was dead last in the National Hockey League with a record of 10-29-2. Nobody could really understand how a team that was a perennial playoff contender and the Stanley Cup champions in 2003, could have fallen on such hard times.

Well, many people blamed president and GM Lou Lamoriello for hiring John MacLean as head coach and even more blamed Lamoriello for giving Ilya Kovalchuk $100 million over 15 years, but no matter where the media pointed its fingers, it was ultimately at the boss.

Not any more. Saturday night, the Devils drilled the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1. It was the third time in 12 days the Devils have beaten the Hurricanes to move from 16 points back of the eighth-place ‘Canes to 10. With 23 games left, the race is on.

“It’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?” Devils forward Brian Rolston, told the Newark Star-Ledger. “This is fun.”

It’s also fun to watch.

Since Lamoriello fired MacLean, the Devils have turned around a lost season. With 65-year-old Jacques Lemaire behind the bench (for the third time), the Devils have gone 15-1-2 in their last 18 games. They’ve won seven straight games and improved to 25-30-4 . They’ve moved out of last place, past the Islanders and Ottawa and into 13th in the East. They still have to pass over four teams to get to Carolina, but the Devils are now only three points out of 11th and six points out of ninth.

“At 10 points out, I’m not sure if the Hurricanes are worried about us,” Rolston told the Star-Ledger. “I think they’re looking at Atlanta and other teams closer than us. That’s fine with us.”

That might be true to a point, but I doubt the ‘Canes are ignoring the Devils completely. When you beat a team three times in 12 days, the loser takes notice.

Still, the architect of the turnaround, the outspoken and entertaining Lemaire, still won’t publicly admit that his team has a hope.

“Look at the standings,” he said Saturday night. “Come on.”

Jacques, we are looking at the standings. The Devils now have only three fewer wins than the Hurricanes. The only teams they have to pass to start nipping at Carolina’s heels are Toronto, Florida, Atlanta and Buffalo, none of which would scare the average Devils’ team over the past decade. With Rolston, Dainius Zubrus, Kovalchuk, Patrik Elias and Travis Zajac playing their best hockey of the year, the Devils are now a legitimate playoff threat. And no matter how you look at it, this turnaround is all about Lemaire.

MacLean was fired two days before Christmas. At the time, to get to 88 points (the average number for an eighth-place finish in the East), the Devils had to go 35-14-0 over the final 49 games. They went 9-22-2 under MacLean. They have gone 16-8-2 under Lemaire (yes, they started 1-7-0 under Jolly Jacques) so there isn’t much room for error. After the slow start under Lemaire, all the experts said the 2010-11 season was over. Those experts might still be right, but Jacques’ Devils aren’t going down without a fight.

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Old coaches, young superstars and the best goalie in the playoffs.

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

As we get set to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins eliminate the Carolina Hurricanes in four straight games (barring a miracle), in tonight’s Eastern Conference final there was a boatload of hockey news today.

There was also just some stuff.

Onward:

1) Pat Quinn was hired as head coach by the Edmonton Oilers today. He’s 66. Personally, I like Pat Quinn, a lot. He’s a fine man, who did a wonderful job with Team Canada in Salt Lake City in 2002 and with our national junior team. I had a lot of respect for him when he was head coach of the Leafs and I must admit, he’s always been very respectful to me.

The question has to be in this case: Can a 66-year-old coach find happiness with a young team in Edmonton? Especially after the Calgary Flames just dumped 59-year-old Mike Keenan, another old coach, who gets recycled more than old truck tires. 

There is a difference, however. Keenan is a guy who likes “his guys.” He likes veteran players he knows and can trust. And that’s fine. Trouble is, “his guys” don’t win anymore. Quinn, however, during his time with the national junior team, proved to everyone he can teach young players how to play the game.

And that’s exactly what the Oilers need.

Age has nothing to do with anything. It’s attitude and approach that matters. Quinn might be 66, but he has already demonstrated that he respects young, enthusiastic hockey players and can take those types of players and show them how to win.

Full disclosure: I like Pat Quinn as a person. And I also believe he will be a great head coach in Edmonton.

2) Tonight, we get to watch the likes of Sidney Crosby, Eric Staal, Evgeni Malkin and Cam Ward play an extremely important NHL playoff game.

If the Penguins win, the young stars from Pittsburgh will zoom into the Stanley Cup final for a second straight year (frankly, no matter what the Hurricanes do, Pittsburgh’s offence should put a quick nail in Carolina’s coffin).

What is most interesting, however, is that whenever the media looks for a storyline involving the Pens, it’s always Sidney Crosby vs. (insert name here). Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin. Sidney Crosby vs. Jarome Iginla. Sidney Crosby vs. oh, I don’t know, Johan Franzen?

Unfortunately, the mainstream hockey media loves a story no matter how silly it is. If anyone is looking for a consistent storyline, it should be this one: Evgeni Malkin vs. the hockey world.

This spring, Ovechkin will likely be awarded the Hart Trophy as the regular season MVP and so far in the playoffs, Crosby has the inside track to the Conn Smythe Trophy. 

Meanwhile, all Malkin has done is win the league scoring championship and lead all scorers in the playoffs (12 goals and 16 assists). 

There was a day before all these mouth-breathing TV bingo callers became uber-experts, a day when scoring goals and dishing out assists was an important part of the game. And today, nobody does that better than Evgeni Malkin.

I guess he’s no Sidney Crosby (he certainly doesn’t have the same group of publicists), but he could be the Rodney Dangerfield of the NHL.

3) Of course, if Malkin isn’t hockey’s answer to Rodney D., it’s Detroit Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood.

Ozzie is close to winning his third Stanley Cup as a starter (he was also on a winner as the No. 2 to Mike Vernon). He’s also been to the finals one other time, been a Vezina Trophy runner-up and won the Jennings Trophy twice. He was the second goalie ever to score a goal (following Ron Hextall), was the No. 1 goalie (statistically) in the NHL in the 1995-96 season, is 10th in the NHL in career wins and the winningest goaltender in Red Wings history. He’s been an all-star, won Stanley Cups in two decades and is on the verge of going back-to-back.

And yet, you ask anybody in the mainstream media and he/she will tell you: “Detroit’s only problem is goaltending.”

Hogwash.

I can’t tell you how sick I am of hearing our TV experts talk of Tim Thomas this or Roberto Luongo that or Cam Ward… whatever. The best goalie in the playoffs last year was Chris Osgood and clearly the best goalie this year is Chris Osgood.

At 37, he’s never been better. Right now he leads the playoffs in wins with 11, is second in goals against average at 2.14 and fourth in save percentage at .921. He’s 11-4 in the post-season, has an assist and a shutout.

He’s often hung out to dry by his always-attacking teammates and yet he’s made some magnificent saves in this year’s post-season. He’s been tremendous.

At this stage, I don’t want to argue with the experts who believe Crosby is a shoo-in to take the Conn Smythe. But there is still a lot of hockey left.

And right now, the best goalie in the playoffs has not been Jonas Hiller, Cam Ward or Tim Thomas. It’s been Chris Osgood.

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On to the Conference finals: We like Wings and Pens — Again — in the Stanley Cup final

Posted on May 16, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

For those of us trying to make money in the wonderful world of Sport Select, the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs have been a pretty decent source of revenue. 

Granted, after two rounds, the two top seeds — the Boston Bruins in the East and the San Jose harks in the West — are gone, but for the most part, the teams we have selected to reach the Conference Finals, have indeed reached the Conference finals.

Pittsburgh, with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will face Carolina with Eric Staal (our darkhorse pick as a Stanley Cup finalist) in the Eastern final, while the “Winnipeg” teams, Chicago with captain Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Cam Barker against Detroit, with Darren Helm and Derek Meech, are in the Western final.

That’s obviously the way it should be.

For the record, here at rcsportsblog.com (you can follow us on twitter), we went 7-1 in the first round and 3-1 in Round 2. The only outcome we did not select correctly in Round 1 was, of course, Anaheim’s upset of Jonathan Cheechoo’s San Jose Sharks and our only incorrect choice in Round 2 was Carolina’s Game 7 upset of the No. 1-ranked Boston Bruins.

Interestingly, we also said that the two most interesting — and exciting — series would be Chicago-Vancouver and Pittsburgh-Washington. They were.

So on with the Show. Here’s our look at the third round, the conference finals, of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs.

ROUND THREE

EASTERN CONFERENCE

No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes

The Pens won the season series 2-1-1 and were not only in last year’s Stanley Cup final, but have five players with Stanley Cup rings. They obviously have enough experience to handle this series against a team that won the Cup in 2006 and still have 10 players from that team. The Pens have the stars in Crosby, Malkin, Gonchar and Jordan Staal, but Carolina has so much grit and character, that it’s impossible to count them out. It also doesn’t hurt that when it looked like this team was out of it back in February, goalie Cam Ward went 14-4-2 over the final 20 games. Ward won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2006 and will have to be that good again against all the Pittsburgh firepower. We like the Penguins in five.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

No. 2 Detroit Red Wings vs. No. 4 Chicago Blackhawks

The Red Wings are the defending Stanley Cup champions and they’re certainly good enough to win it again. In fact, the Red Wings have the best team in the National Hockey League. They roll four strong lines, have a Norris Trophy defenceman in Nick Lidstrom and an MVP-calibre forward in Pavel Datsyuk, they are well-coached and have better goaltending (Chris Osgood) than the Eastern media will ever give credit. The Wings won the season series against the upstart Hawks, but when asked about this matchup, I always see that January 1, outdoor game at Wrigley Field, the one in which the Hawks rode the home crowd to an early lead and then collapsed under the weight of the Wings speed and talent. The most important thing the Hawks have going for them is youth and enthusiasm and, hey, that might carry them, but we like Detroit in six.

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On to the Second Round: We like Chicago in an upset, Pens in a thriller plus the Wings and Bruins.

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

For the longest time, we have believed that the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is the most exciting.

What the hell, there are 16 teams. Of course, it will be exciting.

This year, however, we seem to be a little more enthused about Round 2. After all, in Round 1 this year, it went pretty much as we expected — and when I say “we,” I mean everyone who follows hockey closely.

With the exception of those who always believe (for reasons I still don’t understand) that Detroit will be upset in the first round, most hockey people picked at least six of the opening round series correctly.

For the record, here at rcsportsblog.com (you can follow us on twitter), we went 7-1 in the first round. The only outcome we did not select correctly was, of course, Anaheim’s upset of Jonathan Cheechoo’s San Jose Sharks.

Round 2 will provide us with two spectacular match-ups: Chicago and Vancouver and Pittsburgh and Washington. I can almost guarantee that those two series will double the excitement we saw in any series in Round 1.

So on with the show. Here’s our look at Round 2 of the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs…

ROUND TWO

EASTERN CONFERENCE

No. 1 Boston Bruins vs. No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes

The Bruins played wonderfully in taking out the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round in four straight games. Everything about this team, that now has home ice advantage throughout the playoffs as long as it keeps winning, screams “Eastern Division Champion!” Tim Thomas has been sensational in goal, the big defence led by Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman moves the puck quickly and does a solid job of clearing the zone and the forward lines were nearly flawless in Round 1. And while we took Carolina to knock off New Jersey in Round 1, the dream ends here. The Bruins dominated the Hurricanes during the regular season, winning all four meetings by a combined score of 18-6. There is no reason for that to stop. Bruins in five games.

No. 2 Washington Capitals vs. No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins

On the surface, this looks like a great series/ Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin of the Caps against Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby of the Penguins. Big names, big stars, should be exciting. However, the Capitals took three of four from the Penguins during the regular season and Washington’s only loss was the result of a shootout. Pittsburgh beat a tough Flyers team in six games, mainly because Philly’s goaltending was lousy. The Caps have not had lousy goaltending since the day head coach Bruce Boudreau decided to go with Simeon Varlamov. Still, the Caps were lucky to beat a dysfunctional Rangers team. Pittsburgh in seven games.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

No. 2 Detroit Red Wings vs. No. 8 Anaheim Ducks

The Red Wings should waltz through this second round match-up against a team that was very lucky to make the playoffs. Thanks to the fact the San Jose Sharks seldom if ever bring their A game (or raise their level of play) to the playoff dance, the defending Stanley Cup champs get a team with a hot goalie and not much else. This season, the well-balanced, well-disciplined Red Wings went 3-0-1 against Anaheim. As TSN says, “The Red Wings sacrifice individual glory for what is best for the team, which speaks to the professionalism of those inside the organization.” Detroit has the best team in the NHL and while I love the Ducks’ Teemu Selanne and Randy Carlyle, the Red Wings win in four games.

No. 3 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 4 Chicago Blackhawks

Potentially, this is the best and definitely, the most exciting series of the second round. The teams went 2-2 against each other this season and this series should go right to the wire every single night. Both teams have exciting young players and, frankly, a match-up of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp against the Sedin Twins  and Alex Burrows, is more intriguing to me than the Crosby-Ovechkin dance. Ultimately, this series will come down to goaltending. Is Nikolai Khabibulin as good as Roberto Luongo when it counts? Stay tuned. This will be a dandy. Right now, I like Chicago in seven games. 

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The Stanley Cup Playoffs are Here: It’s prediction time.

Posted on April 12, 2009 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

Minnesota Wild assistant general manager Tom Thompson has a theory about the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It comes true most years, but somehow, this looks like a year in which it might come to pass in spades (although I don’t believe it). 

 

“The first round of the playoffs is always the most compelling round because you generally have two types of teams,” explained Thompson. 

 

“You have the teams that were successful all year and feel that if they don’t get to the final or win the Cup, their season was a failure. Then you have the teams that snuck into the playoffs and have nothing to lose. The top teams are often tight while the lesser teams have already done what they set out to do and by the opening round of the playoffs are as loose as can be. 

 

“That’s why there are so many great series and so many big upsets in the first round.”

 

He’s right, of course. The first round of the playoffs is always the most exciting. So without further adieu, let’s look at the 16 teams and eight matchups for the 2009 series which have already begun.

 

THE EASTERN CONFERENCE

 

No. 1 Boston Bruins (53-19-10) vs. No. 8 Montreal Canadiens (41-30-11).

The Habs and Bruins go at it again, a repeat of last year’s first round, in which the Canadiens outlasted Boston four games to three. But this year, things are different. Boston was the best team in the East and the second best team in the NHL and they are on a roll. It’s a team that allowed the fewest number of goals in the league (196) and has a wide-open offence to go with a stingy defence. The Habs were very fortunate to make the playoffs (they finished with the same number of points as Florida) and in six meetings this season, Boston won five of them, two in shootouts. Bruins in five.

 

No. 2 Washington Capitals (50-24-8) vs. No. 7 New York Rangers (43-30-9).

Second-place Washington with all that firepower – Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green are a good start — will face the seventh-place Rangers. The Caps have been very good this season and won the Southeast Division by 11 points over Carolina. They also won three of their four meetings with the Rangers. Capitals in five.

 

No. 3 New Jersey Devils (51-27-4) vs. No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes (45-30-7).

New Jersey, which won the Atlantic Division, will play sixth-place Carolina after beating the Hurricanes in the season finale last week. However, Carolina won its first three meetings with the Devils this season and played much better hockey down the stretch than New Jersey. Hurricanes in seven.

 

No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins (45-28-9) vs. No. 5 Philadelphia Flyers (44-27-11).

Pittsburgh won four of the six meetings between the two teams this season, one in overtime and another in a shootout. However, all Philadelp[hia had to do to earn home ice advantage throughout this series was to win the final game of the season at home against the Rangers and they couldn’t pull it off. Pittsburgh has too much offence and is just playing better hockey at this time. Penguins in six.

 

THE WESTERN CONFERENCE

 

No. 1 San Jose Sharks (53-18-11) vs. No. 8 Anaheim Ducks (42-33-7).

Although it’s No. 1 vs. No. 8, this is a matchup that features two of the most successful teams in the NHL since the lockout. Since the start of the 2005-06 season, the Ducks have gone 180-107-41 with four playoff appearances while the Sharks have posted a 197-94-37 mark with three consecutive 100+ point seasons, four playoff appearances and two Pacific Division titles (2008 & 2009). However, the Sharks were the President’s Trophy winners as the best team in the NHL during the regular season while Randy Carlyle’s Ducks were fortunate to make the playoffs. The Sharks also won the season series, 4-2. Sharks in five.

No. 2 Detroit Red Wings (51-21-10) vs. No. 7 Columbus Blue Jackets (41-31-10).

A tale of two cities: The Red Wings are the defending Stanley Cup champions while the Blue Jackets are in the playoffs for the first time in their eight seasons of existence. During the regular season, the teams split. Detroit won the first two meetings, Columbus won the next three (including an 8-2 win at Detroit on March 7) and Detroit geat the Jackets 4-0 in a statement game on March 17. I like Ken Hitchcock as a head coach, but Detroit has way too much of everything. Red Wings in five.

 

No. 3 Vancouver Canucks (45-27-10) vs. No. 6 St. Louis Blues (41-31-10).

The remarkable, red-hot Blues clinched the No. 6 seed in the final game of the year and put a cap on an amazing finish. From Feb. 15 to the end of the season, head coach Andy Murray’s Blues went 18-6-3. It was significant because on Feb. 15, the Blues were dead last in the West. This team finished the regular season by going 9-1-1 over its last 11 games and 5-1-1 on the road. Had the Blues lost their final game, they would have finished eighth — which would have meant a series with the top-seeded San Jose Sharks. Instead, they finished with the best second-half record in the League at 25-9-7. However, they have only four players who have ever won a playoff game. Vancouver, meanwhile, came back to claim the Northwest Division title by winning their last three games and going 6-3-1 down the stretch behind the tremendous goaltending of Roberto Luongo. This will be a match-up of two of the hottest teams in the game and two red-hot goalies – Luongo and Chris Mason.. Canucks in seven.

 

No. 4 Chicago Blackhawks (46-24-12) vs. No. 5 Calgary Flames (46-30-6). 

This series screams “Blackhawks!” Chicago swept the four-game season series with the Flames, winning 6-1 and 5-2 at the United Center and 3-2 in overtime and 5-2 at the Saddledome. Add it up. Chicago has more firepower and probably equal goaltending (Huet/Khabibulin vs. Kiprusoff). Chicago oputscored Calgary 19-7 during its four wins and really, the Hawks dominated the season. In fairness to Calgary, the two teams haven’t faced each other since the Hawks’ second win at Calgary on Feb. 5, but still, Hawks in six. 

 

* * *

 

THE 2008-09 NHL TROPHY WINNERS

 

Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin captured his first career Art Ross Trophy as the League’s leading scorer with 113 points while Washington Capitals leftwinger Alexander Ovechkin won his second consecutive Maurice Richard Trophy for being the League’s top goal scorer with 56. 

 

Meanwhile, Boston Bruins goaltenders Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez earned the William Jennings Trophy as the goaltenders on the club that allowed the fewest number of goals — 196.

 

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Even Bettman is starting to admit the truth about the NHL’s place in the Recession

Posted on December 6, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Leave a comment

It’s taken a while, but even NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has reached the point where he’ll now hint that the NHL could have some financial problems if the current recessions deepens.

 

As much as Bettman loves to say (and he did on his XM Radio Program on Thursday) “the NHL is not being impacted as deeply as the other major professional sports leagues in America are,” the fact is, the league is being hammered by this recession. It’s just that nobody inside the league really wants to talk all that much about it.

 

However, hockey people must face facts. The NHL has no significant U.S. television contract and it has teams in non-traditional markets that have been money-losers since they opened the doors. Now the league is faced with a falling Canadian dollar that, according to Minnesota Wild assistant general manager Tom Thompson, will “substantially impact the ability of the Canadian teams to turn profits,” and it’s been the Canadian teams’ revenues that have driven up the salary cap and put more money in the league’s bank accounts.

When Bettman claims the other major sports leagues will be “impacted” on a larger scale, he’s probably right, simply because the other leagues have more to lose. You can already see the sections of empty seats at NBA games on TV and the NFL has stopped selling out all their stadiums, all the time.

But those close to the business of professional sport seem to agree that the NFL will emerge from the downturn relatively unscathed. It’s just too big and too popular to take a long-lasting hit. Of course, it doesn’t hurt hat the NFL’s TV deal with four major networks is worth $2.2 billion (all figures U.S.). The NHL, on the other hand, is dependent of gate receipts and those receipts can vary wildly as the economy moves up and down. According to Forbes Magazine, the NFL generates an estimated $6.5 billion in annual revenue, Major League Baseball is next $6 billion, the NBA is third at $3.6 billion and the NHL at fourth at $2.5 billion.

However, more than one third of that $2.5 billion is generated by the six Canadian-based franchises. But now that the dollar is hovering around 70 cents US, that number could fall by as much as 30 per cent. If Canadian teams start to struggle, the teams in lousy U.S. hockey markets (not lousy sports markets, but lousy hockey markets) – Phoenix, Tampa, Nashville, Atlanta, South Florida, Carolina, Long Island and Washington, D.C. — could start to shutter or consider moving their operations. Right now, most U.S. owners are deeply in debt — one is already in bankruptcy protection — and all of them desperately need a strong credit industry, an industry now under siege, to survive.

Since 1999, 20 NHL teams have either changed owners or significantly altered their ownership structure, It’s no secret that some franchises have changed ownership two or three times (Islanders, Coyotes, Predators, Lightning). And what’s going to happen in Detroit if the Big 3 automakers go under? The Red Wings, one of the two or three best teams in the NHL and a team that is already in a tremendous hockey market, are already selling some tickets for $9 a game.

According to the Toronto Star, “The Florida Panthers have laid off staff, the Tampa Bay Lightning are said to be a financial basket case, the Phoenix Coyotes are believed to be hanging on by a thread.” Meanwhile, the Atlanta Thrashers owners are in a court battle, the New York Islanders desperately need a new arena that might not be built and the Nashville Predators are still trying to do something with co-owner Bootsie Del Biaggio’s 24 per cent stake.

It is becoming clear that with this recession, hockey is on its death bed in Gary Bettman’s “southern footprint.” He’s the man who took hockey away from Canada and gave it to non-traditional markets and while those non-traditional markets have always struggled, they are now in need of a financial I.V.

Of course, there is a problem. With such a lousy Canadian dollar, why would anyone want to move another franchise to Canada? 

That’s why Winnipeg is caught between a rock and a hard place. We have a small arena, only 700,000 citizens, a team that already folded up shop and moved south and a fading Canadian dollar. As much as I believe an NHL team in Winnipeg would draw large numbers of fans, I wonder if that’s enough anymore. 

 

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Was the hype unfair for Stamkos?

Posted on October 15, 2008 by Scott Taylor| Comments Off

Saturday night in Tampa, I had the opportunity to get my first glimpse of No. 1 draft pick Steven Stamkos live in the flesh in an NHL uniform.

 

Must admit, I didn’t see much. Stamkos was virtually invisible in Tampa’s 4-3 overtime loss to Carolina – a game in which the Lightning blew a 3-0 lead — a game they dominated for the first two periods (Barry Melrose has a lot of work to do there).

 

I must admit, I saw Stamkos a couple of times in junior last winter when I worked as the host for Shaw’s coverage of Soo Greyhounds hockey, and the kid was good, but never great. He had a lot of trouble with that big tough Greyhounds’ defence last year and I wondered if he’d be able to take the pounding a forward gets every single night in the NHL. Especially against teams like Carolina, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

 

As an NHLer, Stamkos doesn’t have a point yet and he’s a minus-one. I worry about whether this guy really has what it takes to live up to the hype.

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