TAMPA, Fla. — Once the national media gets its teeth into the Big Story, nothing will shake it loose.
TSN, the Globe, even Rogers SportsNet (sort of), has picked up on the struggles of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and his deep desire to save his beloved Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes, of course, is the NHL franchise he ripped out of Winnipeg and took to Phoenix, even though the rink in Phoenix was considerably worse than the one in Winnipeg (an entire end of the rink, which was actually a basketball building, had an obstructed view) and no one in Phoenix gave a crap about hockey.
By changing owners (and nearly destroying the original owners financially), Bettman eventually got the good burghers of Glendale, Ariz., to build him an arena. It was beauty, too. Trouble was, nobody wanted to go and watch this hockey product in the desert. They didn’t care about in a lousy rink and they didn’t care in a good one, but he kept saying, “Just wait until there is a good team, here. Then they’ll start going to the games.”
Well, the Coyotes have a pretty good team right now (they’re sixth in the West with 78 points), and people still aren’t flocking to jobing.com Arena. So now Bettman struggles with the Coyotes ownership situation and does more to save the Coyotes than he ever did to save Winnipeg.
If he doesn’t save this franchise, he owes Richard Burke, Steven Gluckstern and poor old Jerry Moyes (who lost about $300 million on that dog) an apology. In fact, if he has to move this team to Winnipeg after screwing over Moyes and Jim Balsillie and their plan to move the team to Central Ontario, somebody should sue Gary’s sorry ass.
Tonight, we’re in the press box in Tampa. Lots of talk about the Coyotes, Thrashers, Jets and Nordiques as the Capitals and Lightning battle for first place…
1) Winkler’s Eric Fehr says his shoulder has healed and he’ll be back in the Capitals lineup on Wednesday night in Edmonton.
He also wondered if anyone heard the jawing that went on here in Tampa before tonight’s Lightning-Caps game. Eric, my friend, how could you miss it?
“If I’m a ref, I would never make a call on (Lightning agitator Steve) Downie. He dives every two seconds,” Boudreau said after the pre-game skate on Monday morning. “(Leading scorer Steven) Stamkos, he dives every two seconds.”
When told of the comments, Lightning head coach Guy Boucher laughed. He also defended his players and the officials.
“We all know he’s trying to influence the refs for tonight’s game,” said Boucher. “I have too much respect for the players’ dedication, mine and his, to even think that is possible. Referees are smart and more competent than people realize. Besides, Downie and Stamkos have the most minor penalties on our team, it’s not like they’re getting a lot of calls going their way. I think (Boudreau saying Stamkos and Downie are diving) is ridiculous.”
Diving? Right now I’d like to see a couple of dives.
(Note: Four minutes into the third period, referee Tom Kowal waved off a Lightning goal after Marty St. Louis was tripped into the crease. Should have been a penalty or a goal, but not no goal and no penalty. Boudreau’s comments worked. He baited the officials and they bit.)
The first two periods of tonight’s game were so dull, two of the scouts in the press box went down to ice level to watch hoping it might “look faster” down there. “Have you ever seen Ovechkin so disengaged?” asked one scout.
No. He looks downright bored.
(Note: After doing nothing all night — he got an assist on Alexander Semin’s tying goal that he didn’t deserve — Ovechkin scored a magnificent goal in the shootout that won the Caps the game.)
2) Scotty Bowman just told a great story about the day in 1977 when Winnipeg Jets owner Michael Gobuty flew to Montreal and tried to convince Scotty to leave the Canadiens and take over as head coach of the Jets. “I couldn’t believe it,” said Scotty. “He flew in on his private jet with this gorgeous blonde and tried to get me to leave the Canadiens. Needless to say…” That year, Bowman won his second of four straight Stanley Cup championships with the Habs.
3) Bowman also talked about how close the Canadiens were to signing Lars-Eric Sjoberg, before the Jets got him in 1974. Those were the days.
4) Is there a better player in the NHL right now than Jonathan Toews? Toews has at least a point a game in each of his last nine. Over that stretch, he has eight goals and seven assists and has moved into the Top 10 in scoring in the NHL. He has 27 goals and 65 points in 64 games and is 10th overall, just four points out of fifth spot. He has 27 points in his last 17 games and he’ll be here in Tampa on Wednesday night.
5) Lots of talk about Edmonton Oilers rookie sensation Taylor Hall and the fact he’s out for the rest of the season with a high ankle sprain that will take eight weeks to heal. The injury occurred during a fight with Derek Dorsett of Columbus on Thursday night.
Hall leads the Oilers with 22 goals and has 42 points in 65 games. He’s third among rookies in goals and points.
While it’s disappointing for the Oilers to lose their rookie leader, Oilers coach Tom Renney told The Canadian Press that was glad to see Hall stick up for himself. Great, but if I were Renney, I’d have GM Steve Tambellini go out and get me a goon and then I’d tell Hall to never let it happen again.
If you’re a casual, or even regular, visitor to 
• Arron Asham of Portage, a forward with the New Jersey Devils.