NHL
National Hockey League
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Blackburn’s Future Still Undecided
NY Rangers goaltender Dan Blackburn, who was released by the ECHL’s Salmon Kings last week, will likely play again this season, probably again in the ECHL, but this time for the Charlotte Checkers, the Rangers’ ECHL affiliate.
Blackburn requested his own request last week in order to play for the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers’ top affiliate according to the NY Daily News, but they also carry this:
[NY Rangers assistant GM Don] Maloney confirmed Blackburn’s assertion that the Rangers were seeking a special visa that would allow the Canadian-born goalie to play for a U.S.-based minor league team the rest of this season - but for Charlotte of the lower-level ECHL, not Hartford.
“There has been no discussion whatsoever about him playing in Hartford,” Maloney said.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Coyotes Latest Team to Continue Layoffs
The Arizona Republic reports that the Coyotes let go of nine employees Monday. Three were from Glendale Arena, six were part of the Coyotes organization.
Team President Doug Moss said the layoffs, though triggered by the lockout, were not cost-cutting measures, but part of a “strategic restructuring” to prepare for the 2005-06 season.
Two other full-time arena positions were eliminated, but not because of the lockout, Moss said.
The article also stated that most positions will be refilled when the lockout situation is settled.
Last week the Sharks cut staff, and the week before that the Thrashers cut down staff hours, but didn’t fire any employees.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
More Reports of Player Confrontations
Former Canucks GM and current hockey analyst Brian Burke spoke Thursday to Dan Russell on Sports Talk on CKNW, that there were two incidents of players having to be physically separated.
To listen to Burke, go to CKNW’s AudioVault, select “Thursday Mar 3” under date, and “10pm” under hour. It’s Windows Media audio and Burke starts speaking around 16:00. He speaks briefly of the incidents a little after 21:00.
I reported about one of the confrontations on Wednesday, but it seems the NHLPA has been able to keep this lowkey as there are very few media mentions about it.
Thanks to a reader for the tip.
More Lockout Casualties
The Sharks are the latest team to lay off (more) employees because of the NHL lockout:
The Sharks announced Friday that 12 more employees were losing their jobs in a second round of layoffs tied to the NHL lockout.
“It is sad and it does not have to be this way,” Sharks CEO Greg Jamison said. “I feel strongly we should not have to be in this position, but it is where we are.”
All jobs were on the business side of the organization, Jamison said. He declined to identify individuals or say how much money the cuts would save the team.
In addition to the 12 who lost their jobs Friday, Jamison said three others have left the organization in the past month. Those positions, like earlier vacancies caused by attrition, won’t be filled.
In June, the Sharks announced 13 layoffs. Excluding players, the franchise now has 131 people on its payroll—about 20 percent fewer than a year ago.
The Chronicle notes that Jamison expects to rehire when the NHL labor situation settles.
There’s little to be said about all the layoffs anymore, other than I hope all these people can find new jobs easily.
Still Waiting for NHL Cable Refunds
Many people pre-order NHL Center Ice, the season subscription package available on digital cable and satellite tv that allows you to watch almost every game.
Many of those same people haven’t seen a dime back yet from their tv providers. Phil Mushnick of the NY Post makes note of that while taking a swipe at FCC Chairman Michael Powell:
That brings us to FCC chairman Michael Powell, who this month leaves office. He said his last official act will be to insist cable companies refund the tens of millions of dollars in subscriber fees they have pocketed for the cancelled NHL season.
“The cost of NHL rights and telecasts are factored into cable bills and then marked up,” Powell said. “To not refund or credit that money constitutes stealing on a massive, national scale.”
Of course, he neither insisted upon nor said any such thing. Powell, during his four-year tenure, never made a peep as cable-rate increases remained frequent and regularly surpassed inflation/cost-of-living rates.
Last year I learned my lesson about pre-ordering Center Ice - I took advantage of a deal from Time Warner, and then they charged me again for the package in the fall after they had to work on my cable line and reset my service. No more pre-ordering for me.
I hope those of you who have pre-ordered get your money back.
I’ve said it before, but if the NHL wants to reach out to fans next season they’ll make Center Ice dirt cheap and do whatever they can to get their NHL channel included into sports packages for no extra cost.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Blackburn Released By Salmon Kings
The Salmon Kings, who suspended NY Rangers defenseman Dale Purinton for the rest of the season (due to his conduct on the ice, which led to multiple league suspensions, according to management), have now released NY Rangers goaltender Dan Blackburn.
The Salmon Kings message forum has rumors of limited play due to insurance purposes, but there’s been no detailed reason given by the team yet, and no press about it as of now.
Craig Leipold Responds to Jason Kirk
After the NHL season was cancelled, Jason Kirk of Predators’ Den sent Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold a letter, canceling his season tickets, and explaining why.
Today Jason received a response from Leipold.
Jason stated that the chances of him becoming a season ticket holder again are close to nil, but he gave a lot of respect to Leipold for the personal response, as do I.
If all owners follow Craig Leipold’s lead, a lot of franchises may recover from this time off faster than expected. Direct communication with team officials and/or owners means a lot to a fan. I hope this practice becomes the norm throughout the league, and continues far past the lockout year(s).
Friday, March 04, 2005
NHL Deal With NBC Hasn’t Started
The NY Times is carrying a piece from Richard Sandomir about NBC Sports, and how they’ve dropped all major sports from the station (NFL, NBA, MLB) in favor of other sports, usually “smaller” stuff, like the NLL All-Star game that was broadcast last weekend. NBC execs said they simply don’t want to lose money on the big sports. Many of the big sport contracts have networks paying much more than they bring in, although some networks insist that carrying the big sports establishes them as a network and helps other shows on the network do better through targeted promos.
One interesting hockey-related item is this tidbit about the NHL’s contract with NBC:
Had the league not canceled its season after a lengthy lockout of its players, NBC would have taken enough advertising revenue off the top of their joint pot to pay its costs, after which sharing would have begun. With no N.H.L. season, Year 1 of the NBC deal rolled over into next season - if there is one.
So, unlike NHL player contracts, the NHL did not lose a year on it’s television contract. It’s not surprising as I’m sure the possible lockout was talked about during negotiations with NBC, and planned for.
The NHL has a two-year agreement with NBC, with an NBC option for an addition two years.
Offer to Buy NHL Not Taken Seriously
It really shouldn’t come as any surprise, but the offer to buy the entire NHL was not taken very seriously by the owners. It’s a story the NHL probably pushed to show the value of the league is less than others reported (i.e. Forbes), and then use that figure in negotiations with the NHLPA.
Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks called the proposal “silly”, and also said he isn’t interested in selling the Stars anymore:
While Hicks had the Stars up for sale before the NHL lockout, which has cost the league the 2004-05 season, he said he is not interested in selling at this time.
“We’ll come out of this very strong,” Hicks said of his anticipation that a new collective bargaining agreement will stop losses that the league reported as $224 million for last season. “Franchises that lose money aren’t worth a whole lot, while franchises that make money are worth a lot more. That’s just simple business.”
The Stars are certainly a strong franchise, but if this is how Hicks feels just imagine how franchises like the Rangers, Maple Leafs, Red Wings and Flyers felt about the proposal?
Update: TSN is carrying a CP story about the owners disinterest. Thanks to James Mirtle for the link.
Another Update: Bob McKenzie has his say.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Turco’s Union Not Open to Replacements
Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco does not share the same opinion as Brendan Shanahan when it comes to replacement players. Shanahan said he understood a minor leaguer taking advantage of the situation, knowing it may be his only shot to play in the NHL, and that NHL players are also going down to the minors, taking jobs away down there. Turco says any player who crosses the line, if there is one to cross, will never be part of the union.
Turco said the NHLPA would take a page from baseball and rescind union membership. There are 14 major league players who were replacement players in 1995 and are still not allowed to join the union.
“I don’t want to begrudge anybody anything, so if a player wants to play, he should be entitled to that,” Turco said. “But if he does, there is a price. If you turn your back on the union, you should not be allowed in, period. That’s just the way it is.”