Saturday, August 10, 2013

Grantland Fixes The NHL

Grantland has some ideas about how to improve the NHL product.  It is a lengthy list, and well worth reading.  For the most part I agree with the suggestions and the rationale for some things which were explicitly not suggested.

Things I disagree with, kinda:

Lose the puck-over-the-glass penalty: The cynic in me says that people don't like this rule because it is black and white.  There's no room for interpretation as to whether or not the puck went over the glass -- if it is in someone's beer, and that someone isn't on the ice, it went in the glass.  Fans -- and players -- like rules with room for interpretation (or "discretion") because it means that in certain game-critical situations, the enforcement of rules can be suspended in the interests of letting the boys play the game.  Changing it so that it is the same as an icing call is fine with me from a game-flow point of view.  As long as the rules are consistently applied, I really don't care too much about the specifics.

No more Bettman Cup Presentations: I'm all for making Bettman sad, but frankly the cup presentation isn't about the players.  This is about the owners inserting themselves into the process so that history will look back and see how gracious the owners were about providing this format for the feats of greatness that the players perform.  It is, in short, about the money rather than about the sport.  And as long as Bettmen is involved with the NHL, he'll be handing out the cup.  Besides, it makes the cup presentations something to remember and talk about when it goes so comically, hilariously bad.  Otherwise nobody would care about it after the live presentation.  I mean seriously, which Prince Of Wales Trophy presentation is the most memorable to you?  If you exclude those awarded you your favorite team at the time, I bet the answer is none of them.  (And I had to look up the trophy name.)

Crossover Final:  I'm pretty sure this will never happen because of the potential for increased travel costs.  And frankly it would lead to situations approaching those as ridiculous as the Mets and the Yankees playing a subway series for the "World" championships.  And really, that will lead to larger segments of the country feeling left out when every final is played between two Western teams.  Because it will.  So if you want a crossover series of playoffs, why start at the second level?  I say, rank the teams from first to last in terms of points, and seed the top eight, and go from there.  That will make more of the regular season games meaningful, give random playoff combinations.

Place a moratorium on redesigned logos/jerseys: Again, this is about money, although in this case it is more blatantly about moving it from the fans' pockets into the owners.  I think that as long as fans keep buying the jerseys, the teams should be permitted to make whatever changes they want.  A fan spending a couple thousand bucks a year on tickets and parking and beer probably has a budget where another $200 jersey is a rounding error.  If fans really don't like it or feel that the costs are exorbitant then they'll stop buying the new jerseys.

Go back to home whites: Home whites only look good if you are the Toronto Maple Leafs, frankly.  Just about everyone else's look stupid.  The only time I liked the Ottawa Senators whites was with the "old" logo (see any Ottawa Senators post on this blog) because it didn't look good with the black.  So if we can go back to the "old" logo for the Senators, I'd possibly be down with going back to home whites.  But maybe not, I'd have to see how the logo looked on the current red.  I really like the red first.  And changing the Senators logo would conflict with his "moratorium on redesigned logos/jerseys".

More home-and-homes: I'm totally OK with this if it is applied fairly.  See also the 2011-2012 season, where something like seven of eight Senators-Leafs game were the second of a two-games-in-two-days sequence for the Senators.  That was totally ridiculous.  And yes, the Leafs totally deserved to win most of the games they won against the Senators that year, but wouldn't Leafs fans prefer that those victories were earned fairly? </rhetorical>

Fewer outdoor games: See also the entire discussion about how if fans think the costs are too high they'll stop paying.  But more to the point, outdoor games are interesting because they are rarities.  But if there are only one or two of these games a year, the pressure will be on to ensure that they are big draw teams like Pittsburgh, Toronto, New York Rangers, all the time.  The series would lose media and fan interest if one year you had a Nashville-Edmonton game, and the next year it was Phoenix-Tampa, and the next year it was Ottawa-Winnipeg. Having lots of these means you can keep the focus on the big draws, while throwing pity events to those of us who live in smaller markets.  And it will spread the pain in the standings of having to play a game on bad ice around more.  Maybe six is too many, sure.  But one or two isn't enough.

So there you have it.  Most of my objections or comments surround those changes to the way the business is organized.  His proposed changes to the on-ice game I more or less agree with.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Next Year's Scapegoat Hired

Because of their poor playoff performances, the Pittsburgh Penguins have taken the step of hiring a new assistant coach with a track record of being fired because of his teams' poor playoff performances.

I'm sure there's a way to say that so it doesn't sound stupid, but I can't immediately think of it.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Good News Everyone

Boy, isn't a good thing now that the Phoenix ownership situation is settled, the NHL can get on with the business of running the league without having the inherent conflict of having to run one of the teams as well... wait, what? Oh, nevermind then.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Again?!

Detroit drama aside, the league must be really wondering about Alfredsson.  I mean, the last all-star game was basically an Alfie-lovefest.  He has a rebound year and helped take a rebuilding team into the playoffs.  And then, after that high note, he came back.

Last year he had a respectable year,  an unexpected appearance in the second round of playoffs, and the league ackowledged his special career with the Marc Messier leadership award.

...and he comes back again.

The league has to be wondering what it will take this for this guy to quit!  

I wouldn't expect any serious award, though, unless it is something like the Brian Burke award for neatest laces tying.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Alfredsson to Detroit

Betrayal?

Really?

The man gives you his all for 17 years, becomes the heart, soul, and backbone of the franchise, and you call it betrayal that he goes to play with another team?

Look.  Daniel Alfredsson has earned the right to do whatever he pleases as far as hockey is concerned.  If he is more concerned about trying for a cup before he retires than filling in for another year of Ottawa mediocrity, that is his right, and the only thing Ottawa fans should do is wish him well and thank him for his service.

Ottawa won't win a cup this year. There are many things you can say about this team, but "they will contend for the cup in 2013-2014" isn't one of them.  Maybe it is a budget issue, maybe it is a lack of availability of quality players, maybe it is a systemic problem that prevents the right pieces from being assembled.

Detroit's chances at a cup this year may be thin, yes -- but that's light years ahead of Ottawa's chances.

Alfredsson ran out of time waiting on Ottawa's window to open again.  Don't blame him for chasing the ultimate reward while he still can.

Lets hope he decides to come back to Ottawa after he has retired.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Round Two Prediction Time

So: on to Round Two.

I did make some round one predictions, albeit elsewhere:

...and albeit incorrectly, but I did make them.

My round two prediction: I think that the Penguins may have problems, but overall the gap between their offence and our defense is greater than the gap between our offence and their defense.  I think this series is Pittsburgh's to lose, and they'll make a mighty effort to do just that -- but in the end will come up short.

Pittsburgh in six.

Monday, May 6, 2013

This Is Why I Don't Watch Playoff Hockey

What We Learned: Why ‘letting them play’ is nonsense in the NHL:
But the problem with this insistence on letting guys play is that when you do so, they tend to start committing penalties, and that, in turn, necessitates that, at some point, some of the infractions actually have to be called.
In a nutshell: hilariously inconsistent officiating gets even worse.

Hypocracy from team staff and boosters is to be expected (ie: an offensive call against one of your players would be just fine if the same call had been made against the opposition), but the fact that the rules are apparently different in period one than they are in overtime is just plain unacceptable.

Frankly it is hard enough to watch during the meaningless regular season games.  But when there is actually something riding on the outcome, I just can't do it any more.

Choosing to not call a penalty affects the game's outcome just as much -- if not more -- than calling a penalty.  Why more?  Because if a penalty goes uncalled, it will likely be repeated again, and again, and again if the game lasts long enough.

Add in the random acts of goonery that seem required for a playoff game and the Random Wheel Of Shahan-a-ban Justice, and it is just too much work to get invested in playoffs.

See you in the summer.