Polemic Hockey

Here's his latest pro-player whine on Fox. The reality is, the players' refusal to accept a cap they accepted anyway later caused the lockout, and now they're getting just about as much salary as they were before.

Anyway, I am not a pro-owner or pro-player partisan, but I find that most of the supposed "pro-player" advocates are really just shills for big market teams and have little, if any, concern for average salaried NHLers. The pro-owner arguments are very up front. Most comical among them was that it would lower ticket prices.

I feel/felt that the cap was necessary because the league has over expanded, and for there to be any excitement at all, there needs to be some parity. Of course, dumb GMs can still wreck a team, but smart GMs with a $30m budget have a much finer margin of error than a dumb one with a $100m budget. It has helped parity.

I even agree with Old Al's contention that the "controversy" over Edmonton's offer sheet to Thomas Vanek is basically evidence of wink-and-nod collusion between the owners.

But, here he is, arguing against a retarded straw man about "partnership" and working every single recent news bit into a frame about how terrible the NHL is. It's Journamalism 101--fear, uncertainty, and doubt. FUD. It's everywhere.

I still love hockey, I think the sport has been mostly excellent and entertaining during my entire lifetime. But, I don't get near the hits Al does.

Update: Spector, who either doesn't have permalinks, or I haven't figured them out, basically destroys this narrative:

It’s also been suggested (although never verified) that Bettman influenced the decision by current Predators owner Craig Leipold to consider other offers for the team, including a lesser one from William (Boots) DelBiaggio, who hopes to bring an NHL franchise to Kansas City.

Either Leipold is a stupid man who is willing to lose $50m to please Bettman, or there's more to this story than we're being told, or granted by these simple surmises. As Spector points out, no verification.

Also, consider that:

...Stephen Brunt of the Globe & Mail recently suggested, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment - which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs - might be quietly working behind the scenes to ensure that nobody sets up another NHL franchise in their backyard, which would be Southern Ontario in general, Hamilton in particular.

You think the Leafs wield any influence in the NHL? Ha. No, of course not.

I'm as pro-Canadian as an American can be. I think there should probably be 10 NHL teams in Canada. I think Bettman has made too many mistakes to remain much longer. But I also value my facts.

Strachan and those like him turn everything into an evil plot by the owners to make the NHL suck by keeping the players from getting the salaries they deserve, which in turn somehow creates the neutral zone trap, which makes the sport unwatchable, which means that only the Rangers, Flyers, Wings, Avlanche, and Leafs should be allowed to be good, even when they suck.

Needless to say, I don't really follow their logic.