Like it or not, NBC is necessary

“NBC doesn’t deserve game 7.” “The NHL manufactured game 7.” “NBC loves Sid.”

There’s a lot of garbage floating around the blogosphere this morning about the events of Game 6 and about the upcoming Game 7 on Friday night, most of it coming from people who have deeply, deeply invested themselves in the proceedings emotionally. I think a lot of us are just happy to have one more game to watch this year.

The NHL fan in general is probably tired of Detroit (especially in the Western Conference) being here seemingly every year, and they’re probably sick of seeing Sydney Crosby every single Sunday on NBC’s game of the week. I know I am; But this Stanley Cup Final has delivered in a big way for the game that we love and I think it’s a series that should be celebrated by the hockey fan. We essentially get Hockey-Super Bowl on Friday, and NBC is even going to do us the honor of broadcasting it to all 6 million of us that give a rat’s ass.

The notion that NBC doesn’t deserve Game 7 is a confusing one to me, though I understand the underlying emotional impetus of the sentiment. It’s not uncommon to feel that being the big fish in a small pond is a better arrangement. Loyalty and all of that come in to play. There are those who say that “Hockey is a fringe sport that should cater to it’s hard core fans first and foremost. It’s never going to be as big as the other major sports.” Well, OK…but this is a business. The league is a money making venture. The games are on television so that money can be made. Period. I don’t buy the notion that you can alienate hard core hockey fans in the United States. Where else are you gonna go? You want your hockey. We all do.

Even with record numbers for a Versus broadcast in Game 5…

NEW YORK, N.Y. (June 8, 2009)–VERSUS, the exclusive cable television home of the National Hockey League (NHL), garnered a 2.8 national HH rating and averaged 3,448,431 viewers for its Game 4 telecast of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final on Thursday, June 4, when the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings at Mellon Arena to even the series 2-2. The game, which peaked at a 3.4 HH rating between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m., was the highest-rated and most-watched Stanley Cup Final game on cable since 2002. VERSUS, for the 8:00-10:45 p.m. time period, was the top-rated cable network in the country among all key male demos. LINK

…NBC is the better choice.

3.4 million viewers on Versus. When the true numbers come in for Game 6, how many will it be? 5 million? 6 million? You’ve got to get on NBC as often as you can if you’re the NHL. Maybe they’re not the girl you came to the dance with, but you’ve got a much better chance of scoring, so to speak.

The Sports Business Daily says the ratings for Game 6 were down 6.8% from last years’ Game 6. I wonder if the fact that last year they got “that there big ‘ol metal cup out” and paraded it around the ice had anything to do with it. Considering that the NHL went up against the NBA head to head this year during Game 6, and the Cup stayed in the case, the 6.8% drop looks like a victory to me.

How is it that last season the NBA Finals started the day after the NHL finals concluded? And this time around they’re practically neck and neck? The number of playoff games in either sport can vary wildly from year to year, and this year the NHL got stuck between NBC (and the new Jay Leno prime time show) and the NBA. I don’t know that there’s much the NHL can do. Starting a week or two earlier wouldn’t solve much because the NBA playoffs would still be happening (a greater number of games even, in earlier rounds) and NBC would still be finishing up the prime time television season. A week later and you could still have the NBA; A month later and you risk unbearable ice in July for the Finals. What can you do?

As for the idea out there in Wing land that the NHL wanted a game 7, or wants Sid to have a ring: Well, let’s just stack up all the things Kronwall and Holmstrom get away with out there against the entire Penguin roster and see what the score is. Kronwall should still be in the box this afternoon for all his interference, to which a blind eye is turned.

A rebuttal/response of sorts

In response to an excellent post made by Steve on the Maple Leaf hockeyanalysis.com blog, FOUND HERE, I’d like to offer a commentary on some of the points, because I found them engaging and hey, it’s the off-season. What else do we have to do?

Excerpts/Comments

But the ties that bind grew more complicated when George Gillet Jr. (owner of the far from loved Montreal Canadiens) and Tom Hicks (the twit that gave A-Rod a gazillion dollars after buying a baseball team from George W. Bush - oh and he owns the Dallas Stars) purchased the Reds in February, 2007 in a heavily leveraged buy out of the team’s stock.

First off, the A-rod thing….Amen, brother.

Gillett Jr. has publicly discussed selling his interest in the Montreal Canadiens, while Hicks has openly stated that he could part ways with the Texas Rangers, but he would likely keep the Dallas Stars (a curious move - but he probably thinks he can sell the Rangers for more money, and find a bidder more easily).

Well, the Rangers are worth more, so… But it’s not like the Stars are dead weight that he can’t cut loose. The Rangers are currently valued at $405 million, and Hicks reportedly still wants to be involved in a minority capacity. The Stars were valued at $273 million after last year and were ranked #6 on the Forbes NHL Team Valuations. The Stars are consistently profitable, and played to 95% capacity during a season spent at the “bottom of the barrel” so to speak (standings-wise). Hockey in Texas doesn’t sound like a good bet, but the numbers don’t lie.

Do you really think Gustavsson will want the drama surrounding the franchise to involve whether or not he’s getting paid regularly?

This is interesting for several reasons. First, it makes me question my own perception of the proceedings lately. Drama is not a word I would use to describe the goings on, but I wonder at the use of the word from our neighbors to the north. Does the rest of the league see drama here? The Nieuwendyk hiring was made with minimal fuss; In fact, not one peep was made about it anywhere. It was quite a pleasant surprise last Sunday. Everyone knew the two-headed-GM-monster wasn’t going to last. Other than that…drama? The view in Dallas of the Tom Hicks situations is centered square on the Texas Rangers. I don’t think the Stars fan is worried about it, other than some grumblings about not spending to the cap. And we expected that long before Hicks stopped making his interest payments on the Rangers debts.

Second, the notion that a player would worry about getting paid regularly from any NHL franchise…well let’s just assume that was humor? I’m pretty sure the Coyotes all got paid this year.

Sergei Zubov is an injury prone Methusalah of hockey who probably needs to be re-frozen after every practice

Agree.

Mike Ribiero is a slick scorer, but not much else.

Another one of those perception things? Mike Ribeiro’s reputation lingers from his days with the Canadiens, no doubt. I’ll agree that he’s never going to a great +/- guy, but I thought he made great strides last year. He was basically counted upon to be “the man” for this team every single night. With centers Modano, Richards, Petersen (and sometimes Sutherby and sometimes Begin) out, it was the Mike Ribeiro show. He was the only one that could get things going, he was the sole focus of the other team most nights, and even without soul mate Brenden Morrow managed to have a hell of a year from where I was sitting at the AAC last year. There were times early in the year where you could see his frustration on the ice, and he pouted and slammed his gear on the bench and took bad penalties, but he snapped out of it quickly as things continued to plummet and the injuries mounted. He snapped out of it without a good reason to and became a leader. If he brings that back next year then things will be alright.

Marty Turco was blamed for a lot of Dallas’ problems last season, and frankly that isn’t really a fair assessment.

Thank you. This I agree with wholeheartedly.

Brad Richards has won a Stanley Cup, but he’s also been very mediocre since then

Man,you guys are tough up there! He had 48 points in 55 games last year. He had 15 points in 18 playoffs games for us within a month of arriving from Tampa. I guess my standards are low. But if your point is that his production is mediocre for his god awful contract…well you got me there. Agree.

The question Gustavsson must have in regards to Dallas is, when will he be able to become the primary starter?  Turco is under contract for $5.7 million through this upcoming season, at which point he becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent.  Given the going rate for top flight goalies, he could be looking at a bit of a raise if he has a good season.  If Dallas thinks Gustavsson is starter material, they might let Turco walk, and spend the money elsewhere to improve the team.

You’re right about that. How can Gustavsson possibly determine what’s going to happen in Dallas after next season? For that reason alone I would go to Toronto if I were him. It all depends on who whispers the sweetest nothings in his ears. The public opinion of Turco (not that it means anything) is changing in Dallas. Many would see him gone tomorrow. Many would have seen him gone by Thanksgiving (that’s in November, btw ) last year. What can the Stars possibly promise Gustavsson? At the very most a shared, two goalie system? No one wants to hear that. Many in the organization think Turco will bounce back and have a good year.

The distinction with Toronto is that, while Toskala is in a similar contract situation to Turco - one more year with the Leafs at this point - he has had more injury issues and hasn’t won anything significant with the franchise.  The Leafs are likely far more realistically contemplating life after Vesa, than the Stars are likely to be in thinking about life after Marty.  Sure it sounds great in theory, but do they really want to dump the all-star goalie for a rookie from Sweden with one year as an NHL backup under his belt?  If I’m the Leafs, I’m turning things over everywhere else, so it’s not a big deal, if I’m Dallas, I was in the conference finals one year ago, and I don’t know if I suddenly want to be taking that risk.

And that’s the thing, isn’t it… we don’t know what Nieuwendyk and company are thinking. Are the Stars thinking about next year, or are they thinking about 3 years down the line? Can Turco win a cup at age 37? Do they want to find out? Do you let him walk for nothing?

Much has been written in Dallas about Fabian Brunnstrom and Stars (ex)GM Les Jackson, who is still with the club. Jackson gave his word to Fabian that he would not be sent to the AHL, and that word was kept. This was thought to be a nice precedent to have in dealing with these kinds of things… the notion that whatever they tell Gustavsson, they’re going to keep their word. Well Jackson is out as GM, and anyway I don’t know what they could tell him about the long term to make him feel all warm and fuzz inside.

If I were Gustavsson, and what was important to me was playing time and money, I’d head to Toronto.

Stars on Gustavsson’s short list

By now you know that the Dallas Stars, with or without Joe Nieuwendyk, have apparently positioned themselves to at least get a visit from Jonas Gustavsson soon. The young man recently lost his mother, and according to the Toronto Sun will be venturing across the Atlantic soon.

The treatment of these late bloomers bother me a bit. Maybe it gave me an unfair bias against Brunnstrom last year when the Stars somehow managed to woo him successfully. I just wish there were a way to get these guys into the league without kissing their collective arses and treating them like royalty because as soon as they get onto the NHL ice they’re nobody. They’re crap. They’re rookies with no North American experience….C’est la vie.

I have to tell you, if I were the young man, Toronto seems like the no brainer choice here, if I want to start and be “the man”. It could be that he thinks so too, and the other teams on the list are being used as leverage. That happens. It’s no big deal. The Stars have Turco signed up for 5 million+ next season and he’s been the guy here for a long time. As much as the ignorant would like to throw Marty in the dumpster out back, the smart people running this thing aren’t about to do that. However, if young Mr. Gustavsson would enjoy lessened responsibility with a shared arrangement and a chance to learn some things he might want to consider Dallas.

The last guy named Gustavsson (or Gustafson in this case) I cared about this much was one of these guys:

Speaking of two old codgers, perhaps a look at Toronto’s current goaltenders would better yield a look at who the Stars might pick up this off-season: Curtis Joseph and Olaf Kolzig. If the Stars don’t get Gustavsson, that leaves them with Climie, Krahn and Bachman behind Turco. None of which are believed to be ready for backup NHL duty. They’ll be spread between the AHL and ECHL, and the Stars will be looking for a veteran backup.

I don’t even know if Kolzig is looking to continue his career, but if the Stars end up with a guy like that as a backup this year, how do you feel about the goaltending situation in 2010/2011? If Marty has a “contract” type year, are you willing to roll with him for 2 or 3 seasons more?

How do you spell Nieuwendyk again?

The Stars turned a lazy Sunday afternoon into a franchise altering moment today, naming Joe Nieuwendyk as their new General Manager. Wowza. Joe has spent time with the Maple Leafs, Team Canada, and the Florida Panthers recently, basically interning for this position. Everyone knew he would be a GM soon, but I never thought it would be with the Stars.

Side note: Nieuwendyk has more vowels in it than Hull and Jackson combined.

Is this a good thing? Hard to say. Stars fans will be jubilant, but that’s just because we all fondly remember the guy. The average fan also wants to hire Carbonneau as well to replace Tippett, so… Hiring old faces is fun, but is Joe qualified? We might not find out for a while.

The Stars have obvious needs this off-season, and a lot of players signed for next year already. I would think Mr. Nieuwendyk’s job will be pretty straight forward. However, Tom Hicks’ new budget could throw a wrench in things. Still, the list of things to do for next year is short, and rather “no brainer”: Find help on the defensive end, start thinking about how to re-sign guys like Eriksson, Neal and Ott for the future, and address the backup goaltender situation.

Brett Hull and Les Jackson will stay with the team doing things that…ahem…better “fit their respective strengths”. I assume this has something to do with Les Jackson scouting players and Hullie drinking scotch and playing golf. Either way, I’m glad he’s sticking around.

Be sure to read what Ralph Strangis has to say on the matter here: http://stars.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=424430

TSN: http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=280497

Dallas Morning News: http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/05/joe-nieuwendyk-named-stars-gm.html

Fond Nieuwy memories:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEMmD8tK1Rc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3trUk9Hg2Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8LYizMLre4

Hicks to sell (Texas) Rangers, But not Stars?

Will the Stars payroll shrink for years to come?

Tom Hicks’ inability (or unwillingness, as he says) to make loan payments on the Rangers a couple of months ago was accompanied by an announcement that he was interested in selling a portion of the team, while retaining majority control. In recent days, however, Mr. Hicks has made it well known that he is indeed looking to sell the majority of the Texas Rangers ownership and would like to remain involved.

Huh

I am growing more and more concerned by the second, granted I have little or no hard evidence to lead me in that direction. Not for the Rangers of course, but for the Stars. When the season ended 6 weeks ago and the lockers were being cleaned out in Frisco, Stars General Managers said publicly to expect that the team would once again not be spending to the cap in 2009/2010. Ok. We expected that.

But now with Hicks’ economic situation worsening for the world to see, Stars fans find themselves wondering if the Dallas hockey franchise will be putting a ‘For Sale’ sign out in front of the AAC as well. The Dallas Morning News was assured today that he would indeed be keeping the Stars; A thought that alleviates the woes of some, while squashing a great hope for others. A desire for Mark Cuban to buy the Stars festers in the hearts of some, but has Hicks really been bad for the Stars?

Unlike with his baseball team, Hicks leaves the Stars alone for the most part (Even when they have important playoff games he cannot be bothered with attending). He lets the Stars organization stand on it’s own and operate as it sees fit. He has allowed them to spend to the cap in recent years, until last year. And pre-lock out they were never shy about going out and signing a big free agent name (Hull, Guerin, etc). Baseball fans have had a right to hate Tom Hicks, but hockey fans have not. Until now (?)

My fear is that last years talk of the “internal budget” will become all the more prominent in the coming season. The economy is an enigma best absent from a hockey blog, but suffice it to say that it won’t be “what it was” for quite some time. Should Hicks’ financial situation continute to nose dive, we Stars fans might find ourselves watching priceless commodities slip through our fingers. Such as….

Loui Eriksson. Contract expires after this year, currently making a scant 1.7 million.

Steve Ott. Contract expires after this year, currently making 1.5 million

James Neal. Contract expires after this year, currently making only 720k.

Marty Turco. Contract year for him as well. Currently earns 5.4 million.

3 of these players basically carried the team last year for a time in the winter, and the other should have been carrying as well. 3 of these guys are due for a MASSIVE raise, and the other a reduction. ALL FOUR must be re-signed.

The price of spending significantly under the cap will be one or more of these players (and a decade of mediocrity, if we’re not careful). Marty Turco would be the first choice of many, but not my own. Not unless you show me the goaltender of the future. Go ahead, just find him and show him to me. I’m waiting.

If Loui Eriksson and Steve Ott have years that even remotely resemble the last, their price will be high, but worth it. James Neal could do with a sophomore slump, wouldn’t you say? To save a little money? Eriksson and Neal will at least be RFA’s, giving the Stars a chance to get something done before the likes of Toronto and Detroit and Vancouver can come around, waiving big checks around in front of them.

If you want to save this incredible core of young players, and afford to pay Jamie Benn when his time comes…you better get out to the AAC in 09/10 and spend your ass off.

BTW…Penguins in 6?

Modano to return next season

Duh.

For the last month, Mike Modano was the only one on the planet who didn’t know that he was going to return next year. I’m glad someone finally clued him in.

Said the US born all time leading scorer to dallasstars.com:

“I’ve made my decision and I’m coming back to play,” Modano said. “I think everyone eventually knew I was going to come back, but I still wanted to take some time and think about things. Watching everyone else playing in the playoffs helped push me to make the decision. This is the best time of year and we want to get back to playing post-season hockey next season.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself, Mr. Modano. The playoffs are great fun to watch, but I can’t help but wonder each and every night what a healthy Stars team with a little off-season help can do next year.

This is the first bit of good Stars news I’ve heard in months, besides Loui Eriksson scoring a goal and an assist the other day in the World Championships. Rock on, Loui. But get some rest dude.

Now if we can just get the Modano’s to cancel their impending reality show, all would be right with the world.

Go Blackhawks?

Delighting in the misery of others

I’m quite certain that the whole “Love thy neighbor as thyself” thing doesn’t apply to the kingdom of sports fandom. How could it?

When the clock ticked zero and the Ducks had vanquished their foe on Monday night, I didn’t especially love either one of them, but it’s the closest I’ll ever get to loving the Ducks and the cocky way about them. We can turn the page for the second round and root against the Ducks, right Stars fans?

Oh, they’re playing those guys.

While we continue to hold on to the larger hope of an Eastern conference team winning the Cup this year, we have to ask ourselves some pretty nasty questions. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I pretty strongly dislike 3 of the 4 Western Conference teams remaining, and I don’t honestly think the 4th team can beat the other 3.

So will you root for the Ducks to beat Detroit? On one hand, it’s Detroit. Enough said. On the other hand, I really hate the Ducks. Do you want the Ducks having more cups than we do? With Detroit, who cares? They’ve got so many now it doesn’t really matter. This is a tougher call for me than the last time these two faced off in the post-season.

Vancouver and Chicago. There’s the real no-brainer. Chicago has played well for such an inexperienced team and I think, given the other teams that remain, we’d like to see them continue to do so. Providing that Khabibulin can find his teeth and catch the senior citizens bus to the arena for 6 or 7 more games. Go Blackhawks!

What about the East? Former Star Bill Guerin plays on into the spring, on a line with Sidney Crosby? EIGHT NHL teams, he’s been with now. Go get em Billy, before your hip breaks.

And Jussi Jokinen? Are you kidding me? If you’re a Devils fan you might not understand just how pissed off you should be about getting beat by Jussi freaking Jokinen. He showed flashes of mediocre, followed by long periods of rigor mortis, offset by some nice shootout goals in Dallas. He got himself put on waivers in Tampa Bay and eventually traded to Carolina, where he goes on to score 2 MAMMOTH late, late third period goals in games 4 and 5? Where was that against the Avalanche and the Nucks in ‘06 and ‘07, you jerk?

And Sean Avery costs his team a game, gets scratched, and eventually is part of blowing a 3-1 series lead. If this isn’t a golden opportunity to delight in the misery of others, I don’t know what is. Watching John Tortorella try to explain his antics to the media makes me smile. He’s someone else’s problem. Again. I think Tortorella and Avery were made for each other.

The view from Dallas: Finish them off

I could pretend like I’m not delighting in the Sharks misery, but that would be disingenuous. I am. I really, really am.

But two things: First, it’s not over yet, Anaheim…you bastards. And second, I hate you, too Anaheim. You bastards. I have to close all the blinds and turn the lights out and wait for my wife to fall asleep before I can properly sit down and shamefully root for the filthy stinking Ducks and their unfairly talented defensive group and their over hyped, mediocre goaltending.

I feel for the Sharks fans though, because I’ve been through that before. Not with the Stars, mind you, but with the Dallas Mavericks: the ultimate playoff chokers. The Mavs won 67 games in the 06-07 season and went on to get upset by the 8th seeded Warriors. (And the fact that many Warriors fans are also Sharks fans has not gone unnoticed in Dallas, believe me.) Like the Ducks, the Warriors finished the season on a roll and were hardly playing like “an 8 seed”. The Warriors actually had the second best record in the league after the All-Star game that season, or something like that. It seems unfair to call what is happening “Getting upset by an 8 seed” because, as they said last night on the broadcast, this is much more like a 4 versus 5 match up. Guess what? It doesn’t matter. This one is going down in the books as 8 defeats 1 if things don’t change soon, and you’re going to have to live with that. The only thing you really have going for you is that it’s much more common in hockey than in basketball.

The Shark fan, like the 2007 Mav fan, knows that this is likely the best regular season they will ever have. And what will come of it? If recent playoff failures haven’t already damaged the Shark fans regular season enjoyment gland (that’s a real thing, trust me), this one will. You’ll turn a cynical eye to the TV 82 times a year and think “so what? What are you going to do in April?”

Good times, good times. Of course there’s plenty of time to avoid all of this. All you have to do is win 3 in a row. How many times this year did the Sharks win 3 in a row?

At this point it would be just as much fun to watch the Ducks collapse as it is to watch the Sharks flounder.

And stop making Hiller look like he’s a god or something. It’s obnoxious.

The view from Dallas: Thanks a lot, St Louis

The Blues and Blue Jackets have more in common these days than the color in their respective monikers: They suck.

I’m sorry to butt in. I know that we don’t get a voice or a vote this year because we’re not in the playoffs… but COME ON. You’re killing me. You’re absolutely killing me with this. You played well down the stretch. Your young players carried you there. You’re rookie goaltenders (also sharing names) were spectacular. And now you’re just going to lay down and die?

Excuse me. Not to be selfish here…but what about me?

It’s the NHL playoffs. It’s like Christmas time. I’m supposed to be tuning in and seeing close games with multiple overtimes and instead I get sloppy, one-sided contests that feel over by the first intermission.

Boooo. Boo on you, Columbus and St Louis. At least Calgary has excuses. And the Sharks…well that’s just delicious.

Maybe it’s the Dallas Stars that should be apologizing. They dropped the ball this year. They are denying the people of what they want, nay, need: Compelling hockey.

So they’re sorry, hockey watching public. They know you want more Dallas Stars in your life And I think that next year they’re going to deliver. We need to get some teams that know what they’re doing into the tournament.

All we can do now is hope that Columbus can get their **** together at home and make a series of this thing.

Deranged in Dallas

American Airlines Center, Wednesday, April 15th:

8:32 am: I’m here. I can’t wait for the game tonight. The lights are off, and I had to break in. I know it’s early but I just want to really soak up the atmosphere of the first game of our first round series.

Aren’t smart phones great? I’m going to blog all day.

8:47 am: I couldn’t find my playoff tickets this morning, but I chalked it up to just bad luck and went without. Come to think of it, I can’t remember ordering playoff tickets.

9:04 am: And you know what else is weird? I can’t seem to recall who we’re playing or what seed we are. But I’m sure we’re in the playoffs. This is the Dallas Stars. We’re always in the playoffs.

I hope they open the concession stands soon. Is it too early for beer?

10:12 am: This is bizarre. They turned on the lights and the Mavericks basketball court was there. That’s not right at all.

10:30 am: The Houston Rockets are here to see the Stars first home playoff game as well. Apparently they hang out together in their uniforms. Weird.

Incidentally, do you know what a “morning shoot around” is?

11:38 am: You know what? I think I finally figured out what’s going on. We don’t have a playoff game here today at all, do we…

.

.

.

I think we start on the road.