Overwhelming support for Minnesota Wild return runs Ticketmaster out of seating for Wednesday night inter-squad scrimmage
What would happen if the Minnesota Wild held a scrimmage, one where they actually flew in the Houston Aeros on a charter, opened it up for free, and then no one showed up to see it?
We definitely won't know this week. And, we may never know.
The Wednesday night scrimmage, the second (of two) scheduled this week at Xcel Energy Center as the Wild start their abbreviated training camp, has run out of General Admission tickets. Literally.
The Wild announced shortly after 7:00 PM Sunday night, that there were no more tickets available for the public, as they were holding the rest back for Season Ticket Holders, many of whom would not be able to get to their Wild accounts until they arrived at work on Monday.
The fact that the Wild ran out of seats for the public, might show that 'all is forgiven' for the 113-day lockout, which officially ended late Saturday night as the NHL and the NHLPA agreed to a new, 10-year (hopefully) labor agreement. Then again, it just might be the $10 food voucher that attendees will receive upon entering the arena.
So, with a full house of 18,000-plus expected, the Wild enter the shortened 48-game season with unbridled optimism, as this season features the most talent this team has seen in its' 13-year history.
So we will see what will actually happen on Wednesday. We may see you there. If you're lucky enough to grab a seat.
Showing posts with label NHLPA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NHLPA. Show all posts
Monday, January 14, 2013
Monday, October 8, 2012
Lying in wait...or waiting for lies?
Posturing as the order of the day instead of meaningful compromise rule, as NHL lockout extends beyond three-week mark
Ok, guys, You've both made your points.
As the NHL lockout surpasses the 21-day mark, the owners (led by Gary Bettman) and the players (led by Donald Fehr) seem no closer to a compromise, that will allow teams to start the 2012-13 campaign.
Posturing seems to be the order of the day. 'We're ready to negotiate, when THEY are', seems to be the favorite sound bite out of the post-meeting press conferences. No meaningful information is ever uttered; no progress on the meaningful (read: money) issues is made. Yet, the two sides are still talking (albeit mostly on the phone, as opposed to in person, across an actual negotiating table.)
The fans? Most are mostly bored with both sides, and have moved onto other things (namely, NFL football) to occupy their sports watching time. Some have just tuned out altogether, and are just getting on with life. Yet, the two sides cannot see the forest of compromise for all the stands of trees still in the way of a meaningful agreement.
So, the best thing to say to both sides, at least at this point, is...
Call me when you're ready to play, guys. I may still be here...or not...
Ok, guys, You've both made your points.
As the NHL lockout surpasses the 21-day mark, the owners (led by Gary Bettman) and the players (led by Donald Fehr) seem no closer to a compromise, that will allow teams to start the 2012-13 campaign.
Posturing seems to be the order of the day. 'We're ready to negotiate, when THEY are', seems to be the favorite sound bite out of the post-meeting press conferences. No meaningful information is ever uttered; no progress on the meaningful (read: money) issues is made. Yet, the two sides are still talking (albeit mostly on the phone, as opposed to in person, across an actual negotiating table.)
The fans? Most are mostly bored with both sides, and have moved onto other things (namely, NFL football) to occupy their sports watching time. Some have just tuned out altogether, and are just getting on with life. Yet, the two sides cannot see the forest of compromise for all the stands of trees still in the way of a meaningful agreement.
So, the best thing to say to both sides, at least at this point, is...
Call me when you're ready to play, guys. I may still be here...or not...
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Thirteen days...and counting...
Despite growing public condemnation, owners, Bettman adamant about regressing NHL hockey despite record profits, revenues
Thirteen days to go. Thirteen days.
On Saturday, Sept. 15th, the owners and their representative, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, will lock the players out for the third time in Bettman's 19-year tenure.
There will be no NHL hockey. Players will be left to fend for themselves, while the owners will squirrel away cash to tide their franchises over until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is agreed to. Meanwhile, Bettman still gets paid his reportedly $8,000,000 million annual salary. (By contrast, Donald Fehr, the ex-MLBPA head now running the NHLPA, gets no salary until -- and, unless -- a new CBA is agreed to. This is the way most lawyers work, on contingency.)
Meanwhile, thousands of part-time NHL team employees, and employees of businesses who depend on hockey -- bars, restuarants, hotels, even transit authorities and airlines (who charter planes for NHL team travel) -- are laid-off or have their hours sharply reduced. The fans are disillusioned yet again, for the third time in a generation. All for the unbridled greed of a few owners (who don't want to revenue share) and the mis-steps of Bettman himself (whose 'Southern Strategy' has been proven to be an unqualified failure).
Marginal players -- not the superstars, who have provisions built into their contracts so they will get paid (or, already have) regardless whether they play or not -- will suffer. Despite the NHLPA's two-year warning to squirrel away cash for a long lockout, some may have not done so. Now, it just may be too late.
No one on one side wants to listen to the other side. Talks broke off last Friday, with no new sessions scheduled. Compromise? With the owner who already has engulfed, and devoured, more than half the cable TV industry in the USA? With the owner who feeds more people in stadiums and arenas, than any other? With the owner, who is still playing with Union Pacific Railroad money? With the de facto owner of the Phoenix franchise? Hell no, they won't compromise. No one wants to compromise on the owners side. They all seem united to keep hockey from the fans, after a 2011-2012 season which was one of the best, start-to-finish, in the history of the League.
As has been pointed out many, many times...the current, expiring CBA is the one that the owners wanted IN THE FIRST PLACE. The players already gave back 24% of their salaries. Now they're being asked to give back nearly the same amount...again. Since the loopholes in the current CBA have been exploited (yes, including signing Ryan Suter and Zach Parise by the Minnesota Wild), now you're trying to put the proverbial horse back in the barn, not by the carrot, but soley by the (hockey) stick?
Sorry, NHL owners, but this time, you lose the biggest court battle of all, that of the court of public opinion. And you lose it not for what the other side has done, but what your own side has not done. On one hand, your teams are going along, trying to sell tickets, merchandise, etc., like absolutely nothing is wrong. On the other hand, your personnel departments are ready to hand out lay-off notices and pink slips like a post-war parade. If you would face the reality of the situation, stop the subterfuge and negotiate in good faith, this could all be stopped, dead in its' tracks. And the hockey season could be saved for the fans, fans whom the Commissioner said were, 'the best fans in the world.'
Well, aren't we?
Thirteen days to go. Thirteen days.
On Saturday, Sept. 15th, the owners and their representative, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, will lock the players out for the third time in Bettman's 19-year tenure.
There will be no NHL hockey. Players will be left to fend for themselves, while the owners will squirrel away cash to tide their franchises over until a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is agreed to. Meanwhile, Bettman still gets paid his reportedly $8,000,000 million annual salary. (By contrast, Donald Fehr, the ex-MLBPA head now running the NHLPA, gets no salary until -- and, unless -- a new CBA is agreed to. This is the way most lawyers work, on contingency.)
Meanwhile, thousands of part-time NHL team employees, and employees of businesses who depend on hockey -- bars, restuarants, hotels, even transit authorities and airlines (who charter planes for NHL team travel) -- are laid-off or have their hours sharply reduced. The fans are disillusioned yet again, for the third time in a generation. All for the unbridled greed of a few owners (who don't want to revenue share) and the mis-steps of Bettman himself (whose 'Southern Strategy' has been proven to be an unqualified failure).
Marginal players -- not the superstars, who have provisions built into their contracts so they will get paid (or, already have) regardless whether they play or not -- will suffer. Despite the NHLPA's two-year warning to squirrel away cash for a long lockout, some may have not done so. Now, it just may be too late.
No one on one side wants to listen to the other side. Talks broke off last Friday, with no new sessions scheduled. Compromise? With the owner who already has engulfed, and devoured, more than half the cable TV industry in the USA? With the owner who feeds more people in stadiums and arenas, than any other? With the owner, who is still playing with Union Pacific Railroad money? With the de facto owner of the Phoenix franchise? Hell no, they won't compromise. No one wants to compromise on the owners side. They all seem united to keep hockey from the fans, after a 2011-2012 season which was one of the best, start-to-finish, in the history of the League.
As has been pointed out many, many times...the current, expiring CBA is the one that the owners wanted IN THE FIRST PLACE. The players already gave back 24% of their salaries. Now they're being asked to give back nearly the same amount...again. Since the loopholes in the current CBA have been exploited (yes, including signing Ryan Suter and Zach Parise by the Minnesota Wild), now you're trying to put the proverbial horse back in the barn, not by the carrot, but soley by the (hockey) stick?
Sorry, NHL owners, but this time, you lose the biggest court battle of all, that of the court of public opinion. And you lose it not for what the other side has done, but what your own side has not done. On one hand, your teams are going along, trying to sell tickets, merchandise, etc., like absolutely nothing is wrong. On the other hand, your personnel departments are ready to hand out lay-off notices and pink slips like a post-war parade. If you would face the reality of the situation, stop the subterfuge and negotiate in good faith, this could all be stopped, dead in its' tracks. And the hockey season could be saved for the fans, fans whom the Commissioner said were, 'the best fans in the world.'
Well, aren't we?
Sunday, August 19, 2012
I'll buy tickets...when the lockout is over
Do you go on the road to watch NHL hockey? Received any promotional e-mails from other NHL teams, proclaiming that they're ready to sell single-game tickets? Are you a sales rep for an NHL team, and wonder why people aren't exactly jumping at the bit to buy single-game tickets?
If you do, or even if you never travel beyond St. Paul, read on...
To: All NHL Teams not based in the State of Minnesota
From: Wild Road Tripper
Subject: 2012-2013 single game tickets
Please be advised, that unless you stop shooting yourselves in the foot (or, higher) and formally restrain Commissioner Gary Bettman from taking NHL hockey away from the patrons who actually pay to help keep your businesses in business, I will not be buying any tickets to Minnesota Wild road games for the 2012-2013 season.
Your 'lockout' ploy to assist keeping the Commissioner's 'Southern Strategy' in play simply will not work. The Players Association have called your bluff. They are still willing to work with you, to help grow the greatest game on Earth, but your blind (and costly) insistence on propping up franchises in cities that have shown little, if any, interest in the game (Phoenix, South Florida, Nashville, Carolina) while other cities (Quebec City, suburban Toronto) build arenas hoping for a franchise, does not make for a successful business model.
Please refrain from trying to tempt me with 4-game and 6-game 'mini-packs' of tickets, where if I knew any other fan in another city, I would split the seat with. Sadly (for you), this will not work, as I see thru the Commissioner's ploy of getting every dollar humanly possible prior to Sept. 14th. Unless your staff announce in advance a lockout plan, I assume my money is lost, and will not be returned to me unless I appear IN PERSON at your box office, tickets in hand, looking to punch out someone who really didn't do anything to deserve it, except hire out with your business for a paycheck.
(Alas, since I actually commiserate with those employees whom you throw to the wolves, not unlike the movie, 'Gladiator', we will refrain from anyone getting hurt, save for Messrs. Bettman, Bill Daly and Colin Campbell, any of whom we will be glad to throw under the bus of your choosing.)
The current CBA, which expires on Sept. 14th, can remain in effect while meaningful reform, reform that will actually help BOTH sides, while promoting the great game of hockey, and not depriving the fan base of the game that they love and support in record amounts, can be effectively negotiated thru the collective bargaining process. Wouldn't you be better playing games, promoting local commerce, taking in money and actually playing games, than shutting the doors, and putting your non-contract employees out of work in this economy?
There is a middle ground. There is room for compromise on both sides. There is no need for a lockout.
But, since most of the owners seem to blindly follow the Commissioner (to the point where you are actually willing to be fined by him, should you dare utter any word to the contrary) as the point man in this labor dispute, I am left with no choice but to refrain from buying any tickets to Minnesota Wild road games, until this dispute is settled and a new agreement is agreed to.
Yours for better hockey,
WRT
If you do, or even if you never travel beyond St. Paul, read on...
To: All NHL Teams not based in the State of Minnesota
From: Wild Road Tripper
Subject: 2012-2013 single game tickets
Please be advised, that unless you stop shooting yourselves in the foot (or, higher) and formally restrain Commissioner Gary Bettman from taking NHL hockey away from the patrons who actually pay to help keep your businesses in business, I will not be buying any tickets to Minnesota Wild road games for the 2012-2013 season.
Your 'lockout' ploy to assist keeping the Commissioner's 'Southern Strategy' in play simply will not work. The Players Association have called your bluff. They are still willing to work with you, to help grow the greatest game on Earth, but your blind (and costly) insistence on propping up franchises in cities that have shown little, if any, interest in the game (Phoenix, South Florida, Nashville, Carolina) while other cities (Quebec City, suburban Toronto) build arenas hoping for a franchise, does not make for a successful business model.
Please refrain from trying to tempt me with 4-game and 6-game 'mini-packs' of tickets, where if I knew any other fan in another city, I would split the seat with. Sadly (for you), this will not work, as I see thru the Commissioner's ploy of getting every dollar humanly possible prior to Sept. 14th. Unless your staff announce in advance a lockout plan, I assume my money is lost, and will not be returned to me unless I appear IN PERSON at your box office, tickets in hand, looking to punch out someone who really didn't do anything to deserve it, except hire out with your business for a paycheck.
(Alas, since I actually commiserate with those employees whom you throw to the wolves, not unlike the movie, 'Gladiator', we will refrain from anyone getting hurt, save for Messrs. Bettman, Bill Daly and Colin Campbell, any of whom we will be glad to throw under the bus of your choosing.)
The current CBA, which expires on Sept. 14th, can remain in effect while meaningful reform, reform that will actually help BOTH sides, while promoting the great game of hockey, and not depriving the fan base of the game that they love and support in record amounts, can be effectively negotiated thru the collective bargaining process. Wouldn't you be better playing games, promoting local commerce, taking in money and actually playing games, than shutting the doors, and putting your non-contract employees out of work in this economy?
There is a middle ground. There is room for compromise on both sides. There is no need for a lockout.
But, since most of the owners seem to blindly follow the Commissioner (to the point where you are actually willing to be fined by him, should you dare utter any word to the contrary) as the point man in this labor dispute, I am left with no choice but to refrain from buying any tickets to Minnesota Wild road games, until this dispute is settled and a new agreement is agreed to.
Yours for better hockey,
WRT
Saturday, July 28, 2012
This 'n' That
(We haven't done 'This 'n' That in a while. Just my thoughts on various Minnesota Wild-related stuff. Charge on, dear reader...)
Free Agent signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter: Face it, Wild fans. This isn't supposed to happen to a Minnesota pro sports franchise. Minnesota isn't supposed to be able to outbid the likes of Philadelphia and the Rangers for players like these. The fact that both former unrestricted free agents are from this part of the world helped, but when you make enough money to live anywhere in the world, this just isn't supposed to happen. I'm still in shock, and I still won't believe it, until I see both in Wild sweaters, on the ice, at Xcel Energy Center.
Yes, it IS a lot of money. But isn't it refreshing, that one organization in this town had the wherewithal to actually use the rules, as they currently agreed to, in order to improve themselves this dramatically? Like a lot of you, my Twitter account was being constantly refreshed on July 3 & 4, as the saga played out online.
Other Wild signings (Zenon Konopka, Torrey Mitchell, Brian Campbell) during free agency: Not a lot of Wild fans see any of these signings as improving the franchise a whole lot. I say: not so! The signing of Mitchell, a first-class frustrator and a favorite of San Jose Sharks fans, will fill a definite need in the penalty kill department, taking some of the load off of the likes of Mikko Koivu and Darroll Powe. Konopka assures that we have four true centers in our top four center slots; also, who wants to take liberties with Mikael Granlund, Parise, Koivu, etc., when you have both Konopka and Matt Kassian available for pugilistic duty?
Campbell, who came over from Calgary, hopefully will have signed up for Delta SkyMiles by the start of the season, as his lot with this team will be on the shuttle between Houston and MSP.
The kids are alright: After attending both scrimmages during prospect camp earlier this month, the future of the Wild organization has never looked this good. The last vestiges of the old Doug Risebrough regime have been totally swept away. The Wild are truly Chuck Fletcher's team now. And, it shows, as the quailty and quantity of talent have been markedly improved, both at the NHL level (and how!) and at the AHL level, as fans of the Houston Aeros can actually think that their team may just stay together long enough, to possibly make a Calder Cup run. Matt Dumba, the Wild's first-round draft choice, is the real deal, as is Jonas Brodin, Charlie Coyle, Nate Prosser, and all the other young guns that Fletcher & Co., have manged to stockpile thru four gruelling (for fans, at least) non-playoff seasons in St. Paul.
The coaching staff has an invaluable season of NHL experience under their collective belts together: another start like last season, and avoiding the injury plague which disabled the team in mid-December, will go a long way as to where this Wild team will actually wind up. Landing a spot in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs is not a possibility with this team. With the way the Wild has acted this summer, it has become an expectation, for which failure will not be an option.
But, will we even HAVE a 2013 playoffs? Or a 2012-2013 regular season? Will the NHL and the Players Association come together, for the good of the game and the fans, to ensure labor peace? Will Gary Bettman and Don Fehr, two skilled negotiators, come to an agreement to save the start of training camp (Sept. 21 for the Wild), or will the dispute over hockey-related revenues escalate, to the point of the sport's second lockout in less than a decade? With one franchise (Phoenix) on life support, costing both sides (owners AND players) millions of dollars, and several others getting perilously close, what will happen for the League in the next few years financially? Will we have meaningful re-alignment? Franchise stability, or several more Atlanta Thrashers-style post-season moves?
Yes, they are talking. Issues and proposals have been passed across tables in both New York and Toronto. But will it all be done in time to prevent the owners to lock the players (and, fans) out?
The 800-pound gorilla in the room needs attention. And soon. Otherwise, we will have the unfortunate result of Lockout No. 2...much to the dismay of the Wild faithful. Just when we had momentum, will the Wild have lost it going into Fall, 2012?
Only Craig Leipold knows for sure, and he isn't talking ('cuz he'll get fined, substantially, if he does.)
Free Agent signings of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter: Face it, Wild fans. This isn't supposed to happen to a Minnesota pro sports franchise. Minnesota isn't supposed to be able to outbid the likes of Philadelphia and the Rangers for players like these. The fact that both former unrestricted free agents are from this part of the world helped, but when you make enough money to live anywhere in the world, this just isn't supposed to happen. I'm still in shock, and I still won't believe it, until I see both in Wild sweaters, on the ice, at Xcel Energy Center.
Yes, it IS a lot of money. But isn't it refreshing, that one organization in this town had the wherewithal to actually use the rules, as they currently agreed to, in order to improve themselves this dramatically? Like a lot of you, my Twitter account was being constantly refreshed on July 3 & 4, as the saga played out online.
Other Wild signings (Zenon Konopka, Torrey Mitchell, Brian Campbell) during free agency: Not a lot of Wild fans see any of these signings as improving the franchise a whole lot. I say: not so! The signing of Mitchell, a first-class frustrator and a favorite of San Jose Sharks fans, will fill a definite need in the penalty kill department, taking some of the load off of the likes of Mikko Koivu and Darroll Powe. Konopka assures that we have four true centers in our top four center slots; also, who wants to take liberties with Mikael Granlund, Parise, Koivu, etc., when you have both Konopka and Matt Kassian available for pugilistic duty?
Campbell, who came over from Calgary, hopefully will have signed up for Delta SkyMiles by the start of the season, as his lot with this team will be on the shuttle between Houston and MSP.
The kids are alright: After attending both scrimmages during prospect camp earlier this month, the future of the Wild organization has never looked this good. The last vestiges of the old Doug Risebrough regime have been totally swept away. The Wild are truly Chuck Fletcher's team now. And, it shows, as the quailty and quantity of talent have been markedly improved, both at the NHL level (and how!) and at the AHL level, as fans of the Houston Aeros can actually think that their team may just stay together long enough, to possibly make a Calder Cup run. Matt Dumba, the Wild's first-round draft choice, is the real deal, as is Jonas Brodin, Charlie Coyle, Nate Prosser, and all the other young guns that Fletcher & Co., have manged to stockpile thru four gruelling (for fans, at least) non-playoff seasons in St. Paul.
The coaching staff has an invaluable season of NHL experience under their collective belts together: another start like last season, and avoiding the injury plague which disabled the team in mid-December, will go a long way as to where this Wild team will actually wind up. Landing a spot in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs is not a possibility with this team. With the way the Wild has acted this summer, it has become an expectation, for which failure will not be an option.
But, will we even HAVE a 2013 playoffs? Or a 2012-2013 regular season? Will the NHL and the Players Association come together, for the good of the game and the fans, to ensure labor peace? Will Gary Bettman and Don Fehr, two skilled negotiators, come to an agreement to save the start of training camp (Sept. 21 for the Wild), or will the dispute over hockey-related revenues escalate, to the point of the sport's second lockout in less than a decade? With one franchise (Phoenix) on life support, costing both sides (owners AND players) millions of dollars, and several others getting perilously close, what will happen for the League in the next few years financially? Will we have meaningful re-alignment? Franchise stability, or several more Atlanta Thrashers-style post-season moves?
Yes, they are talking. Issues and proposals have been passed across tables in both New York and Toronto. But will it all be done in time to prevent the owners to lock the players (and, fans) out?
The 800-pound gorilla in the room needs attention. And soon. Otherwise, we will have the unfortunate result of Lockout No. 2...much to the dismay of the Wild faithful. Just when we had momentum, will the Wild have lost it going into Fall, 2012?
Only Craig Leipold knows for sure, and he isn't talking ('cuz he'll get fined, substantially, if he does.)
Thursday, June 21, 2012
New schedule, new problems
Release of 2012-13 schedule belies labor strife, NHL indifference to Wild
By Wild Road Tripper
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- They still just don't get it.
With their season possibly headed for shortening due to labor strife, the NHL released their 2012-2013 schedule Thursday morning, to a round of 'Huh?' from fans of the Minnesota Wild.
The League did the Wild absolutely NO favors, as not only did they fail to appreciate the instant interest that two games vs. the Winnipeg Jets had last season, they stuck the Wild with two games vs. the lowly New York Islanders, for the second straight season. (They might have actually felt sorry for Charles Wang's forlorn hockey club, as the Isles beat the Wild twice last season.)
Yes, they scheduled two games (home and home) also with the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins (the game at the 'X' in St. Paul, January 19, probably to be proclaimed 'Hockey Day Minnesota') but to leave the Jets off the schedule in St. Paul, does take a bit of explaining from the head office in Manhattan.
Other than that, the annual visit of the Disney on Ice troupe in early December will once again leave the Wild traversing the Southwest, just as winter begins its' grip on the Upper Midwest. But, even worse than that is the 12-day, 6-city marathon beginning in Tampa Bay on Nov. 3 (leaving Minnesota the previous day) and ending in Philadelphia on Nov. 12. They play in Tampa, Boston, the Rangers, Detroit, Newark (vs. the NJ Devils), and Philly before heading for home.
As for the 'traditional' games, other than the HDM game noted above, the other dates to note are:
Home Opener -- Oct. 13 (Colorado)
'Black Friday' -- Nov. 23 (Toronto)
New Years' Eve -- Dec. 31 (Edmonton)
'Hockey Day America' -- Feb. 17 (Detroit)
Last Home Game -- Apr. 13 (Columbus)
33 of the 41 home games are 7:00 PM starts. Of the other eight games, four are 5:00 PM starts, two games at 8:00 PM, and one each at 6:30 PM (Detroit, Feb. 17) and one lone afternoon game (Saturday, March 23, vs. San Jose).
Other points of note: One game of the 12 against the two Alberta teams (Calgary and Edmonton) is played prior to the New Year, as are two of the 6 games against Vancouver. By contrast, the six games vs. Colorado are fairly spread out throughout the schedule. The Wild have only one inter-conference game after Feb. 6, so if they are going to actually make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2013, they will have to do it on their own, by beating the other teams in their own conference again, and again.
And, unlike last season, when the Wild played most of their last two weeks at home, this season the Wild play five of their last seven on the road, in a final 5-game, 9-day gasser, with games in all four time zones. And, the final game of that stretch is their second game at Detroit, who never treat the Wild well, no matter how well the Red Wings are doing otherwise.
But, the reality is that until the NHL and the Players' Association can come to agreement on how to slice up that revenue souffle' that's being served up, there may not even BE a season to complain about a schedule over. The fact of the matter remains, that if Don Fehr and Gary Bettman can't get along, we'll all be sitting home, wondering what would have really happened in those two games against the lowly Islanders.
By Wild Road Tripper
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- They still just don't get it.
With their season possibly headed for shortening due to labor strife, the NHL released their 2012-2013 schedule Thursday morning, to a round of 'Huh?' from fans of the Minnesota Wild.
The League did the Wild absolutely NO favors, as not only did they fail to appreciate the instant interest that two games vs. the Winnipeg Jets had last season, they stuck the Wild with two games vs. the lowly New York Islanders, for the second straight season. (They might have actually felt sorry for Charles Wang's forlorn hockey club, as the Isles beat the Wild twice last season.)
Yes, they scheduled two games (home and home) also with the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins (the game at the 'X' in St. Paul, January 19, probably to be proclaimed 'Hockey Day Minnesota') but to leave the Jets off the schedule in St. Paul, does take a bit of explaining from the head office in Manhattan.
Other than that, the annual visit of the Disney on Ice troupe in early December will once again leave the Wild traversing the Southwest, just as winter begins its' grip on the Upper Midwest. But, even worse than that is the 12-day, 6-city marathon beginning in Tampa Bay on Nov. 3 (leaving Minnesota the previous day) and ending in Philadelphia on Nov. 12. They play in Tampa, Boston, the Rangers, Detroit, Newark (vs. the NJ Devils), and Philly before heading for home.
As for the 'traditional' games, other than the HDM game noted above, the other dates to note are:
Home Opener -- Oct. 13 (Colorado)
'Black Friday' -- Nov. 23 (Toronto)
New Years' Eve -- Dec. 31 (Edmonton)
'Hockey Day America' -- Feb. 17 (Detroit)
Last Home Game -- Apr. 13 (Columbus)
33 of the 41 home games are 7:00 PM starts. Of the other eight games, four are 5:00 PM starts, two games at 8:00 PM, and one each at 6:30 PM (Detroit, Feb. 17) and one lone afternoon game (Saturday, March 23, vs. San Jose).
Other points of note: One game of the 12 against the two Alberta teams (Calgary and Edmonton) is played prior to the New Year, as are two of the 6 games against Vancouver. By contrast, the six games vs. Colorado are fairly spread out throughout the schedule. The Wild have only one inter-conference game after Feb. 6, so if they are going to actually make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2013, they will have to do it on their own, by beating the other teams in their own conference again, and again.
And, unlike last season, when the Wild played most of their last two weeks at home, this season the Wild play five of their last seven on the road, in a final 5-game, 9-day gasser, with games in all four time zones. And, the final game of that stretch is their second game at Detroit, who never treat the Wild well, no matter how well the Red Wings are doing otherwise.
But, the reality is that until the NHL and the Players' Association can come to agreement on how to slice up that revenue souffle' that's being served up, there may not even BE a season to complain about a schedule over. The fact of the matter remains, that if Don Fehr and Gary Bettman can't get along, we'll all be sitting home, wondering what would have really happened in those two games against the lowly Islanders.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Calm before the Storm
Final weekend before draft, summer tour, free agency day allows Wild, fans to think of 'what if?'
Well, folks, we're almost there.
Next week at this time, there will be new players for the Minnesota Wild, courtesy of the NHL Draft being held this coming Friday and Saturday in Pittsburgh. There will be limo buses being gassed up and inspected, for the Wild Summer Tour starting the following Monday. And, as we have all had drilled into us for months, the start of Free Agency on Sunday, July 1st.
Now, I'll digress at this point, as we all know which free agents that the Wild covet, and which ones they don't. We all know that the Wild have carloads of cash and cap space to spend; but so do others, others who are closer to the Stanley Cup Finals than the rebuilding Wild are.
There are also issues with the current roster, as well, as there is the Guillaume Latendresse question to answer: Will he return to the Wild roster, after basically two seasons of suffering concussions? Will Latendresse sign a lesser contract, one that will be incentive-laden, to remain on the roster? Or will GM Chuck Fletcher say that enough is, indeed, enough, and that the coming influx of new talent will be enough, to allow a potential 30-plus goal scorer in Latendresse to get away? Even Gui knows he won't be getting the $2.5M qualifying offer that, as a restricted free agent, he would be eligible for. But the fact that this Wild team was 30th in the NHL last season in scoring, is a statistic that screams out at everyone involved -- management, players, and fans alike.
There is the also continuing Pierre-Marc Bouchard issue as well. Three seasons when he has had his season cut short with head issues. Again, the question is: How long do you hang onto the talent, knowing that you've seen what he can do, but not knowing when -- or, if -- you can depend on him to play a regular spot?
There are issues surfacing at a spot -- defense -- which Wild fans are not used to dealing with, either, with the departure (via trade) of Nick Schultz and the arrival (in the same trade) of Tom Gilbert, Bloomington native and defensive liability, IMO. Whomever pairs with him had better be fast, as Gilbert's lack of speed and unfamiliarity with the ways of Mike Yeo, and the rest of the roster, were very apparent as the season's final weeks played out this past season.
As offensively challenged as Schultz was, his defensive work more than made up for his lack of point punch. The replacement? Who knows? That will be decided in training camp, as one of the six (or more) spots on the roster to be filled, by the load of newbies coming down the restocked pipeline.
And what of the new blood? We all know about Mikael Granlund, he will be on the roster on Opening Day; but what of the other youngsters? Who will make the cut? Who goes to Houston for Gulf Coast seafood and hockey seasoning? And who gets traded (if anyone) for 'NHL talent'?
Does 'trader Chuck' make an appearance in Pittsburgh during the draft? Or do the Wild, with extra picks from trades made during the past season, stand pat and continue to restock the larder following the end of the Risebrough era?
And then, there is the Free Agency scenarios, many of whom have hit the light of day in the last few weeks as the date approaches. Parise, Suter, Joe Corvo, the list goes on and on. I won't bore you with all the various details, but suffice it to say, that the end results will more help the Wild, than hurt it, again IMO. (And don't ask me who or how...)
Yes, the schedule also comes out this week as well. But, until there is agreement between owners and players on a new collective bargaining agreement, any schedule will not be worth the paper (or, bandwidth) that it's printed on. Labor peace must be obtained before the puck is dropped again. The Phoenix Coyotes situation must be dealt with (again), as any sale must have the de facto approval of the Goldwater Institute ("In defense of Liberty") before the sale is finalized. Then there is Quebec City, who is building a new arena (in the parking lot of the current Colisee Pepsi), hoping to land an NHL franchise. But which franchise will it be? Phoenix? Or, another franchise of the six NHL teams in financial trouble?
Only the NHL knows for sure, And, no one in Gary Bettman's office is talking.
Well, folks, we're almost there.
Next week at this time, there will be new players for the Minnesota Wild, courtesy of the NHL Draft being held this coming Friday and Saturday in Pittsburgh. There will be limo buses being gassed up and inspected, for the Wild Summer Tour starting the following Monday. And, as we have all had drilled into us for months, the start of Free Agency on Sunday, July 1st.
Now, I'll digress at this point, as we all know which free agents that the Wild covet, and which ones they don't. We all know that the Wild have carloads of cash and cap space to spend; but so do others, others who are closer to the Stanley Cup Finals than the rebuilding Wild are.
There are also issues with the current roster, as well, as there is the Guillaume Latendresse question to answer: Will he return to the Wild roster, after basically two seasons of suffering concussions? Will Latendresse sign a lesser contract, one that will be incentive-laden, to remain on the roster? Or will GM Chuck Fletcher say that enough is, indeed, enough, and that the coming influx of new talent will be enough, to allow a potential 30-plus goal scorer in Latendresse to get away? Even Gui knows he won't be getting the $2.5M qualifying offer that, as a restricted free agent, he would be eligible for. But the fact that this Wild team was 30th in the NHL last season in scoring, is a statistic that screams out at everyone involved -- management, players, and fans alike.
There is the also continuing Pierre-Marc Bouchard issue as well. Three seasons when he has had his season cut short with head issues. Again, the question is: How long do you hang onto the talent, knowing that you've seen what he can do, but not knowing when -- or, if -- you can depend on him to play a regular spot?
There are issues surfacing at a spot -- defense -- which Wild fans are not used to dealing with, either, with the departure (via trade) of Nick Schultz and the arrival (in the same trade) of Tom Gilbert, Bloomington native and defensive liability, IMO. Whomever pairs with him had better be fast, as Gilbert's lack of speed and unfamiliarity with the ways of Mike Yeo, and the rest of the roster, were very apparent as the season's final weeks played out this past season.
As offensively challenged as Schultz was, his defensive work more than made up for his lack of point punch. The replacement? Who knows? That will be decided in training camp, as one of the six (or more) spots on the roster to be filled, by the load of newbies coming down the restocked pipeline.
And what of the new blood? We all know about Mikael Granlund, he will be on the roster on Opening Day; but what of the other youngsters? Who will make the cut? Who goes to Houston for Gulf Coast seafood and hockey seasoning? And who gets traded (if anyone) for 'NHL talent'?
Does 'trader Chuck' make an appearance in Pittsburgh during the draft? Or do the Wild, with extra picks from trades made during the past season, stand pat and continue to restock the larder following the end of the Risebrough era?
And then, there is the Free Agency scenarios, many of whom have hit the light of day in the last few weeks as the date approaches. Parise, Suter, Joe Corvo, the list goes on and on. I won't bore you with all the various details, but suffice it to say, that the end results will more help the Wild, than hurt it, again IMO. (And don't ask me who or how...)
Yes, the schedule also comes out this week as well. But, until there is agreement between owners and players on a new collective bargaining agreement, any schedule will not be worth the paper (or, bandwidth) that it's printed on. Labor peace must be obtained before the puck is dropped again. The Phoenix Coyotes situation must be dealt with (again), as any sale must have the de facto approval of the Goldwater Institute ("In defense of Liberty") before the sale is finalized. Then there is Quebec City, who is building a new arena (in the parking lot of the current Colisee Pepsi), hoping to land an NHL franchise. But which franchise will it be? Phoenix? Or, another franchise of the six NHL teams in financial trouble?
Only the NHL knows for sure, And, no one in Gary Bettman's office is talking.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Away from the Action
With playoffs in full swing, Wild take opportunity to assess season, make changes
As April drags on, and the number of NHL concussions grows with every day of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Minnesota Wild, who weren't even close to the playoffs as the season ended, wound up the 2011-12 season and looked ahead to the three things on the team's 'to-do' list:
1. The NHL Draft, June 22-23, at CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh. The draft used to be the Wild's version of a vast wasteland, as the Doug Risebrough regime would either trade away draft picks for middling, lower-level, past-their-prime veterans, or would choose so poorly, that the pick was almost immediately considered a bust.
No more. The current, Chuck Fletcher-led Wild regime has a track record of drafting talent fairly well, and that talent is just coming over the rise, to save the Wild from long-term mediocrity (e.g., 'Columbus Blue Jackets', 'Toronto Maple Leafs', 'New York Islanders', et. al.,) and return Minnesota NHL hockey to relevance.
2. Free Agency Day, July 1. Will Fletcher and his staff be able to lure the top-quality help to improve the Wild's roster? Will some of the big names, whose availability have been thrown about in local media the last three months, actually sign here? Or will the most talented players in the sport continue to not sign in Minnesota? Is the continuation of the 'Marian Gaborik syndrome' still in play, long after all of the principals in that one-act saga have moved on (most of whom to the same team, the NY Rangers?) What will the future of the Wild say to the prospective free agent(s) that Fletcher & Co. pursue? What will the cap room that Fletcher has to work with allow him to sign? Which leads me to Item No. 3...
3. Collective Bargaining Agreement Expiration Day, Sept. 15. Will the owners agree to a 50/50 revenue split for the players? Or will the owners insist on a 57/43 owner/player spilt? What will be the future of re-alignment? Free agency? Rookie contracts? Free Agency tiers? Will the NHLPA leadership, led by ex-MLBPA chief Donald Fehr, who was partially responsible for turning Mendoza-line (.200, for those of you who didn't know) pop-fly banjo hitters, into multi-millionaires, go 'hard-line' on the negotiations? Or will cooler heads prevail, as 4-5 teams lose over $10 million annually? How long does the NHLPA allow the league to prop up the Phoenix Coyotes franchise, now that the City of Glendale will be out of the picture after this season's playoffs?
There may not even BE a 2012-13 season, if some of these issues are not ironed out by mid-September. At which point, the season for the Wild, as exciting as might be when it is played, would just becomes one giant moot point.
As April drags on, and the number of NHL concussions grows with every day of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Minnesota Wild, who weren't even close to the playoffs as the season ended, wound up the 2011-12 season and looked ahead to the three things on the team's 'to-do' list:
1. The NHL Draft, June 22-23, at CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh. The draft used to be the Wild's version of a vast wasteland, as the Doug Risebrough regime would either trade away draft picks for middling, lower-level, past-their-prime veterans, or would choose so poorly, that the pick was almost immediately considered a bust.
No more. The current, Chuck Fletcher-led Wild regime has a track record of drafting talent fairly well, and that talent is just coming over the rise, to save the Wild from long-term mediocrity (e.g., 'Columbus Blue Jackets', 'Toronto Maple Leafs', 'New York Islanders', et. al.,) and return Minnesota NHL hockey to relevance.
2. Free Agency Day, July 1. Will Fletcher and his staff be able to lure the top-quality help to improve the Wild's roster? Will some of the big names, whose availability have been thrown about in local media the last three months, actually sign here? Or will the most talented players in the sport continue to not sign in Minnesota? Is the continuation of the 'Marian Gaborik syndrome' still in play, long after all of the principals in that one-act saga have moved on (most of whom to the same team, the NY Rangers?) What will the future of the Wild say to the prospective free agent(s) that Fletcher & Co. pursue? What will the cap room that Fletcher has to work with allow him to sign? Which leads me to Item No. 3...
3. Collective Bargaining Agreement Expiration Day, Sept. 15. Will the owners agree to a 50/50 revenue split for the players? Or will the owners insist on a 57/43 owner/player spilt? What will be the future of re-alignment? Free agency? Rookie contracts? Free Agency tiers? Will the NHLPA leadership, led by ex-MLBPA chief Donald Fehr, who was partially responsible for turning Mendoza-line (.200, for those of you who didn't know) pop-fly banjo hitters, into multi-millionaires, go 'hard-line' on the negotiations? Or will cooler heads prevail, as 4-5 teams lose over $10 million annually? How long does the NHLPA allow the league to prop up the Phoenix Coyotes franchise, now that the City of Glendale will be out of the picture after this season's playoffs?
There may not even BE a 2012-13 season, if some of these issues are not ironed out by mid-September. At which point, the season for the Wild, as exciting as might be when it is played, would just becomes one giant moot point.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Last Lap in this race might just be Coyotes' last howl in Arizona
Final game in disheartening Wild season may double as last gasp for NHL in Arizona
By Wild Road Tripper
Well, the three-season-plus saga of the ownership problems of the Phoenix Coyotes may just finally end -- at least in the regular-season sense -- Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center, as the beat-up and bloodied Minnesota Wild, still having to make multiple roster moves in order to field a competitive team, plays their last game of the 2011-2012 season.
For the Wild, the end of this 'tale of two seasons' season cannot come soon enough. The dividing point, the Dec. 13 game at Winnipeg's MTS Centre, stands out like the Grand Canyon does, dividing a 19-game stretch of unparalled success and a 41-game stretch of absolutely miserable failure, injury, and despair. The fact that the end of the season is coming at the end of a six-game stretch, the first five games where the Wild have 'amassed' a somewhat respectable (for a team out of the playoffs, that is) 4-0-1 record provides a ray of hope, while the rest of March was a series of drubbings, the likes of which Wild fans had not seen since...last March, when the Wild were throttled by Montreal, Toronto and St. Louis in four nights, after losing in overtime to the lowly (then, as now) Columbus Blue Jackets.
The fact that the Wild's roster has had to have basically been reconstructed, more than Todd Fedoruk's face following the Boogaard fight, says a lot about this organization's resiliency. The fact that the Houston Aeros are still doing anything at all in the AHL's Western Conference shows that the 'build from within' policy, adopted when Wild GM Chuck Fletcher tried to make chicken salad from the leavings of the Doug Risebrough administration, despite the club record number of callups to the 'big club' this season (47 players will have worn Iron Range Red by the end of Saturday night's game), shows promise for the near future.
And then, there's the draft picks, many of whom (maybe as many as six) will make the 'big club' roster by the time the puck drops for real again in October (assuming, of course, the NHL and its' players don't make the same mistake the NBA and its' players did this past fall, and stage a labor dispute, with millionaires and billionaires bickering about salaries, while the fans watch NFL and CFL football, and don't even care about missing hockey).
Sign a free agent (especially, say, one who is building a new home less than an hour's drive west of the 'X') or two (a certain offensive defenseman, currently playing South of the Mason-Dixon Line, would be nice, too) and you might be ready to rise from the ashes...
...like a Phoenix. But this will happen in Minnesota, and not in Phoenix, where the Coyotes are standing on the precipice between staying and moving, with one foot on the proverbial banana peel, and the other on a base of very loose rock. Since the City of Glendale will not be allowed to further subsidize the operation of the Coyotes franchise, no thanks to the butt-inski attitude of the Goldwater Institute ("In defense of liberty"), whose current chair is none other than the wife of the majority owner of MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks, another Arizona sports team which hasn't exactly fared well in the last few seasons.
For all the complaining about the NHL Players Association that we as fans of hockey do, in my opinion, this time the NHLPA does have a valid point: the Coyotes are losing copious amounts of cash, upwards of $45-50 Million annually, with the NHL (read: every other team) and the City splitting the losses. The NHLPA is saying 'hey, wait a minute: if this team is losing that much money, where's our cut of the profits?'
They have a valid point. Any other team that loses $50 million dollars annually for more than three seasons in any other sport would either be moved or disbanded. But the NHL hierarchy refuses to give in (so far) to the calls to do something with the Coyotes franchise, as no one has an additional $140 million laying around right now with nothing else to do in this recession-ravaged economy, especially in ultra-conservative Arizona, where every little issue seems to set off major consternation.
Yes, the Coyotes have made the playoffs, something this franchise didn't do often when they were the original Winnipeg Jets. More than likely, the Coyotes will face off against either Chicago or Detroit (should they win Saturday versus the Wild), Vancouver (should they lose in regulation Saturday night), or St. Louis (should they lose in overtime or shootout, and San Jose wins at home vs. LA Saturday night). Yes, there will be a few more 'white-outs' in Jobing.com Arena next week. But the prospects for the Coyotes playing beyond the first round are very slim at best. And their prospects for playing beyond this year's playoffs in Arizona?
Even worse.
By Wild Road Tripper
Well, the three-season-plus saga of the ownership problems of the Phoenix Coyotes may just finally end -- at least in the regular-season sense -- Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center, as the beat-up and bloodied Minnesota Wild, still having to make multiple roster moves in order to field a competitive team, plays their last game of the 2011-2012 season.
For the Wild, the end of this 'tale of two seasons' season cannot come soon enough. The dividing point, the Dec. 13 game at Winnipeg's MTS Centre, stands out like the Grand Canyon does, dividing a 19-game stretch of unparalled success and a 41-game stretch of absolutely miserable failure, injury, and despair. The fact that the end of the season is coming at the end of a six-game stretch, the first five games where the Wild have 'amassed' a somewhat respectable (for a team out of the playoffs, that is) 4-0-1 record provides a ray of hope, while the rest of March was a series of drubbings, the likes of which Wild fans had not seen since...last March, when the Wild were throttled by Montreal, Toronto and St. Louis in four nights, after losing in overtime to the lowly (then, as now) Columbus Blue Jackets.
The fact that the Wild's roster has had to have basically been reconstructed, more than Todd Fedoruk's face following the Boogaard fight, says a lot about this organization's resiliency. The fact that the Houston Aeros are still doing anything at all in the AHL's Western Conference shows that the 'build from within' policy, adopted when Wild GM Chuck Fletcher tried to make chicken salad from the leavings of the Doug Risebrough administration, despite the club record number of callups to the 'big club' this season (47 players will have worn Iron Range Red by the end of Saturday night's game), shows promise for the near future.
And then, there's the draft picks, many of whom (maybe as many as six) will make the 'big club' roster by the time the puck drops for real again in October (assuming, of course, the NHL and its' players don't make the same mistake the NBA and its' players did this past fall, and stage a labor dispute, with millionaires and billionaires bickering about salaries, while the fans watch NFL and CFL football, and don't even care about missing hockey).
Sign a free agent (especially, say, one who is building a new home less than an hour's drive west of the 'X') or two (a certain offensive defenseman, currently playing South of the Mason-Dixon Line, would be nice, too) and you might be ready to rise from the ashes...
...like a Phoenix. But this will happen in Minnesota, and not in Phoenix, where the Coyotes are standing on the precipice between staying and moving, with one foot on the proverbial banana peel, and the other on a base of very loose rock. Since the City of Glendale will not be allowed to further subsidize the operation of the Coyotes franchise, no thanks to the butt-inski attitude of the Goldwater Institute ("In defense of liberty"), whose current chair is none other than the wife of the majority owner of MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks, another Arizona sports team which hasn't exactly fared well in the last few seasons.
For all the complaining about the NHL Players Association that we as fans of hockey do, in my opinion, this time the NHLPA does have a valid point: the Coyotes are losing copious amounts of cash, upwards of $45-50 Million annually, with the NHL (read: every other team) and the City splitting the losses. The NHLPA is saying 'hey, wait a minute: if this team is losing that much money, where's our cut of the profits?'
They have a valid point. Any other team that loses $50 million dollars annually for more than three seasons in any other sport would either be moved or disbanded. But the NHL hierarchy refuses to give in (so far) to the calls to do something with the Coyotes franchise, as no one has an additional $140 million laying around right now with nothing else to do in this recession-ravaged economy, especially in ultra-conservative Arizona, where every little issue seems to set off major consternation.
Yes, the Coyotes have made the playoffs, something this franchise didn't do often when they were the original Winnipeg Jets. More than likely, the Coyotes will face off against either Chicago or Detroit (should they win Saturday versus the Wild), Vancouver (should they lose in regulation Saturday night), or St. Louis (should they lose in overtime or shootout, and San Jose wins at home vs. LA Saturday night). Yes, there will be a few more 'white-outs' in Jobing.com Arena next week. But the prospects for the Coyotes playing beyond the first round are very slim at best. And their prospects for playing beyond this year's playoffs in Arizona?
Even worse.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
As the other shoe drops...again, and again, and again, and again...
Disasterous Minnesota Wild season nears its' inevitable conclusion, minus seven regulars, give or take
Three weeks remaining. 11 games. 7 at home, 4 on the road. When Wild fans looked at the schedule in July, they saw a golden, once-in-a-decade opportunity to make most of your run for a playoff spot at home, in front of your own fans, with sell-out after sell-out, despite the weak economy.
Yeah, right. wasn't there a song about this, from the 70's? 'I Like Dreamin'...'
The reality is nearly the exact opposite of what I have stated above. Oh, there is the 11 games at home during March and April, of the last 19 games overall. But with a record since March 1 of 1-6-1, and since the Dec. 13 beatdown at Winnipeg's MTS Centre -- the game which, quite frankly, derailed the Wild season's juggernaut -- this Wild team has done the nearly impossible, gone from best record in the NHL on Dec. 13 to the third-worst record in the league this Sunday morning -- and no one can seem to find the switch to turn on the old Wild once again.
The Wild's record-setting futility streak, of losing five straight in front of the home folks, emphasizes the need for further development of the roster, not only for depth but for breadth as well. You not only need more players, but you need better players as well. Cleaning house just isn't enough. You really need to blow this thing to hell and start over. If you haven't adopted another team for the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, you are wholeheartedly advised by this blogger to do so. Now.
For this Wild season will end, three weeks from yesterday, with possibly the last game ever for the Phoenix Coyotes franchise, as an Arizona sports team. Nobody attends their games at Jobing.com Arena, but they are still in the playoff chase. But the Wild, and their 'Team of 18,000', are not.
Did I want the Wild to make the playoffs, even though I was as skeptical as everyone else when the Wild were going thru their November winning streak? Sure did! Did they disappoint me this January and February? Sure did! This 'March into hell' month is just depressing as a Wild fan. (Now I know how Toronto Maple Leafs fans feel. Just think of this times 40, and you somewhat understand your Leafs' fans frustrations.)
But the selling of hope -- as the 'new generation' of Wild players, led by the (hopefully, he's not signed yet) arrival of Mikael Granlund from Finland's HIFK -- continues, even as the NHL and the Players' Association veer ominously towards a labor dispute, one which threatens to disrupt, if not cancel, the 2012-13 season in its' entirety. The fact that two of the most stubborn figures in North American sport -- NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr, he who helped make the Mendoza-line banjo-hitting baseball player a multi-millionaire -- are squaring off against each other, does not bode well for the hockey-loving NHL fan.
So enjoy the losing, Wild faithful. For in three weeks, it will all be over. Except the angst of 'we should have been there'. Because a season which started with so much promise, cannot end soon enough.
Three weeks remaining. 11 games. 7 at home, 4 on the road. When Wild fans looked at the schedule in July, they saw a golden, once-in-a-decade opportunity to make most of your run for a playoff spot at home, in front of your own fans, with sell-out after sell-out, despite the weak economy.
Yeah, right. wasn't there a song about this, from the 70's? 'I Like Dreamin'...'
The reality is nearly the exact opposite of what I have stated above. Oh, there is the 11 games at home during March and April, of the last 19 games overall. But with a record since March 1 of 1-6-1, and since the Dec. 13 beatdown at Winnipeg's MTS Centre -- the game which, quite frankly, derailed the Wild season's juggernaut -- this Wild team has done the nearly impossible, gone from best record in the NHL on Dec. 13 to the third-worst record in the league this Sunday morning -- and no one can seem to find the switch to turn on the old Wild once again.
The Wild's record-setting futility streak, of losing five straight in front of the home folks, emphasizes the need for further development of the roster, not only for depth but for breadth as well. You not only need more players, but you need better players as well. Cleaning house just isn't enough. You really need to blow this thing to hell and start over. If you haven't adopted another team for the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, you are wholeheartedly advised by this blogger to do so. Now.
For this Wild season will end, three weeks from yesterday, with possibly the last game ever for the Phoenix Coyotes franchise, as an Arizona sports team. Nobody attends their games at Jobing.com Arena, but they are still in the playoff chase. But the Wild, and their 'Team of 18,000', are not.
Did I want the Wild to make the playoffs, even though I was as skeptical as everyone else when the Wild were going thru their November winning streak? Sure did! Did they disappoint me this January and February? Sure did! This 'March into hell' month is just depressing as a Wild fan. (Now I know how Toronto Maple Leafs fans feel. Just think of this times 40, and you somewhat understand your Leafs' fans frustrations.)
But the selling of hope -- as the 'new generation' of Wild players, led by the (hopefully, he's not signed yet) arrival of Mikael Granlund from Finland's HIFK -- continues, even as the NHL and the Players' Association veer ominously towards a labor dispute, one which threatens to disrupt, if not cancel, the 2012-13 season in its' entirety. The fact that two of the most stubborn figures in North American sport -- NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr, he who helped make the Mendoza-line banjo-hitting baseball player a multi-millionaire -- are squaring off against each other, does not bode well for the hockey-loving NHL fan.
So enjoy the losing, Wild faithful. For in three weeks, it will all be over. Except the angst of 'we should have been there'. Because a season which started with so much promise, cannot end soon enough.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
So what else is new?
New season. Different players. And, so far, same old style of result.
If this is what the Minnesota Wild have in store for their fans this season, it's really a bad harbinger of things to come.
The fact of the matter is that they still will not shoot when shooting lanes develop. This team is still looking for the 'pretty play' goal, the perfect tip-in, the 'wait for the puck' rebound. Yes, I know, it's the pre-season. EX-hibition hockey. So far, what they've ex-hibited after three games is not ex-actly what Coach Todd Richards and his ex-panded staff have wanted to see being ex-pounded by the players.
After Friday night's disasterous trip to St. Louis, where the young, up-and-coming Blues once again demolished the Wild, 5-0, while the Wild watch as Josh Harding blows out two ligaments in his right knee, ending his season, the Wild then come home on Saturday night, and actually score twice, but their lack of effort on the back end allows the Philadelphia Flyers, playing with only a limited amount of their regular lineup (which is standard in the pre-season), to come from behind and win in the shootout, 3-2, as 16,742 (supposedly...looked like about 11,000 in the house to me) saw the Wild end their scoreless streak at just over 122 minutes.
You have to ask yourself: Could the pre-season schedule be strung differently so as to avoid the disasterous start to the season? Yes, teams are limited as to the amount of time available to make roster decisions, and get the team into game shape. And, as we have seen, to also sustain devastating injuries. 4 games in 5 nights is really too much. Even the NHL should know this. So should the NHLPA. This pre-season scheduling issue really needs to be a labor/management issue.
Not saying, just sayin'...
If this is what the Minnesota Wild have in store for their fans this season, it's really a bad harbinger of things to come.
The fact of the matter is that they still will not shoot when shooting lanes develop. This team is still looking for the 'pretty play' goal, the perfect tip-in, the 'wait for the puck' rebound. Yes, I know, it's the pre-season. EX-hibition hockey. So far, what they've ex-hibited after three games is not ex-actly what Coach Todd Richards and his ex-panded staff have wanted to see being ex-pounded by the players.
After Friday night's disasterous trip to St. Louis, where the young, up-and-coming Blues once again demolished the Wild, 5-0, while the Wild watch as Josh Harding blows out two ligaments in his right knee, ending his season, the Wild then come home on Saturday night, and actually score twice, but their lack of effort on the back end allows the Philadelphia Flyers, playing with only a limited amount of their regular lineup (which is standard in the pre-season), to come from behind and win in the shootout, 3-2, as 16,742 (supposedly...looked like about 11,000 in the house to me) saw the Wild end their scoreless streak at just over 122 minutes.
You have to ask yourself: Could the pre-season schedule be strung differently so as to avoid the disasterous start to the season? Yes, teams are limited as to the amount of time available to make roster decisions, and get the team into game shape. And, as we have seen, to also sustain devastating injuries. 4 games in 5 nights is really too much. Even the NHL should know this. So should the NHLPA. This pre-season scheduling issue really needs to be a labor/management issue.
Not saying, just sayin'...
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