The Hockey Herald

After 30 years of marriage, I’m leaving the Philadelphia Flyers.  The reasons can be filed under irreconcilable differences which culminated in today’s non activity at the NHL Trade Deadline.  This breakup was not brought about by today’s inactivity alone.  Rather, it was caused, over the years, by issues that led to the necessity of today’s inactivity.

One of our major issues is the Flyers lack of fiscal responsibility.  Though I said I’d stand behind them no matter what, I have become disenfranchised with them throwing dollar after dollar at players past their prime who, in the end, bring nothing but hardship and stress to our marriage.  Some were fleeting, and easy to get over.  Adam Oates and Paul Coffey immediately come to mind.  Others were more difficult to forgive.  I still bear the scars of Luke Richardson, Mike Rathje, Chris Gratton, and Scott Hartnell, to name a few.  And after those players leaves, I’m left to pick up the pieces and tell them “Thanks for trying, at least I know you want to win.”

Another issue we have is the Flyers failure to find responsible insurance to look after our most prized possessions.  They haven’t provided a quality goaltender since our tenth wedding anniversary, the end of Ron Hextall’s first tour of duty.  Over the past 20 years they bought bogus policies off of everyone from Dominic Roussell to Roman Cechmanek.  But, when we needed the goaltending to be there the most, it was nowhere to be found.  I still can’t believe I let them talk me into Jeff Hackett!

The final reason, and this one may be a bit vain, is that their old friends, who are quite arrogant and stubborn, are always around.  And, it’s apparent that they mean more to the Flyers than I do.  The Flyers say they need these people around because they are a link to the glory days, the foundation on which the Flyers legacy was built.  But, I wasn’t even born when those Stanley Cups were won.  And the game has changed so much since then.  I appreciate friendship and loyalty as much as anyone.  But, know your friends limitations.  Maybe the Flyers shouldn’t have let Bob Clarke be the GM for so long.  I mean, the man is still fighting The Cold War.  I thought that when they replaced him with Paul Holmgren things would change.  But, alas, it’s just more of the same.  Dinosaurs trying to survive in a world that no longer exists for them.  The Flyers have insisted on giving these “Friends” important jobs in the organization.  They wouldn’t listen to my plea to move on from them in order to save our marriage.

After our last separation in 2004, when the Flyers and I were apart for a year.  They came back and promised me they would be different.  They would try to make our marriage work within the new rules of the NHL.  But they quickly reverted to their old ways and signed Derian Hatcher, a typical “Flyers” guy.  and so, that spring, without fail, they left me broken hearted once more.

It wasn’t always this way.  There were plenty of good times.  The 35 game unbeaten streak when we were newlyweds.  And even though we were robbed that night on Long Island by Bobby Nystrom, I knew that there were good times ahead.  The runs to the Stanley Cup Finals in ‘85 and ‘87.  Hanging out with The Legion Of Doom.

But, the problems began to outweigh the good times.  And the Flyers most recent failures with their roster, both financially and in the misjudgment of talent, and their stubborness to move on from the past, has left me with no other recourse.  And, today was the result of those failures.  The Flyers are no longer able to do the things needed to make this marriage work.  So, I must let them go.  But know that I do so with a full heart.  I won’t find another team, that would be too awkward.  Even though that Patrick Kane is a lot fun to watch.

-Mike Tursi

The original version of this post can be found on my blog site: http://bit.ly/ceBn3i

My original idea for this post was to show that as North American professional sports leagues became more worldly, the debate should be laid to rest as to whether or not it’s fair that pro athletes be allowed to compete for their country. After all, this isn’t 1992, when a Dream Team of NBA superstars traveled to Barcelona & wreaked havoc on the Basketball events of the summer games.

But an unofficial poll on such social networking sites as Twitter and Facebook has shown me that there are many people who are very much divided on the topic. And, I found that it wasn’t nessecarily about balance of competition, or even whether pros should be allowed to compete in what is usually an ametuer event. Rather, the biggest debate was about how the layoff will effect the league that the players regularly play in.

This has become a bit of a moot point for the NBA, since basketball is a summer event and the NBA plays during the fall and winter months. But, in hockey, it’s quite a hot topic, because the NHL is forced to take a two week hiatus. So who’s right and who’s wrong. I’ll give you both sides, then I’ll give you my opinion. After that, you can decide for yourself.

Pros:

The NHL is no longer a North American league. It may be the most global of the four major sports on the continent. This influx of European and Russian athletes has infused a sort of Olympic feel in the league’s day to day operations (The NHL even experimented with a North America vs. The World All Star format). Allowing it’s players to compete on a world stage can only help grow a sport so desperately seeking real estate among it’s bigger, more popular brothers.

Piggy-backing on the above point; having NHL players guarantees world class competition. Each game in the tournament is a mini All Star game. Again, not a bad showcase for a sport trying to grow in popularity.

Olympic teams have competitive balance. Unlike the 1992 Dream Team, allowing NHL players to compete for their countries has leveled the playing field.

The stereotype regarding the desires of the athletes are no longer divided by region. It was always presumed that North American players grew up with dreams of winning a Stanley Cup over an Olympic Medal. Conversely, it was assumed that players who came from overseas to play in the NHL didn’t have the passion to strive for the Stanley Cup and were only here to collect a paycheck and showcase their talents. Now all players get to compete for both. North American players learned the value of playing for their country while European and Eastern Asian players developed a desire to compete for Lord Stanley’s Cup. *NOTE* I stress that these are stereotypes. In no way am I disputing the validity of an athletes desire to compete. At any level, or for any trophy.

Cons:

What about the NHL? Is a two week hiatus a good thing for a league trying to grow in popularity. Sure, hockey fans will be paying attention to the Olympic Games. And it doesn’t hurt that the host country is hockey crazed Canada. But, the lights will be turned off for two weeks. Any modest fan who was becoming a little more curious about the NHL might be turned off, especially since NBC hasn’t done much to put hockey at the forefront of its broadcasts. You have to do a little channel surfing to find the games. Will that mildly curious fan just stick to alpine skiing and figure skating? Even Snowboarding gets billing over hockey on the NBC network of Olympic channels. Does the NHL, and the game of hockey itself, need another sport to compete with? *NOTE* Hockey can be found on every channel in Canada, this argument only applies to the United States Markets.

Team momentum will no doubt be affected by the break. Teams like the Flyers, who had just seemed to find a positive rhythym, are stopped in their tracks. And who knows if they can find that groove again when play resumes. This works both ways. Teams on slides, the Devils and Penguins come to mind, could be aided by the break. It might allow them to regroup and come back with a new slate to work with. My point is, how is that fair to the competitive balance of a league which has obviously worked very hard to achieve such a balance in the first place.

Chemistry is another element bound to be affected. Most of the league’s players are home with family, while a small percentage rev up the concentration levels to compete for their countries. This may cause teammates and linemates to be on different pages when play resumes.

Injury and fatigue are probably the biggest points in the argument against NHL players in the Winter Games. Yes, we all have National Pride, even million dollar athletes. But these men collect paychecks from teams counting on them to produce revenue, excitement, and ultimately, a championship for their fan base. What if one of them is seriously injured during the Olympics? It would not only impact that player’s season, but quite possibly, the fate of his team. After all, we’re not talking about the Donald Brashears of the NHL playing in this tournament. It’s the Crosbys and Ovechkins. Players that the NHL depends on. Also, it is said that The Stanley Cup just might be the hardest trophy to win in all of sports. The NHL Playoffs are a grueling marathon. How will players respond after having already exhausted so much in pursuit of Olympic glory?

My Take:

Despite the risk of losing the casual viewer, or even losing a player for the season due to injury. I like having NHL Players in the Olympics. I’ve long said, you’re either a fan of hockey, or you’re not. The NHL shouldn’t concern itself with chasing casual fans. It has one of the most loyal fan bases in all of sports, and should play to that strength. As for injury; any one of us could get hurt walking down the street, that shouldn’t even be an argument.

The Olympics create a unique opportunity to showcase the many talented athletes who play in the NHL, and can provide hockey fans everywhere with an opportunity to witness the game played at it’s highest level. And if the casual fan wants to hop on board for the ride, so be it.

Lastly, as I mentioned above, we all have National Pride. It’s not the players fault that some smart business men decided to start leagues that allowed lots of people the opportunity to make lots of money. National pride knows no dollar sign. If my country has terrific players, I want them playing for my team to help my country gain international bragging rights.

- Mike Tursi

via Ottawa Citizen:

“I’m investigating other defencemen,” Murray said, suggesting that having depth on the blue-line is often instrumental in how deep a club advances in the postseason. “I’ve talked to some teams already (Friday) about other getting another defenceman, but (other teams) will be shopping, too. Everybody gets the best price they can. Those are the things that happen when it snowballs.”

The Senators are in desperate need of defencemen. The trading of Picard, coupled with what appears to be a long-term lower-body injury to Chris Campoli, left the Senators with only five healthy defencemen for tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings and Sunday’s contest versus the New York Islanders.

via Boston Globe:

Only some eight months removed from winning the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top netminder, the 35-year-old Thomas has slipped under Tuukka Rask on the Bruins’ totem pole, adding to a growing perception that his game has slipped.

Thanks Peter Tessier over at HockeBuzz for this gem. All of these points are from the same blog posting he recently wrote:

- ….David Thompson, son of Ken Thompson and controlling shareholder in Thompson Reuters has purchased the Atlanta Thrashers and is moving it to Winnipeg for the 2010-11 Season. This is to be announced after the Olympics.

- The Manitoba Moose, farm team for Vancouver will be moving to Saskatoon and the Saskatoon Blades WHL team will moving to Winnipeg.

- The Phoenix Coyotes will be moving to Kansas City. The NHL has apparently brokered a deal for the Coyotes to move to Kansas City.

via USA Today:

With NBC’s long, current Olympic TV lock extending only to London’s 2012 Summer Games, new TV deals might come this year that could lead to something not seen since the Clinton presidency: Somebody else carrying the Games.

And potential bidders for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and Rio de Janeiro’s 2016 Summer Games — possibly including NBC, ESPN/ABC, Fox and a joint CBS/TNT bid — will scour NBC’s Olympic ratings looking for clues about this: Are the Games hanging on as a TV hit?…

Compared to NBC’s Salt Lake coverage — which averaged 19.9% of U.S. TV households through its first four nights — NBC’s Vancouver ratings are down 24.1%.

Similar to what happen in Canada for this years Olympics, where CBC has had the rights for the Olympics forever and CTV has then starting this year.

With men’s Olympic hockey underway as of today, I thought this topic would give some NHL fan’s something other than Olympic hockey to discuss. A new rumour coming out of Calgary regarding a reason why Dion Phaneuf was traded has surfaced. A member close to the team has told our site that Phaneuf was having an affair with Craig Conroy’s wife.  The source went on to say that there had been rumours of an affair between Phaneuf and Conroy’s wife but were later confirmed when an equipment manager went on Phaneuf’s phone during practise and discover a text message from Craig Conroy’s wife. The text read “we can’t do this anymore”. The equipment manager went to Flames brass right away with what he had discovered and Phaneuf’s fate was set. Of course there are other factors as to why Phaneuf was traded but this is just another to think about.

This is certainly not an uncommon occurrence in the NHL. Remember the Shayne Corson and Alex Moginily’s wife? This saw Corson traded to the Stars. There have also been a few rumoured cases with Kirk Muller.

via ESPN:

For all the talk from Team USA management and coaching staff that this team was built around a cog like Drury, having him start the Olympic Games as the 13th forward certainly didn’t send the same message. In fact, it only reinforces the belief from some critics that the young T.J. Oshie should have been on this team. Surely, the Blues star could have handled the 13th forward job.

But let me say this: there’s a positive flip side to what coach Ron Wilson decided to do with Drury. When you have a 33-year-old veteran with Drury’s international experience willing to suck it up for the team and accept a diminished role, it sends a message to a youthful squad: no one is bigger than the team.

“Chris has been around for a while,” said young Team USA leader Dustin Brown. “He’s been part of a lot of winning teams and he knows what it takes to win. Everyone has done a really good job of checking their ego at the door and he’s at the top of that list.

via Yahoo Sports:

Chris Pronger is like a dinosaur on the verge of extinction.

The veteran defenceman will be the only member of Team Canada who competes in these Olympics without wearing a visor. International hockey rules dictate that all players born after Dec. 31, 1974 must wear a protective shield, and the number of players without one dwindles with each passing year.

Six other Canadian Olympians normally play without a visor in the NHL, but have been forced to put one on here because of their birth date. Joe Thornton is among those guys and clearly isn’t a fan of the international rule.

“It’s kind of different,” Thornton said after putting on a shield for Monday’s practice. “I like being out there and being free. It kind of gets fogged up once and awhile, so it’s a little uncomfortable, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”