Poor Al Stratchan… he just doesn’t get it. He is the one man in the entire universe who thought the NHL was just fine as it was before the lockout and he is still carping about it. Most every hockey fan realizes that Al thinks that owners in the NHL are worse than pond scum (especially those who happen to be seen with… gasp… Gary Bettman!) Ok, he can play the role of crotchety critic, Andy Rooney has made a pretty good living at it on “60 Minutes” for a long time. However Al has now crossed from crotchety to clueless in his latest diatribe on foxsports.com.

Al, in his blind hatred of anything having to do with an NHL owner, didn’t bother to get his facts right, now I'm just a silly blogger... but I thought journalists were supposed to do that? Let’s look at a few of the factual misses in his piece…

• I’m looking for the announcement that “if attendance doesn't skyrocket by 25% for the rest of the season, owner Craig Leipold will be in a position to demand a further $2 million from beleaguered Nashville taxpayers and lay the groundwork to move elsewhere.” That never came from the team… Al quotes a local newspaper’s interpretation and characterizes it as an “announcement.” The team made no such announcement. Al… simple checking could’ve told you that.

• He talks about the team being “given an… arena.” Given. OK… after a fashion. What Al leaves out is… Nashville decided to build an arena, the city was tired of seeing big name concerts and events pass the city by due to the city’s lack of a large arena. They also used it as a key point in downtown’s revitalization. After opening, the city realized that an anchor tenant was needed to flesh out the number of nights the arena would be filled. The city went after a number of anchor tenants, the New Jersey Devils being the one everyone was most familiar with, however, they along with another NHL team and two NBA teams turned down the deal that the Predators accepted. Al… that’s more public knowledge… and by the way, the downtown revitalization has gone very well, due in part to the Predators 46+ dates at the arena annually.

• Al talks about how a “free arena wasn’t enough”, implying that Craig Leipold went back to the city for more money so luxury boxes could be built. It was all part of the original lease deal, but you wouldn’t know that by the way Al wrote his piece. Hey Al… don’t confuse a good story with facts.

• The practice arena rink he writes about (an additional sheet of ice that was added on to an existing facility… not a completely new facility as Al would have you believe) has been a boon to the expansion of youth hockey in Tennessee and contributes to the city coffers through ice rental to local hockey leagues, my son’s team played on that very sheet of ice last night (along with three other games). There are many more rental hours being used outside of the time it is used for the Preds. Try booking a sheet sometime Al, heck… try booking ice time in July! You will see how booked the ice time is. A sheet of ice… in Nashville… in summertime… generating revenue for the city. [sarcasm on] Just imagine… a greedy owner allowing that to happen… [sarcasm off]

• The Nashville Predators do not get all of the revenue streams that he states in his piece, a cursory glance at the high points of the agreement between the city and the Predators show that.

• Hell, Al… you can’t even do enough research to correctly quote the capacity of the hockey arena you claim to know so much about (17,113 for hockey, if you’re interested Al). There are multiple capacities for the arena depending on the event, but since we are talking about the Preds here Al, you should know this!


Poor Al… he doesn’t realize (or refuses to recognize) that the market has changed… The days of the Original Six are a deeply cherished part of the history of this league… that is long gone! The Nashville’s, the Carolina’s, the Tampa Bay’s, the Dallas’s, the Atlanta’s are now part of this league, and no matter what amount of carping he does, that will not change. Al, you’ve been complaining about expansion and Gary Bettman for as long as I can remember. It’s the same old song, and it has grown tiresome.

Poor Al… his personal attacks on Predators owner Craig Leipold and Predators GM David Poile are beneath even his limited understanding of the real world. Using the words “whiner… stupid… whiner… spoiled brat… world-class whiner” he attempts to prop up his uneducated opinion. By the way Al, you may want to pick up a thesaurus, there are other words to use than "whiner." (just a tip.)

Craig Leipold has done nothing but live up to his word in Nashville, he has brought a contender to this town. He has lost money so far on this venture, but his passion for the game and affection for Nashville is evident. Watch him in the owner’s box… he’s not just an owner… he’s a fan. He has lived up to every commitment he has made regarding this hockey team. Al, I guess you do not understand integrity.

David Poile has built this team from expansion to true Stanley Cup contender in eight seasons, showing patience, shrewd drafting and wily dealing. He is the epitome of class as a GM and represents this franchise and this city well. I guess you don’t understand excellence, let alone competence.

Poor Al… you haven’t figured out that hockey is now a world game… Obviously you believe that hockey doesn’t belong anywhere south of the US / Canada border, which I’m sure comes as a shock to 66% of the Original Six, let alone the other successful teams that happen to reside south of that border.

So Al… what’s next? An expose on why Detroit doesn’t deserve a team? How come the New York Rangers are still in the league? Boston and Chicago… who needs ‘em? Al, it’s time to join the real world of the 21st Century… give it up…

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