|
2012/2013: Hockey Self-Destructs |
|
|
|
|
|
The 2012/2013 season has been an absolute disaster for fans of hockey. We're not just talking fans of the NHL. Fans of all of hockey.
I'll get to the NHL mess in a minute, but first I'd like to address the World Junior Hockey Championships in Ufa, Russia.
Canada...Top hockey country in the world. The one with the most fans willing to spend money on the game. The country that is suppose to have so much depth that we could bring three winning teams to the WJHC. The country where millions of people stayed up all night to watch their junior team, as they played in a half-empty arena halfway around the world. Hey, when you stick the WJHC in Canada...anywhere in Canada...Every game is going to be a sellout. Canadians love hockey that much.
Team Canada sucked, but I'm not sure the players themselves are the main problem. There's two groups of people to blame for Canada's loss to the Americans yesterday: 1st is the Americans, who outplayed and outclassed Canada from start to finish. The other group are the morons who put together and ran this team. People like Head Scout Kevin Prendergast and Head Coach Steve Spott.
Management putting together Canada's annual team don't know what they're doing. They think about hockey in North American terms: Put together a roster of the biggest and scariest players possible. Then, go out there and bang bodies for the win. Canada tries to be a team that emposses it's will on a game in order to win. Which, if you're the Flyers in 1974, worked great. In the modern world of hockey? Not so much.
What I saw yesterday was an American team skating circles around Canada. The Canadians lost because they were not built to handle opposition skilled at skating. John Gandreau...a 5'8" 155lbs player who will likely ever play in the NHL due to his lack of size, made the Canadians look slow and talentless. Sure, Team USA has a bunch of bigger player too, but against Canada, it was the smaller, highly-skilled guys who controlled the flow of the game. Canada had no response to the skating of the Americans.
Canada's scouts and management group have a really strange way of putting together a roster to play on a Eurpeon-sized ice surface. Griffin Reinhart did nothing all tournmant because he was too big and slow. The only reason Ryan Murphy was there was because he's the coach's pet. In truth, the only guy who looked to me to belong there was Morgan Rielly. Maybe Xavier Oullet as well. Dougie Hamilton, who was suppose to be THE MAN going into this tournament, looked dumb-founded with the puck. Had no idea what to do with it, and was too slow in all areas of the game.
Up front, who stood out for Canada? Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who plays like Pavel Datsyuk (slick skating European with incredible vision, magic hands, and plays a two-way game). Nuge is comfortable on the big ice because he can skate and because he's creative. Jonathan Drouin provided a learning moment for Canada's coaches: He's only one of two draft eligible players on the Canadian roster, and Coach Spott wanted to give him as little amount of ice time as possible because of it. As it turns out, Drouin was one of Canada's best forwards, and his play forced Spott to move him up the roster. Drouin created chaos with his speed and ability to drive the net.
Team Canada management said straight out that they wanted to make a team that is as old as possible, because older players are stronger and more developed than younger players. Talk about missing the boat. Actually, what you need for the WJHC, especially when it's being played on the big ice in Europe, are the 22 best skaters available, regardless what their ages are. Age should be the least important factor when comprising a roster for this.
Nathan MacKinnon is a highly skilled guy. So why stick him out there on the 4th lines with a couple of brutes who can't skate? Everyone loved Mark Scheifele all tournament, calling him a warrior. He's actually an absolute clown that I wouldn't want on me team. I gave up trying to count the number of times he dove against USA after his seventh dive. Play the game the Canadian way, Mark. Skate. Hit. Let your skill do the talking. Quit using Ryan Kesler as a role model. Play like you have some pride.
Even Canada's really skilled guys up front looked like they couldn't keep up. Jonathan Huberdeau is an example of this. The Canadian team was loaded...I mean loaded...with guys who will have successful NHL careers. The US team has maybe five or six. We should have clobbered them. We'll never win another WJHC gold again until management wakes up to the difference between the North American hockey and European hockey. The US won because they did their homework. Canada didn't.
Examples of guys who should have been on Team Canada? Cody Ceci, Derrick Pouliot, Matt Dumba, Hunter Shinkaruk, Seth Griffith, and maybe Sean Monahan. Guys who didn't belong there: Ryan Murphy, Griffin Reinhart, Anthony Camara, Tyler Wotherspoon and JC Lipon. Add Mark McNeill to this list, as he was terrible. I would have rather seen Connor McDavid than McNeill, let's just put it to you that way. At least in taking Monahan over McNeill, you're taking a big player who can skate (vs one who can't).
And don't even get me going on the goaltending situation. Team Canada read the warning label on Malcolm Subban and played him anyway. Everyone knows Subban's reputation for poor play during key games.
But this is a tournament, right? Team USA winning is good for hockey, and all of that? My opinion on hockey in the US is as follows: Parts of the country (mostly northern) love the game and support it. They'll continue to do so. The parts of the country who don't care will continue not to care. The sooner we can move failing NHL teams from southern US markets to northern US or Canadian markets, the better. We've given most parts of the country a chance to experience NHL hockey; some liked it, some didn't.
So getting back to the US winning, I don't think it actually does anything to promote the game. I'm not insulting Americans here. Like I said, those who like hockey, like it, and those who don't, don't. We know the ratings for a Canadian final would have been huge. Rating for a USA/Russia Final? Just as huge. But a USA/Sweden final? Who cares? The Bronze medal game is going to generate massive interest by comparison.
Going into the tournament, fans of hockey are wishing for a few possible finishes: Canada vs. USA; Canada vs. Russia; USA vs. Russia or Sweden vs. Finland. Those are the rivalries you want. Teams that can't stand each other and will see this as something more than just a hockey game. USA vs. Sweden is too cute and cuddly to be interesting. Fans lose.
Which brings me to the continuing NHL/NHLPA clown show.
Twitter has become a very sad place. You have every member of the mainstream media sitting around, waiting to announce something. Usually, the first legit info comes from someone like a Darren Dreger or Pierre LeBrun. Following that are 100 MSM people retweeting the same message. Some credit Dreger or LeBrun, and others don't. Either way, it makes everyone look desperate for attention.
And what is there to announce at this point? "Shane Doan has shown up at the meeting." "The players are leaving. Not sure if they're coming back." "A full negotiation session is not taking place. Players and owners are meeting in small groups." Blah blah blah. None of this is news. None of it is significant. You know what's significant? Have they signed a new CBA? Will there be a season? When will it start? How far apart are both sides?
The NHL is so stupid. When Bettman/Daly gave their "final" offer, they should have meant it. They should of allowed the NHLPA to file their Disclaimer of Interest, and they should have fought this out in the courtroom. At least then, eventually, we'd have a real solution.
Final doesn't mean final. Because the NHLPA realizes this, they've been absolutely manipulating negotiations. The two sides will come to an agreement on one area, only to have the PA say, "okay, now we need to fix pensions". Once pensions are fixed, it will be HRR. Once HRR is decided, it will be cap limit. Once cap limit is fixed, we'll go back to pensions. Am I the only one who realizes the NHLPA has absolutely no interest in solving this? Maybe the players want a season, but their leadership is playing a game with them.
The PA was considering filing a Disclaimer of Interest on January 2nd, but didn't. Thank God; we're actually going to have a season. Over the next 40-some hours, the NHLPA members are voting again to give Fehr the authority to file a different Disclaimer of Interest. What a joke. So will the NHL pull a Mark Scheifele, and lay around on the ice doing nothing? Or will they pull a Messier, say "enough is enough", and make Fehr and the NHLPA eat the Disclaimer in a courtroom? You know what my response would be, but I have a spine.
Many people are suggesting we're going to have a season and the two sides are close. I don't think this is about close, nor do I think this is about trying to get a new CBA. This is about whether or not the league is willing to let the inmates run the asylum.
Fans sitting there watching this: Half have lost all interest and are trying to tune out. The other half feel completely ashamed of the sport they love and will continue to love. I fit into that group, and let me tell you, when and if we ever do get a new CBA, I never want to hear it mentioned by either side for 10 straight years. A deal anything less than 10 years is disrespectful to the fans who have cared enough to endure this.
This has been an awful time for hockey fans. The World Junior Hockey Champions were terrible. The continued NHL CBA mess is terrible. Even companies are getting into it, like that horrifying blackmail of a Nike commercial, making it sound like it's all the league's fault that there's no hockey. Steven Stamkos for Nike, "I just want to play hockey. Why won't they let me play hockey? This is Canada's game. Look at all the harm they're doing to Canada. Well, screw you guys. Hockey can survive with our without you. Or we could go to Russia."
Get bent. The players are the ones prolonging the lockout for no reason, and Stamkos is demonstrating no loyalty to his employers who give him millions to hit a piece of rubber with a stick. The longer this lockout goes, the more the NHL gets damaged, and the more money players will lose both immediately and in the long-run.
Nike sponsors players, but not the league, yes? Did it occur to any of you the marketing strategy being used here is a shot at Reebok, Nike's competition? This isn't about loving the sport or wanting hockey back. This is about Nike trying to get a leg up over Reebok. This is about business and nothing else. Nike cares about selling product, not the athletes involved. In their approach, they're just as transparent at the PA and the owners.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»