Darryl Parks Has A Solution to the Cancuks GM Dilemma......

I was surfing the net today and got a chance to read the latest edition of the NHL fanhouse at AOL fanhouse. Blogger Eric McErlain of the Off Wing Opinion website had a very weird but kind of interesting post on a guy named Darryl Parks. Parks is a die-hard Canucks fan who had an interesting solution to the Vancouver Cancuks GM dilemma:



I don't know whether the Vancouver Canucks hockey team agrees with him, but you got to give him credit for his originality!

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New Study States That New Oilers Arena May Cost Albertans Untold Millions

A new report out of Edmonton contends that a new downtown arena will end up costing Alberta taxpayers untold millions. Former University of Illionois professor, and current University of Alberta professor Brad Humphreys told members of the Economics Society of Alberta the folly of trusting early building estimates, as building cost usually overrun by at least 30%. In Edmonton's case it would be even higher, as not only do they need to fund the building, but they need to look at acquiring downtown land, and a potential new LRT station (light rail transit for people who aren't familiar, it's similar to a subway).

Humphrey's research also indicates no economic gains from a new facility, however, it can shift where development takes place. So, instead of Edmonton continuing to develop on the outskirts of city borders with new houses, stores, hotels etc, that development could shift to downtown with the help of a new arena. However, he warned that this always doesn't happen. Busch Stadium in St. Louis was supposed to drive development in the surrounding area, but has failed to so far.

He also conceded, that a new arena will be a huge money maker for the new owner, allowing him to charge premium prices for luxury boxes, and a big concourse full of vendors. He also confronted the belief that the Oilers provides intangible benefits to the city like increased profile. He said that though that is absolutely the case, it is overstated. The benefits are usually in the $60 to $80 million range (if you were to put a dollar value on them), not half a billion, like many believe.

One point that he made that I thought was excellent, was that it is a mistaken belief to think that the new arena will "ensure Edmonton's place as a world class city." It may give the city some profile across North America among hockey fans, but those fans really don't get to see the city during broadcasts in Edmonton. It just gives some name recognition, people still have to look Edmonton up, to see if they want to go there (ie for vacation, or maybe move).

People who maybe wondering just who is Brad Humphreys to be telling us all this, and whether we should trust him. They should know that he was commissioned by the Cato Institute (one of the leading economic think-tanks in America) to see if there were economic benefits to bringing the Montreal Expos to Washington. He has also testified before U.S. Congress on the issue of publicly financing arenas. You can see an article on his work published by the University of Illinois News Bureau here: www.news.uiuc.edu/news/04/1117stadiums.html


(RSS and Newsletter Readers: I have two polls below, I'm not sure you can see them, I'll make sure to see into fixing that problem. The questions are: Should the Edmonton Oilers New Arena Receive Public Funding? and If so how much?)





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Minnesota Wild: Do They Get the Attention That They Deserve?

I came across this article in the Minnesota Star Tribune recently, complaining about the lack of national attention the Wild get. They didn't get to make an appearance on NBC this season. In fact, there weren't even any Wild games on the match-up list (which is pre-determined by the NHL) that NBC gets to pick from, as part of their flex-scheduling deal. The NHL apparently says they were in consideration for two games, but due to their start times not being in sync with NBC's start time, they couldn't be chosen.

Personally, I think that's just a corporate line. I don't think they ever considered broadcasting the Wild, nor should they. Minnesota is a tremendous hockey market, maybe the best in the country, but the Wild are not a team that has a national following. Being a fairly new franchise doesn't help in a sport where history is venerated. The bigger problem though, is their coach, and the style of hockey he insists on playing. The neutral zone trap is not going to get people across the US stampeding towards their TV sets to watch a Wild game. It may help them win, (well.... at least in the regular season!) but it puts people to sleep. What many people in hockey still don't realize, is that in the 21st century, people don't watch sport for sport. They watch it for entertainment. You can't just rack up the wins, you got to do it in style.

The Wild are already a team that is constricted by the market they play in. Minneapolis-St. Paul is the 16th largest city in the United States based on its metropolitan population, with barely 3.2 million people. Despite this, there are many teams in the NHL which play "bigger than their market." Like a tiny player who "plays big" on the ice, there are teams that are able to draw crowds that are much larger than their market. The Detroit Red Wings are the prime example of this. Metro Detroit has only about 4.4 million people, not much bigger than Minneapolis-St. Paul, but they consistently draw high ratings in the Stanley Cup Finals, plus opponents buildings regularly sell out when the Wings come to town. A lot of this has to do with the Wings history, there are generations of Detroit expats who grew up Red Wings fans, who've moved out all across America, but they also play an exciting style of game, and are never short on star power.

An even better example may be the Colorado Avalanche in the pre-lockout era. Denver-Aurora is the 21st largest metro area in the US, with 2.4 million people. Smaller than even Tampa Bay, which has 2.7 million. Yet the Avalanche never drew less than a 3.3 in their Stanley Cup Finals appearances, compared to the 2.6 Tampa Bay got in theirs. The Lightning weren't helped by the fact that they faced a Canadian team, but their rating was .7 below Colorado, suggesting that even if they faced a US based team, unless it was a large market team, they wouldn't have drawn as well. That's not even touching the 3.6 rating the Avs got when facing a fairly new franchise in the Florida Panthers.

So, if the Wild want national attention, they ought to start playing like it. Until they do, things should just roll on, the way they are.

What Are Your Thoughts?


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A Day in the Life of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman

Did you know NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spends about a third of the calendar year on the road? Did you know of his affinity of hot dogs on a toasty bun in Montreal? Or his love of Bud Light fresh from the tap? Or if you put a bowl of Hershey's Kisses near his face, he would gorge on them like a starved hyena would a carcass? (Well maybe that exaggerating a little...) Now you can! Fortune Magazine recently went on the road with Gary, to get the lo-down on a day in the life of the Commish. You can see what really makes Gary tick, from cranking up head banging tunes from the Grateful Dead to what he puts in his Tumi bag. (What in the world is a Tumi bag???) View the article right here: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2008/04/28/105538201/

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Nonis The Fall Guy for Burke's Mistakes

The Vancouver Canucks announced the firing of GM Dave Nonis yesturday, ending his three-year tenure as General Manager. Canucks owner Francisco Aquilini seemed to indicate that the reason for Nonis's firing was the team's inability to make the post-season saying that: "this important change in leadership is critical to the future of the team and the direction we need to take. It’s not acceptable to our fans or to us as owners that our team isn’t in the playoffs.”

This is a horrible decision on the Canucks part. They're right to be indignant about missing the post-season for the second time in the last three years, but they're blaming the wrong guy. The main reason for the Canucks failures isn't Nonis's decisions as GM, but Brian Burke's decisions, particularly his inability to run successful drafts. If you look at all the teams that are in the playoffs, and all the elite teams in the league there is a direct correlation between their success in the draft and their records. In today's salary capped NHL teams cannot stockpile players thorough free agency, there are too many teams with need for free agents who have the money to get them. This creates such demand that elite free agents usually get paid so much money that one team cannot sign a bunch of them, without going over the cap, like they used to pre-lockout. If you look at the Canucks draft history it has to be one of the worst in the league.

If you look at the players acquired via draft during Burke's six-season tenure the only players who made it to the NHL, and had decent careers are: Bryan Allen, Jarkko Ruutu, the Sedin twins, R.J. Umberger, Kevin Bieksa and Ryan Kesler. That's hardly a foundation that can make the playoffs every year. If you want to break it down even further, you'll find that Burke actually isn't totally inept at the draft, he just is when he doesn't have a top three pick. If you look at situations where he has had the top three pick in his career he has picked: Chris Pronger, the Sedin twins and Bobby Ryan. Those three were all excellent picks. It's when Burke is forced to draft low that he struggles. The main reason he has had such unbelievable success in Anaheim is that he was lucky to inherit one of the best farm system's in the game from Bryan Murray. Getzlaf, Perry, Penner, Smid (who they used to get Pronger), Kunitz, McDonald, Giguere and Bryzgalov were all acquired by the Ducks before Burke came on board. Then he did what he does best, make trades. If you look at Burke's career he has dominated the trading game. He swung deals for Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Morrison, Bryan McCabe and Dan Cloutier, only giving up Alek Stojanov, Trevor Linden, Alexander Mogilny, and Adrian Aucoin. He worked the same magic in Anaheim acquireing Francois Beauchimin, Todd Marchant and Chris Pronger for an aging Sergei Fedorov, Ladislav Smid and draft picks.

Looking at Nonis tenure he did as good as anyone would be able to considering all the turmoil the team was in when he got hired. He stole the best goalie in the NHL from the Panthers, Roberto Luongo for Todd Bertuzzi. That might be the best trade in NHL history, if not it's certainly up there. I don't know anyone who could've expected that considering the situation Bertuzzi was in. However, that trade might not be due purely to Nonis's genius as much as Mike Keenan's wackiness. It was still a good job though. It is certainly true that Nonis paid a little too much for defence. This was a mistake. The Canucks had a goaltender that was used to playing with porous defences in Florida, consistently stopping the most shots in the NHL. That's not saying they shouldn't have brought in some defensive players, but they shouldn't have spent as much as they did. Many defensive players, particularly many good defensive defencemen can typically be had for paltry sums (ie Jason Smith $1.9 mill), the Canucks didn't need to invest $10.5 million per season, in Ohlund, Mitchell and Salo. However, the amount of money they would have saved, by not investing in all of those three likely wouldn't have been enough to bring in a top flight offensive player. They might have been able to bring in some good ones though. With that said, the real reason for the Canucks disappointing season is the underacheivement of Naslund and Morrison as well as all the injuries the club faced. They are paid a combined $9.2 million a season, and they both were on pace to average around 50 points a piece this season. If Naslund and Morrison were able to produce at their pre-lockout levels, then the Cancuks would have been fine for offense. The majority of the Canucks offense depended on Naslund and he couldn't deliver. Nonis cannot be blamed for this, as I don't know one GM who could have foreseen the collapse of Markus Naslund coming out of the lockout. Ditto for Morrison.

As for the farm system, Nonis finally put some good players into the pipeline. Cory Schneider looks like a top flight goaltender and was a steal at 26th overall. The Canucks also got two excellent offensive defenceman with good size in Alexander Edler and Luc Bourdon, and three offensively gifted forwards in Mason Raymond, Michael Grabner and Pat White. For the first time in their history, it seems as if the Canucks will finally produce some very good homegrown talent. They could provide the foundation for a contending team in the future, but young players take time to develop. If Nonis had stayed on and continued to draft like this, then the Canucks would have had an excellent chance to become a dominant NHL team down the road. Unfortunately if it happens, it will have to be without their former architect, Dave Nonis.

What's your point of view? COMMENT BELOW!

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NHL Paramount Pictures Partner to Promote the "Love Guru"

The NHL and Paramount Pictures announced a historic partnership today, to promote Mike Myers upcoming film "The Love Guru," which is due out on June 20th. The NHL will include co-branded spots airing on NHL TV telecasts (NBC, Versus, CBC and TSN), online, in arenas, exclusive NHL.com content, and retail activations. All of which are designed to promote the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In the movie, Mike Myers plays an American left at the gates of an Indian ashram, who is subsequently raised by Hindu Gurus. He then moves back to his homeland to try his hand at the self-help/spirituality game, hoping for fame and fortune (I thought gurus weren't supposed to care about that kind of stuff!!!). His quirky methods are put to the test when he is hired by Toronto Maple Leafs owner Jane Bullard (played by the lovely Jessica Alba) to settle a rift between Maple Leafs star player Darren Roanoke and his estranged wife. After they split, she starts dating LA Kings player Jacques Grande (played by Justin Timberlake) to get revenge, sending him into a tailspin. Pitka must work his magic to get Roanoke back on track so the Leafs can break their curse and win the Stanley Cup (lol, LAUGH OUT LOUD! ya right!!!!!!!!).

I dug up the preview for the movie from Youtube right here:



The movie itself looks ok. It looks like Myers has took a lot of jokes from his Austin Powers series (ie. when he makes fun of the midget) and used them in the movie. Jessica Alba seems quite genuine, and the golden underwear or cup is just hilarious! I'm not to big on Justin Timberlake's acting from seeing the preview but maybe he will prove me wrong in the movie.

For the NHL from a business perspective this is great! A lot of people rightfully criticized the league when it failed to capitalize on the success of "Miracle." The NHL made sure that would never happen again, as it signed a deal with the William Morris Agency coming out of the lockout. The intent was to build bridges and relationships in Hollywood. This relationship resulted in the NHL co-promoting 300 last summer, and in the charity celebrity hockey game at the Sundance Film Festival this year, headlined by NHL legend "Lucky" Luc Robataille. The NHL also smartly got Jerry Bruckheimer to advise them on entertainment related decisions. This movie will insure that mainstream America gets more exposure to the sport. Having three of the most recognizable actors in America taking part in this movie certainly doesn't hurt! Getting more attention definitely helps build the next generation of hockey fans, and with the fortunate timing of the movie being released around the Stanley Cup Finals it could increase ratings and attention.

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Craig Leipold 'Wildly' Rewarded for Loyal Service to the Predators

A few days ago the Minnesota Wild were officially taken over by former Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold and super-investor Phil Falcone. Since then, Leipold has been drawing some heady praise from his NHL brethren, who are ecstatic to have him back in the fold. Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman are chief among them. Jacobs lauds his commitment, admitting that "you won't find a more dedicated owner than [Leipold]." Bettman for his part, feels that the Wild "couldn't be handing this franchise over to better owners," especially when you have an owner that is so "passionate about the game" and is "great when it comes to league issues."

A lot of people have had mixed feelings about this sale. Many wondered whether the purchase of the Wild was done in an above board manner, or whether Leipold was simply given the franchise, as a reward, for his "loyal service" to the league in the past (particularly for refusing to sell to Jim Balsille). While I'm sure there are no shortage of intriguing schemes that go on at NHL headquarters, I'm doubtful he was given the franchise purely for that reason. That answer is only partially correct.

As a businessman who was a partner in the league for nine years previously, Leipold is someone the owners know well. They saw him go into his pockets to finance a venture in '98 that had little chance of succeeding and no shortage of obstacles. Unlike many owners, they saw him heap much of the responsibility for the success of the franchise on his own shoulders, as he decided to make a second home in the city to run the team. He took it upon himself to let the fans know that they were appreciated, often by greeting fans and thanking them for coming to games. They saw him hire a General Manager fresh off the unemployment line, and loyally stick by him when many questioned his wisdom, as the losses mounted and the unproven coach took his lumps. They witnessed his patience, as the franchise painstakingly developed its draft picks and grew from within. They saw him continue to finance the team even as the team lost tens of millions, unwavering in his commitment to the franchise and city. They got a first hand glimpse of his passion for winning as he opened up the coffers yet again, this time to make trades and sign top free agents, despite the fact that the team was in dire straits financially. They watched his commitment to the city, even in the end, deciding not to fight the NHL and take the lower bid to keep the team in Nashville. That is why I believe they approved this sale, that is why I believe that Bob Naegele sold in the first place, despite having no immediate imperative to do so. What better owner, what better person, to run the franchise?

Praise from a Nashville Observer:



Another Leipold Admirer:




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Jacques Martin Canned As Coach: Is It A Smart Idea To Keep Him Around?

This still developing story out of South Florida is puzzling. If Jacques Martin's presence was so toxic as a coach, I wonder if it would be a good idea to keep him around as a GM. Ethan J. Skolnick of the Sun-Sentinel seems to concur. If he becomes GM, he may look for a coach who sees things the way he did (having similar flaws), which according to owner Alan Cohen is the reason he got fired.

As a GM, Martin has been so-so. He really put the organization's rebuilding on the fast track, while making up for one of the most lopsided deals in NHL history, by acquiring Tomas Vokoun. Vokoun did an admirable job, playing behind a porous defence, stopping the most shots in the NHL. He also wisely locked up young stud Nathan Horton to a long-term deal, and got Jason Cullimore on a one way ticket to Miami on a base salary deal. However, he also seriously overpaid Stephen Weiss and Bryan Allen, their contracts combining to form a $6 million noose on the neck of the Panthers. Also, Skrastins is an underrated defenceman, but at that salary, and with bigger priorities for the team, is also overpaid.

Based on his moves alone, it would be interesting to see how Jacques Martin would do as a GM. He seems to have some potential, however the GM's post is about more than just making trades. It's about providing leadership and a calming, stabilizing force from the hockey side of the organization. If his leadership was toxic from behind the bench, it would be stupid to give him the job. However, if they believe that his problems are strictly due to having to deal with the players on a day to day basis, and he would do well from greater distance from the players, then he might be worth hiring, so long as too many bridges haven't been burned.

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Oilers Lock Up a Key Piece of the Puzzle

Jacques Martin Gets Canned (Well...Sort Of)

The Oilers Sign Tom Gilbert to Six Year Contract: Who Will Be The Odd Man Out?

The Edmonton Oilers have reportedly signed rookie defenceman Tom Gilbert to a six year contract worth $4 million per season. Gilbert was a restricted free agent and the team would have been liable to lose him to an offer sheet from another club. Gilbert had an excellent 2007-08 campaign, broke the Oilers defenceman rookie record in goals and points, both previously held by Paul Coffey, with 13 goals and 20 assists. He also led all rookie defenceman in blocked shots with 158.

This signing was certainly an expensive one. The Oilers were definitely smart in locking him up before other teams got a chance to, this year's unrestricted free agent market is very weak, and the restricted free agent market is very strong, so I definitely expect a lot of offer sheet to be offered this offseason. Also, considering Gilbert's season, and his potential, the contract certainly seems fair. The Oilers cap figure at the beginning of this season was about $45 million, so with this contract they will have approximately $7 million worth of cap room to play with for next season, assuming the cap for next season is $56 million.

Given the fact that they still have to sign Robert Nilsson, Grebeshkov, Pitkanen, Stoll, Stortini, Reasoner, and Glencross it looks very unlikely that they will be able to bring the entire team back for next year. I would definitely look for Raffi Torres to be moved if they need cap room. He isn't a bona fide scorer, he can be a liability on the defensive end, the play often ends up dying with him, he takes stupid penalties and the Oilers have other players such as Stortini who have become "energy" type players for the team. Plus Torres makes just over $2 million per season, over the next two years.

Also, if they still can't sign everyone, I would expect Pitkanen to be the odd man out. He definitely puts up points, but he can be a defensive liability. He often is caught out of position, usually pinching way up into the offensive zone. Also the organization is extremely deep on defence with top prospects Cody Wild, Taylor Chorney (both offensive defenceman), likely to be competing for roster spots next season. Some people would advocate moving Stoll, and letting go of Reasoner, but Stoll can probably be had for a paycut (by taking him to arbitration) and Reasoner doesn't figure to make much. Plus they both play one of the most important positions in center, they are both great in their own end, they own the faceoff circle and Stoll provides good offence on the powerplay. Good centers are a lot like defenceman, you can never have enough of them.

All in all, the Oilers better hope the cap continues to rise, as they will have to deal with expiring contracts to Horcoff, Garon, Greene, Smid and Brodziak next season, with Cogliano and Gagner following them the next year. They will have soom tough choices to make, luckily they are in a great position to make them.

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Celebrity Bloggers: Do People Really Care?

The NHL recently unveiled it's stable of celebrities who will spend the postseason blogging on NHL Connect at NHL.com. Lauren Conrad, Jason Reitman, Kevin Smith, Adam Beach, Eddie Cahill, William Fichtner, David Boreanaz, and Willa-Ford Modano are part of the crew who'll keep fans updated during the postseason.

It's interesting that the NHL asked many celebrities who blogged during the last postseason to return. Fichtner, Boreanaz, Cahill, and Tom Cavanagh were all part of the 2007 edition of the celebrity blogging crew. I also thought it was a brilliant move to bring in currently one of the most popular celebrities in Lauren Conrad. She's a huge hit with the MTV Crowd, and she'll definitely spark interest in the 18-25 year old demographic. The NHL has usually not been able to bring in the so called "A-list" celebrities, that has started to change. They got Lil 'Jon to blog last season (kind of!), and they brought in Ne-Yo, Alyssa Milano and Usher in for the All-Star Game in Atlanta.

Now, with that said, I really got to ask one question! Do fans actually care about these celebrities blogging??? When I was surfing through the NHL Connect pages during the All-Star Game and Playoffs last season, it seemed like these bloggers didn't really interact with the fans. They just posted their blogs or used the platform to announce their projects/products. The same goes for most of the NHL.com Artists of the Month. They didn't answer questions or post on other peoples pages. Now I may be wrong, as they may have messaged people privately, but I really doubt it. Also, to give them some credit some of the celebs do add people to their friends list, whether they interact with them or not.

Hearing their thoughts in their blog is interesting, but the whole point of inviting these celebs on in the first place is to create fan interest by getting them to interact with fans. Now personally, I understand these people have busy lives, and it's not practical to talk to every person who posted on your page, the amount of responses would be monumental (plus, people have lives!). But a little more direct interaction, answering a question here and there, and directly posting on someone else's page once in a while wouldn't hurt. Like I said, the whole point of inviting these celebs on in the first place is to create fan interest by getting them to interact with fans, and post their thoughts. That's what the NHL ought to push for.

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NHL Reportedly Sets Another Attendance Record, Are the Numbers Real?

The NHL reportedly set another attendance record this season. They were able to surpass 21 million people at the gates, had an average of 17,265 people at every game, and played to 93.6% capacity. Last season, they played to approximately 20.8 million fans had an average of 16,955 per game, and played to 91.7% capacity.

All Canadian teams sold out all their games (big surprise!) and joining them were the Pittsburgh Penguins (for the first time, surprisingly!), the Minnesota Wild (they've sold out they're entire history according to NHL.com), Philadelphia Flyers, the New York Rangers and even the Anaheim Ducks. San Jose and Buffalo were almost 100% sold out. The Blues (+40%) and Blackhawks (+32%), Devils (+10%)and Caps (+11%) posted the largest increases in the league.

Well, all in all it looks like a pretty good season for the NHL. However are these numbers real? They are no doubt inflated as the NHL reportedly uses "Tickets Distributed" as opposed to "Paid Attendance" to calculate their attendance figures. That means that even tickets included in giveways or that are won are included in the attendance figure. However, NHL attendance is probably higher than the paid attendance figure, since that metric fails to take into account, people who've purchased tickets but decided not to use them. At the recent NHLPA meeting, Larry Brooks of the NY Post reported the NHLPA expects most of the expected $6 million increase in the salary cap to come from increased ticket prices and the strong Canadian Dollar. Regardless of whether more people were at games, you would think ticket revenue would be on the way up. It would be extremely odd if the NHL's owners were willing to pay more money for player salaries, without a corresponding increase in ticket revenue. So either way, it's good news for the NHL!

NHL To Launch NHL NETWORK ONLINE on Wednesday

This Wednesday, the NHL will get set to launch a seven channel digital network: The NHL Network Online! The Network will include shows that cover highlights, updates, on and off ice interviews, morning skates, news conferences, live events, playoff news, highlights, and features (take a breath *gasp*...) podcasts, radio programming, and archival features! They have also been able to lock up Bud Light, Cisco and Dodge to sponsor three of the channels.

One of the main objectives, if not the main objective of this venture, is to get more of their 53 million core fans to experience and hopefully become interested in more than just their local teams. The goal is to get interested in other teams and the league itself. The hope is that this will build the national scale the league so desperately needs, and maybe even get that to transfer over to other mediums such as television, where the league experienced just 1.5 million viewers on NBC and 272,417 viewers on Versus.

The NHL may or may not succeed in attaining this national scale, but the creation of two shows ("The Hockey Show" and "Livewire") on the network will certainly help. They will force fans to look at what is going on outside of their market. For highlights, people can just skip to their own teams. In the future, the NHL would be smart to create more shows, similar to television, to enhance loyalty to the NHL brand. The NHL was also smart, to focus on pulling in existing hardcore fans, as opposed to marketing to the casual fan, like they were accused of before the lockout. They will have a greater chance for success with this strategy.

Also, whether the national scale succeeds or fails, they will have at least built themselves another advertising platform which could be extremely lucrative. On top of getting sponsors for the shows, they could sell commercials like many web tv sites do, essentially acting like a tv network except on the internet! Plus they could sell banner ads, to monetize further. As more and more dollars pour into online advertising, this revenue source could eventually someday rival or eclipse TV revenue.

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NHL Playoffs Set for Wednesday: NBC Makes A Curious Broadcasting Choice

Well it looks like the second season is finally upon us! There are really some surprises from the broadcasting front. NBC has apparently decided to skip showing the Rangers vs. Devils series in favour of Detroit/Nashville??? If I were NBC I wouldn't even show a Western Conference series, it would be the Rangers/Devils and the Caps/Flyers. Those are the series which have the largest combined TV audiences. If they had to show a Western Conference game it would have to be Dallas/Anaheim. I can understand their reasoning behind showing Washington/Philadelphia, but I have no idea what the hell they were thinking when they decided to show Detroit/Nashville!!!! I would be surprised if they get decent ratings from the Western Conference Series.

On the Versus side of things, it looks like they will be involved in broadcasting nearly every series. However Sidney Crosby and his Pittsburgh Penguins will only be shown twice! Only Montreal/Boston will be shown less with one national TV appearance. You can find the schedule for the quarterfinals at NHL.com

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NHL Gets A Much Needed Tire Change: Bridgestone Firestone Becomes 'Official Tire' of the NHL

This is one of the most extensive commitments any sponsor has made to the NHL. It looks like they'll be involved in almost every aspect of the NHL and NHLPA's operations. Despite the fact that this is a global deal, the NHL was not able to fetch much more than the $50 million Scotiabank shelled out to be the "Official Bank in Canada." This deal, which runs for two years will reportedly fetch the NHL approximately eight figures. With the deal, along with the Scotiabank and Ticketmaster deals, the NHL has approximately doubled their sponsorship revenue in a measly six months! Either Gary has done one hell of a job, or there weren't that many sponsorship dollars to begin with! Either way this is excellent news for the NHL.

I find it fascinating that despite all the ruckus about low TV Ratings, a Versus deal that has not met the expectations of many people following the game, and less coverage by traditional media (mostly newspapers) many companies in Corporate America and Canada seem eager to do business with the NHL. Is the NHL's marketing reach that significant? The Scotiabank deal was understandable, as the NHL has an extremely strong position in Canada. The Ticketmaster deal also makes sense, because the NHL has long had excellent attendance figures on both sides of the border and an affluent, tech-savvy fan base who are already exploiting the secondary ticket market(legally re-selling tickets). However, in the offseason a couple of years ago, Pepsi put their faith the NHL and signed a significant sponsorship deal. So it seems that there are many highly visible companies that seem to believe the NHL has good marketing reach now or are betting that the NHL's reach in the future will be worth their investment.

Lastly, I have learned that the NHL had been looking for sponsors in the banking and automotive categories since the end of the lockout. Apparently a deal with a pharmaceutical or overnight delivery company may be next on their checklist.

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NBC and the NHL Close In On An Extension

William Houston of the Globe and Mail reports that NBC and the NHL are closing in on an agreement to televise games next season. Houston indicates that a potential point of contention is that the network would rather avoid having to broadcast Stanley Cup Final Games during highly-rated primetime weeknights. "That may be partially achieved by NBC's coverage starting on a Friday, with the fourth game on Sunday, followed by a fifth game, if necessary, on a Wednesday, before returning to the weekend for the sixth and seventh, if needed."

I've got to believe that if this goes down, a big incentive to renew on part was the possibility of televising the last event in Yankee Stadium history. If the game does happen, and if they find the Rangers another compelling big market opponent, it could get terrific ratings. You would think it would get substantially higher ratings than the 2.2 it got for the New Years Day Game in Buffalo. The facts seem to back that up as Buffalo and Pittsburgh were the markets in the US which had by far the highest ratings for the event. That indicates, that the event is is driven by the two markets which participate in it.

Also, another possible reason for NBC's interest is the realization that though the NHL's current ratings are comparable to poker, arena football, and bowling, the NHL is far more scalable and is the only entity with top flight unrealized potential. Even though ratings have suffered, the fact that small markets have competed in the last two Stanley Cup Finals have seriously affected ratings. Also there is a lack of dominance by the large market teams such as the Chicago Blackhawks and LA Kings. The New York Rangers have done ok, but have hardly performed like an elite team. Should this happen in the future or should the Penguins and Capitals have a lot of success the NHL could garner much bigger ratings in the future. Poker, Arena Football and bowling just don't have that going for them.

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Alexander Ovechkin: A Transcendent Icon

Washington Capitals beat writer Tarik El-Bashir (no relation to Martin Bashir of Michael Jackson fame) wrote a piece in the Washington Post yesterday commenting on the impact Alexander Ovechkin would have on the team and league if the Capitals were to make the playoffs. I think he was bang on. Ovechkin is the one guy in the league who actually seems to have a personality. He says what's on his mind, wears his emotions on his sleeve and isn't afraid to throttle himself into the glass after scoring a highlight reel goal! He's the one guy in the league who has transcended the conventions of the sport, both on and off the ice. He loves to score goals, not make pretty passes, but score goals, and he isn't afraid to say so. Unlike the other 99% of hockey players out there, he isn't branded as selfish for saying that (ie Pavel Bure, Ilya Kovalchuk though Ovechkin does have a defensive game, and doesn't seem to show up opponents on purpose). When the Caps acquired Cristobal Huet at the trade deadline, he actually had the balls to go into the GM's office and criticize him (he had scored four goals in a game on Huet earlier in the year). How many players would've done that! (or at least admitted to it publicly?)

There is something about such players, no, about such people, that allow them to transcend language, ethnicity and sport, and etch them firmly into our collective cultural consciousness. A lot of people say it's the genuineness of the person, the fact that we really get to see who they are, that gets such a response from people. This was often said about Michael Jordan. Wayne Gretzky was able to transcend what was a fairly unknown sport, and become a significant icon in America, because we got a feel for how genuinely humble and nice he was. He often would say things that other hockey players say all the time, but we got a feeling that he really meant it. I don't agree with this principle, as I don't believe you can ever really know who another person is. We can get an idea, but even after a lifetime of knowing a person, we can be surprised. What I believe, is that certain people project a certain ease about themselves. About who they are, what they're doing and how they're perceived. They don't really seem to care, they just buckle up and enjoy the ride. Alexander Ovechkin seems like such a person.

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NHL TO TEST VIRTUAL ADS FOR THE PLAYOFFS

SportsBusiness Journal reports that the NHL will test virtual ads for their national postseason telecasts this year. The NHL will also place two "Stanley Cup Playoffs 2008" logos inside the bluelines during the postseason and two NHL shields behind the nets as well. The virtual ads will be placed on the glass above the dasherboards that protect spectators. The ads, being virtual, will not be seen in the arenas and will not affect camera angles or live TV shots. NBC and Versus will not sell the virtual spots separately, but will give them to the companies which buy the most 30 second spots during their telecasts. The idea to sell virtual ads comes from MLB telecasts on FOX, and ironically come from the man who proposed it for FOX, former FOX ad sales chief Jimmy Burnette. He was apparently hired by the NHL as a consultant once he retired from FOX. The idea to place the shield and logos come from the NFL's decision to place their logo on the field during the NFL postseason, as well as the NBA placing their postseason slogans on their courts during their playoffs. The television networks will keep all of the ad revenue, and if everything goes according to plan, Versus, NBC and the regional networks will use the virtual ads next season.

This is a smart initiative by the NHL, designed to keep the national networks interested in broadcasting the sport. You see, TV networks make their money by selling ad spots during their broadcasts. The reason TV ratings are so important is that shows that have higher TV ratings, can charge more money for their spots and there will be more companies interested in buying those spots. The huge investment, will also give these companies an incentive to promote these shows, in order to make sure a lot of people tune in to see their ads. Unfortunately, the NHL is struggling in terms of pulling in decent national TV ratings, so, another way to ensure that the national networks make enough money on their broadcasts, is to offer up more ad spots in prominent places in their telecast. By giving these spots away to companies that buy the most 30 second spots, they are trying to create more demand for those spots. This will ensure more profitability for the networks, and create an incentive for a network like NBC, to renew their deal with the NHL (and maybe even give them a rights fee). Regional sports networks have always been good at this, which is why they have become so lucrative to own. Many owners of NHL teams (such as Colorado Avalanche owner Stan Kroenke, Rangers owner the Dolan Family and Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs) have created their own regional sports networks (Altitude in Colorado, MSG in New York, and Bruins own 20% of NESN in Boston). This brings up a really good point that TV ratings, are not the only metric which is important when considering what to broadcast. The NBA, for example, was able to secure better TV deals despite all-time low ratings because advertisers loved the power the brand had over the all important 18-49 demographic, as well as the NBA's reach on other platforms, such as the internet and cell phones.

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Chicago Blackhaws Add TV Presence for '08-09

The Chicago Blackhawks announced today that they will televise their entire 82 game regular season as well as all playoff games in '08-09. WGN Television signed a 3-year contract to televise games along with Comcast Sportsnet Chicago, Versus and NBC. WGN will televise 20 games next season, all in HD, with Comcast Sportsnet picking up the rest of the games, except for the ones televised on Versus or NBC. An interesting little tidbit of info, is that WGN actually was the home to the Blackhawks in the '60's and early '70s. They actually ended up televising the last Stanley Cup game for the 'Hawks back on April 16, 1961!

This is a huge deal for the Chicago Blackhawks. Finally their fans will be able to catch all their games, and connect to their team in the way they want. The biggest result of this though, is finally the bad blood caused by the late Bill Wirtz's decision to not televise home games has run its course. It seems the last year has been almost all about healing of the organization's wounds. Now the Blackhawks will be better able to move forward with their exciting, young team, into the future.




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