An Open Letter to the NHL

So this is what it's come to. This little blog of mine started a while back under the Sports With Steve banner, and focused almost exclusively on the NHL. I went to college in hopes of one day being a beat-reporter for an NHL team. I stood by the NHL when its product was nearly unwatchable between lockouts. I stood by the league when time and again, they got it wrong. So wrong in fact, I don't even know which embarrassing episode to start with. Let's see: Losing their tv deal with ESPN? Every minute of the Phoenix Coyotes' existence? Not actually dealing with the Todd Bertuzzi incident, and just letting the lockout serve as discipline? Being the first major professional league to cancel a whole season (and the chance to be the first to do it twice is looming)? The way they've handled the ownership situations in Anaheim (criminal-but-not-really), Atlanta (who even knows?), Boston (Jacobs destroying the team), Buffalo (Comcast), Chicago (Wirtz destroying the team), Edmonton (the whole pre-Katz consortium), Hartford (team stolen), Los Angeles (criminal), Minnesota (team stolen), Nashville (criminal), New York (the Islanders will get the Seattle Supersonics treatment shortly), Ottawa (everything pre-Melnyk), Phoenix (literally, every minute of this team's existence), Pittsburgh (criminal, saved by Mario, rigged draft, etc), Quebec (team stolen), Tampa Bay (several times) and Winnipeg (team stolen)? Did I get them all? The Brett Hull goal (and alternatively, the Martin Gelinas goal)? The off-again, on-again-when-we-need-money World Cup? The transfer agreement with the KHL? The fact there's debate over whether or not to send NHL players to the 2014 Olympics? And that's barely even hinting at how happy the NHL is to make money thanks to the support of Canadian fans, and offer us nothing in return. But fear not, sports fans! NHL senior vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell knows what fans want! And he is here to fix the problems. You see, among other things he handles supplementary discipline for the NHL, which is a fancy way of saying he hands out suspensions. Like the one Matt Cooke got this week for ending Marc Savard's career (if this concussion doesn't end his career, it'll easily take 10 years off his life, so you pick which hyperbole you like better). Oh, right, that didn't happen. You see, Campbell knows NHL fans want consistency in the discipline he hands out. Bruins fans certainly don't want to see their leading scorer. So because Campbell didn't have the guts to suspend Mike Richards earlier this season for a similar hit, he can't possibly suspend Cooke. Gotta stay consistent. And what of Campbell's self-imposed mandate to take a harder stance against repeat offenders (which is a category Cooke practically defines)? Let's turn it over to Mr. Campbell via TSN: "I know Matt Cooke is a repeat offender, he's been suspended twice in the last year. I can't suspend Matt Cooke for being a repeat offender, I have to find a reason. Right now our rules say that shoulders to the head are legal." Now I hate to let the rulebook get in the way or anything silly like that, but nowhere does it explicitly say "shoulders to the head are legal," or any variation of that statement. It's a tacit approval at best, with failing support. Let's go back to that bit about supplemental discipline-- specifically, what is it? Well, it's supposed to be used in times when a player goes a little too far. Would most agree that Cooke went too far here? I don't know if most would, but his teammate Bill Guerin (not exactly an altar boy) does. And from the quotes I've been reading, it sounds like most of the players that can afford to call the league out on this one also agree. But there's nothing in the rules, so Campbell's hands are tied. As a self-respecting human being, I can't accept that explanation. It's a slap in the face. And this time the league has gone too far. When Ron Artest charged into the stands, did the NBA step back and say "shucks, we just don't have a rule for this, so play on, Ron-Ron"? When Mike Vick was busted in connection with a dog-fighting ring, did the NFL take a couple days to think about it before deciding "well there's nothing here saying our players can't bankroll dog-fighting rings, so play on, Mike"? Those examples are obviously more extreme than this one, but hell, the NHL didn't even step in and temporarily remove Wayne Gretzky as Coyotes' head coach when his wife and assistant coach (now Tampa Bay's head coach) were being investigated for involvement in a gambling ring! This kind of head-in-the-sand cowardice wouldn't get a third grader out of show-and-tell, but we accept it from the grown men that control the most powerful hockey league in the world? No. Not anymore. So just like the Blue Jays and JP Ricciardi, it's come to this for me and the NHL. Until Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell are removed from their posts, I just can't continue to support a league that repeatedly kicks its fans in the teeth. Until Bettman and Campbell are gone, I'm breaking up with the NHL. We had a real good thing, NHL. But until that day, adieu.

If ever there was any, I'm sure the dust has settled

I was out for dinner last night with the incomparable Darell, and we talked a little about print media. We started down the path by talking about Stephen Brunt of the Globe and Mail, and his wonderful piece at the end of the Olympics (which is the same message I had here Monday morning, just y'know, way better). As the topic turned to more important matters, we agreed that perhaps the most damaging aspect of the modern 24-hour news cycle is that lack of time for reflection and lack of distance most stories can have now. Tiger Woods crashes his car in the wee hours of Thanksgiving? I got a text message before I was even awake breaking down the facts, offering theories and analysis, and generally creating the TIGER! TIGER! TIGER! we've been forced to digest ever since. So with that in mind, I decided to take some time to think about the 2010 NHL Trade Deadline before offering any commentary. It's this: that was probably the worst Trade Deadline ever. I just can't be bothered to peel back layers of Wojtek Wolskis and Dustin Boyds to offer up thoughts on winners, losers, or anything else. In the end, TSN's ratings were probably winners, hockey fans were losers, and no one team got either significantly better or worse yesterday. And if I'm a fan of any of the active teams, I'm not accepting whatever spin they're putting on their days. Lubomir Visnovsky doesn't make Anaheim particularly better, and Edmonton's only getting $1.4 million in cap relief by accepting Ryan Whitney in return. And that was honestly the biggest trade of the day. What a waste. The bad teams are still bad, the good teams are still good, and none of Pittsburgh, Washington or Chicago are particularly better today than they were Tuesday. So let's all just move on to writing letters to the NHL demanding NHl participation at the 2014 Olympics.

And then it was gone

After 17 breathless, heart-stopping days, the 2010 Olympics are over. What a run. To suggest the Vancouver Games went off without a hitch would be an inappropriate revision of history. But the Games certainly went out with a bang and made the uncertain first few days seem a distant memory. After all the hand-wringing over Canada's (perceived) poor early showing, after all the doubt (from this corner at least) the men's hockey team could compete for gold, after tragedy, this country stood Sunday afternoon in triumph. Maybe others have hosted the Games better, but nobody had more fun than Canada did. Even here in Calgary, we spent the last two weeks partying, celebrating and loving every minute of it. From Jenn Heil's silver, to Alexandre Bilodeau winning gold at home, to Moir and Virtue's brilliant skate, to Joannie Rochette's gutsy bronze, to the dramatic finishes in the curling and hockey (and 50 km cross country event on Sunday) and everything in between, this year's Games had a little something for everyone. And a story for everyone. So this is just a quick thank you to everyone that spent time enjoying the Games with me these last couple weeks. Thanks to those of you that didn't care much for the hockey, curling, or biathlon I forced you to watch. Thanks to the folks I kept touch with in Ontario during the Games-- even thousands of miles away, I felt closer to you than ever before. Thanks to you for sharing the memories and being the story. Thanks to our incomparable server, Kat, for never leaving us with empty glasses or empty bellies. But most importantly, thanks to all the athletes that gave Canadians a reason to come together in the past 17 days like never before. Things didn't go quite as planned, but we sure had a good time, and I wouldn't change it for anything.