If I Were NHL Commissioner

      Gary Bettman has been the Commissioner of the NHL since 1993 and in my opinion is the worst commissioner in the history of sports. Under his watch the NHL has gone from one of the big four sports in America to a niche sport that has to fight to have its games televised. He has presided over three work stoppages, two that cut seasons in half and one the eliminated an entire season. He has instituted rule changes that have taken the teeth out of the game and wonders why more players are getting hurt. He refuses to change things that will improve the on ice product and can’t figure out why the sport’s popularity is fading. He needs to be replaced as soon as possible and pretty much anyone would be better. As a matter of fact I would be interested in filling the position. If I were hired there are quite a few things I would change.

One of my main goals would be to repair the relationship between the NHL and the player’s union. Currently it is so toxic that neither side thinks they can trust what the other is saying and that needs to change. The players need to realize that the owners have to make their money and that without them there wouldn’t be a league to play in. The owners need to realize that the players want to make as much money as they can as quickly as they can, before their careers are over and without them their wouldn’t be a product to put on the ice. In other words both sides cannot exist without each other. I think it is totally ridiculous that relations between Bettman and whoever is running the union are so bad that there have been three lockouts since 1994. The management side of the NHL and the owners has never really accepted the union and it is my belief that Bettman has tried to break the union every time the collective bargaining agreement has come up for renewal. The NHL made 4.1 billion dollars last year and is scheduled to make even more this year. I see no reason why there isn’t enough money to go around and as long as neither side is too greedy everybody should be able to get along. While my ideas might be considered radical I think they will make the NHL a better product and maybe return some of the luster to a sport that was fallen from its once lofty perch.

My biggest complaint over the years has finally been addressed; moving the Red Wings to the Eastern Conference. I can’t believe it took this long to move them but I’m happy about it. Bettman could have done a better job and re-aligned the entire NHL and made travel a minor issue. My plan would put Montreal, Toronto, Boston, New York Rangers, Detroit and Chicago, all of the original six teams in one division; I would put Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Jersey and the New York Islanders in another division. The final Eastern Conference division would be Ottawa, Washington, Carolina, Florida and Tampa Bay. In the Western Conference one division would be comprised of Minnesota, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis and Dallas. The second division would be Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Colorado and Phoenix and the third division would be Vancouver, San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles. If you examine that setup travel would mostly be within one time zone or at worst a few games one time zone away. I would also change the number of games in a season from 82 to 75 and set it up differently. Teams would play non-divisional conference foes twice, once on the road and once at home. They would play divisional opponents eight times, four at home four on the road, except for the six team division which would play each other seven times rotating every year which team would have the extra home game. That would add up to 62 games for the divisions with five teams and 65 games for the six team division and have teams play clubs from the other conference to make up the difference.

I would also change the playoff system and the number of teams that qualify for the post-season. Rather than the best eight teams in each conference making the playoffs, I would have the three division winners and the next best two teams qualify. I would give the team with the best record in the conference a bye in the first two round to make up for the odd number of teams but I would keep all series as the best of seven. That would mean if you were a conference winner you would play between eight and fourteen games to win the cup and every other team would play between sixteen and 28 games. Lowering the number of qualifying teams and giving a two round bye to the conference winner will make the regular season mean something, which would be a great change from the current system where more than half the teams in the league make the post-season and teams go through periods where they coast, this would end that and force teams to play all out all season long.

There are two rule changes I would tackle if I were Commissioner. The first rule I would change would be the instigator rule, I think that is one of the main reasons players are getting hurt more often recently. If that rule is removed the players will police themselves and the number of illegal hits and other incidents will go down. If players have to worry about dealing with enforcers and the enforcers don’t have to worry about an extra two minutes the game will return to a level of incidents from years past. I would also change the way goalies are treated outside the crease. I wouldn’t make them completely fair game but if they’re outside the crease handling the puck and a players runs into them trying to get the puck there shouldn’t be a penalty called. As it stands now if a player taps a goalie anywhere on the ice he is whistled for goalie interference or roughing, that is just stupid and gives an unfair advantage to the goalkeeper. I would also start a committee of players, owners, NHL officials and refs to settle once and for all the issues regarding what is and isn’t a penalty for interference, hooking, slashing etc. The current system of refs being instructed by the league to call penalties tightly in the beginning of the season and players and coaches having to figure it out is ridiculous. The players, coaches and refs need to be on the same page from the first game to the last, season after season. This committee would be charged with coming up with a standard for each penalty, that the refs would stick to all season, including the playoffs and the players would learn to play around.

I understand that most of these changes would require negotiations with the player’s union and that is why I consider the repair of the relationship between the league and union so important. I believe that if the two sides can learn to trust each other then most of these items would not be a big deal to get enacted. The owners and players have to realize that their sport is failing and changes need to be made if they wish to regain relevance. I think hockey is one of the best sports on earth and I wish more people agreed with me and I think these changes would go a long way to making that happen.  

If I Were The Commissioner Of Baseball.

      Bud Selig has been the Commissioner of Major League Baseball since 1992 and says he will retire at the end of the 2014 season. During his tenure baseball has endured a strike that cancelled the entire 1994 season, including the World Series, implemented inter-league play and consolidated power with his office rather then their being a president of both the National and American Leagues as had been the case since the leagues were founded.  He presided over the return of baseball after 9-11 and was the decision maker that resulted in the 7-7 tie of the 202 All-Star Game.  He was also Commissioner during the discovery of wide-spread use of performance enhancing drugs, one of the worst scandals in baseball history.
      He has been involved in many other decisions that have changed baseball.  Selig's decision to extend the traditional post-season schedule into November in an attempt to increase Nielsen ratings was met with widespread disdain, both inside and outside the baseball community.  Selig has made some decisions involving the Houston Astros that were unpopular with their supporters.  He ordered the roof at Minute Maid Park to be opened for games three and four of the 2005 World Series, pre-empting the authority held by the Astros.  The roof was closed for all prior playoff games and similar weather conditions.  For Hurricane Ike in 2008, Selig mandated that the Astros play two home games against the Chicago Cubs in his hometown of Milwaukee despite proximity to the visiting Cubs.  The Astros subsequently were victims of a no-hitter by Carlos Zambrano and recorded a single hit in the following game.  In the midst of the playoff race, this decision and its impact deeply affected the playoff race and seedings with eight teams holding winning records at the moment.  The Milwaukee Brewers benefited from these events by qualifying in the playoffs as a Wild Card team.  The home ballparks for the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves were both available to host the games.  In 2011, Selig also demanded that the Astros move to the American League West as a condition of the sale of the franchise to businessman Jim Crane; the team switched leagues in 2013 in return for $70 million discount in the purchase price.  Selig also drew criticism for his handling of the Los Angeles Dodgers situation.  United States bankruptcy judge Kevin Gross rendered a stern warning to Selig in regards to the Dodgers ownership dispute.  Treating other teams differently in regards to their media contracts drew accusations that Selig did not act in good faith with respect to the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Selig rejected the television deal that Frank McCourt negotiated that intended to bring the franchise out of bankruptcy, claiming McCourt violated the Baseball Agreements although no action taken against New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon despite being in a similar position.  Some critics have used Selig's handling of the Dodgers to point out a double standard in treatment of MLB owners.  More specifically in regards to the Mets, critics point out Selig's personal relationship with Wilpon has allowed him to stall any possible removal of Wilpon as that club's principal owner. 
      Selig was also responsible for the realignment of teams into three divisions per league, and the introduction of playoff wild card teams (1994), the addition of two franchises: the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, now the Tampa Bay Rays (1998), transfer of the Milwaukee Brewers (the team he owned until he became commissioner) from the American League to the National League (1998), Unbalanced schedule (2001), Home field advantage in the World Series granted to the winner of the All Star Game in the same season (2003), Transfer of Montreal Expos franchise to Washington, D.C., becoming the Washington Nationals (2004), Dedicating April 15 as Jackie Robinson Day (2004), Stricter Major League Baseball performance-enhancing drug testing policy (2005), World Baseball Classic (2006), Introduction of instant replay in the event of a disputed home run call (2008) and the introducing a second wild card playoff team in each league (2012).  Quite an impressive list of accomplishments, some good, some bad but has he done enough to keep baseball in the forefront of the minds of people around the world?  I think there are six things a Commissioner could do to improve the product of baseball.
      First, I believe the season is too long, I'm not saying the 162 games are too many, just that the season lasts too long.  In 1984, the last year the Tigers won the World Series, the season started on April 2nd and ended October 14, 192 days.  Last year the season started March 28th and ended October 28th, 210 days.  Eighteen days may not seem like much but in October it could mean the difference between playing in 50 degree weather and 40 degree weather.  Another reason I picked 1984 is because it was the last time a World Series game started earlier than prime time in the eastern United States.  In addition, no World Series has ended as early as October 14 since 1984; in fact no World Series game has been played earlier than October 15 since 1984.  Format changes—the best-of-five League Championship Series becoming best-of-seven affairs, followed by the addition of wild-card teams and the best-of-five League Division Series—have made that impossible.  That needs to change, when I was a kid baseball teams played multiple doubleheaders a season, not because of rain outs, but to keep the number of days in the season down.  Nowadays that does not happen.  Teams do not want to schedule twin-bills because it cuts into their revenues, they just don't make as much money if two games are played in one day as they would if they were on separate days.  If we can convince the teams to have more doubleheaders we can reduce the number of days in the season, which will allow the post-season to start earlier and therefore end earlier. 
      Second, along with increasing the number of doubleheaders I also believe the start time for most post-season games should be earlier.  Since 1984 there has not been a post season game that has started before 8:00 PM Eastern time, with the average length of a World Series game in the last five seasons coming in at 3:30 that puts the end of the game around 11:30 PM much too late for children to stay up.  Consequently there are whole generations of young people that have never seen a whole World Series game.  That hurts the popularity of baseball in the long run, if kids don't grow up as a fan of baseball the league will lose then as fans as adults.  I know that the sports landscape is crowded these days but if baseball wants to keep growing and maybe return to it's number one spot then they need to court the kids in America. 
      Third, I don't understand Selig's decision to move the Houston Astros to the American League.  Why move a team that has been in the National League since it's inception in 1962.  There are no rivalries for Houston in the AL and with their poor play in recent years I see that fan base unwilling to pay Major League prices to see a game.  One could say that there will be a rivalry with the Texas Rangers but that will take time to develop, especially with the Astros playing so badly.  I think a better move would have been to move the Brewers back to the American League.  The Brewers played in the AL from 1969 until Selig moved them to the NL in 1997.  Sure, There was a team in Milwaukee that played in the NL from 1953 until 1965 but that is a totally different team known as the Braves that now plays in Atlanta and how many people that we around then were around in 1997?  The reason the Brewers were moved in 1997 was the re-alignment to three divisions in each league and the addition of the Rays and Diamondbacks. The league wanted to put one new team in each league and that would have meant there were more teams in the American League then in the NL.  The talk in baseball circles said that the team that moved would make a lot of money, and it seems pretty coincidental that it was Selig's old team that moved.  With the move of the Astros to the AL there are now more teams in the AL then in the NL, so that reason to move the Brewers  is now moot, but I guess they were able to postpone it for 16 years.
      Fourth, if I were Commissioner of Baseball would be the reduction or elimination of inter-league play.  Inter-league play was introduced in 1997 to try to generate renewed fan interest after the player's strike in 1994.  It was a success at first but the novelty has worn off, especially for the players who would rather go back to the traditional schedule.  I think it waters down the World Series doubly so if the teams had met in the regular season.  Half the fun of the World Series was the unfamiliarity of the two teams with each other and the way the other league plays.  It was a great memory of mine to see an American League pitcher have to grab a bat in a high pressure situation in the World Series and try to get a hit.  With inter-league play it still might be unlikely for a pitcher to get a hit but all the AL pitchers have done each season.  Another cool thing about the World Series before the advent of inter-league play is the managerial choices that have to be made especially late in the game.  Pinch hitting for the pitchers and double switches were not something managers had to worry about during the regular season but now with so many inter-league games they are much more familiar with it.  I think it is a sad commentary on the state of baseball today that teams only play one series against some of the opponents in the other two divisions but make sure to have games against some team from the other league.   
      Fifth, another issue I would address if the owners saw fit to hire me as Commissioner would be a harder stance on performance enhancing drugs.  PED's are the biggest black mark on baseball since the gambling problems of the early 20th century.  They take away the enjoyment fans have if their favorite player has a record year and puts every record set, under a cloud of suspicion.  Currently, baseball has a graduated punishment policy regarding PED's.  The first offense for a positive PED test is 50 games, the second 100 games and the third a lifetime ban for the player.  I would take a two pronged approach, with much better education of the players as to what they can and can't take and an increased punishment plan.  The Major Leagues can not expect the players, especially players from countries other then the United States, to understand that something they find at the grocery store could contain a banned substance.  A good idea would be to have every player sign a list of all the banned substances stating they understand and will comply with the rules.  After the education we need to give the players only two strikes, the first positive test is a 100 game ban and the second is a lifetime ban.  There also can't be any differentiation between a rookie from the Dominican Republic and someone like Ryan Braun or Barry Bonds, a failed test is a failed test.  If baseball bans a few star players then I think the message might sink in and we can clean up this great game.
      The final item I would change would be the elimination of the World Baseball Classic.  I believe it is a total waste of time for most Major League players and it seems to matter only to the other countries that participate.  It plays into my desire to shorten the season, if the WBC is eliminated spring training could be shortened but at the same time start later and the season could start at a more reasonable date.  It was started in a response to the International The super-star American players don't care about the WBC and would rather not be forced to decide to play or not.  American fans don't care and don't want any of there favorite players to play and risk an injury, in fact the US has never finished better than fourth.  Sure, it might be good for growing the game overseas but that doesn't need to be MLB's focus right now, it should focus on fixing the game here at home.
      These are the items that I think are the most important to change right away to make baseball the game I remember as a kid.  I know it will never be exactly the same but it can be much better then it is now.  It might not ever regain it place as the most popular sport in American but it should be a strong second and it can be if these items are addressed.  

Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks Game 3 Recap

      Game three between the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks took place Saturday night at the Joe Louis Area in Detroit, both team were looking to take a two games to one lead in the best of seven first round series.  At the end of the game it was the Ducks that had the led and the Red Wings and their fans who were fuming.  The Ducks had a 4-0 victory and one the Wings top three forwards had been kicked out of the game and would be facing suspension for a hit in the second period. 
      The first period was scoreless but featured four Anaheim penalties as well as three by Detroit,  with neither team being able to cash in on the powerplay.  The Ducks outshot the Wings 13-7 in the period.  The second period was the period that turned the game in favor of the Ducks.  The game remained scoreless until the 15:11 mark when Justin Abdelkader crushed Toni Lydman coming out of the corner to the left of Jonas Hiller.  Abdelkader was called for a five minute major for charging and was also giving a game misconduct, sending him to the showers early.  The replay that I saw showed that Abdelkader stopped striding before the hit, one of the criteria for charging, it also showed that Abdelkader hit Lydman shoulder to shoulder before sliding up to make contact with the head.  As with any big hit in today's NHL this one will be looked at by League Disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan who could decide to suspend Abdelkader or not, that will be revealed Sunday.  The result of the play was a five minutes powerplay for the Ducks, who would remain on the powerplay no matter how many goals they scored.  It didn't take the Ducks long to cash in with Nick Bonino scoring assisted by Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf  18 seconds after the penalty call.  The Wings were able to settle down and kill of the remaining 4:42 of the penalty which ran into the third period.  That third period was the killer for Detroit with the Ducks scoring three more goals.  The first was a shorthanded unassisted goal scored by Ryan Getzlaf 6:33, into the period, the second goal scored by Emerson Etem assisted by Teemu Selanne coming at 8:04 just 2:10 after the Getzlaf goal and a powerplay goal scored by Matt Beleskey assisted by Saku Koivu and Bobby Ryan at 13:34.  The Ducks outshout the Wings for the game 29-23 and were 2-6 on the powerplay while Detroit was 0-6 with the man advantage. 
      I just found out that Justin Abdelkader will be suspended for two games after the hit on Toni Lydman in the second period of Saturday night's game.  In a video released by Brendan Shanahan regarding the incident he stated "Abdelkader elevates at contact, turning what could have been a hard, full body check into a high, violent check with significant contact to the head that caused an injury,".  Abdelkader will miss game four Monday night in Detroit as well as game five in Anaheim.  I believe this could be a case of Shanahan handing down a punishment that was more sever then normal because he didn't want the Ducks and their fans to scream "bias" because Shanahan was a long time Red Wing player, winning three Stanley Cups with Detroit.  It will be interesting to see what effect this has on the Wings both for the perspective of who will take Abdelkader's place in the lineup and what will it mean to the rest of the team.  Will they just fold and lose the next two game or will they turn this into a rallying point and fight back to make this a series?     

1st Round Playoff Matchup for Detroit

Well, the Red Wings have extended their playoff streak to 22 years, now the question is how deep of a run can they make this year?  The opening round opponent for Detroit are the Anaheim Ducks, the second seed in the Western Conference and winner of the Pacific Division. 
      The Ducks were 30-12-6 good for 66 points.  They scored 140 goals and gave up 118 a goal differential of +22, their powerplay is working at 21.5% 4th in the NHL.  Their leading scorers are Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, Getzlaf had 15 goals 34 assists for 49 points, Perry had 15 goals and 21 assists for 36 points.  The Ducks also had six other players with at least 20 points; Bobby Ryan, Saku Koivu, Teemu Selanne, Francois Beauchemin, Andrew Cogliano and Kyle Palmieri.  The Ducks split time for their goalies with Viktor Fasth getting 25 starts and Jonas Hiller getting 26 starts, however Hiller will be the playoff goalie.  Fasth was 15-6-2 with a 2.18 GAA and a save percentage of .921, Hiller was15-6-4 with a 2.36 GAA and a save percentage of .913.
      The Red Wings were 24-16-8 good for 56 points.  They scored 124 goals and gave up 115 a differential of +9, their powerplay is creeping along at 18.4% 15th in the NHL.  Their leading scorers are Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, with Datsyuk getting 15 goals 34 assists for 49 points and Zetterberg with 11 goals 37 assists for 48 points.  The Wings also have three other players with at least 20 points; Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall and Damien Brunner.  Jimmy Howard got the bulk of the starts in goal for the Wings and will be the playoff starter.  In 42 games Howard was 21-13-7 with a 2.13 GAA and a save percentage of .923.
      If Detroit can neutralize Perry and Getzlaf and make sure that Ryan=, Koivu and Selanne don't pick up the slack.  If they can keep the puck away from Beauchemin and Sheldon Souray at the points on the powerplay.  If they can solve the Hiller riddle, get their powerplay on track and win the battles for loose pucks, then they can make it a good series, if not then they will be preparing for their move to the Eastern Conference earlier then they would like.
      Because I have bee slacking in my blog posting the first game of this series has already been played, so let's take a look at it.
      The Ducks won the contest 3-1 but that score is a little misleading.  It was tied 1-1 until 1:29 of the third period when the Ducks scored, they added an empty netter to make it 3-1.
      The game started at 10:30(EDT) in front of a crowd of 17,200 at the Pond in Anaheim.  The Wings came out flat and the Ducks dominated play in the first period.  The game remained scoreless until Jordin Tootoo was called for a cross check at the 10:24 mark.  The Ducks scored four seconds into the powerplay on a tally by Nick Bonino assisted Cam Fowler.  The Wings tied the score 5:41 later on a powerplay goal by Dan Cleary assisted by Jakub Kindl and Patrick Eaves.  The first period ended with the score tied at one.  The second period was scoreless with both teams getting two powerplay chances.  The period ended with the Ducks on the powerplay after Kindl was called for delay of game for shooting the puck over the glass.  The Duck capitalized on the powerplay with Selanne scoring 1:29 into the period, assisted by Ben Lovejoy and Matt Beleskey.  The Wings were unable to crack the armor of Duck goalie Hiller and pulled Howard for the extra attacker.  Anaheim put a exclamation point on the game when Francois Beauchemin scored assisted by Ryan Getzlaf and Daniel Winnik. 
      The three stars of the game were Teemu Selanne, Jonas Hiller and Saku Koivu.  The Ducks were 2-4 on the powerplay while the Wings were 1-4 and the Ducks out shot the Wings 27-22.  The second game of the best of seven series is Thursday 5/2/13 at 9:00(EDT)     

Down the Playoff Stretch for the Red Wings

      The Detroit Red Wings have five games left in the regular season and as it stands going into play on Thursday 4/18, they are in ninth place two points out of the last playoff spot.  If they miss the post season it will be the first time in 21 years.  Can they pull it out, make the playoffs and extend that streak?  If they want to, they need to play better and get help from other teams in these last few games.  The Columbus Blue Jackets are the team the Wings are chasing and they have four games left in the season.  The play in Los Angeles, in San Jose and in Dallas before returning home to play Nashville, which means they face two teams already in the playoffs, one team that is out and one team, Dallas, that still could make it.  The Jackets are 0-2 against the Kings this season, 2-0 against the Sharks, 1-1 versus Dallas and 3-1 against Nashville.  Detroit, on the other hand, has games at Vancouver, at home against Phoenix, Los Angeles and Nashville before going to Dallas to end the season, meaning two playoff teams, two out and Dallas fighting for their playoff lives just like Detroit.  The Wings are 2-0 against the Canucks, 1-1 against the Coyotes, 1-1 against the Kings, 2-1 against the Predators and 1-1 against the Stars.  Of course this means nothing if Detroit can't start winning their own games.  I have written a few posts about the struggles of the Red Wings and there hasn't been anything done to fix the issues I spotlighted.  The powerplay is still awful, the stars aren't scoring,   the defense is still a sieve and Jonas Gustavsson is a horrible netminder, what ever happened to Petr Mrazek?  If the Wings have any hope at all they need to start by winning Saturday night against Vancouver.  That is the game they need to focus on, if they can't win that one the season is over.  If they get by the Canucks then the Coyotes become the one game to think about.  That is the only way this will work..  Babcock and his coaches have to keep everybody focused as a laser on the next game, not what are the Blue Jackets doing, or how are the Stars playing.  Nope, the only thing they can be thinking about is the team  they play that night and if they're good enough and lucky enough  to get help from the other teams in the league, then they might get the honor of facing the Chicago Black Hawks, in which case they will be golfing really early and planing on starting the 2014 season in the Eastern Conference.  I'm starting to get to the point of writing them off this year and just looking forward to 2014.  I hope that I'm wrong and they can make the playoffs and go on a deep run but I don't think so.    

The Playoff Fate of the Detroit Red Wings.

      The last time the Detroit Red Wings missed the NHL playoffs George H. W. Bush was President, the Soviet Union was still in power, Dances With Wolves won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Bette Midler won the Grammy for Record of the Year.  Pump up the Jam was burning up the airwaves and Cheers and Seinfield were number one TV shows.  2013 might be the year the Wings miss the post season again.  The standings going into play Thursday 4/11/13 have the Red Wings with 43 points in the eighth and last playoff spot.  They are three points behind the Minnesota Wild in seventh but only one point ahead of the Phoenix Coyotes in ninth and two points ahead of the Dallas Stars and Columbus Bluejackets in eleventh place.  Can the Wings hold off the Coyotes, Stars and Jackets and extend their playoff streak, the longest in North American sports, to 21 years?  The Wings have nine games left against, the Sharks, Blackhawks, Flames, Canucks, Coyotes, Kings, Stars and two against the Predators.  That is six games against teams already in the playoffs and three against teams behind them battling for that last playoff spot.  There are a few aspects of their game the Wings need to improve if they have any chance at staying in eighth. 
      The powerplay is an area of concern, as it has been all season, the Wings rank 14th on the powerplay at home with 21.4%, 20th on the road with an anemic 14.5% and 14th overall with 18.3%.  This stat almost as much as any other is the reason the Wings are struggling this year.  I have already written posts on the powerplay and how it can be improved and the Wings have not done enough to improve it.  They still haven't found a person to replace Tomas Holmstrom in front of the net, a good powerplay quarterback is still missing and they are still losing the battles in the corners.  The lack of powerplay scoring effects most other aspects of the offense and if it isn't changed, and fast, then Detroit will either miss the playoffs or lose in the first round.  The Wings are 10-11 in one goal games, 2-4 in two goal games and 7-6 in three or more goal games.  They allow 2.60 goals per game but only score 2.53 goals a game, ranking them 24th in goal differential at -3.  All these stats mean two things; one, the Wings don't have the horsepower to make any kind of comeback especially if they are down by more than one goal.  The other thing it means are teams aren't afraid of the, once potent, Detroit offense which always used to play into Detroit's hands.  If teams are afraid of the offense then they will play tight and when you play tight, mistakes will be made and the Wings used to feast on other team's mistakes.  Without those mistakes the Wings are having to rely on their talent it it just doesn't seem to be there this year. 
      Goals are down across the board.  The Wings don't have one player in the top 40 in goals scored, in fact they only have two players, Pavel Datsyuk and Damien Brunner, with ten goals or more.  There are only seven other team in the entire NHL that have only two ten goal scorers, and only one, Dallas, that has less than Detroit and that includes the other 14 teams not making the playoffs!  Brunner started out fast but has only scored one goal in the last 21 games, Henrik Zetterberg only has eight goals and Johan Franzen only has seven.  The Wings need to do something to get those guys on track.  Detroit is not getting much third and fourth line scoring which puts more pressure on the first two lines, and this year, they're not up for the challenge.  Of course offense isn't the only problem facing the Wings.
      The defense this year is another area in which the Wings need to improve, although it has improved since the start of the season.  Even though he will be the first to admit it Nicklas Kronwall is no Nicklas Lidstrom and is a weaker cornerstone to the defense.  Teams are still getting way too many chances once a puck is around the net and, just as in the offensive zone, players are getting beat to loose pucks and losing the battles in the corners.  The passing in their end has been bad at best and is leading to entirely too many chances for the opposition and Howard's backup Jonas Gustavsson has played poorly this season shifting a bigger burden onto Howard to play well every time.
      These are the issues facing the Red Wings and with only eight games left before the start of the playoffs, they need to figure them out in a hurry or they may miss the playoff for the first time in a long time.  Would that be such a bad thing?  Yes, in a way it would, the fans of the Red Wings expect their team to make a run at the Stanley Cup ever single year, so it would be quite a shock for them.  However, every team needs to go through a rebuilding phase and this looks like the start of Detroit's rebuilding and maybe a lowering of fan expectations is a good thing.  I know players have said time and time again that they feel the pressure to win it all every year in Detroit and who knows how much of a role that plays in their success or failure.  I know that it is a disappointing year for the last year in the Western Conference but hope springs eternal and next year they move to the East and will only have fifteen game outside their time zone and that can only help.  Besides, there is always next year!  Detroit fans have gone long periods of time without winning the Cup and managed to get through it, and they will again.        

Continuing Woes for the Red Wings

       The struggles for the Red Wings continue, they have lost their last three games and are now in a three way tie for the eighth playoff spot in the West with Phoenix and Minnesota.  If the Wings can’t right the ship and start playing much better than this could be the first year they miss the playoff since 1989/90 season.   Injuries have played a role in this streak of poor play but the team cannot hang it’s hat on that excuse.  The Wings aren’t playing with the fire they’ve had in years past, the fore-checking is spotty and the special teams are atrocious.  Detroit is getting outshot in 33% (5 of 15) of the games so far this season.  In past years the Wings would go a full 82 games without being outshot in that many games.  What factors are causing this strange phenomenon?  Injuries do play a part in this stat but aren’t the only factor the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom is looming larger than anyone thought.  He was the cornerstone of that defense and a mentor of the younger rear guards and now that he is gone the defense just doesn’t seem to have a leader.  Ian White is back from his injury and Kronwall, Ericsson and him need to step up and provide that leadership.  Another factor in the Wings being outshot is the lack of consistent fore-check by the forwards.  They are letting the other team start up ice without having to make passes to get around fore-checkers, giving their offense a head of steam and not allowing the defense to stack up on the blueline and stop them.  All the forwards, but especially the third and fourth liners need to pick up their fore-check and keep the opposition bottled up.  An aggressive fore-check will also lead to turnovers, scoring chances and penalties.  Of course, having the other team shorthanded isn’t as much of a benefit as it usually is because of the lack of scoring on the man advantage. 

      I wrote a blog a week ago about the lack of powerplay scoring and it hasn’t improved at all.  They are operating at 14.5% which is good for 23^rd in the league.  The Wings still have not scored a powerplay goal on the road and it doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon.  Tuesday 2/19 the Wings go to Nashville whose penalty kill is clipping along at an 89% pace and are only giving up 1.03 goals per game.  The Wings still haven’t solved the problem of Holmstrom’s retirement and it seems like they are trying too hard to get the perfect shot rather than following the old hockey adage that if you throw rubber at the net good things will happen.  With both Franzen and Bertuzzi on the IR Detroit just doesn’t have a traditional big body to put in front of the net.  As I said in the other entry I believe Abdelkader and/or Tootoo could do the job although not in the power forward sense but in the sense of just having a body screening the goalie.  Just as I said before someone on the back end needs to step up and become the powerplay quarterback the Wings have been without since the retirement of Lidstrom.

      Detroit also needs to have more scoring from the defense, the nine defensemen that have played this season have 6 goals and 18 assists and nine of those assists belong to Kronwall.  I’m not saying the Wings need to turn everybody loose and defense be damned, but the rest of the defense corps needs to start shooting more.  This will lead to more scoring chances both for them and the forwards.  Speaking of the forwards, Babcock needs them to start scoring too, after the first line of Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Brunner scoring has been sparse.  The top line has accounted for 19 goals and 28 assists in the 32 game so far and the other 15 forwards that have played this season have 14 goals and 24 assists or to put it another way the top line has scored 1.47 points per game and everybody else 1.19 per game.  To put it one more way, the top line is scoring 15.7 points per person and everybody else 2.5 points per person.  That needs to change if the Wings have any hopes this season.  Patrick Eaves, Jordin Tootoo and Justin Abdelkader have yet to score a goal this season and Darren Helm hasn’t scored because he has yet to play a game this season.  The Wings need all these guys as well as Johan Franzen and Todd Bertuzzi to start scoring.  I also think letting Jiri Hudler go to free agency was a mistake, something Ken Holland doesn’t do very often.  Last year Hudler scored 25 goals and already has 4 this season which would put him fourth on the Wings.  There just doesn’t seem to be the usual swagger in the Wings and they are letting teams dictate the pace of games and giving up leads entirely too often.  The Wings have surrendered five leads this season, and that doesn’t count a one goal early lead but just two or more goals.  If the Wings want to win then they have to protect those leads especially late in the game.  I guess everything has to come to an end eventually but I’m not ready to see the Wings miss the playoff for the first time since 1989/90.  I hope Ken Holland, Jimmy Devellano and Mike Babcock have something in store for the team and the fans or this could be a long shortened season.

Detroit Red Wings Season Week One

      After a 119 day wait for the NHL season to finally begin, the players and the owners have put aside their differences and got down to the business of hockey.  There were questions as to whether or not fans would return to the game that has had three work stoppages in the last 20 years.  Well, after the first week of games that question has been answered, and the answer is yes, NHL fans have returned in mass.  There haven’t been any protests or boycotts to express the fan’s displeasure with the way they have been treated by both the league and the players.  There are only a few ways for the lowly fans to reach the owners and players and NHL fans don’t seem to be interested in that at all.  Apparently NHL fans are ok with being treated like after thoughts.  Fans of other sports are more than willing to express their displeasure with their favorite sports.  After the MLB strike of 1994-1995 average game attendance fell from 31,256 to 25,008 a decline of 19.9%.  MLB owners and players got the idea that the fans were very upset with them and made efforts to win back the fans.  The NHL is trying to engender fan support at the start of this season by making the players more available to fans and making sure all teams and owners send out letters apologizing for the lock out and thanking the fans for sticking with the team but in my opinion these efforts are hollow and as long as the fans come to the games, buy NHL products and watch the games on TV then neither the owners or the players will ever think about the fans.  But since the fans would rather support their hockey teams then try to get them to think about the fans, I will go with that and speak about my favorite team the Red Wings.

      Through six games the Wings are 3-2-1 for seven points and third place in the Central Division.  They were slaughtered in a opening night loss 6-0 against St. Louis.  The Wings looked like a team that had just gotten together while the Blues appeared to be in mid-season form.  Detroit’s passing was horrible, there was no flow to their game and Jimmy Howard was porous.  Of course this could be attributed to the extra long layoff.  Detroit was outshot 36-14 and was 0-4 on the powerplay while giving up 4 goals while a man down.  The Wings said they would put that game behind them and concentrate on their next game two days later.    

      The Wings got their first win of the season winning 4-3 in a shootout against the Columbus Blue Jackets.  The Wings jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by rookie defenseman Brian Lashoff (his first of his NHL career) and Ian White before giving up three un-answered goals to Columbus.  Pavel Datsyuk scored late in the third period to send the game to overtime.  After a scoreless OT the Wings prevailed in the shootout, with Damien Brunner scoring the only goal.  Detroit outshot Columbus 42-33 but was 0-7 on the powerplay.  The penalty kill was not great with Detroit giving up two powerplay goals.  Datsyuk and Niklas Kronwall each had two points while White, Lashoff,  Mikael Samuelsson, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen all had one point each.  After the game it was announced that defenseman Carlo Colaicacovo had been injured and would be out indefinitely with a strained groin.

      The Wings were not able to carry the momentum from their win against Columbus into their next game against the Dallas Stars.  Before the game the Wings announced the signing of veteran defenseman Kent Huskins to a one year contract.  The signing was a move to shore up the battered Detroit defense corps.  Ken Holland also announced that after 15 years in a Red Wings sweater Tomas Holmstrom was retiring.  Homer was given a standing ovation as he walked out to center ice for the ceremonial puck drop but was disappointed by his former team who lost to the Stars 2-1.  Michael Ryder scored both Dallas goals while Brunner scored with four seconds left to spoil the shutout.  Datsyuk and Zetterberg assisted on Brunner’s goal.  Detroit outshot the Stars 40-32 and was 0-4 on the powerplay but did not allow a powerplay goal on two Dallas chances.  In their first three games the Wings have only scored four goals and were 0-15 on the powerplay while giving up 6 powerplay goals in 14 chances.  In the post-game news conference coach Mike Babcock said he would be splitting up Datsyuk and Zetterberg who had been playing on the same line to try to jump start the offense and especially the powerplay.  Babcock also announced that defenseman Ian White had been cut with a skate and would be out two to three weeks.         

      The Wings’ next game was against the Minnesota Wild and Detroit won 5-3.  After a scoreless first period, the two offenses woke up and combined for six goals.  The first goal, just 13 seconds into the period, was a powerplay goals scored by Brunner, his second of the season, assisted by Zetterberg and Kronwall.  Todd Bertuzzi scored just 22 seconds later, his first goal of the season, assisted by Valtteri Filppula and Brendan Smith.  The next two goals were scored by the Wild to tie up the game.  Zetterberg scored next assisted by Datsyuk and Filppula and the second period scoring was wrapped up by Datsyuk who scored a powerplay goal, his second of the season, assisted by Kronwall and Franzen making the score 4-2.  Detroit scored first in the third period with Bertuzzi collecting his second goal of the game, assisted by Datsyuk and Filppula.  The Wild cut the lead down to 5-3 with a third period goal of their own but the Wings held on to win by that score.  The final line saw Datsyuk and Filppula leading the team each with three points.  Zetterberg, Bertuzzi and Kronwall all had two points and Smith, Brunner and Franzen had one each. Detroit outshot the Wild 27-26 and was 2-5 on the powerplay while holding Minnesota to one powerplay goal in eight chances.

      I was hopeful after the Minnesota game and thought the Wings could build on that effort and string together a few wins to try to climb back into the hunt for the Central Division title against the leading Blackhawks but the Wings slipped back into the lack of scoring way that had plagued them in all their losses this season.  Chicago remained unbeaten by topping the Red Wings 2-1 in OT.  Chicago opened the scoring early in the first period with a powerplay goal by Duncan Keith.  The score remained 1-0 until 4:30 of the third period when Franzen tied the game with a goal assisted by Brunner and Zetterberg.  Chicago ended the contest midway through the overtime period with a goal by Nick Leddy.  Detroit outshot the Hawks 30-27 but could not score in six powerplay chances.  Chicago was 1-3 in their man advantage situations.

      Detroit established a trend for the season in their second game against the Stars this season.  After a 4-1 win at the Joe, Detroit has now alternated wins and losses.  This was Detroit’s best game of the young season outshooting the Stars and scoring the only powerplay goal of the season.  Dallas opened the scoring in the second period after a scoreless first period but Detroit tied the score on a goal by Filppula assisted by Datsyuk.  The Wings took the lead on a powerplay goal by Zetterberg assisted by Patrick Eaves and Kronwall.  Detroit scored the only two goals of the third period with Brunner collecting his third goal of the season and Filppula his second of the game.  The Brunner goal was assisted by Franzen and Zetterberg and the Filppula goal was assisted by Datsyuk and Bertuzzi.  Another highlight of the game was Jordan Tootoo’s two fights.  He dropped the gloves three second into the game to take on Eric Nystrom and fought again at the 16 minute mark of the first period when he tussled with Brendan Dillon in a carryover from the first Dallas game.  According to the post-game news conference Dillon had wanted to fight Tootoo in the first game but Tootoo was at the end of his shift and just wanted to get off the ice.  When the situation came up in this game Tootoo was only too happy to oblige the rookie and beat him handily.  Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Filppula all had two points in the game while Eaves, Brunner, Bertuzzi, Kronwall and Franzen all collected one point in the game.

      Will the Wings be able to build on this game or will they follow the pattern they have started and lose?  What can Babcock and the coaching staff do to improve the special teams?  Will the Wings find their stride or is this the end of the longest active playoff run in sports today?  The Wings will try to avenge their opening day loss to the Blues Friday 2/1/13 and will have a better chance because they have Bertuzzi back and they are starting to hit on all cylinders.  They go on the road to Columbus on Saturday 2/2/13 for the second game in that series.  Detroit will try to improve on the 4-3 shootout win and put the Jackets away in regulation.  Detroit returns home on the 5^th for the first meeting of the season against the Calgary Flames, then head back to St. Louis for the third game of the year against the Blues.  The Wings return to the Joe for a contest against the Edmonton Oilers on the 9^th and have their first extended home stand of the season when they play the LA Kings, the Blues (again!) and the Anaheim Ducks before going back on the road.  Reads this blog often to keep up with the ups and downs of the Wings this season.

NHL 2012: Will There Be A Season?

This post isn't strictly about Detroit Red Wings hockey because right now there isn't any NHL hockey to watch.  Rather it is about the current lockout, the positions of the two sides and the prospects for a deal.  Now, I’m one of the biggest hockey fans around, if the Wings don’t win the Cup every year I sulk all summer long but this is getting ridicules.  This is the NHL’s third labor disruption since 1995 and it is starting to look like it might be the second complete season lost since 2005.  Why are we going through this again?  To answer that question we need to go over a little history between the two sides.  In 2005 the owners said that the deal they were pressing for, would guarantee labor peace for years, unfortunately we did know they only meant seven years.  The owners stood by their guns in 2004-5 locking the players out for the entire season to get a salary cap installed, the players fought the cap tooth and nail then after the season had been cancelled rolled over and accepted a deal that was the same as the one the owners had originally offered and would have saved the season.  It was universally thought the NHLPA was broken and people wondered if it would ever be the same.  Bob Goodenow the Executive Director of the union was forced out but they continued to have problems when in 2007 then Director Ted Saskin was fired after accessing player email accounts since 2005.  Lawyer Paul Kelly replaced Saskin but only lasted until 2009 before being fired.  One month later interim director Ian Penny resigned and in December 2010 interim director Mike Ouellet resigned in favor of Donald Fehr.  Fehr, who led the 232 day Major League Baseball Players Association strike that led to the cancellation of the World Series, was viewed as a strong leader that would attempt to win back some of the concessions the players made in 2005.  In fact six of the eight contract negotiations he has been involved in have resulted in labor stoppages.  Fehr was true to his press clippings and failed to get a new collective bargaining agreement done before the deadline, leading to the current lockout.  There has been absolutely no progress thus far in the negotiations and both parties state that they remain far apart on the key issues.
      An examination of the key issues would be helpful at this point.  The three main issues in this negotiations are the NHL/NHLPA split of "hockey related revenue", the length of player contracts and the length of service time to become an unrestricted free agent. 
      Before we look at the main issue we need to understand exactly what is hockey related revenue.  If you want the complete definition, read the CBA, and let me know if you can get through it all.  In the most general terms HRR is money from regular season and playoff gate receipts; preseason and special games (such as international exhibitions); national and international digital broadcasts; the NHL Network; all local cable, over-the-air, pay-per-view and satellite TV broadcasts; local radio; club Internet sites; all club publications, merchandise and novelty items sold in and out of arenas; concessions; luxury boxes, suites and premium seats; fixed and temporary signage and arena sponsorship  rink board advertising; parking in club operated facilities; and some other stuff.  The newly expired CBA excludes the following items from HRR: money teams make from waiver claims on players; money the NHL makes from moving teams or granting expansion franchises; revenues that teams receive from operating other clubs, such as AHL affiliates; fines collected from players and teams; any money teams make through financial transactions, such as loans, interest income or investments; and the sale or leasing of real estate.  Last year this amount was $3.3 billion, up from $1.2 billion in 2005.  The owners want the players to agree to a deal that would split the hockey related revenue (HRR) with 57% going to the owners and 43% to the players.  In the expired deal the shares were the opposite, players had 57% of HRR and the owners 43%.    
      The second issue is the length of player contracts and their monetary structure .  The owners asked for contracts to be no longer then five years and they wished to void all years and money owed over the five year mark for every current contract for every active player in the NHL.  The owners also wanted to end signing bonuses and set a uniform salary for every year of a contract, ending the practice of "front loading" as  well as extending the entry level contract term from three years to five.
      The third prong of the negotiations are the extension of the qualifications for unrestricted free agency from the current level of seven years of service to ten years.  This would mean that a player would have to play ten years before becoming a unrestricted free agent.
      All these issues on top of the salary cap and the 24% salary roll back from the 2005 CBA made the players dig in their heels in an attempt to regain, some of the concessions or at least some face.  The initial offer from the owners was rejected by the union and was countered with a proposal that would give 55% to the players and 45% to the owners, but the owners said no before the paper had even hit the conference table.  Bettman offered a limited time offer of a 50-50 split of HRR but the NHLPA did not agree to or refuse the offer responded with three offers none of which came close to the 50-50 offer and the deal was taken off the table.  The owners have taken the issue of making all current contracts five years and rolling back the money, off the table.  They still want to have all future contracts be five years but they knew the players would never agree to losing money already guaranteed.  The two sides are were still very far apart as of Thanksgiving and both sides agreed to bring in an outside mediators in an effort to end the lockout or at least make significant progress.  FMCS (Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service) were brought in and both sides met with the mediators for two days.  After the second set of meetings the spokesman for FMCS stated they would not be any more meeting as no significant progress was made.  FMCS would stay in contact with both sides and if any movement was made there could be more meetings but as of 12/2/12 there was no movement.  The two sides announced that they would meet again starting Tuesday 12/4/12 and this time it would be a delegation of six owners and 12 players without either Bettman or Fehr.  According to reports the negotiations went well but neither side would make any statements regarding the progress made.  The talks continued on Wednesday and went until 1:00 AM with both sides agreeing to meet again Thursday. 
      What would the loss of another season mean to the NHL?  In 2005 the NHL lost ESPN as a television home and were lucky to get a deal with the Outdoor Life Network.  The what? this was a network that has changed it's name twice since 2005.  It is now a stable home as the NBC Sports Network but it is not on nearly as many cable and satellite systems as ESPN.  After the 2005 lockout the NHL lost a lot of cache as a major sports league and another lost season could quite possibly finish it.  Quite a large segment of the American sports viewers already think of hockey as a second tier sport, on par with MLS or MLL but a larger number of people will leave the sport without looking back, if the whole season is scrapped.  When was the last time you heard a segment on ESPN TV or Radio about the NHL?  Even before the lockout, ESPN had made the decision that the large majority of their audience don't care about the NHL and will even show highlights of D-League basketball before the NHL.  This will only get worse if this season is lost and the hockey loving people of the world may find themselves without any national coverage of the NHL.
      In short the two sides need to get off their soap boxes, stop thinking about their wallets and get a deal done before the whole season is gone.  I understand that this is a business and both sides are watching out for their future but they are forgetting one important piece of the puzzle; the fans.  The fans are the ones spending all the money the owner and players are fighting over and it would be nice if somebody thought about them once in a while.  I fear that if this season is lost the NHL will never recover and it will disappear from the sports landscape.