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Time to Let Jaromir Go

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Jaromir Jagr is the hockey equivalent to a professional wrestler who doesn’t know when to retire.

That’s where I see him now as he’s trying his best to get signed to an NHL squad this year, going out of his way to make some comical videos that get to the masses and make them feel sorry for the 45-year-old veteran for not having a contract in the NHL or going elsewhere to get a contract to play hockey. With the reports of his decision day being October 5th, it doesn’t really bode well for Jagr to return to the NHL full-time, at least for right now. Considering camps are in full swing and that date is a couple days after the NHL puck-drop on the season– I doubt he would get signed to an NHL club if that was the case

I get that people want to hold onto that nostalgia. I mean, hell– he’s the last of the NHL94 guys still playing and that will kill a lot of people’s childhood. But, like most things– they have to come to an end some time. If not now, it’ll be down the road as we all can’t hold onto things forever. You have to let them go and remember the joy they brought to you when you had them.

While I can understand why he wouldn’t want to go on a PTO contract– it’s not really a matter of signing him because team’s don’t know what he’s about– which is what he told a reporter; but it’s a matter of trying him out to see if he fits into the team scheme. In Florida, he was able to be a leader on a young team, have a more possession style of play, and not have to worry about paying taxes…which I’m sure has no bearing on contracts he’s been presented so far.

The whole deal with the Florida Everblades was a fun marketing thing, but it wasn’t a serious consideration for Jagr. May have been for the ECHL and the Everblades, but not for the man himself. If Jagr wanted to play in the minor leagues, he would have signed on with someone already. He hasn’t played there before, doubt he’ll be playing there now.

Also, with this– he can play one last time with the Czech Republic at the Olympics…if they want him to. I mean, why not– he already broke his international retirement once to play in the Worlds— why not have him jack a spot on the Olympic roster for old-time sake. Hell, call up Dominik Hasek to see what he’s doing, get the whole 1998 squad back together.

It’s great he still has a passion for the game, but maybe it’s time to step aside from the big stage for a bit and stay in hockey in another capacity. He still owns his own team in the Czech Republic, so he won’t be completely detached from the game– plus he could pull a Roger Dorn and activate himself as he sees fit.

Yet, the point is this…we’re going to have to say goodbye to Jagr the same way we said goodbye to Teemu Selanne. Sure, he may be beloved by some, but it’s better to have him end the career, remember the good times he had, the highlights we saw, and the personality throughout the years he gave us than to see a broken man in the downside of his 40s struggle through the slog of the NHL schedule.

Rebooting the Avalanche

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The odds are good that the Colorado Avalanche will be bad this season.

In all honesty, unless there’s some kind of change at the top, this will continue to be norm.

On paper, this is a team that should be competing for a Wild Card spot every year. However, something isn’t clicking. Sure, the defense is a bit thin, the goaltending has “FRAGILE” stamped over it, and their once star player seems like he’s going to sabotage the team from within if he’s not traded soon.

This team reminds me of the 2000s Edmonton Oilers. Old players were brought back into prominent positions in the front office, but didn’t know what the hell they were doing. That’s the road that Joe Sakic is going down right now. He doesn’t know what to do with Matt Duchene (though he could have gotten him for Travis Hamonic if he asked nice enough), his hires are very interesting, and it just seems like the cardboard cut-out that was Greg Sherman could do just as good a job as Sakic is doing right now.

The young talent on this team is real up front. Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Jost are the next wave to help compliment Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. While it’s great to score goals, a problem is keeping them out. Like I said, very thin on the blue line and as of this point– only have four defensemen on their NHL roster under contract. As solid as Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie, Nikita Zadorov, and Mark Barberio could be…there seems to be a lot left to be desire. The outlook for the defense does look a little bright with Andrei Mironov and Nicolas Meloche coming into the fold– though you wonder if they’ll stand up or be in a holding pattern like Chris Bigras and Duncan Siemens have been in– which has been a couple years now.

However, the biggest issue is the amount of “glory days” Avalanche members in front office roles. Sakic is one of them, Patrick Roy was another before he left/forcibly resigned, and Craig Billington as the assistant GM, though he’s been in the organization for years now. When you look up and down the list– it’s amazing how many more of these guys are in the hockey ops side: Nolan Pratt (assistant coach, 2000-01), Brett Clark (player development consultant, 2003-09), and Brian Willsie (player development consultant, 1999-2003 and 2008-10). Adam Foote just left the organization in August, but it seems like he could have seen how downhill this team was going and wanted out.

This once great team is turning into a tire fire– if it’s not there already. One has to wonder how much longer the Kroenke family will allow this to go on. However, who knows how much the family is paying attention to the team with their other sporting interests they have to deal with. They should be paying attention and should be seeing that this is a team in need of a huge reboot. Get the nostalgia out of there, get some people who know what they’re doing in there, and fix this team that’s gone in such a tailspin that they may finish below the expansion team this year

Where are they going to get this new blood?? That’s a question for someone far smarter than me to address– but the loyalty needs to be thrown out the window if that’s the reason why Joe Sakic is still in his spot. Kroenke does owe something to Sakic for helping make Denver a true hockey town– but there comes a point where enough is enough and they need to do something to stay relevant in the hockey landscape rather than just be a laughingstock. You can’t look from within because there’s more of the same. The pickings could be slim outside because who knows how many people see the Avalanche as a desirable fit or just a dead destination. It’ll take a lot of convincing, money, and the idea they’ll get total control of their decisions to convince an assistant GM or someone like that to be the next GM of the Avalanche and really turn the ship around.

I’m sure there’s people out there willing enough to take on this task as a vanity project to show how smart they are, but at the same time– you have to hope they don’t get ahead of themselves to think it’ll be a quick fix. The roster may not need to be blown up, but it may need plenty of renovation to get it back to their glory they once had.

 

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Trying Not to Loathe Las Vegas

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We’re two rookie games into the Vegas Golden Knights tenure in the NHL and I think I’m already sick of expansion teams. Maybe social media is to blame and the ideal of blasting the hype out there, but man…the hype is almost too much. Whether it’s the league or the team itself…I’m growing tired.

And now this isn’t about their Twitter “feud” against the LA Kings— but it’s just the whole thing about it being a never ending season of “firsts” for the team and it probably becoming insufferable at some point– if that point hasn’t come for people already. That’s not to say they shouldn’t be doing such things– but at the same time, you have to wonder if the vast majority of people will become sick of it by mid-November.

The first player was cool– Reid Duke, who may only be notable on the team just for being the first player signed. Other things I’ll get is the first goal, first shutout, first win, and so on. However, knowing the climate we’re in where you need the retweets to really show off to possible sponsors– the first hooking call will be mentioned, the first TV timeout will be mentioned, the first time poker chips are thrown onto the ice will be mentioned. It might get old fast. But some people will eat it up. Then you fuel the beast and so it goes on and on because it gets likes, hits, retweets, whatever.

When it comes to creating a brand, I get why the NHL and the Golden Knights are doing what they are doing, but there’s such a thing as overdoing it. I will say I am a crotchety old man when it comes to all of this because I just don’t get how some things get so popular that it’s the guideline to make a name for yourself. There’s putting yourself out there and then there’s just acting a fool. There’s a fine line, of course. There’s committing to a bit and then there’s going to the well one too many times. Maybe it’s the fact there’s been all summer and all this build-up over the last two seasons– but I’m already ready for their first season to be over and done with.

The only poignant debate is whether a new team with a group of players who haven’t played before should have a captain in their first season. When you look up and down that list…yeah, no real leader on there that deserves the respect of the squad off the hop. It’s not like they had someone like who’s won the coveted Mark Messier Leadership Award multiple times on their roster– it’s a team that’ll grow together and shouldn’t have a captain for the first year. If they really feel the need for a captain– why not do a rotating captaincy like the Minnesota Wild had for their first seven seasons??  There’s a debate that actually as plenty to do with merit and something that could be bandied back and forth with people.

Maybe it’ll get better. Maybe, like the team, the social media aspect will be able to find its footing in ethos of NHL social media and not just rip-off what made other teams “successful” when it comes to their own Twitters or Facebooks and not just go to the lowest common denominator. I know who runs VGK’s accounts and he’s a good dude overall and I wish him all the best in what is an interesting time in history and all that jazz. Just don’t fall into the easy trap other areas do because it could come off as desperate if things aren’t going well on the ice.

Wider Lines and Trapezoids: The Rule Changes of the 2004-05 AHL Season

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Let’s go back in time, shall we?? Back to the season that wasn’t for the NHL, 2004-05. Yes, the lockout year was one that still burns eternal for some people, but since then it’s been….alright, right??

In any case, that year also brought about an interesting design of the AHL, too. With the NHL out of commission, the AHL changed a heck of a lot in terms of their rules during that year. First, the most drastic of changes– which was doubling the width of the red and blue lines from 12 inches to 24.

“I think the reasoning behind the wider lines was to improve game flow by adding space to the neutral zone and reducing offside plays,” said Jason Chaimovitch, the Vice President of Communications of the AHL in an email. “The blue lines and red line went from 12″ to 24″ wide, and the goal line was moved back from 13′ out to 11′ out. The neutral zone went from 54′ to 58′ and it became easier to stay onside, in theory.”

While the look was anything but pleasing to those people who don’t like change, the idea of the wider lines, in hindsight, makes sense. It’s also something that would probably greatly reduce the offsides video reviews that seem to be popping up all over the NHL.  The biggest thing, however, was that the two-line pass violation was still in effect, but with the wider lines, the theory of less of those being called should be there.

Ryan Suter was in the AHL at the time with the Milwaukee Admirals and while he played with the wider lines, he didn’t seem to notice all that much. “You didn’t really notice the changes that much. I guess it still seemed like the same game for the most part,” Suter told The Tennessean in July 2005.

Patrick Sharp, who played with the Philadelphia Phantoms said, “It gives you a little more speed in the neutral zone. That is good for a forward like myself. Now you can really stretch those blue lines and go for the home-run passes.”

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins as a whole liked it with then GM Craig Patrick saying the “fat lines” made the zones bigger and better, while defenseman Rob Scuderi said it kept more pucks in the zone and kept the forecheck going.

The wider lines did appear in some games in the 2003-04 season, mostly on Canadian rinks, as those teams seemed most comfortable with adapting their ice surface. The players, coaches, and other involved gave it a positive review; thus allowing the AHL to fully adopt it during the 2004-05 season.  In the end– it was not across the board welcomed by the NHL, as they scrapped the wider lines at the end of the 2004-05 season.

On top of the wide lines, the tag-up offsides was re-instituted, no-touch icing was brought in, the shootouts became a thing again, and then there was that one rule that was a seven-week trial to start: the goalie trapezoid.

“I remember going over to the Olympia here in Springfield when a bunch of players, officials and hockey ops people were on the ice trying to figure out what the lines should look like. That’s where the trapezoid was born,” reminisced Chaimovitch. However, at the onset, some people were a bit outspoken about the trapezoid.

Then Hamilton Bulldogs goalie Olivier Michaud thought the worst of the trapezoid. “For a goaltender, it will mean that you’ll be less involved during the game,” Michaud told the Hamilton Spectator in Februrary of 2004. “But it’s going to be dangerous for defensemen because of the checking. There will be injuries because of it.”

Michaud’s goaltending partner, J-F Damphousse believed that he didn’t think doing something like that was possible. “Goaltenders have worked hard learning to handle the puck and you can’t penalize a goaltender for working hard at his game. You can make the equipment smaller if you want, but I don’t think you can apply this rule,” stated Damphousse in the same Spectator article.

Long-time AHL goalie Neil Little had the same worries about his teammates when talking to the Courier-Post in October 2004, as the trial had started: “These defensemen are going to get run through the glass. Those forwards are going full tilt and I can’t go out there to help them out. We played a (preseason) game the other night and it was a freak show. It’s going to cause all sorts of turnovers.”

Rochester Americans goalies Ryan Miller and Tom Askey were against the no-touch zone, while Hershey Bears goalies Peter Budaj and Tom Lawson were in favor of it. There were others that were in favor of it when all was said and done. Kevin Klein, who was with the Milwaukee Admirals at the time, was very much in favor of it from a skaters standpoint. “It was huge because as a defenseman you’ve got to get on your horse right away and track down pucks in the corner because the goalies can’t play it,” Klein said in July 2005. “When you get a good-skating team like ourselves, you can jump on teams and keep offensive pressure on them.”

From a coach’s standpoint, Mike Kitchen— then coach of the St. Louis Blues– was in favor of the rule change to the goalie movement. “I don’t mind the goaltending rule at all,” Kitchen told The Globe and Mail in December of 2004. “It keeps them from wandering out in the corners and protecting the puck. You can’t hit the goalies, so they get pretty bold by wandering all over.”

“We did a bunch of things that year: Shootout, stricter interpretation of restraining fouls, and stricter supplementary discipline on attempt to injure cases,” mentioned Chaimovitch. “The bottom line is that once the NHL started playing again, we needed to mirror what they were doing. With the portability of our players (more than 350 call-ups every year), it’s important that the rule book is the same in Hershey on Saturday as it is in Washington on Sunday.  The most notable result of that was the icing rule. We played no-touch icing in ’04-’05 and it was well received, but the NHL didn’t adopt it so we switched back to touch icing in ’05-’06.”

It was a drastic change from the norm. Not to mention the blue-ice experiment in Buffalo for the Rochester Americans games (which was very experimental and only approved for a couple games), but you can still see the changes today. The tag-up offsides and trapezoid were brought into the NHL when the lockout ended, while the others are just a fun memory for us all. But, who knows what could have happened if the NHL adopted the wider lines. Could the world class players been able to be more creative?? Would it have slowed down the speed of some of the younger players coming in?? Would there be reviews for interference as much as we have now?? The world will never know.

Thanks to Jason Chaimovitch for his help in this. Follow him on Twitter: @JChaimo

Reducing Seating Smart for Sens

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Good for the Ottawa Senators.

Going the way of many NASCAR tracks, the Senators are going to reduce seating by 1,500 to make their capacity just over 17,000. To be honest, there’s not much else they could do. They are in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. They can either have people taking them to task for the empty seats or they can have people taking them to task for taking out the seats. They took the latter hoping that will make the arena look better.

While we’ve seen such a thing happen in Florida with the Panthers, the fact that it’s a Canadian team is why there’s so much guff. It’s not as if the Senators are THAT bad a hockey team, but much like Florida– their arena is way the hell and gone from the city center (or centre in this case), no one wants to make the trek out to the middle of nowhere to watch their team play. It’s amazing that the Washington Capitals had as many people come out to Landover when they played at the Capital Centre as they did because we see it doesn’t fly now.

Barring the move to downtown Ottawa that Eugene Melnyk wants, the Senators needed to do something because it does have a bad appearance to it when a playoff team, one goal away from being the Eastern Conference champions, can’t sell out their arena in Canada. And it’s a tactical move, too– by doing this, it’s showing the powers that be in Ottawa that they need to have this downtown arena they’ve been stumping for because if not– they’ll have to keep reducing the number of seats in the Canadian Tire Centre; which has a bad look on the city that they can’t support an NHL team despite the team being somewhat decent.

That said, if the Senators can’t get their stuff figured out attendance-wise, I have to wonder if they aren’t going to be put into the relocation discussion. It makes sense and they have the same problems that teams like the Coyotes, Hurricanes, and Islanders have faced, but it seems that because they’re in Canada– they get a bit of a pass. It would be something if the Sens were the first team to move only to move to Quebec City and have them really show up the Ottawa fans.

All in all, the move is odd– but I’m okay with them getting sick of the empty seats and saying the hell with it– here’s some tarps. This will either wake up the fans and have them rally around the team (or the team’s bid to get to downtown) or it’ll piss them off more and they become apathetic to the team’s plight.

The Final Two Principles

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With the NHL unveiling their Declaration of Principles for hockey and having every North American entity and the IIHF latch onto it is a great thing for the growth of hockey. I mean, it was even praised by His Holiness, Pope Francis— so you know it must be good.

But, when thinking about the whole Pope’s blessing thing…why was there only eight principles of this whole thing?? For those who follow or know the littlest thing about Catholicism; there’s really four big numbers: 7, 10, 12, and 40. I’m shocked that the Pope didn’t suggest two more principles in order to mirror the commandments; which– let’s be honest– seems to be the sense of happening here.

So, in my infinite wisdom, I had an idea on what the final two principles could be– especially given what this whole thing is all about: inclusiveness.

#9. Have some respect for your fellow player. We all know the big hit and all that seems cool and gets the highlights– but what about the other player in this situation?? Maybe they should have their head up, maybe you just accidentally stuck your leg out if they got past you– but have a bit of accountability for your actions out there and not just say it’s a “hockey play.”

#10. Honor the hockey mom and dad…to a point. Sure, they get up early and haul you around and bankroll your career; but you and your teammates should have to put up with the overactive parent. Players have the right to speak up when their parent isn’t acting properly and putting you in a bad situation with your teammates. Other parents should to and those offending parents need to have a reality check for the whole thing and not act like they’re doing nothing wrong.

There’s definitely others you could go about, but that’s up for the Martin Luther of the hockey world to put up their 95 Theses to this Declaration of Principles in a couple years.

It’s a mean-well effort and really a solid show of solidarity to make hockey available for every one in North America and the world, but mostly North America. If you add this to their “You Can Play” stand the NHL has taken, but they’re going to make sure that hockey is available to everyone and anyone who wants to take an interest– which is a great and noble ideal.

However, the one problem to all of this is people. Once you get people involved, you always have some numbskulls who ruin it for the rest of the group. Hopefully, that won’t happen for this project or the other projects where hockey wants everyone involved. One can only hope and follow all of these principles to make things a lot better on and off the ice.

An Alternate to the Capitals’ Alternate History: Dafoe over Kolzig

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With due respect to Jason Rogers of Japers’ Rink in his NHL Alternate History on Yahoo’s Puck Daddy; there’s many of ways you could have gone with the Washington Capitals side of things aside from former players becoming coaches. Like what if Michal Pivonka and Peter Bondra’s hold out led to their being traded?? What if the Caps hadn’t traded for Rod Langway?? What if David Poile stayed with the Flames organization and not come to DC?? What if the Caps matched St. Louis’s offer sheet for Scott Stevens?? What if the Caps would have moved in the early-80’s??

However, one stood out to me when we were riffing on this on August 30th’s edition of Face Off Hockey Show. What if the Capitals had picked Byron Dafoe as their future goalie going forward instead of Olaf Kolzig??

They were 16 picks apart in the 1989 draft and both were selected by the Capitals. While they developed a bond in the minors, when push came to shove; the Caps seemingly made the right decision in choosing Olaf Kolzig over Byron Dafoe. Kolzig became the face of the franchise for the Capitals before Alex Ovechkin came along, while Dafoe had a decent career, if not limited by the injuries he had during his prime.

Yet, it could have turned out much different. In fact, before he was traded– then head coach Jim Schoenfeld had Byron Dafoe as his #1 starter over Kolzig and Jim Carey going into the lockout-shortened 1995 season. However, due to a bad showing in the pre-season, Dafoe was relegated to the AHL and then IHL before getting traded with Dmitri Khristich to Los Angeles. Even before then, Dafoe had a great showing during the Capitals European tour in 1989, but was ultimately sent back to Portland in the WHL, allowing Kolzig to be the opening night back-up to Don Beaupre at the start of the 1989-90 season. Granted, Kolzig got shipped back to Tri-City after the start of the season, but with David Poile having that much confidence in him showed how the pecking order was at the time.

However….what if the Caps had moved Dafoe along the quick path?? What if Kolzig had been sent down to Tri-City of the WHL after the training camp??

What if the Caps picked Byron Dafoe over Olaf Kolzig as their young goalie for the future??

Right after getting drafted, Dafoe went with the Caps over to Russia for a tour and only allowed four goals in three games, posting a 2.64 GAA compared to Kolzig’s 5.11 GAA, as Kolzig gave up four goals early in his first appearance. Luckily for Kolzig, David Poile thought Kolzig was more mature, as he was a year older than Dafoe, as well as thinking the bigger netminder would be better off being put on the Caps opening night roster.

In fact, if Dafoe was given the keys to the kingdom, a lot of things could have turned out different in that season along. Growing off his solid European tour, the Caps would have had a longjam in the AHL with the Baltimore Skipjacks having Jim Hrivnak, Bob Mason, and Shawn Simpson in line. With a half-decent team in front of him, Dafoe could have been the back-up to learn the ropes from Beaupre, but would also probably block the trade the Caps made for Mike Liut at the trade deadline.

The talent Dafoe had displayed would have been good enough for many teams. Even if he had been sent back to Juniors after a couple of starts, Dafoe went back to subpar teams in Portland before he was ultimately traded to Prince Albert and actually got support. Kolzig was able to evolve due to the help he got in Tri-City. Sure, there was an incident where Kolzig flipped out during a brawl and went after the fans— but his size helped him. Kolzig then went to struggle a bit in the AHL, rebound a little in the ECHL, then finding success in the AHL, but with the Rochester Americans– not even part of the Caps farm system.

Put Dafoe above Kolzig would have change a lot. Not only because the future franchise goalie could have been elsewhere, but it could have yielded a better return on a trade than what they were able to get with Dafoe (and Khristich)– which was two draft picks in 1996 that turned out to be Alexandre Volchkov and Justin Davis. If the Caps would have dangled Kolzig, who was a part of the new wave of oversized goalies– the return for the Caps could have been much greater and set the team up better off down the line.

Especially when being put on display for the Sabres front office in Rochester, Kolzig could have very easily netted some players from the Sabres to help rebuild the Caps skaters. Which, if it happened, would have put a little curve on them going with guys like Dominik Hasek or Martin Biron down the line.

Had Dafoe stayed with the Caps, the Jim Carey situation may not have happened. And though Dafoe suffered some injuries later on, the fact is that Dafoe could have held the fort down for the Caps while back-ups like Rick Tabaracci and Craig Billington could have gotten new life and maybe taken the starters role due to Dafoe’s injuries.

Had Dafoe been the goalie of record the Caps rode, they would not have had the workhorse that Kolzig became. While Dafoe played well in the Bruins system when he got there, the same probably would not have been said had he been the backstop of the Capitals during that same time span. With the struggles that Kolzig had early in his pro career, if he had been traded away at a younger age, would Kolzig have been mentally prepared for that move or would it have broke him down more and not allow him to focus??

On top of that, depending on when they traded it them, it could have drastically altered what the Portland Pirates were able to do during the 1993-94 season. Dafoe and Kolzig were a solid tandem during the season– despite Dafoe getting the majority of the regular season starts. The playoffs showed the determination of Kolzig, who’s 12-5 record helped the Pirates win the Calder Cup the year they moved to Portland. That run may have been enough to maybe change any doubt the Caps could have had in Kolzig, especially  when it came to clutch moments like playoff time– which helped them during their 1998 Stanley Cup Finals run.

It was a decision that may have looked silly at the start, but not buying into the hype train that Dafoe put out there in the first tour paid off big for the Capitals. They were able to settle down with Kolzig and really have him join the trend of bigger goalies being put between the pipes and being a success thanks to it. With goal shored up, the Caps were able to focus on different priorities and adapt their game around Kolzig being the dominant workhorse he grew into.

Darlington: NASCAR’s Winter Classic

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It’s Darlington weekend coming up in NASCAR, which means the most gimmicky regular season race is happening in full-force. To appeal to the nostalgia crowd, Darlington Speedway decided that since NASCAR moved the Southern 500 back to Labor Day weekend; they would make it a “Throwback Weekend” where drivers and teams alike can really get into the old-time racing attitude and have fun with their paint schemes and their look and really by into that “Good Ol’ Boy” mentality that some think the modern NASCAR has been missing.

While it has been great to see the old paint schemes from yesteryear, the tributes to lesser known racers, the old-time broadcast effects, and the antics that the drivers put on; it’s still getting very, very stale very, very quickly. In fact, a lot of the teams aren’t trying anymore. There’s three cars this Sunday that look like they have the exact same red-white-and-blue scheme (Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Danica Patrick, Clint Bowyer), the #3 and #31 have just about the same paint scheme, and like always– the #43 is going to have a Richard Petty STP scheme on the track.

The Darlington Weekend is becoming like the NHL’s Winter Classic in some aspects. While the heart is in the right place for a different kind of feel, as it keeps going year-after-year, the whole vibe to the thing wears off. We all know who’s going to be there, you can be assured of what they’ll look like, and while it’s well-hyped– it comes off very “meh” by the end of it.

When the NHL starting doing their annual Winter Classic in 2008 (there was a one-off outdoor game in 2003 which started the wheels in motion for this), it was a great hype vehicle. It allowed for the NHL to go to historic venues of other sports to play their game and get a ton of revenue through ticket sales and merchandise. However, the biggest problem was over-saturating the market when the formula worked. Once they saw the Winter Classic work, they moved to a Stadium Series of multiple outdoor games, the Heritage Classic games in Canada, then when those faded– they started using the teams that people would watch and make the other fans annoyed with a team like the Chicago Blackhawks getting into all the outdoor games.

The NHL lost the plot because they killed a golden goose.

Yes, other markets wanted games, but you can’t blow the wad of outdoor games as quickly as the NHL has seemingly done. Hell, in 2014 alone they had six outdoor games. Last season, the NHL had four outdoor games– but I bet people maybe remember one. Sure, they have gone to places like Wrigley Field, the Big House in Michigan, and Fenway Park; but they’ve also played in BMO Field (Toronto), Investors Group Field (Winnipeg), and Levi’s Stadium.

While this race only happens in Darlington, the drivers and teams are going to the well too many times with the same thing. Not only the Richard Petty STP scheme, but the #13 always going with the Smokey Yunick scheme, and RCR going with some sort of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. scheme. The originality is starting to fade and there’s not much they can do to regulate it– unless they just kill the idea altogether– which they won’t do because then they can’t exploit it.

For this Darlington race, at least, it could be a tool to distract fans from realizing how much NASCAR has bungled this season with the segments, the mismanagement of how points are distributed through said segments, and just the overall lack of hype for the new ideas that NASCAR has tried to instill with their “activation” with Monster Energy. The sanctioning body is a detriment to themselves and the sport. Darlington Weekend is a passing fad that seems to be getting less and less interesting by the year due to the fact we’ve seen it all before and nothing really changes but the looks of the cars.

How to Fix the NHL Network With New BAMTech/Disney Venture

/ scottywazz / Leave a comment

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As I sit here and watch the NHL Network’s lack of diversity in their programming, I’m wondering if there’s a way that Disney/ESPN can make the network better.

I wonder this after Disney acquired BAMTech, which holds the digital rights and direction of the NHL Network for the NHL. This, of course, was something that sparked some discussion this past week about ESPN finally being able to show hockey again…sort of. With the Disney purchase, that means that ESPN would be able to stream games through NHL.TV and, I’m sure, ESPN3 will have some kind of hand into this pot.

Let’s be honest– the ESPN streaming idea could be a thing that saves the idea of the NHL Network if they are willing to change up the format, add new life into the network with new show ideas and concepts, and if they get some different voices on there aside from the same rotation of people we see on the network already.

Yes, it’s the NHL Network, but could it hurt for them to expose some other leagues more than just games in the AHL and Major Junior leagues once a week?? Maybe a weekly recap or feature show?? That shows you are letting the hockey fan inside the top prospects that could be coming into the league soon enough.

However, right now– it’s easier to go ahead and show the same garbage Top-20 List every hour on the hour and then NHL Tonight and NHL On the Fly in the other parts of the day. When it’s not any of that, it’s the same specials about the same events over and over again.

It’s something that makes me furious about the NHL Network because the archive they have and the ability they have to show off games from the past is something some people would love to see. To have shows with former players and the stories they can tell in an intimate setting (see the format for WWE’s Table for 3). But the NHL Network and the people running it are lazy when it comes to ideas. Do a copy/paste of what you think people want to see and call it good.

It’s not hard to make the NHL Network successful. There’s plenty of ideas out there to be had to improve upon what they have now, but at the same time– the drive has to be there as well. That latter point is really the thing holding the NHL Network away from being a completely relevant source for hockey fans to go to for entertainment outside of the games themselves.