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Meh Rushmore: Central Division

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Everyone and their mother can do a Mount Rushmore of greatest players. Pick a generation and go and the stats tell their tale. So why not do a Rushmore of guys who just existed on their teams?? It’s not as if their tenure was the worst, but it wasn’t all that big or memorable. Which is why we’re here right now. Here’s my look at the four guys in each franchise that had a less than memorable tenure with those clubs. We’ll continue on with the Central Division and here are the guidelines I’m going by: 

RULES
200 Skater/75 Goalie minimum GP with team
At least one goalie on the list
No individual performance awards
Transplanted teams CAN use previous location for players
*Colorado can pull from Quebec
*Dallas can pull from Minnesota North Stars
*Utah will pull from Arizona/Phoenix/Winnipeg 1.0
*Winnipeg 2.0 can pull from Atlanta
Not known for designated role on team (Enforcer, Shot Blocker, Face-offs)
No current NHL players
“Meh” Status based on time with team they’re represented on

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS: Cam Barker (200 GP, 17g, 63a); Steve Ludzik (413 GP, 46g, 92a); Rick Paterson (430 GP, 50g, 43a); Harry Lumley (134 GP, 29-85-18, 3.63 GAA)

Barker was a former 3rd overall pick with a dynamic junior career. Aside from one year, Barker’s tenure in Chicago got overshadowed by the likes of Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith’s production. Ludzik set franchise records in juniors, but the offensive side didn’t come as easily for him in the pros. Ludzik was used in a more bottom six role with Chicago having plenty of top production already in their line-up. Paterson had one season of 14 goals, but he was another player where success offensively in lower leagues didn’t translate to the NHL. Lumley went from the Cup champions in Detroit to a sad-sack Chicago team in 1950, hitting the 40-loss mark in both seasons in Chicago. Despite being a Hall of Famer, Lumley’s time in Chicago was a forgettable mark on his resume. 

COLORADO AVALANCHE: Dan Hinote (353 GP, 27g, 38a), Rene Corbet (230 GP, 39g, 47a), Shjon Podein (239 GP, 34g, 37a), Mario Gosselin (192 GP, 79-82-12, 3.67 GAA, .871 Sv%)

Hinote had two solid years at Army before moving to major juniors and saw a regression. Hinote was able to carve out a role as a grinder and get his name on the Cup. Corbet was a better than point-per-game player coming into the NHL, however a deep line-up didn’t allow Corbet to shine as much as he did in his junior and minor league years. Podein had solid years in the NHL before coming to Colorado where the depth got the best of his ability and his adaptation to a bottom-six role allowed him to walk around in full-gear with the Cup after the 2001 win. Gosselin was in a back-up role for most his time, which suited him well. Gosselin’s lone year with starter minutes was his most disappointing year in his tenure. 

DALLAS STARS: Niko Kapanen (239 GP, 20g, 56a), Toby Petersen (243 GP, 17g, 23a), Brett Ritchie (241 GP, 33g, 21a); Kari Takko (131 GP, 33-67-14, 3,88 GAA,.879 Sv%)

Kapanen spent time in Finland before the jump to the NHL, but the point total didn’t come with. Kapanen got 14 of his 20 goals with Dallas in the post-lockout season. Petersen made a long trek through the minors before heading over to Dallas. With Dallas, Petersen got bottom-six time, which didn’t allow him to find much of an offensive punch. Ritchie had a bit of a physical game, but injuries would take its toll on him. Ritchie’s biggest season was his 16-goal campaign, which was also his career-high in games played in a season. Takko was a back-up supreme, but couldn’t seem to get the bounces to go his way. One of the memorable contributions was the Takko-Bell trade when he was dealt to Edmonton for Bruce Bell. 

MINNESOTA WILD: Antti Laaksonen (323 GP, 55g, 63a), Stephane Veilleux (428 GP, 47g, 50a), Richard Park (217 GP, 37g, 37a), Josh Harding (151 GP, 60-59-11, 2.45 GAA, .918 Sv%)

Laaksonen was a consistent player for the first years of the Wild, but couldn’t replicate his output from college. Laaksonen was highly underrated in the grand scheme in a very defensive Wild line-up. Veilleux had a big year in his draft year, but through his NHL career, he couldn’t reach that peak. Veilleux bounced between the AHL and NHL post-lockout. Park was also part of the early teams who didn’t score all too much, but his consistency kept him as a viable bottom-six source. Harding is only here because his numbers were slightly less than Dwayne Roloson’s and Manny Fernandez won an individual stat award– that’s all. 

NASHVILLE PREDATORS: Adam Hall (234 GP, 43g, 42a), Nick Spaling (297 GP, 40g, 44a), Yannick Weber (223 GP, 6g, 18a), Mike Dunham (217 GP, 81-104-24, 2.74 GAA, .910 Sv%)

Hall had a consistent college career that moved onto the NHL ranks. Hall started to be a special teams threat in his last season in Nashville with 10 of his 14 goals coming on the power play. Spaling had a decent junior career, but it wasn’t until his last year in Nashville when he was moved to wing where he had an offensive breakout. Weber was in his last NHL years when he got to Nashville and was kind of there. Weber was in and out of the line-up in his four seasons with the Preds. Dunham was the first starter for the Preds and got shelled as a reward. Dunham’s 2000-01 season allowed his numbers not be as terrible as he had a 2.2.8 GAA and .923 save percentage. 

ST. LOUIS BLUES: Ralph Klassen (225 GP, 18g, 37a), Dmitri Jaskin (266 GP, 25g, 36a), Dave Lowry (311 GP, 53g, 51a), Vincent Riendeau (122 GP, 58-45-16, 3.34 GAA, .883 Sv%)

Klassen had a solid junior career, but couldn’t make it transfer in his years in the NHL. Klassen bounced in and out of the line-up through his Blues tenure. Jaskin came out of juniors looking like an offensive dynamo. However, Jaskin’s physical game would be his calling card in his six years with the Blues. Lowry’s highest single-season goals and points total came with the Blues, but it was under 20 goals and exactly 40 points. Lowry’s hockey IQ helped him keep a constant role in the NHL. Riendeau had a great 1990-91 season, but even still he never had a season under a 3.00 or above a .900 save percentage in his tenure with the Blues. 

UTAH “ARIZONA COYOTES” MAMMOTH: Mike Sullivan (256 GP, 13g, 20a), Lauri Korpikoski (401 GP, 62g, 83a), Radoslav Suchy (372 GP, 13g, 50a), Brian Boucher (96 GP, 28-45-18, 2.98 GAA, .898 Sv%)

Sullivan’s last stop was in Phoenix, where he played a bottom-six role. Sullivan only registered one season with double-digit points with the Coyotes. Korpikoski hit his career-high in points in his second Coyotes season, but declined in the NHL from there. Korpikoski was able to get back on track once he went back to Finland. Suchy was offensively talented in juniors and the AHL, but didn’t find that spark in the NHL. Suchy was able to transition to a more defensive role to round out his game. Boucher was in net for most of the harder times for the mid-00s Coyotes, but could not get the goal support needed. Boucher’s lone bright spot was his consecutive shutout record with five shutouts in a row in 2004. 

WINNIPEG JETS: Alexander Burmistrov (298 GP, 30g, 51a), Chris Thorburn (709 GP, 49g, 72a), JP Vigier (213 GP, 23g, 23a), Milan Hnilicka (117 GP, 29-65-13, 3.31 GAA, .901 Sv%)

Burmistrov never flourished as a top-ten pick with Atlanipeg or the rest of his time in North America. Burmistrov’s hockey IQ has gotten him a roster spot in Russia since leaving. Thorburn was a consistent scorer in junior, but his role jumping to the NHL changed. Thorburn did adapt, but never brought the scoring touch he had in the OHL. Vigier was an AHL stalwart who put up decent numbers, but couldn’t translate that into the NHL. Vigier found his touch again in Switzerland after his NHL time was up. Hnilicka took some time to get to the NHL, but his first full season was a respectable one in Atlanta. Unfortunately, Hnilicka’s second and third seasons left plenty to desire.

That 2025 NHL Draft First Round Was…Something

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The NHL has already black-listed our podcast, so let’s talk about how horrible the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft has been. It’s the first (and probably only) intentionally de-centralized Draft where the teams and their representation were not on-site for the Draft in Los Angeles. ESPN had the coverage for it and it was a sight to behold. Here’s some of my takeaways:

Awkward Post-Picked Interview in the Draft House

-Matthew Schaefer deserved better than ESPN constantly bringing up his mother’s death. While he is very open about it, for ESPN to bring it up like that and to focus on that when he was walking up, as he opened up with emotion, and as he was sitting there with Leah Hextall and her asking about it is way too much. He is such a strong person off-the-ice for what he had to deal with at such a young age…it’s not that hard to focus on his play that got him there rather than the tragedy he had to endure. 

-The guest pickers had some interesting choices among them. Shea Weber using an old flip phone to record the Predators choice, Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore filming 10 takes with different draftee’s names, the wonderful Bayley from the WWE towering over Gary Bettman, Jeremy Roenick being Jeremy Roenick, Charlie Conway and Connie Moreau, Nikki Glaser talking about Brett Hull’s drunkenness, George Kittel calling Filip Forsberg “Felix.” What a time. 

-The NHL “Draft House” was a dumb concept. Not only was it awkward to have the player thank the team for selecting them like it was a dystopian game show– but the technical difficulties with audio on both side, the interactions being so damn sloppy in moments that were usually private, and the lack of personal touch to it makes it just a terrible idea in concept and execution. Awful Announcing has a solid breakdown of it. The awkward small talk was just cringe inducing. It’s the anti-arbitration hearing theme with the team building him up before they break them down.

-The post-drafted couch questions from Leah Hextall were…not great…again. It was just so unnecessary I understand they were meant to be quirky and fun, but they come off more awkward than the Draft House. 

-Gary Bettman using the stage in what looked like a TEDTalk was fantastic. Animated Bettman is the best, especially in his waning years as commissioner. He’s just very loose, playing into the heel role with fans and winning them over after all the boos. 

-The trade button is the best thing to happen to the NHL. 

-Could ESPN not finance an analyst who really follows junior and/or college hockey?? John Buccigross does his best on the college hockey side, but there’s no looking at these players outside of the stats that are read and the video that other people have cut up for them. It’s less about what the players can bring and more toward what the team could have. They could have done so much better with one person with the specific knowledge of the prospects. 

-The first round was over four hours. That’s just horrid, decentralized or not. I think with de-centralized, it doesn’t help move things along much better– especially with all the stuff around it. Now, I don’t know if in-person would’ve moved it along faster when you think of all the stuff that goes on before, during, and after the picks are made. There’s got to be a better way to do things to make it go faster and make it more appetizing on TV. 

While this whole event is about the kids getting drafted, and I’m sure it still was for them, the way it was presented by ESPN made it worse than it needed to be. It was clunky, it was very awkward, and overall not a great look for the Worldwide Leader when you break it down. Luckily for the draftees, they couldn’t give a good goddamn about it because they just realized their childhood dreams in one night.

Hockey in Canada: Meh??

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With Canada’s early exit from the World Juniors, the big realization could be coming in that maybe Canada– as a hockey nation– is just okay now. 

Photo: Matt Zambonin/International Ice Hockey Federation

Now– it’s hard to pin the hockey state of the nation on kids who are between 17 and 20 years old, but it details a bigger story in that other countries have been catching up to Canada on hockey, as well as Canada not developing the constant run of talent they’ve been known to do. Sure, prospects like Connor Bedard, and Macklin Celebrini are out there– but they are starting to become the exception and not the rule anymore. The stream of talent that Hockey Canada has been pumping out isn’t at the same pace as it was in the years past. You can call it the ebbs and flows of prospects or what-have-you, but it is hard to escape from the look at NHL rosters and the diversity of nations on those line-up cards and in the scoring race. 

TheScore’s writing staff gave their projected rosters for Canada at the NHL’s farce of a Four Nations Cup for 2025. One of the big things for their rosters is the age of their rosters and, outside of the usual suspects of Connor McDavid and Bedard; there’s not a jump-off-the-page roster anymore that looks like world beaters…or beaters of three other nations. There’s a decent amount of older players in the mix, questionable defense beyond the first pairing, iffy goaltending depths, and plenty of Zach Hyman. 

But that’s okay for hockey as a whole, regardless of what the maple leaf loving fans up north want to believe. Competitive balance is a good thing when it comes to international hockey. Countries like Czechia and Slovakia producing great talent and being competitive is good. The US pumping out solid talent in college, juniors, and the NHL is wonderful for growth of the game in North America. Sweden and Finland will have their ups and downs, but be consistent. But all the countries do have a better shot the more they’re represented and the more they make the move to the NHL for the grand audience to see. 

Yet, it’s okay for Canada to allow this to happen and not be a gatekeeper of the sport. Everyone is going to know that Canada is the country of origin for hockey in North America and there’s still more Canadians in the NHL than any other country. So it’s fine to take a step back and see what other countries are doing to see what needs to be improved on in development. 

Now, does there need to be a summit from Hockey Canada about this loss?? There shouldn’t be, but I’m sure there will be. But it should be to address the decline in registered players from 2014-15 until 2021-22. A simple answer is that the cost of everything from gear to ice time to association fee is outrageous (which isn’t just exclusive to hockey), but is there a way to ease the burden on families so their kids can play, even at a house level, without breaking the bank?? 

It has nothing to do with the kids on the ice. It has everything to do with what’s happening off of it.

Semi-Annual ASG Tirade and Some Fan Vote Picks

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Leaked Poster via Icethetics

It’s the NHL All-Star Game season and the NHL is…something else. While the Miami Vice style that will go down in South Florida is sure to bring in merch sales, the selection of the all-stars is definitely a choice that’s been made.

Before going any further, this is my yearly reminder that the All-Star Game in any sport is an antiquated idea. In the age of cable/streaming/internet– the ASG is not needed for people to see the top players in the leagues. This weekend is one that many players would want to skip, which is why the NHL gives suspensions out to players who don’t go and are not proven to be injured at the time. I get that this is a key to the NHL marketing, but at the same time– you could hold a Comic-Con-esque event where the players just have to show up and sign autographs and flip the format to a Young Stars game so people can see a game and interact more with their favorite players– without the older star players making up an injury not to go and putting the younger generation on display. 

Back to the matters at hand then– the NHL has selected 32 all-stars already, one from each team and now leave it up to the fans to vote-in the rest of the players. This is a format that is tried and true and has not backfired twice on the NHL which almost saw Rory Fitzpatrick get into the 2007 All Star Game and saw John Scott win All-Star MVP in 2016 in a feel-great moment for the league…that the league tried so hard to sabotage. Let’s not forget host fans stuffing the ballot boxes, too. Those instances, meme oriented or otherwise, shows that fans want a reason to watch the game that otherwise may not be given to them. There’s no incentive to the games, aside from giving millionaires more money and a vehicle to the MVP. Plus, as stated earlier– if the NHL has to strong-arm the players into going to the event; almost makes you think the players aren’t jazzed about playing shiny hockey when they could be at home resting with family. 

Regardless of all that– who’s going to be the random folk-hero the internet gets behind to take the crown of “meh” All-Star. Looking at the rosters, the chosen players in the Atlantic and Metro divisions are all forwards– less the one goalie already picked; so defense is on the menu there. The Central has all three of their defense already picked out, with the Pacific only having one defenseman. Then, of course, you have four goalie roles to fill out. So, let’s go down the list of who I think should get in, fan vote or otherwise:

ATLANTIC: Filip Hronek, Detroit: The rebound Hronek has made defensively on the Red Wings is stellar. He’s on the path to a career year, he’s been stellar on the power play, and he’s a key part in this Detroit rebuild. Give him some open ice and he’ll shine out there for the winged wheel group. 

METRO: Vitek Vanecek, New Jersey: The Seattle Kraken legend has gotten a boost in New Jersey this year. With 15 wins already, he’s helped the Devils go from lottery picks to playoff possibilities. It would only make sense to give the Devil his due as the back-up and create a Hudson River tandem in net. 

CENTRAL: Jordan Kyrou, St. Louis: Leading the Blues in goals and points, it’s wild that he didn’t get the nod outright. He used last year’s postseason as a jumping off point and hasn’t slowed much since. Adding him to the other young stars on that Central squad and it’ll be a skills showcase in this one for them. 

PACIFIC: Tyler Myers, Vancouver: A former Calder Trophy winner, Myers is still logging over 20 minutes a game for a Canucks team who has a major identity crisis going on. Not bad for a guy in his 14th season in the league. Only Quinn Hughes is logging more ice time on the blue line. Plus/minus is a meaningless stat, but only he and Luke Schenn are pluses on the Canucks defense. Let the big man eat in South Florida. 

To Hell With the NHL Awards Show

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Photo from the Hockey Hall of Fame

The NHL Awards Show happened Tuesday. It was terrible. Get rid of it.

Okay, I can’t say it was all terrible. Chris Snow and his family coming out to award the Norris Trophy was nice, as well as Brian Hamilton and Nadia Popovici coming out. But by and large– we don’t need award shows anymore.

Not only was it clunky, but it looked like most people would rather be anywhere else, the jokes didn’t hit, and then they cut off Kenan Thompson as he was trying to end the show. They announced the GM of the Year nominees, but then are going to make us wait until the Draft to get that answer; some awards were given out ahead of the show with video messages of the shortened acceptance speech, and it just all looked forced.

The idea of the Awards Show just feels archaic in that hacky feeling of everyone getting together in one spot for the end of the year. But especially when it comes to hockey, the idea of hearing cliched acceptance speeches, forced bits by the hosts, and trying to talk to nominees as if it’ll be a make-or-break trophy for them to win seems like it’s past it’s prime.

When it comes to awards, the NBA does it right. They announce it during the playoffs, if the player is still in it– they get acknowledgement from the crowd before playing, and then it’s over with. No need to fill up deadspace, no need to rent out an event center, player’s can give their usual responses post-game– everyone wins. It just seems like a slog trying to coordinate all of this when it’s something that well past it’s sell-by date.

Sure, there’s some veil of mystery and it’s not the worst awards show (that goes to NASCAR where everyone knows who won what during the last race); but it’s not something that should be given the TV time. Considering they rushed it off the air right at 8 PM ET, you could tell that it was merely an obligation to have it done rather than a necessity.

Times change, desire to see all the players/coaches/talking heads at an awards show isn’t as demanded anymore, and it’s treated as filler by most folks involved. Just get rid of it and announce it during the playoffs.

TEPID TAKE: The Olympics and NHL Are Better Off Without Each Other

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Photo via Getty Images/Olympics.com

Juraj Slafkovsky being named MVP of the Olympics and having the focus put onto him is one of the reasons why the NHL doesn’t need to be in the Olympics. Not only does it give other players a chance to shine, but it allows broadcasts to focus on players who may or may not been given the platform if the NHLers were there to take the focus for themselves.

The last two Olympics have had their ups and down. The European nations have stepped up in a big way, especially those who don’t rely on NHL players to begin with. If the NHLers were to play, who’s to say you have same great stories like you did with Germany in 2018 and Slovakia in these Games?? Those moments for those nations may not have even happened and then pundits perhaps start to rip on the Olympics even having those nations be able to participate because they can’t produce NHLers the way that Russia, Sweden, Canada, the US, and Finland do– so why even include them except to be a whipping boy for those countries??

Personally, the disruption of the NHL season is something that annoys me. Sure, the time of some games are bad, as are the idea of injuries in the Olympics that would affect the season. But going to the Olympics games just breaking up the NHL season for the hell of it kills any momentum teams might have that could actually get them in the playoffs. The NHL is the only major North American league to stop their league for the Olympics. MLB didn’t allow their players on 40-man rosters to play in the 2021 Games due to the threat of injury that could cost teams money if their top players go down and for shutting down the league for two weeks. Which, as the pandemic still rears its head now and again, is a costly measure as it is with local regulations.

Hence, that’s why MLB has the World Baseball Classic and why the NHL has the World Cup of Hockey. Yeah, it’s not for Olympic gold, but you’re representing your country off of the season schedule– so it’s fine. Everything’s fine. It’s not that the International Olympic Committee screws them over for media rights and insurance money or any of that…not at all.

One way to really spice up the hockey in the Olympics if the NHL doesn’t go and people don’t want to send journeymen– make the World Juniors the Olympics every four years. It’s akin to Olympic soccer, which is under-23, and it would make those who are really geeked about their team’s prospects coming up and how they fit on the world stage. Sure, the tournament is mainly a big money maker for Hockey Canada hosting the even every other year, so they won’t like losing that profit– but given the option of seeing that versus the journeymen players we have seen in the past two Games; it could provide a faster game.

The talk of people saying the Olympics needs to be the best taking on the best– but then looking back and speaking fondly about the 1980 US Olympic team– is just noise to me. I don’t need the NHL to be in the Olympics. I have TNT and ESPN+. I can see the best play against the best every night if I wanted. There’s no need for the NHL to be in the Olympics aside from fueling their own egos in thinking that the NHL is the end-all, be-all when it comes to hockey and that if they’re not in it– no one will care about hockey. You know, like how the Hockey Hall of Fame has pretty much turned into the NHL Hall of Fame.

On The Topic Of Olympic Hockey Without the NHL

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I am glad the NHL isn’t going to the Olympics. Since 1998, I don’t think I’ve ever bought into the whole “best vs. the best” ideal because if they’re the best and they’re playing in the NHL…aren’t we getting that on a nightly basis?? Can’t they do that at the World Championships??

However, there are some people– maybe rightfully so– annoyed with the NHL not going. Pavel Bure went so far in saying that the NHL doesn’t care about growing the game of hockey, they’re only caring about their league business.

While I can understand what Bure is trying to get at, it’s not just the NHL’s burden to carry in growing the sport. They are the most recognizable league for sure, but in the world we live in today; the interest in hockey can be taken in by anyone with an internet connection and the desire to watch the NHL or any other hockey for that matter. Other than maybe a passing bump post-Olympics, the idea it would create a boom for hockey just because the NHL is there never really jived with me overall. Always seemed like the NHLPA used it as the possibility of a huge ratings bump when it doesn’t seem to happen.

The Olympics have never really benefited the NHL, aside from the players being associated with the league. They don’t have any media rights to the coverage, they can’t use any photos or videos to help promote, and it turns an already long season into even more of a marathon. Luckily, this season; the perfect storm of COVID cases, the Games being in China (which many North American fans wouldn’t tune in live to watch games), and the threat of a five-week quarantine if someone were to test positive gave the NHL and NHLPA the no-brainer decision on skipping out of this one.

And, like I said before– I’m glad they’re not. The 2018 Games were fun with the plucky German crew having a couple big upsets on their way to Silver, the Olympic Athletes from Russia taking home their first goal medal as the OAR and the first for that area of the world since the Unified Team won it in 1992. It showcased players like Kirll Kaprizov before he made it to the NHL, while also bringing older players that many may have forgotten to take part– allowing them to live their dream that they may have thought as being impossible due to the NHLers going out for the Olympics. The Hockey News’ Steven Ellis wrote about it better than I’m putting out there.

One point I will bow to is the one that non-traditional hockey nations can benefit from being on the same ice as NHLers from more developed hockey nations. You could argue that Italy’s entry in 2006 help that country grow a little in terms of having more competitive hockey despite some the team being from Canada. The South Koreans were gearing up as if they were going to face NHLers for 2018 before it didn’t happen. Teams like Germany, Norway, Belarus, Slovenia have been matured on the big stage, as well. Hell, they almost ousted the host nation because they didn’t know if they’d be embarrassed or not against NHLers for this one.

The NHL’s participation is not the end-all, be-all for men’s hockey. Hey, who knows– the Games as a whole could be pushed back a year and then the NHL can get back into it. It has happened before and could happen again for this. Even then, I’ll still stand by my thought that the NHL and the Olympics are better off for not crossing the streams for the near future.

NHL Adding Jersey Sponsors, Revenue in 2022-23

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Reports on Tuesday stated that the NHL will put ads on jersey starting in the 2022-23 season and thank goodness this dance is over. Thankfully, the NHL has come to its senses and realized that ads are not a bad thing and that they’ll just be following in the footsteps of most hockey leagues domestic and internationally by getting ads on the jerseys.

This has been teased for a while with every Chicken Little hockey fans proclaiming the sky is falling at every mention of it. Well, we’ll see how they hold up with it becoming a reality. Everyone claims purity of the sport, but that died when they started using aluminum sticks and goalies started to cosplay as the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man. It’s about revenues, baybee, it’s about getting that salary cap up, baybee. They already have the sponsors on the practice jerseys, think of the money they could get for game jerseys.

It’s not greed, it’s capitalism, baybee, let’s go!!!

But seriously, this isn’t bad. This isn’t like a player going out to get their own sponsors to look like a NASCAR driver– though that’d be pretty awesome. It’s about activating more partnerships, getting money with the gates being down due to the pandemic that’s currently going on, and it’s about catching up with other sports leagues.

I can’t say with certainty, but I highly doubt the league would allow a sponsor to overwhelm a team logo, much like club soccer over in Europe. That’s not good for team branding and the NHL is all about that. The league will have parameters about contracts with sponsors and hopefully vet those sponsors; much like they did with the helmet ads. Plus, they don’t want to have teams switch sponsors year-in and year-out; though it would be a boom for the jersey industry.

To me, people who boycott the league for jersey ads are only using it as an excuse for not getting out of it earlier for much more heinous things that the NHL and their member teams haven’t addressed– either in part or as a whole.

The sun will come out tomorrow. Your team should have still shouldn’t have gotten rid of that one guy. Your team will still be one piece a way form a Cup. They’ll just have a little extra weight on their upper torso.

Mock (YEAH) Expansion (YEAH) Draft (YEAH)

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The day that we all were waiting for is finally here– probably the last Expansion Draft of our lifetimes in the Seattle Kraken. For myself, I ran through plenty of mock drafts– mostly for shits and giggles and with not much real logic thrown into some of these picks. It’s really what I want to happen rather than what I think will happen.

The first draft was for the June 30th show of Face Off Hockey Show, when we all did drafts and NBC’s Sean Leahy judged them– mostly siding with Lyle Richardson of Spector’s Hockey because those media elites stick together. For me, the big pick was PK Subban going to the Kraken because they needed a face to the organization and he is going to a contract year which he’ll probably do all he can in order to get a last contract.

I only made a second draft because the news of Carey Price being left unprotected in this draft was put out there. Sure, a lot of injury concerns coupled with an $11M bonus in September aside– why wouldn’t want to pick a goalie and build from the net out??

After talking myself out of it and plenty of free time to do it– a third draft pick was in there. For the Price draft, I had to get rid of Subban on there, but he’s definitely on there now with Price not in the picture for the third draft.

My final pick is what I’m going with. It’s without Price, and tweaks here and there.

It was a fun thing to do. This is something I’m not going to take seriously because I’m not getting paid to take it seriously. I’m not getting paid personally at all– just through the FOHS Patreon and that mostly goes to show things. So, sit back, enjoy the show tonight– should be a hoot.

Tepid Take: Somehow, Pierre McGuire Got His Front Office Gig

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It’s taken a minute, but the Pierre McGuire news has calmed down a bit– so thanks to the wonders of having a day-job, my take is beyond late. Hence, a Tepid Take scenario. People were dumbfounded bu this move of Pierre McGuire going to the Ottawa Senators as Senior VP of Player Development. Many mocked the Senators for this move, many Sens fans were severely distraught, some Senators loyalist/media people are wondering who let the peanut gallery have a voice on who is and isn’t a good hire.

When it comes to this move…I’m optimistically skeptical. It’s a deal that would work out big, it could be a deal that works out horrible. There’s a lot of me who leans towards the latter outcome, but there’s some shimmer of hope that because the Senators haven’t been the best over the last couple years, this could be some kind of move that could turn the ship around…or not.

The only comparison I liken this to is when Tampa Bay hired Barry Melrose during his ESPN stint. Melrose was away from coaching and on TV for 13 years, coached in 16 games– in which he didn’t like Steven Stamkos being on the roster apparently– then he went back to the booth. McGuire could have that same fate, but at the same time– he might have a longer leash not being in the direct public eye.

For the gimmick that McGuire plays, he does know the players and prospects. The character of Pierre is over-the-top to a fault and trying to let people know where a player grew up– even if it’s hokey as all hell. But when you listen to him in other interviews out of character; he’s more toned down, more direct to his point, and does know how the game was played. And there’s a reason why I put a past tense there.

I make no secret that I’m not a big analytics guy as personal preference.I can see some of the points for its use in the game, but I’m not an overly math guy for fun. My day job throws enough numbers at me that my leisure time, I don’t want to be bogged down in equations and such. This, however, is McGuire’s job and whether or not he embraces the new way hockey is scouted will probably determine his tenure and legacy as front office guy.

During his media car-wash, he quote was “It’s not that I hate analytics, it’s that I believe in scouting. I don’t hate analytics. I think it’s a tool that can be utilized in any kind of scouting, but I’m a big believer in boots-on-the-ground scouting.” Daps and head-taps to Stephen Whyno on the transcription.

The whole “old school hockey guy” is dying out and McGuire could be what fully kills it if he messes this up. I understand his whole ideal of the “eye test” when it comes to scouting and maybe some analytics aren’t up his alley– but that’s the way it is now and you either adapt or go back to the booth. The key to McGuire is whether he completely dismisses analytics out-of-hand; which is a big mistake these days. Sure, there’s analytic darlings of the past who didn’t amount to much but folk-hero status; but that side of things could make or break a person in the player development role if they sign a guy for big bucks who passed the eye-test, but couldn’t hold up in certain situations on the ice.

While people dance on the grave of the NBC muppet going to the front office, it’ll be very interesting to keep track on the make-up of the Senators going forward. Maybe Eugene Melnyk is going all “Major League” on this team and hiring the worst possible people to sell the team and have it move somewhere else. It almost seems that way on the surface.