NHL

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.

Fare Thee Well, NHL on NBC

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With the Lightning’s 2nd straight Stanley Cup win on Wednesday, the NBC era of NHL TV history has paused with ESPN and Turner Sports coming into the fold next season. What start as an exclusive three-year, $200 Million TV deal with the Outdoor Life Network turned into a deal that will net the NHL over $4 Billion in their incoming deal with the new networks.

It was a joke to start, many fans in the US– already reeling from a season that was cancelled– now had their sport in one of the least attractive channels they could have thought about and one many didn’t know if they had or not on their cable provider. Don’t even get started on hotels having it for people on the road– even to the end of days with NBCSN.

But it progressed for the better. While the production was one that was nothing too different from other productions, the deal with NBC spawned many things like the outdoor games people can’t get enough of and more dedicated coverage to the game, as it was the first major sports property for OLN. Of course, it also gave people the horrid Tuesday All-Star Game and the beta-version of a rail cam for that event. Then it turned to Versus, a little more interesting of a name for a sports network, but it’s something that didn’t make people think it was just hockey, hunting, and (according to my friend and mentor Sean O’Connor) fish racing.

Versus allowed the NHL to have multiple games per week on the network, plenty of coverage around the game times, and possibly a new voice for things to come. NBC Universal saw the potential and bought up the Versus property, turning it to NBC Sports Network while signing the NHL to a 10-year, $2 Billion exclusive deal. Not without its hiccups, the NBCSN was still something the normal layperson had trouble finding, playoff coverage got bumped for horse racing on the main NBC network, and while some new personalities were able to shine– familiar voices, both good and bad, were around for the duration of it. Not to mention, more features happening like more mic’d up players and commentators between the benches. NBC did all they could to make some more entertainment for folks watching the games.

If nothing else, the NBC/NHL partnership allowed the league to have a dedicated spot for a long amount of time. Sure, there are plenty of reasons to dislike NBC and what fans wanted out of it– but when a media company as big as NBC Universal invests that much into the league, in the grand scheme; it helped with revenues for the league and was a hub for hockey in its tenure.

Fans are a fickle bunch when it comes to the presentation they want to have on their screens. Everyone is sick of the same teams over and over– but in the TV business, that’s the way to get ratings and advertising dollars. Will we see a change for ESPN and Turner?? Maybe not at the start of things. But that’s why ESPN+ exists for whatever their Center Ice parallel will be on that platform; all the games will exist from the local markets doing them.

The NHL on NBC didn’t need to reinvent the wheel, they just had to keep the vehicle of the NHL going. It put trust in the league with their long-term deal and in-turn, the league didn’t need to worry every other year where their national games were being held. People shouldn’t expect the wheel to be reinvented with ESPN or Turner either. Just keep the vehicle moving, be entertaining, and be informative– people are going to shout their hate for something into the social media void regardless of what’s put out there. Just keep things rolling and see what happens in seven years’ time.

NHL and ESPN Are Together Again

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According to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, NHL fans may be getting what they want with ESPN signing a new deal with the NHL to become on of their media partners starting next season. ESPN will get rights to four Stanley Cup Finals between 2022 and 2028 and streaming rights to the league. The NHL and NBC deal ends at the end of this season and plenty of people were clamoring for the NHL to go elsewhere. It may look like they’ve partial gotten their wish.

The NHL hasn’t been a regular entity on ESPN’s family of networks since 2004, they have had games on ESPN+ over the past couple of seasons, as well as beefing up their coverage of hockey thanks to the work of Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski, as well as Chris Peters– who was let go from ESPN during the pandemic. With NBC Sports Network going dark in lieu of PeacockTV, it only makes sense that ESPN would pick up the lead in this for the TV side.

While this does seem like a step in the right direction, the issue remains whether or not it’ll tip the scales all that much and if we’ll actually get a change in the teams being broadcasted. The biggest issue when the NHL spurred ESPN for the old Outdoor Life Network was because ESPN didn’t see the NHL as a money making entity and low-balled them on a new deal. Has that sentiment changed at all?? Maybe. Honestly, though, I don’t see the NHL getting as much screen time on a network that is jammed up with other, more profitable for the network sports.

It would be great to have the ESPN talking heads be all about the NHL and yell and bitch on their overpaid showcases of hot takes that mimic a talk show– but I don’t see that happening. If nothing else, the NHL gets more exposure due to the notoriety that ESPN has over other sports networks. That said, I don’t see it really tipping the needle in terms of exposure to the sports for people since the NHL will move to fourth on the depth chart of sports over the defacto top spot they had on NBCSN. Granted, it was the NHL or Meecum Auctions, so the competition of the networks wasn’t that stiff.

Yet, when you think about it– the numbers could be slightly better just due to reach, but outside of that– who knows what that could bring. You have to think that an NHL Tonight type show will be around; but outside of that– what’s it going to take for people to notice the NHL on ESPN?? More importantly– how long before NHL fans bitch about not receive the coverage they think they should get on the World Wide Leader??

In the grand scheme, this is an upward move– how can it not be?? ESPN is everywhere and they have a multitude of platforms on the TV side that people can get to on cable and whatnot. Streaming rights are what they are, which makes me wonder if things don’t go swimmingly or other leagues start to demand more, if that was a safety net installed to put the NHL on ESPN+ when all is said and done and only use ESPN or ESPN2 for the bigger events. This also doesn’t account for who the other partner would be for the other half of the NHL rights and how those two will co-exist.

But for not, strike up the National Hockey Night theme and relive the good-old days of hockey on ESPN.