The NHL players union’s rejection of the proposed 2012-13 realignment may have been the best thing to happen to the league in decades and, shockingly enough, the league now seems to agree. That’s a good thing. The Winter Classic is developing into an excellent concept. That’s two good things. Fighting is down from last year. Hey, they’re on a roll! So, in this fleeting moment of optimism before the impending latest storm of labor strife that’s on the horizon, here are five ways to ensure the future of the National Hockey League.
#5. The CBA. Emulate Major League Baseball and quietly agree on a new collective bargaining agreement before the deadline. It would be the best public relations coup the NHL could score. The NBA blew that chance and almost cost the fans their season. The NHL, after canceling the entire 2004-05 season due to labor issues, remain the only league to do so. They cannot afford to lose even part of a season again. Cannot.
#4. The Schedule. Even without realignment there are ways to put an 82-game schedule in place where divisional rivals play each other more than teams outside their division while at the same time eliminating the current practice of teams in opposite conferences not visiting some cities at all during a season. The NBA plays the same number of games with the same amount of teams in many of the same cities and arenas and they accomplish it. Why can’t the NHL?
#3. The Standings. Dump that ridiculous scoring system. The shootout, in and of itself, is okay but how can it make sense that the losing team doesn’t get an official loss in the standings? It’s also done away with true winning, losing and unbeaten streaks. The whole idea was to dupe the fans (especially new fans in expansion or franchise-relocation markets) into believing their teams are better then they really are, with the league’s hope that a winner – albeit a deceiving one – will draw fans. Since they instituted the shootout in 2005, an average of 22 of 30 teams have had winning records at the end of the season. It’s idiotic.
#2. Retraction. Over-expansion has led to too many teams in too many cities that just aren’t that interested in the game. Franchises have moved (Quebec/Colorado, Hartford/Carolina, Atlanta/Winnipeg) or gone into bankruptcy (Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Phoenix) and many more teams aren’t drawing that well. The Phoenix situation is particularly distressing because they’ve been trying to find a buyer for the Coyotes for two years. Let’s face it, hockey franchises in non-hockey towns and small markets aren’t in vogue to billionaire investors/sports fans unless they can relocate them, and the market for new markets for the NHL has been virtually fished out.
Eventually the NHL may have no choice but to cut the fat because the way things are going, more franchises will start crawling into bankruptcy court and that will bog the NHL down a lot more than they want to believe. Under no circumstances can they allow it to get to that point. All of which leads us to…
#1. The Commissioner. Ah yes, of course. The owners should smarten up once and for all and show Gary Bettman the door. Since he became commish in 1993 labor problems shortened the 1994-95 season and killed the 2004-05 season. He likes to point out that during his tenure the revenue for the NHL has gone from $400 million to over $3 billion through 2010-11. What he won’t point out is that a good chunk of that has been due to his inability to improve the game’s appeal during the “neutral zone trap” era, then trying to make up for it by expanding into smaller markets for a quick fix. Between 1993 and 2000 six new franchises paid a total of $420 million in expansion fees for the right to enter the league.
This lack of leadership and responsibility has led to a bloated league, a severely diluted talent base, too many players to keep up with and constant troubles with franchise stability [see #2]. Bettman wants to expand the league still further, with Kansas City and Las Vegas as the recent targets. Very risky ones too, because Vegas has no teams in any major pro sport for obvious reasons, and the NHL failed once before in K.C. back in the ’70s. But with the current fee at a whopping $250 million, Bettman is frothing at the mouth for more expansion. When it comes to ethics, Gary Bettman doesn’t have much on his NBA counterpart David Stern.
Bettman’s predecessor, John Ziegler, had similar inefficiencies during his term, but no lockouts. He was lucky, however, because Wayne Gretzky saved him by pushing the game to new levels during the ’80’s. No doubt Bettman was hoping for the same thing after the lost 2005 season with the desperate promoting of Sydney Crosby as the “The Next One.” It has turned into a disaster, not just because of Crosby’s ongoing concussion issues, but because of the fact that, as outstanding as Crosby is, he wasn’t, isn’t, and never will be Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux.
Hockey is a great sport and the NHL has a proud history as fascinating and entertaining as any. The game on the ice has improved in recent seasons, but that doesn’t change the fact that the NHL needs and deserves responsible leadership.