A Hockey Post
Posted by Michael.
I try to keep sports-posts to a relative minimum here, so I’ll condense two items into one:
(a) The bidding war between the co-founder of RIMM (blackberry maker) and the NHL has seen both sides sweeten their offers; the Phoenix Coyotes have been losing money hand over fist (hockey in Arizona, losing money, no way?!?) and going bankrupt, and so both parties have offered to pay the city for the rest of the lease, pay all parties to which the team is indebted, etc… and sadly, I’m forced to hope that the NHL is allowed to buy the team. Not because I believe in the NHL’s handling of anything, or in the NHL’s administration, but because it sets a horrible precedent for a team to be able to just declare bankruptcy and negotiate its purchase to somebody else and get moved to a different city, all without the League’s consent or input.
That said, the smartest possible move after the NHL buys the Coyotes would be to turn around and sell the team to Balsillie and let him move the franchise to Hamilton.
(b) Perhaps the most charismatic & talented young star has preemptively told the NHL that he’s going to play in the 2014 Olympics, with or without permission, saying that he will risk suspension and play for his country, Russia, regardless of whether the NHL is formally involved or not. “Nobody can say to me, ‘You can’t play for your country in the Olympic Games.’”
“Who can say you can’t play for your country in the Olympic Games? I think it’s …”
Unfair?
“It’s not unfair; it’s stupid,” he said. “Somebody don’t like it, see you next year.”
And good for him. Seriously, if watch only one game of hockey all season, I highly recommend it be Washington against some other star team – Pittsburgh, Philly, Detroit, or Chicago or Boston – and you won’t regret it.
September 26th, 2009 at 2:55 am Using
I find it amusing that the Jets left Winnipeg because they were losing money, and moved to the desert, because nothing says hockey like cacti. What a surprise they’re still losing money. Hamilton though I find odd too, since it’s right there by Toronto and Buffalo, with Detroit not far away either. I suppose, though, it is one of, perhaps the most, heavily populated regions of Canada. Would be nice to see Canada get one of its teams back.
As for the Caps, I’ve got my nosebleed tickets for two games vs. the Flyers this season. Everyone LOVES Ovi here these days (’cept me, still rooting for the Flyers). It’s been interesting to see the change in the audience over the past couple years. Two years ago, I went to 2 Pens/Caps games and a Flyers/Caps game, and there were more Pens/Flyers fans in the arena than Caps fans. We also paid, well, I forget exactly, maybe $25 or $37 for those games. Last year, we couldn’t GET tickets for the Pens games, and at the Flyers games, it was mostly red, people were actually cheering more loudly for the Caps than the Flyers, and the prices went up to about $51. This year, for the same nosebleed seats we sat in the last two years, the Sunday Flyers game is $75, while the Tuesday evening Flyers game is $60. I think all the Pens games are $75, as is the Detroit game we looked at. Bah. Good for the Caps, bad for my wallet. I liked when hockey was the bastard child of the pro sports world.