I wish I could say that I share Eklund's optimism that yesterday's proposals presented by the NHLPA and the NHL may not have brought the two sides close to a resolution of the issues at the forefront of the impending lockout but was "very positive" news in the bigger picture.
Ek has noted that there is no personal animosity between Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr, and the negotiations have largely been respectful despite the requisite tough talk and PR spin that both sides try to put out afterwards. That very well may be true.
To me, that's like saying the two countries are about to declare war but, hey, their respective leaders don't actually hate one another. They're willing to keep talking, which in practical terms means they're going to keep foisting essentially the same "peace treaty" offer on each other after war is declared -- in which the concessions offered are ones each side was willing to offer all along but "strategically" waited to roll out while hoping the other side caves.
The bottom line so far is that the NHL negotiators (representing the owners' interests) wants steep salary rollbacks that the PA will not accept. The PA wants the rich teams in the NHL to be the main ones responsible for propping up the financially weak teams via kicking in more their own revenues, which is unacceptable to the owners. Zero legitimate progress has been on these issues.
In other words, this is going to be a long process. The fact that there were several hundred NHL players in New York to meet with Fehr afterwards -- rather than at their teams' respective training facilities preparing per normal for the start of camp -- was a pretty clear cut sign that everyone knows a lockout is coming on Saturday.
I find the whole process distasteful, but it is what it is.
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Yesterday, RDS reported that the Flyers had contacted the Montreal Canadiens about restricted free agent P.K. Subban's availability in trade. While I have no doubt the Flyers (and most every NHL team) would have interest at the right price, I think the trade rumor itself is much ado over nothing.
First of all, the trading cost would be too high. If the Flyers were unwilling to trade either Sean Couturier or Brayden Schenn in any deal for Shea Weber's rights prior to presenting an offer sheet to the Predators' franchise player, they wouldn't do it for the less proven and less consistent Subban, either. I just don't see an offer the Flyers would come up with that would be likely to be accepted by Montreal.
Secondly, the timing of the report is suspicious. We are on the brink of a lockout and Subban is still unsigned (as are Washington's John Carlson and the Rangers' Michael Del Zotto). With a lockout looming, the timing of the "trade talk" report smacks of a deliberate leak by the team to pressure the player -- who was said he wants to stay put -- to sign ahead of Carlson and Del Zotto. I don't think it will work, either, at least without bridging the gap in what has been offered versus what the Subban camp has demanded.
Last but not least, I don't doubt the Flyers contacted the Canadiens about Subban. But it goes with the turf for general managers to periodically contact other teams about players of interest -- knowing full well that a deal is unlikely but doing some due diligence just in case the other team says yes.
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In yesterday's poll about Flyers' fans most hated rival teams, I fully expected the Penguins to be the "winners". But I didn't expect the vote to be as overwhelming as it was; with more than 72 percent of nearly 1,000 respondents choosing the Flyers' cross-state rivals. I had thought the Rangers would have siphoned a larger share of votes, especially after going 6-0 against the Flyers last season and for having John Tortorella as its head coach.
As I said yesterday, when I was growing up, I got more caught up in the good guys vs. bad guys drama of it all. Nowadays, I don't "hate" any team, in part because there is so much roster turnover and shifting alliances. The fact of the matter is that most people look at the same players in a different light when they switch uniforms. There is a difference between legitimate hate and "loving to hate" a certain rival.
For example, Max Talbot didn't suddenly transform into a different human being off the ice or change his style of play on the ice in the last year -- he simply switched teams from the Penguins to the Flyers because Philly offered him more money as a free agent. In the process, he quickly went from a player most Flyers fans said they couldn't stand into a local fan favorite both for his energetic play on the ice and his outgoing personality off ice.
I have no doubt in my mind that if Sidney Crosby were ever to become a Flyer-- a highly unlikely prospect in the foreseeable future, mind you -- many of the same folks who call him "Cindy" and vociferously censure his tendencies to embellish and to whine about unfavorable calls on the ice would change their tunes in a hurry if his all-world skills were employed here. It's simply the truth.
A few Flyers fans would continue to dislike Crosby for some of his on-ice antics, but the majority would instantly embrace him and most of the others would come around by the time he played a few games in orange and black. There would be hundreds of #87 Flyers jerseys at every home game and his photo booth tickets at the Flyers Wives Carnival would be the first to sell out.
Let's put it this way: If Jaromir Jagr was able to become a popular Flyers player late in his career after all those years of being the local fandom's most despised and most jeered member of the Penguins and Rangers, anyone can do it. Crosby wouldn't be an exception. Nor would reigning Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy winner Evgeni Malkin, whose sneaky dirty stickwork would be defended if he were a Flyer doing it to a Penguin.
Generally speaking, the only types of hated rival players who truly fail to gain acceptance when they become Flyers are ones who don't perform up to expectations on the ice. There are also rare exceptions such as Billy Tibbetts, whose mere presence on the team would have been controversial no matter what he did on the ice.
Above all, I love the on-ice passion involved in the Flyers-Penguins rivalry. As I wrote yesterday, I thought it was tremendous that not only did the Flyers beat the Cup favorite Penguins in the playoffs this past spring, but that the victory was made sweeter by the fact the Pens had virtually all of their key players in the lineup. The fact that the Flyers got into the Penguins' heads last season with repeated comeback victories in both the regular season and playoffs was quite a breathtaking sight to watch unfold.
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The regular seasons in the various top European leagues are now either already underway or will start today. Later today, both Sweden's Elitserien and Finland's SM-liiga will drop the puck on the 2012-13 regular season.
This week's Across the Pond installment at NHL.com takes a look at some of the anticipated top forward lines in Elitserien. If preseason effectiveness is any indication of what's to come, HV71's new formed trio of Jason Krog centering Rhett Rhakshani and Jesper Fast could end up being one of the leagues most dominant combos this season. Click
here for more.
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