DETROIT (May 23) -- Given the propensity many of us have had over the years to condemn the National Hockey League for any perceived indiscretion, it's important to recognize the generally calm environment in which the league is operating right now... and to properly credit those responsible for it. As with any large-scale business, the NHL will never be devoid of issues and concerns. Depending on who you ask, the issues are either mild or serious, but it's fair to say that the world's best professional hockey league is in a setting right now where ALL concerns are at least manageable. And though it's oddly out of fashion to lay kudos on commissioner Gary Bettman, there is little doubt he has adroitly guided the NHL through its most turbulent epoch. Bettman and deputy Bill Daly administer to an enormous, 30-team circuit that does not have an overbearing crisis at the moment -- a triumph fans on both sides of the border should relish.
Heaven knows, it hasn't always been this way. And, it's the reason most of us are looking forward to the Detroit-Pittsburgh Stanley Cup championship without an adjunct. In previous years, matters concerning style of play, labour unrest, ownership integrity, TV ratings and media access cast a pall over the Cup surroundings. Bettman would rather have sustained a kidney-stone attack than faced the music in his annual state-of-the-game address to reporters covering the league's marquee event.
In 1999, at Dallas, he was grilled without mercy for almost 90 minutes over flawed player accessibility in major markets such as Toronto. In 2003, at New Jersey, Bettman almost lost his composure when Toronto Star columnist Damien Cox strongly suggested there was a "fundamental" problem with the on-ice product. So peeved was the commish that his right-hand man, Colin Campbell, chose to step in and address the accusation. Of course, Cox was correct, and the league ultimately acknowledged the trouble by irrevocably (up to now) ramping up its committment to eliminate the obstruction scourge. Then there was last year, in Anaheim, when Bettman sheepishly explained why the NHL's major U.S. network partner, NBC, cut away from the overtime segment of a Buffalo-Ottawa playoff match to air a lead-in show to The Preakness horse race. As the commissioner did his best to confront the embarrassing issue, NBC sports chairman Dick Ebersol stood awkwardly -- and silently -- at the back of the room.
Twelve months later, it's safe to assume that Bettman will approach his 2008 Stanley Cup media gathering without much trepidation. Certainly, the forever-sharp minds behind the notebooks, cameras and microphones will arrive with some ammunition. But, there isn't a major predicament facing the league at the moment.
*The NHL appears to finally be comfortable with the fact that national television audiences here in the U.S. will never approach the numbers of the other three major pro sports. This is an on-going struggle that dates to the mid-1960s, and it always seems to have generated a great deal of angst among league representatives. But, Bettman acknowledged last year in Anaheim that the NHL must reach out by other means (Internet; wireless technology, etc.), conceding that the TV numbers "are what they are." Those figures have grown this season, both on cable affiliate Versus, and on NBC. They are still miniscule when compared to top-rated programming -- and to other sports (college and pro) -- but it seems that more American viewers are watching the NHL right now than in most years since the ratings spike of 1994. Regional audiences are superb. Sports fans in Pittsburgh, Detroit and Philadelphia have flocked to their television sets this spring to watch the Stanley Cup playoffs.
*Officiating is still a lightning-rod issue, as it always has been, and always will be. When I was a kid, I'd sit in Maple Leaf Gardens and scream my head off at people such as Bruce Hood, John Ashley, Vern Buffey, Bob Myers and Wally Harris. In prior years, hockey fans had done the same to Red Storey, King Clancy and Frank Udvari. Today, the likes of Bill McCreary, Paul Devorski, Don Van Massenhoven, Kerry Fraser and Don Koharski get blasted by leather-lungs all across the league. TV technology has magnified the degree to which officiating is scrutinized, and the NHL rule book has become a swollen volume of minutiae that requires both the competence of four human beings on the ice, and the pointed inspection of top-level employees that oversee every game from a wired bunker in the league's Toronto office. Officiating in the NHL has therefore never been as complex as it is today.
The men in the striped shirts have a one-time look at every play from the same level of view as the participants. They are compelled to make accurate determinations in "real" time. The remainder of us watch the action from above -- without visual obstruction -- and base our assertions on TV replay angles that are slowed to frame-by-frame analysis. This is a no-win situation for both sides, and it will forever bring into question the aptitude and skill of the individuals that make the calls. If, as some believe, the NHL has an officiating crisis right now, then it probably always will. Broader minds accept the fact that this is a science largely governed by the same human frailties we all possess.
*The salary cap issue that brought the NHL Players Association to its collective knee three years ago was supposed to facilitate league-wide economic parity. But, it hasn't come close to achieving that. As league revenues continue to grow, the cap itself has been dwarfed by the issue of minimum expenditure. Smaller-market teams are finding it difficult to keep up with the salary "floor" -- which rises exponentially with the cap figure. On the one hand, it is promising that the NHL is generating more revenue each year, but it serves to delineate the more lucrative markets from the weaker ones. Just as it did in the pre-cap era. As well, a wonderfully-built team like the Pittsburgh Penguins will discover it is almost impossible to retain its home-grown talent for more than a few years. These are challenges the owners fought for during the lockout, and will have to confront.
All in all, however, the NHL is in pretty decent shape nowadays. Which reflects favourably on the people running the league.
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The Red Wings and Penguins have virtually no history as opponents. They have never hooked up in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and have rarely faced one another in regular-season action the past decade. During the latter half of the 1970s, Detroit and Pittsburgh were grouped in the Norris Division, along with Montreal, Los Angeles and Washington. But both franchises were largely mediocre and did not establish a legacy.
The clubs first met on Nov. 9, 1967, in the Penguins' inaugural season. The Red Wings breezed to a 5-1 victory at the Detroit Olympia, led by a trio of players that would be dealt to the Maple Leafs four months later. Norm Ullman, Paul Henderson and Floyd Smith all scored for the Wings in that first encounter with the Penguins. They would join the Leafs on Mar. 3, 1968, in the trade that sent Frank Mahovlich to Detroit. Journeyman forward Bill Speer scored the Penguins' only goal that night. Defenceman Doug Roberts and veteran forward Dean Prentice also counted for the Red Wings.
The most significant moment in any Detroit-Pittsburgh game occurred on Dec. 4, 1968, at the Civic (now Mellon) Arena, when hockey legend Gordie Howe scored his 700th career goal. Howe took passes from linemates Mahovlich and Alex Delvecchio to beat Penguins' goalie Les Binkley with a low shot to the far side from 15 feet. It occurred at 7:13 of the first period. A sparse gathering of 4,414 spectators rose and cheered for Howe, but sat down as soon as referee Ron Wicks dropped the puck at centre-ice to resume play. The Red Wings romped to a 7-2 triumph.
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Having covered the Penguins in the first and third rounds of the playoffs this spring, I'm extremely hesitent to pick against them in the Cup final. This is a club that has mastered the art of playing effectively in all areas of the ice. But, I chose Detroit to beat Ottawa for the Stanley Cup prior to the regular season, then to knock off Montreal before the playoffs. So, how can I go against the Wings now? I'm picking Detroit in a full seven games, but with one caveat: The Penguins must win one of the first two encounters at Joe Louis Arena. Otherwise, the deep, experienced Red Wings could develop unstoppable momentum and finish the series in four or five.
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