Earlier this morning, Eisbären Berlin posted on its Facebook page that it would have an update on the status of
Claude Giroux. The Flyers' center suffered a reported "neck stinger" last Friday after taking a high hit from Krefeld Pinguine forward Boris Blank.
It has subsequently been
reported by Hockeyweb.de and Broad Street Hockey that Giroux will return to North America to undergo further "precautionary testing" in Atlanta.
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In his recent interview with the Winnipeg Free Press, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman reiterated one of his pre-lockout talking points that essentially attempted to justify the lockout as something the game needs. A steep reduction of the cap ceiling as well as the cap floor is not a money grab, he claimed, it's about giving every team a fair shake to put out a competitive project on the ice.
"There are certain trends and issues that have arisen that we believe need to be adjusted in order for us to have the competitive balance that we want and need to enable us to continue to grow the game," Bettman said.
Baloney. The NHL has had a salary cap in place for seven seasons. So let's look at the seven years prior to the lockout and the years since then.
In the seven seasons leading up the canceled 2004-05 season, 27 of the 30 teams in the NHL made the playoffs at least once. Two of those teams were the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Atlanta Thrashers. The third was the big-budget, free-spending New York Rangers.
Over the course of the 1997-98 to 2003-04 time period, there were five different Stanley Cup champions. The Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils won twice. New Jersey was not among the league's top spenders at the time, nor was 2003-04 champion Tampa Bay. There were 10 (of a possible maximum 14) teams that reached the Finals at least once in that era. Finalists such as Carolina, Buffalo, Anaheim and Calgary did not have outrageous payrolls at the time.
OK, now let's go seven years out from the 2004-05 lockout. What we find is that 29 of 30 in NHL have made the playoffs at least once. The Toronto Maple Leafs -- big-budget, high profile -- have been the only team that has not reached the playoffs at least once.
Yes, both Columbus and Atlanta made it once apiece. However, both teams got knocked out quickly in their one playoff appearance. Thereafter, the two teams quickly sank in the standings, and the still financially troubled Thrashers ended up moving to Winnipeg.
The New York Islanders made the playoffs three times (2001-02 to 2003-04) consecutively before the lockout. After the lockout, they reached the postseason once (2006-07) and have been a cellar-dweller ever since.
The Edmonton Oilers -- exactly the type of small market team the 2004-05 lockout was supposed to benefit -- made the Stanley Cup playoffs five times in the seven seasons leading up to the canceled season. Yes, they reached the Cup Finals the season immediately following the lockout. But they haven't returned to the playoffs ever since. Mind you, the team has been stockpiling talent through the NHL Draft, but that has nothing to do with salary cap adjustment creating more competitive balance.
In terms of Stanley Cup champions, there have been seven different champions in the seven years. Twelve different teams, including the Flyers in 2010, have reached the Finals within the time frame. Detroit and Pittsburgh are the only repeat finalists.
The Penguins are probably the NHL's poster child for post-lockout success. That had a lot to do with their drafting position and some astute moves by general manager Ray Shero. Eventually, the team got a new arena built. The Pens were a troubled franchise before the lockout and now are one of the big boys.
Fine, but what about a team like the Phoenix Coyotes? Right up until this month, the team's future in the city has been in doubt. Ongoing questions about ownership and the arena lease were what delayed Shane Doan from re-signing with the club. The NHL had to take over ownership a few years ago to keep the team afloat.
Throughout the seven-year time period since the lockout, the Coyotes financially have remained essentially what they were beforehand; a team that must suffice with a modest budget. The difference: the franchise installed a good GM (Don Maloney) and a hired a sharp head coach (Dave Tippett). The result has been a team that made the playoffs regularly in recent years, and which reached the Western Conference Final in 2012.
Bettman's "competitive balance" argument simply doesn't hold water. The well-run teams were regular playoff participants before the 2004-05 lockout, and the poorly run ones weren't. Being a big spender was no assurance of a team's success. Teams had their up cycles and their down cycles.
After the lockout? The well-run teams have been regular playoff participants, and the poorly run ones haven't. Spending near the cap ceiling is no assurance of a team's success nor does being closer to the floor necessarily doom a team to miss the playoffs. Teams have their up cycles and down cycles.
Ask the Colorado Avalanche about the cyclical nature of hockey. They were powerhouse in the period leading up to the 2004-05 lockout. They've been also-ran for the most of the post-lockout period. It hasn't been because of their spending or finances that has caused it. Rather, it has simply been a hockey issue.
The Dallas Stars went into a financial tailspin and saw their fortunes on the ice take a turn for the worse prior to the sale of the team from the Hicks group to Tom Gaglardi. The franchise was just starting to regain some tenuous footing by slashing ticket prices last season. How exactly does losing several months off the 2012-13 season assist the franchise in the process of bringing fans back in the building?
By the way, back in the 2001-02 season, the Stars topped the entire NHL in total revenue. Since then, they became one of the NHL's have-nots. The financial mismanagement of the team by the Hicks group and subsequent financial belt-tightening were the key reasons. The Stars former owner had only himself to blame.
Even so, I fail to see where the 2004-05 lockout and the first seven years of the salary cap era helped to safeguard that franchise in any way, shape or form. If the goal is to save certain owners from themselves, the goal hasn't been met.
Financial health, spending decisions and on-ice success don't always go hand-in-hand. But we just had a summer in which the Minnesota Wild were able to sign the two biggest unrestricted free agents on the market, the Nashville Predators were able to match the Flyers' offer sheet for Shea Weber, and neither Pittsburgh nor Philadelphia were able to land any of the key players they targeted heading into the summer.
So tell us again, Mr. Bettman, why exactly are steep downward salary cap adjustments needed to maintain or improve "competitive balance" in the NHL? The 2004-05 lockout did not improve the competitive balance in any significant way. The current lockout won't improve it, either.
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It is no secret that the Adirondack Phantoms have been starved for offensive depth thus far this season. It has been
Brayden Schenn,
Sean Couturier or bust.
Therefore, it is not a big surprise that the club has recalled
Jason Akeson from the ECHL's Trenton Titans. Akeson led the team in scoring as a rookie last season with 55 points (he was second in overall scoring to Matt Ford's combined 59 points between his stints with Hershey and Adirondack).
Even so, the organization wanted to see a little more from Akeson. The undersized forward is a bit one-dimensional at times. He's a fine playmaker, but he's lacking defensively and is no more than an average skater. He'd have to produce offense at a more prolific rate for Terry Murray to overlook the other deficiencies.
When the season opened, the Phantoms hoped that they'd have enough offensive firepower during the NHL lockout to assign Akeson to Trenton and allow him to work on his all-around game and skating while also getting plenty of power play time and even-strength scoring duties. He's done OK offensively for Trenton -- 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists) in 14 games -- but has hardly torn the lower league apart. He has tried to work on skating and defense but there is only so much work one can do in six weeks.
The real reason why Akeson is being recalled is that the Phantoms need his offensive potential. He'll no doubt try to keep improving across the board, but refining his overall game is still very much a work in progress.
Apart from recalling Akeson to the AHL, the Phantoms sent rookie forward
Andrew Johnston and rookie defenseman
Matt Konan down to Trenton. Both players need the playing time. Johnston has been mostly playing on the fourth line or sitting out as a healthy scratch for the Phantoms. Konan had yet to play in a regular season game.
Lastly, the Phantoms have essentially pulled the plug on third-year pro
Luke Pither. The 23-year-old, who played 12 games for Trenton while steadily seeing less and less ice time, has been loaned to the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers.
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