All-Purpose Hockey Thread III

The Shane Doan controversy is heating up, with BQ leader/village idiot Gilles Duceppe calling Doan a racial profiler and comparing him to a bank robber.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/210265

Gilles Duceppe said it was wrong to make Doan captain of Canada's world championship team while the star forward remains embroiled in two defamation suits related to the alleged anti-French slur.

"When someone robs a bank he's presumed innocent until proven guilty – but I don't know many people who'd name them bank manager while the trial's still on," Duceppe said.

What a fucking asshole. I hope Doan comes back with a gold medal and sues him too, or punches the piss out of him.

Please check out this website - www.savedoan.ca - and sign the petition protesting government interference in Hockey Canada's decision to name Doan the captain of its world championship team. It's already surpassed 13,600 names.

 

Maybe one of the Canucks (Huggy?) can help me out here.

Bantam here is 13 and 14 year olds. They're not draft eligible.

15 year olds play Minor Midget which is the group that the Ontario Hockey League is drafting this Saturday.

So, do the age groupings differ from one jurisdiction to another?

 

Nice piece on the city of Buffalo and the Sabres.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/sports/hockey/04sabres.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin

Buffalo unveiled redesigned uniforms before the season, which have been in high demand. In February, seven of the top 10 selling jerseys through nhl.com belonged to Sabres. And sales of Sabres merchandise on the site soared 1,000 percent over the same period last year.

“As a player, trying to get your own jersey through the store, it can take six weeks at a time,” Mair said. “That’s just a sign that everyone’s Buffalo Sabres crazy.”

Before Christmas, a fellow N.H.L. general manager and a Major League Baseball general manager phoned Regier for help in locating Sabres jerseys.

“The community, the talk shows, 24 hours a day they’re talking about Sabres, no matter what station you turn to,” Mair said. “And the amount of coverage that you get in the newspaper, it shows that the Sabres are a lot bigger in this community.”

 

Most of the guys who were drafted were 92s. There are three years of midget in Alberta now turning 16-18. I would be surprised if any of the players drafted yesterday will have a regular role in the dub next year, unless they have Tavares type talent. Not holding my breath there. Most of these guys will be returned to their midget clubs for next year, and will be at least 17 before they crack the lineup. Many will also play Jr. A – or teir II as most Easterners refer to it as – before they make the jump to the Dub.

 

NHL and IIHF agree new player transfer agreement. Now it's up to IIHF countries to ratify the deal.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=206668&hubname=nhl

 

If only the Devils can agree to get better players ...

 

Leafs fans know only four things for sure in this world - someday they will die, they will pay taxes until that day comes and even beyond, their favourite team will not win the Stanley Cup, and they will always pay more and more money for the "privilege" of watching that team in person.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/210695

Maple Leafs season ticket holders will be able to use the money they saved on playoff tickets this season to pay for a nearly 6 per cent increase in prices for the 2007-08 NHL campaign.

The price for mediocrity has risen for subscribers, up $10.48 per ticket to a high of $182 for those in platinum and gold seats, while those in the lowest-priced section, purple, will now pay $37 instead of $34.70. The hike was approved this week by the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment board of directors.

(EDITORIAL COMMENT: Now, I don't know about any of you, but I might see a salary increase of six per cent over three years. Too bad MLSE wants to take it all at once.)

Richard Peddie, president and CEO of MLSE, said ticket holders were advised of the increase last February and 99 per cent have renewed. He noted the last increase was in 2003-04 – there was a 5 per cent decrease after the lockout – and refuted the suggestion they're taking advantage of a captive audience.

"Show me businesses that have not passed on costs of the last three, four years," said Peddie. "That's not being greedy. I think in real dollars that dollar today is still worth less in real buying terms to us than it was four years because we're not keeping up with inflation. I think our behaviour in the last couple of years has not been greedy at all."

(The story doesn't say, but I'm assuming he said all that with a straight face.)

Peddie cited a number of rising costs – staffing, travel, player insurance – but didn't mention the Leafs have been saving $20 million per season on payroll since the salary cap was instituted for the 2005-06 season and have also benefited from the declining American dollar.

(No, CEOs never mention things like that. Of course, there's no Peddie response to the above point, so are we to assume that the reporter also didn't mention it during the interview?)

In a poll of 80,000 fans released earlier this year by ESPN The Magazine, the Leafs ranked last out of 122 franchises in terms of affordability (tickets, parking and concessions) in the four major North American pro sports. They also placed 26th among the 30 NHL teams in the overall fan satisfaction rating. The Buffalo Sabres ranked first.

Keith McIntyre, head of the Mississauga-based sports marketing firm K.Mac & Associates, said it's all about increasing the bottom line for MLSE shareholders, but there may one day be a reckoning for the club.

He said he went to a Sabres playoff game last week and the entire expenditure for three people equalled roughly what it would cost for one Leaf ticket.

(Hmmmm.....Sabres....affordable, exciting to watch, deep in the playoffs.....yeah.....)

Chuck Greenberg, president of Pittsburgh-based PlayMaker Sports Advisors LLC, said there's a simple reason the Maple Leafs are raising prices even when they're under-performing – because they can.

"It would be ill advised in other markets where the fans are fickle or they'll only support a winner or anger turns into apathy turns into unsold tickets," said Greenberg. "But look at the long-term relationship between the Leafs and their fans – it's off the charts.

"They've survived a lot of disappointments and the enthusiasm seems to be as great as ever."

(Translation - Leafs fans, myself included, are irrational masochists.)

 

With the increase, I think the Leafs can afford to get a couple of better players and get rid of some other players that have not stepped up this season (Peca, Kubina).
I would be shocked next season if the Leafs do not make the playoffs because they have been so close the last couple of seasons. The problem with the Leafs is injuries and also their consistency on the ice.

 

You're not serious. They don't need an increase. They got more money than brains. And they made approx $20,000,000 more because of the CBA--money that goes right to the bottom line.

What they need is a head office that can draft.

 

I know it would never fly in TO, but that is one organization that is in a serious need of rebuilding. They have some nice young players, but no one they can legitimately build around. They need to sell off some of their high priced guys for young high ranked prospects from teams that are in the runnign this year. IF they make the playoffs next year, they do not have an assembled cast that can realistically compete for the SC. They are currently set up to be a mediocre team for the next number of years. They need to strip it down, sell off the likes of McCabe, Tucker, Antropov, Kubina, Peca, Kaberle, etc. and even considering Sundin – under Ray Bourque circumstances, i.e. so he can win a cup, but really only then. Still need a leader, still need a face.

 

And Damien Cox writes about that in his column today:

http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/211945

While there are those who like to portray the Leaf GM as something akin to a village idiot, and his errors in judgment have certainly been whoppers, the fact is that Ferguson is essentially doing exactly what he promised he would do.

He's avoiding the quick fix. He's building with youth, absolutely necessary in the new cap world.

Still, an extension, needless to say, will produce some degree of derision from those who would argue that Ferguson is leading the team nowhere, and that his decision to make Bryan McCabe wildly rich and to nominate Andrew Raycroft as a No. 1 goaltender last season demonstrated that his hockey judgment isn't sufficient to get the Leafs within shouting distance of a championship.

McCabe I could see but why would you want to get rid of Kaberle? He's probably one of the best puck moving defensemen in the game. Antropov has actually started to perform.

Sundin wants to remain a Leaf--or so he says.

 

The 92s from the WHL Bantam Draft are limited to five games in the 2007-08 season. They are to develop in midget hockey (or in a very few select cases, Junior B or Tier 2) for a full season before being eligible to play full-time in the Dub.

The OHL, by contrast, drafted 91 DOB players in their 2007 Priority Selection last Saturday. Of those, any players taken in the first two rounds are eligible to play full-time in the OHL next year. In addition, a team may also carry two additional "wild-card" 91s, while any other 91 draftees can play up to ten games as call-ups.