OTTAWA – If the attendance problem in Detroit is alleged to have been at least partially created by the schedule in which division opponents seem to come to town every other week (quick, for extra credit, name the division in which the Red Wings play, as well as the other four teams in it; no peeking at the NHL Guide, Gary) then why did the Lightning draw the fourth-smallest crowd of the year on Thursday at the Joe when they paid their first visit to Hockeytown since March 8, 2004?
If fans across the league are clamoring to see stars from the other conference, as is the tale we have been force-fed for the last three years, then why didn’t the knowledgeable Detroit fans turn out to see the resplendent Vincent Lecavalier when given their first opportunity to do so since the end of the lockout?
How is it that division opponent St. Louis attracted 19,124 on Nov. 21, but Tampa Bay drew 17,001 eight nights later?
You know what? The schedule format isn’t the issue and it never was the issue. No matter how much our friends to the north whined about it, no matter how much marketing geniuses in the west whined about not being able to bring Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin – obviously not Lecavalier – into their respective towns at least every other year, if not every season.
Baseball fans in Boston don’t whine incessantly about not getting to see Matt Holliday every year and baseball fans in St. Louis don’t cry about not getting Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees every season. Instead, the Red Sox and Yankees play 19 times a year, even if that means each of those clubs gets the Rays the same number of times. Instead, the Cardinals and Cubs play 15 times a season.
But in the NHL, if enough small-market teams complain about something, by Gary, the league gets right on it. And so, beginning next season, the schedule will change again. Divisional opponents will meet six times all year, meaning that divisional games will account for under 30-percent of the schedule. Even then, though, not every city will get a glimpse of Crosby.
The problem with the schedule these last three years hasn’t been the format, it’s been the careless and senseless manner with which it’s been structured. Why would the Rangers and Islanders meet four times within the season’s first 25 games and then four times in the final 57 games?
But then, this is the NHL, and it would be no surprise if the NHL subjected its fans to such haphazard scheduling just to prove a point. The way the league gave its unofficial endorsement to obstruction the three or four years preceding the lockout in order to provide low-revenue and expansion teams with the means to compete.
Next year, the schedule changes. Let’s see how the people in Boston enjoy a game against Los Angeles instead of one against Montreal. Let’s see how the Coliseum jumps when the Wild comes in rather than the Rangers. Let’s wait for the crackle at the Garden when Columbus replaces a Flyers game.
And let’s wait until the fans in Detroit finally have a chance to sell out for Vincent Lecavalier.
Oops.
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We’re generally in favor of any modification to the CBA that would give teams more maneuverability. As such, we would have no reason not to endorse Brian Burke‘s proposal that teams be allowed to eat up to a predetermined amount of both salary and cap space of players included in trades.
But what’s the incentive for the NHLPA to agree to such a change without receiving something tangible in return in the unlikely event the league were to go for it? Why would these athletes want to make it easier for management to uproot their lives? For every player who might benefit by being traded from a bad team to a contender, there’s a player going the other way.
Yes, the hard cap mitigates against in-season player movement. Duh. But so does the enforced league-wide mediocrity that came with the cap and keeps every team within reasonable proximity of a playoff spot. And so does a trade deadline that’s two weeks earlier than it always had been prior to the lockout.
If the NHL wishes to enhance the possibility of trades, the deadline should be restored to 26 days before the end of the season, rather than the 40 as currently mandated.
Burke can even take credit for the idea, if he wants.
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Will the fellow in Boston who thought trading Brad Boyes for Dennis Wideman a good idea, please raise his hand.
Mommy, Ryan Hollweg said he’s going to rip the stitches out of my face!!! Waaaah!