2007 Year in Review: 'Twas Pretty Good, Ja!

by Jes

(c) The Instigator, 2007

While most of you are recovering from hangovers, I had to deal with the most vicious virus this side of Cyrus. The effects feel the same, but it's not nearly as much fun :(

Looking back, 2007 was a great year for hockey in and around Vancouver, and an interesting one for the NHL in general.

The Vancouver Giants hosted and then won the Memorial Cup. This proves that some hockey teams can win in this city ;)

The Canucks were pretty damn competitive themselves, helped in large part to the fact that Dave Nonis once-upon-a-time ripped a new asshole into Mike Keenan and got Roberto Luongo for pretty much pennies on the dollar.

Speaking of Keenan, he somehow managed to snake his way back into the NHL as head coach of the Flamers. So far, Armageddon hasn't arrived ... will 2008 be the year?

Sidney Crosby. 'Nuff said

Former Giant Milan Lucic made the Bruins roster this season and stuck due to his crashin and bashin.

Meanwhile, poor Gilbert Brule continues to get about 4 minutes of ice time, all with goons, per night with the BJs.

The Anaheim Ducks brought the Stanley Cup to the West Coast. Bout damn time.

The Canes went from Cup champeens to golfing in May. Good goaltending is key, kiddos.

The NHL FanHouse kicked you in the nuts so hard that your children will be born with dents.

The Maple Leafs continue to bungle things and prove that they are run by too many chefs, care about nothing but the bottom line, and won't win a cup in this blogger's lifetime.

Mats Sundin continues to be the most consistant offensive producer of our era. Why this guy continues to get panned is beyond me.

Todd Bertuzzi? He barely puts up .5 points a game, and gets paid $4mil/season to do so. Way to go, Burkie.

Chris Simon earned himself 55 games worth of suspensions, and proved himself to be Thug of the Year.

The Flyers take the team honour in that category. Welcome back, Broad Street Bullies *grumble*

Bill Wirtz died, instantly ushering a new era of awesomeness for Hawks fans. Shiny new rookies scoring left and right, home games on TV, a Wirtz (his son) who actually wants to build and cultivate the fan base? It's all on the upswing for Chi-Town. As cruel as it is to say, Bill Wirtz had to die for the Hawks to ever do something right.

Chara vs. Koci = Fight of the Year

The NHLPA finally got a new leader that actually has the concerns of the players in mind, and not just the inner circle. Ted Saskin? He and his cronies were caught spying on players emails, sniffing their own socks, and generally acting like the bunch of corrupt NHL owners they claim to not be like.

Dion Phaneuf and Sean Avery in a death match = what all fans want to see. The winner? He's put on a pedestal and shot in the head.

Gaborik's 5 goals in a game. Ovechkin's 4? Meh.

Scott Niedermayer CAN'T MAKE UP HIS FRICKIN' MIND, screwing his team and forcing Burke to do some arts and crafts to get under the salary cap.

More insane salary inflation. Kinda makes you wonder what the lockout was about, eh?

Alexei Yashin was bought out, and then went back to Europe to be overpaid for disappearing in the playoffs.

The stupid schedule finally scrapped. Yes, people in Vancouver can see Crosby and Ovechkin more than once every three seasons.

Canada won the Spengler Cup. Booya!

Kevin Lowe ... Dustin Penner ... Brian Burke ... lots of laughs.

The Reebok (Rbk) uniforms were an utter disaster. Not only were 9/10 uglier than Donald Trump's hair, but all of the sweat accumulated in big puddles in the players' gloves and skates. Many teams promptly told the league to "Suck It", and then went back to the 'old' material design.

Jonathan Cheechoo = The Brady Anderson of Hockey?

Dan Cloutier continues the most rapid decline of any goaltender since Jim Carey.

Jim Balsillie was screwed out of the Nashville Predators by Bettman and his cronies. The NHL continues to have a team in a weak market thanks to Bettman's 'vision'

Canada won the WJC...again.

2008? We begin with an outdoor match between the Sabres and Penguins. Ty Conklin, who started in the Heritage Classic, is getting the start? How the hell does this guy start in 2 NHL games, let alone 2 outdoor ones? That is just ... odd.

Jim Balsillie Tries Again

by Jes

Earlier this month, I had vented about how shallow the NHL was in trying to make us think that the Nashville Predators weren't in any danger of moving.

Yeah, it is pretty damn obvious that Bettman is playing games and the team won't be in Nashville for the long term.

So, Uncle Rico, one of like 7 people that actually reads this site, informs me that Jim Balsillie is making another attempt to buy the Predators.

But, but, but, BUT ... Balsillie is claiming that he wants to keep the Preds IN Nashville (for a whopping 2 years), and is willing not to ask the city of Nashville to bend over ass-backwards to make even more concessions.

The Blackberry Juggernaut is once again making a play to get the Predators, but this time he is maintaining that the will not be playing north of the border. He now says that the Nashville market has proven there commitment to the team and that he only cares about owning a NHL franchise and he is adamant that he will not move the moderately productive team.

Uh-huh. Well, the Globe and Mail has some more details about this 'friendlier' bid.

Without trying to repeat myself, this is what we do know.

1. The NHL owners are an old boys club and don't react kindly to mavericks. The owners have, obviously, determined that Balsillie doesn't fit their mould, and don't like the fact that he tried to quickly buy and ship the team away without their demonic consultation.

It's like asking to marry the rich girl without asking her stodgy father's permission. Don’t expect to be in the will, Archie.

2. Balsillie is lying out of his balsillies. Does anyone believe that he is committed to Nashville? For Pavol's sake, the guy tried to sell tickets in a market without a team for a team he didn't own! This DQ soft serve bullshit isn't going to fool anyone. He's as committed to Nashville as Kid Rock is to the blonde groupie he boned last night.

3. Bettman has already committed to "Boots", and will ensure that his booty call gets a team before anyone else does. If Balsillie wants a team, he'll have to wait in line, at the very least.

4. Bettman, the Maple Leafs, and many other team owners do NOT want another team in Canada. If Balsillie wanted to move the team to a friendly Amerikan market, I'm sure it would have happened.

Suffice it to say, Hamilton will have an NHL team when George W. Bush admits the 'War on Terror' is simply a quest to protect his rich friends' equity investments.

So, How Long Until the Predators Move?

by Jes

I got an email in my inbox today from our favourite southerner, Wayne, about the 'sale' of the Nashville Predators. It's a topic I've kinda ignored recently as I'm eagerly awaiting the start of the season.

So, it comes as no surprise that the deal to sell the club is on thin ice.

From the Toronto Star:

The deal to keep the Predators in Nashville appears to be nearly dead, with the local ownership and the city's council at loggerheads over monetary issues and potential changes to the team's arena lease.

The leader of a local group trying to buy the Predators told Nashville's The Tennessean he doubts the deal to work out after the city rejected the group's requests for new tax money and several improvements to the Sommet Center.

"No, I'm not hopeful," David Freeman, CEO of 36 Venture Capital, told the newspaper. "We put a ton of work into it, and we did our best."

Where that leaves the Predators is uncertain. BlackBerry billionaire Jim Balsillie of Waterloo, Ont., had a $238 million (all figures U.S.) offer on the table to buy the team from Craig Leipold, but he wanted to move it to Hamilton.

Of course, James "Canucks Hater" Mirtle has been all over this like a wet blanket, and notes that the Preds already have the sweetest arena deal in the league.

As I see it, this is all part of Gary Bettman's master plan.

Bettman didn't want an owner that he can't control, nor did he want a team to move to Canada, especially Hamilton.

Thus, Bettman did everything he could, including nudging Leopold, not to sell to Jim Balsillie, a 'renegade' in Bettman's eyes.

Out of the blue, the Predators suddenly had a white knight (Knocking Boots Del Biaggio and his crew) that wanted to keep the Preds in Nashville. Why would anyone want to keep a club in a town with weak corporate support and attendance? It was speculated that Bettman promised Boots the next open team, and Boots wanted to move the club.

Of course, Boots and crew put up the illusion that they wanted to keep the team in Nashville. Bettman couldn't surely have the team suddenly move after pulling out the rug from Balsillie's legs, could he?

So, the 'new' owners demand everything but the moon from the local government, continue gutting the roster, and jacking up ticket prices. Basically, the team is doing everything it can to make itself look like it is failing in Nashville. Who in the hell would want to attend a Preds game with a watered-down roster and high ticket prices?

Then, the initial deal will fall through, and Bettman/Boots will find a way to move the team out of Nashville, claiming that the NHL tried, but could not make hockey work in Country Music City.

Tom Benjamin sums it up pretty well in an older post of his:

I think we will see announced attendance in Nashville will be comfortably above the number necessary to sustain the lease while the fans are kept in the dark about the paid attendance. We will also see one snag after another in the sale of the Predators to the local group. Eventually the problems will all be resolved except Boots Del Biaggio will be the majority rather than a minority shareholder. Finally, late in the season, we'll learn the targetted paid attendance was not met.

In the meantime, Predator fans - and there are real fans in the area - have to pay a lot more to see a team that will be a lot less competitive. Many of them will pony up because they believe that if they do, they can save their team. They want to believe that, so they will. Some will say that its their own fault for choosing to buy into a fairy tale, but I don't think that's fair given the way Leipold and the league has scripted the relocation.