The Ryder Cup shows why the NHL doesn't want to play in the 2014 Olympics.
So Jose Theodore signs in Minnesota for $1.1 million, after having made $4.5 million in Washington the past two seasons.
That’s quite the haircut for a guy who was once busted for using Propecia.
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Dorf on golf
The next time you hear NHL commissioner Gary Bettman explaining why the league isn’t bullish on sending players over to Sochi in 2014, think Ryder Cup.
They played incredibly compelling matches all weekend long — it seemed like some channel had coverage in every hour of the day — and you always had to assume it was on tape delay. So, in this digital world, that meant you had to be careful when you went on-line, so as not to find out who won the match you were currently watching.
If you wanted to watch live, coverage began at 4 am eastern Monday morning, with a riveting finish playing out in the early hours of a work day.
All in all, utterly confusing for the casual viewer and a product that takes extraordinary enthusiasm and dedication to watch live.
Sure, Canadians will watch their team play an Olympic hockey game, any time, any place. But will we watch the rest of the tournament, played at those hours? How many Americans are dedicated enough to watch their club at 3 and 4 a.m.? And will NBC air an entire hockey game on tape delay, when the outcome is already well known?
Don’t forget, television numbers provided by Swedes watching Team Sweden mean jack to the NHL. It’s all about North America TV ratings for the NHL, whose players are at risk of injury and whose schedule is compromised by the whole exercise. Now, find a way to disagree when Bettman says the risk isn’t worth the skimpy reward for the league.
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Leaf him alone
Now starring in the latest episode of, “Honey, I Wrecked The Kids,” Tyler Bozak.
He is a good player — a nice free agent find by the Leafs — who is absolutely unprepared to deliver as a No. 1 centre on a below average team in the National Hockey League. Talk about setting a youngster up to fail, start ticking off the boxes:
Huge pressure from massive media base? Check.
Thrust into leading role after playing just 69 professional hockey games (37 NHL, 32 AHL)? Check.
Asking for first line production from a 24-year-old with 12 professional goals, 47 professional points, and who has yet to have his first “plus” season as a pro? Check, check and check.
In a month, when head coach Ron Wilson starts auditioning other centres next to Phil Kessel and Bozak’s confidence is shot, what do you think the Leafs will ask him to do on the third line? You’ve got it.
Check.
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Loose thoughts
*Michael Grabner was supposed to be 'The Next Something' for the Vancouver Canucks, but we’ve got to admit, we saw him a lot last season and never really saw 'The Next Anything'. He was nothing more than another fast, soft European guy, of which the Canucks have always been well-stocked. Now, he’ll spend his 23rd birthday Tuesday in Rochester, unable to crack the lowly Florida Panthers
*When is the last time a Canadian city actually had the funds handed to them on a platter to construct a new football stadium? And when is the last time you saw a city make a bigger hash of the process than Hamilton has? Message to the city: From a sporting perspective, the Tiger Cats are the only reason the word “Hamilton” crosses the lips of the average Canadian more than two or three times in a calendar year. Build the damned park, and quite whining about it.
*The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will go a calendar year without winning a road game.
*Are the Ottawa Senators Canada’s version of the Philadelphia Flyers? Another strong looking lineup in 2010-11, another big question mark in goal. Pascal Leclaire? Brian Elliot? Sens fans are asking, “Do we get a third choice?”
*Kyle Wellwood seems like the perfect fit for Phoenix but he’s headed to the KHL.
*Brendan Morrison never seemed right as a fourth-line centre on a team lacking in grit like Vancouver, and he was cut loose. We wonder if he’ll end up in Calgary, where injuries have already put huge pressure on the project in Southern Alberta.
*Alex Giroux scores 110 AHL goals in the last two regular seasons, and another 29 in playoffs. But will 139 goals in two years get him a job on the 30th place team in the NHL last season? We’re betting not. He is the ultimate test of the question: “Can you play in today’s NHL if you don’t skate very well?”
