Time to do nothing but build
May 12, 2005
I sure do think both the NHL and NHLPA have heightened senses of urgency with this latest round of meetings. But what is the deadline here? Is it another year? Is it September or July 1st?
To me, maybe of all of those deadlines, the completion of this negotiating process by July 1st is the most important of all. If nothing's accomplished by then, things just won't matter much for awhile. They're going to lose sponsorships, not to mention the draft where you have a celebrated player in Sidney Crosby. And there's issues with free agency that need to be cleared up.
It's getting to the point where there are less and less people caring every day. The sooner they get this fiasco rectified, the sooner you hit the ground running and try to get business going again. There will be a lot of business to work on, and it generates excitement. People will want to know what their favorite teams are going to look like and who they're going to have.
I've said this many times in the last few months, NOW is the time to just DO IT. Get it going. This whole thing is just goofy. Where it's gotten is beyond comprehension. The damage that's been done is -- you hope -- repairable. This has been life-altering for a lot of people. And if this lockout keeps going, I don't know where hockey's going to go.
Both sides have to understand that there can still be an agreement where both sides have a chance to come back and be legitimate business partners with each other. Or they can just watch the whole thing disintegrate. It's up to both sides to make it work. You're not going to have a perfect scenario here. You can't get everything.
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And the players are going to be out a significant portion of their career earnings. There will be teams in desperate trouble. So much more rebuilding will have to happen, who knows how long it will take -- if ever -- to come back? Even if nothing is resolved as soon as July 1st, I believe you're going to see teams in this league cease to operate. If there's no business, why be open for business? Everybody should be aware of that.
I am very satisfied that the players decided to stay and keep battling/negotiating with the league with this latest round of talks, as opposed to jumping on airplanes and going to the world championships.
A lot can happen in the next two weeks. Bob Goodenow is dealing with 700 players, and that's a big deal. And it's very tense. These are people's careers we're talking about here, prime earning years you just don't get back. You can't play until you're 60-65 years old, unlike doctors, lawyers and other professions where you can work until your that age. It's a little different for these guys. There's a lot of pressure.
If you look at salary structure and what Goodenow's done for these guys over the last several years, it's been phenomenal. And now he has to provide these guys with sound exit strategy. If there's no conclusion soon, I think the players will pose the questions, 'What is our exit strategy? What are we going to get out of this thing if we keep going?'
AARGH, CANADA
I think the attitude in Canada toward hockey right now is, 'Oh yeah? Well, the heck with you!'
An example of that would be the Hall of Fame in Toronto. It's a marvelous place. Their attendance is way, way, WAY down. It's not the NHL Hall of Fame. It's the HOCKEY Hall of Fame, worldwide hockey. But that's how people are feeling about the game because of the shutdown of the greatest league. People are upset. People are turning away, and I do not blame them one bit. We've GOT to fix this whole thing.
FRESH AND FANCY
When the NHL comes back, the league must focus and take care of its own interests. From its own point of view, they must put maximum effort into A. itself and B. The Olympics -- because there's nothing bigger than the Olympics. Those are the two primary aspects of hockey life in this part of the world that should be taken care of.
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We will definitely see new, "streamlined" uniforms to start with once play resumes. I haven't seen them, but I have heard they look quite good -- so much so that traditionalists are saying they look good!
I think there will be a renewed attempt at playing the game with energy and more scoring chances. There are so many people here who have a full understanding that we need to get a little more speed back into the game, and generate a lot of different things. That will happen, and I believe it will be long-term. That's key.
I don't know how far they're going to go with rule changes, but smaller goalie equipment for sure will be on tap. I don't mind the shootout. People enjoy it. You have to do things for the fans. When the home team wins one it's wonderful, but when the home team loses in a shootout, it's like the sounds of silence. But it doesn't bother me at all.
The idea of a 3-on-3 overtime to follow regular 4-on-4 overtime has been talked about, but my fear is when you play four games in four different places in five nights, how much can the player have left to give? That's asking a lot of players in a regular season game, especially on a long road trip.
I don't think we're ready for new nets yet. Smaller goalie equipment is a good start. Call the obstruction penalties the way they're supposed to be called. Whether they'll take out the center red line, I don't know, but they have to try everything else before enlarging or re-shaping the nets. And if nothing else works, it's going to have to be done.
Times change. It's evolution. Two years ago, they wouldn't consider trying anything new. I don't mind experiments where people just might end up making something better than it already is. There's nothing wrong with that. Evolution is evolution is evolution. You've got to grow. If you stand still, the world passes you by.
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As far as the possibility of Wayne Gretzky coaching the Coyotes, most people seem to be saying, 'Why would he do that type of thing?'
In talking to Glen Sather a number of times about it, I'm told that Wayne was always ahead of everybody's way of thinking on the bench. Now what's going to have to happen in Wayne's own mind is he'll demand everything possible of himself to be good, and he will excell -- but how good his team will be is another issue. He's going to have to understand from the get-go that they're not ready to win the Stanley Cup yet, but they're going to be an improved team.
People may say it's suicide that Gretzky coaches, but he's a bright, bright hockey man. He's got passion for the game more than most people, even though he is who he is. And I think he'll do really well at it. People will really want to play for the guy. People may even want to get tickets when the Coyotes come to town, although that kind of wears off after awhile.
I think Wayne will try to coach a team that will have an entertaining style. His assistants will be very important for him in making sure that every aspect of the game is covered. The hours you spend coaching is beyond a full-time job, including overtime. I know he'll do well.
And yes, I can see Wayne screaming at referees now and then, but more than anything else, he's the type of guy that will get his point across to his players without having to scream. He's a very logical guy, a deep thinker and gets everything.
SUMMER WATCH
I'll be catching a lot of Mets and Yankees games this Summer on the tube. I've got one daughter graduating high school and going up to college in Boston. Then I'm heading to British Columbia during August to indulge in fly-fishing and some charity work. So for me, it will be a usual Summer, but with apprehension if the NHL and NHLPA don't get this mess taken care of.
