NHL Lockout Update: Going to Court

Well, it finally happened. The NHL and NHLPA are going to court. Here's a breakdown of the events of the last few days:

- The NHLPA decided to have the players vote on whether or not to dissolve the union. Two-thirds of the players must vote in favor of filing a disclaimer of interest, which would dissolve the union. Should the vote pass, the union would have until January 2 to actually go through with filing the disclaimer of interest. If they do, the players would be open to file anti-trust lawsuits against the league. Voting started today, and for some reason ends on Thursday. No rush, the season isn't in jeopardy or anything.

-The NHL, anticipating this move by the union, filed a class-action complaint, which asks the federal courts to affirm the legality of the lockout. This would protect the league from anti-trust lawsuits should the players vote for a disclaimer of interest.

-NHLPA released a statement in which they say the league is over stepping their bounds by attempting to take away the players right to decide whether or not to be represented by a union. The league's argument, stated in their 43 page complaint to the courts, is that the players are only seeking a disclaimer of interest as a negotiating tactic, with the intention of "extracting more favorable terms and conditions of employment."

There are a lot of possible outcomes to this, and rather than explaining it all in a long, confusing paragraph, I decided to just make a flowchart. I like flowcharts.

Click image to enlarge.

As you can see from the flowchart above, no one knows what the hell is going to happen. There are so many possible scenarios that it's impossible to predict at this point. These negotiations have a tendency to take completely unexpected turns, so expect the final outcome to look nothing like any of the paths on the chart above.

You'll notice the colors that I used in my chart are consistent with the holiday season. Merry Christmas, hockey's screwed!

Photo credits: picasawebs.google.com

The Five Most Interesting Teams To Follow This Season

5.  Coming in at number five is the Washington Capitals. This is already one of the most exciting teams to watch in the NHL night in and night out. This season, they're still led by Alex Ovechkin, who despite having his most sub-par season to date in 11-12, is still capable of producing point-per game numbers, and doing so with flair. It will be interesting to see how his production is effected by the acquisition of center Mike Ribeiro, who is consistent in the faceoff circle, reliable offensively, and dazzling in the shootout. The Caps also added Wojtek Wolski who can add solid secondary scoring, but hasn't broken 35 points since 09-10, and even had a brief stint in the AHL last season. Further down the depth chart, expect young gun Marcus Johansson to have a breakout season, with an offensive output not too far behind the likes of Ribeiro and Nicklas Backstrom.

Washington goalie Brayden Holtby, having some sort
of universe epiphany. 

What really makes this team interesting is young goalie Braden Holtby, who certainly made a case for the job of starting goaltender with his impressive performance in last season's playoffs. After knocking off the defending champion Bruins, he led the Caps through a low scoring, seven game series against the New York Rangers, eventually losing the final game by a single goal. The Capitals have a few story lines going into the 12-13 season (well, I guess now it's just the '13' season), not the least of which being Ovechkin's quest back to the top. Can he make it there? Will the addition of Mike Ribeiro be enough to help the Caps reclaim the Southeast division title? What effect will recently-hired coach Adam Oates have on the team? Is Braden Holtby the real deal?

Alexander Semin, smiling at yet another coach's demise.

4. I'm sure that last place in the Southeast division, behind the likes of Florida and Winnipeg, didn't sit too well with the Carolina Hurricanes last season. Recognizing their scoring to be a weakness, they signed not only one big name during the offseason, but two. In addition to uniting Eric Staal to newly acquired brother Jordan, Carolina did what most teams were apprehensive towards; they signed the controversial Alex Semin.  The rumor floating around was that he's not a good locker room guy, and Pierre McGuire went as far as to call him the "ultimate coach killer". But then again, Pierre does say a lot of things..

On the back end, the return of veteran Joe Corvo should help solidify a talented defensive group who's average-at-best performance last season is something the Canes will look to improve on. Goaltender Cam Ward will man the pipes again with arguably more to prove than ever. After winning both the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe award as a rookie, Ward has taken the back-seat to a number of the league's star goalies, and is rarely mentioned among the league's best. Can he rise back up this season? How much help will the defense give him along the way? Will the improved offense be able to get the Canes back into the playoffs? Will Alex Semin make a fool of Pierre McGuire? Does Pierre McGuire even need help making a fool out of himself?

Pierre McGuire saying something smart.

3. With players like Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley, and Devin Setoguchi up front, and goalies like Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding in net, the Minnesota Wild look pretty good on paper, but perhaps their no-name defense was the root of their problems last year. Or maybe the lack of scoring depth put too much of a load on Koivu and Heatley's shoulders, and they simply weren't able to carry it all. Last season, Minnesota finished dead last in goals scored, and headed the bottom half of the goals against category.

Ryan Suter and Zach Parise's reation upon hearing
that Carolina signed Alex Semin.

The Minnesota Wild were the center of attention this off-season, and for good reason. Seeing that nothing was clicking, general manager Chuck Fletcher landed the two biggest free agents; forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter. Parise is coming off a Stanley Cup run with New Jersey, and Ryan Suter was alternate captain of the US olympic team that took silver. So they both have their credentials, to say the least.

One other notable story surrounding this team is back-up goaltender Josh Harding's recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. According to him, he intends to continue playing as long as his body allows him to, but how long will that be? Consider that just another question on Minnesota's long list coming into this season. Can the addition of Zach Parise boost offense in the State of Hockey? Can the addition of Ryan Suter help do the same on the defensive end? Can Niklas Backstrom continue to provide solid goaltending, and if not, will Harding be available to aid him? Playoffs?

Rick Nash, who because of his time spent in
Columbus, has apparently forgotten how to smile.

2. A team in New York City doesn't really need interesting storylines or big-name signings to be interesting, yet the Rangers have them in bunches. There's no doubt the Rangers have been a team on the rise for the last couple seasons, and they seem to be hitting their peak now, with no telling how long it will last. Over the summer, they traded away a bit of their depth for Columbus forward Rick Nash, aka the best player on the worst team for as long as we can remember. It'll be interesting to see how the Nash fits with a team that's actually good, where he won't be solely responsible for the team's offensive output. Kovalchuk experiment, part II.

I was quick to call into question the depth that the Rangers traded away in order to get Nash, but with Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin and Chris Kreider on the rise, the Rangers seem to have themselves in pretty good shape. Having versatile guys in the mix like Ryan Callahan and Brian Boyle helps too. Their defenseman are also on the rise, with the oldest being only 29. A seemingly no-name defense a few seasons ago is entering it's prime and becoming one of the most recognized in the league.

"Just go stand somewhere else."

I've yet to even mention the Rangers goaltending, which is among the best in the league. You can't really argue with a Vezina winner in Lundqvist (actually you can, when you look at the season Jonathan Quick had, but that's besides the point), and he's got a reliable back-up, Marty Biron. Right now, it seems that every aspect of this team is hitting it's prime, which is why they've been considered by many as a Stanley Cup favorite coming into this season. How much will the lockout effect that? What kind of impact will Nash have? Will the young guys contribute enough? Will Kreider compete for the Calder trophy, and will Lundqvist compete for the Vezina again? Speaking of trophies, will Glen Sather be in contention for GM of the year? Will John Tortorella be in contention for the Jack Adams award? Or will Larry Brooks finally push Tortorella over the edge?

1. I doubt that there's any team more exciting to follow coming into this season than the Edmonton Oilers. The last several season for them have been, well, miserable. But the silver lining is that during that time, they've been building up their depth, and are creating a team that will grow and improve together for many, many years. Aside from having three first overall draft picks on offense, they've got a few young d-men and a good young goalie. Mixed in are a few older veterans that will help develop the younger guys during the few years they have left. If they can live up to the hype, young forwards like Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Sam Gagner, and Nail Yakapov will develop into one of the most relentless offenses in the league. Add in young defensemen like Theo Peckham and Justin Schultz, along with first round draft pick Devan Dubnyk in net, and the Oilers may be in control of a perfect storm that hasn't even begun to wreak havoc yet.

". . . And with Rick Nash out of the way, we'll never
finish in 15th place again."

Edmonton used to be one of the most dominant franchises during the Gretzky days, but now, has only squeaked into the playoffs a few times since the late 80s. Could this be the beginning of a new era for Edmonton? Can their young stars develop into a dominant team, or is it all just hype? Can Khabibulin still tend net well? If not, can Dubnyk make a name for himself? Is he ready? Can all the right parts come together to put the Oilers back into the playoffs? Could this finally be the end to the 'Oil Change' series!?


Photo credits courtesy of Evan Vucci/AP, Jamie Kellner, Hannah Foslien/Getty Images, Andrew Theodorakis/New York Daily News, Getty Images

NHL Lockout Update: Bettman Is To Blame

Wow, eighty-four days, eh? If you're like me, you miss hockey a lot. And by a lot, I definitely mean more than this:

Bettman in 2008, presumably describing how much
money the Thrashers made that year.

For those of you a little behind on the current lockout news, here's the skinny:
The two sides met on Tuesday and Wednesday, with both meetings lasting until almost 1:00am. The idea behind this series of meetings is that it was to be players and owners only. No Bettman, no Daly, no Fehr brothers. Apparently, the meetings on Tuesday were great, and heaps of progress was made. That means Wednesday can only get better, right?

Wrong. Word is that Bettman and the owners proposed a deal to the union, and the union retreated to review it in brief detail. Hmm.. brief detail? Oxymoron? Anyway, the players returned to the owners by saying that their (the owners) increased concession in the 'make whole' area was a start. This statement, for some ridiculous reason, set the owners off. They believe that their added $89 million to the players was an incredibly noble and honorable sacrifice, and they were insulted when the players didn't fall to their knees and kiss their feet and worship the glorious ground they walk upon. Apparently the owners believe their shit don't stink, and the only reason they offered the union more money is so players could buy peach-blossom flavored air fresheners for their less-worthy player shit.

Gary Bettman, flanked by morons.

Give me a break owners. You're insulted that the players said your 'make whole' concession was just a start, meanwhile, the concept behind the 'make whole' idea is to make the players whole for the millions of dollars you're unfairly taking away from them. Should they not be insulted? And why is this even an issue? It should be non-negotiable. If the amount to give the players to make them whole is being negotiated over, obviously it isn't making them whole, now is it? There's only one number that makes the players whole, so it seems pretty silly for the owners to crack the shits over the players assuming that the word "whole" means "whole". Seems like the owners side is filled with lots of oxymorons, minus the oxy. Oh well, can't get much worse on Thursday, right?

Wrong. See, Bettman's 'proposal' was more of an ultimatum, no negotiating involved at all. The owners noble concession on the 'make whole' ridiculousness and their decision to stop pursuing to change the free agency rights was contingent on the fact that the union agree to three things:
-5 year individual contract length (7 for re-signings).
-No escrow caps or compliance buyouts.
-10 year CBA length.

Gary Bettman thinking.

Negotiatingly, in true negotiating form, the players then negotiated a negotiating negotion. Gary Bettman, however, wasn't having any of it. After seeing that the players had proposed an 8 year CBA length and 8 year maximum individual contract length, he had his pocket-holder Bill Daly leave the union a voicemail to let them know that their counter-proposal was unacceptable, that they weren't interested in further talks, and that their proposal was off the table. Well gee, Gary, you don't suppose you could have NEGOTIATED? Instead, he rejected the proposal without giving it more than ten minutes of thought, which is becoming a recurring trend. Thinking doesn't seem to be one of Gary's strong suits these days.


After Daly's middle-school-esque voicemail move, Don Fehr took to the podium and regretfully informed the media of the bad news. It was clear he was almost at a loss for words. This came just minutes after he had addressed the media to tell them of the good progress being made and the small gap that remains. Obviously, that gap is a lot bigger than he perceived. Just as the shocked media was preparing to pack it up for the day, word came down that Bettman and Daly were on their way to the podium. The two arrived, and Bettman spent nearly 45 minutes explaining every aspect of the negotiations to the media; an action he has condemned since the talks began in August. In the epitome of his hyprocricy, Bettman held nothing back. Daly chipped in here and there, but just spend most of the time holding Bettman's pocket and looking like a fat version of that guy from The Shield. Afterwards, they left the stand, and that's all she wrote. For now.

The media captured a picture of Bettman and Daly leaving their hotel bathroom late at night.

Photo credits courtesy of Getty Images/Jim McIssac, Associated Press, Reuters/Mike Blake, Prison Break