LCS Hockey - My Thoughts On...

My Thoughts On...
by Dan Hurwitz, Correspondent

Yeehaw! The NHL season has begun again, and this time, they even get to play the national anthems on banjos in Nashville! So while the revamped Atlantic Division continues its downward spiral, free agency continues to threaten the game and the Ducks continue to quack, let's take a look at who skated, sticked, and got called from upstairs for a disallowed goal this week...

EXPANSION PAINS

ENOUGH EXPANDING ALREADY! Not only does Nashville have the weakest expansion roster, like, ever, but the continued diluting of talent has reared its head all over the place. As I watched the Canucks host the Kings this Monday, I took a look at Vancouver's roster. Burt Robertsson? Dave Scatchard? Hello, but who are these guys? And the funny thing is, Vancouver won!

The NHL has not been adding many superstars to its ranks, and with Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Ray Bourque all hitting their 20th anniversaries as professional players, the fact is that all the rule changes in the world will not increase scoring if every team ends up being described as "a bunch of hardworking grinders." I speak press conference. That means "talentless."

KIDZ RULE

That diatribe finished, I'm excited by some of the rookies we're seeing so far this season. In Los Angeles, Josh Green has won a spot on one of the top two lines (can the Kings really be said to have a "first" or "second" line?). The guy is huge. He doesn't have the best acceleration, but he has a real Dave Andreychuk-style of play that has Larry Robinson doing somersaults. Meanwhile, Olli Jokinen will likely make the team any day now, bringing speed and puckhandling to the mix.

Philly's Mike Maneluk has gotten the most recent assignment with John LeClair and Eric Lindros. Given the pressure on Lindros to produce this season, that kid stands to rack up some points if he can hold onto the position.

New Jersey's contract squabble with Scott Niedermayer will make room for any number of younger defensemen, including Brad Bombardir and sophomore Sheldon Souray.

And in Tampa, Vincent Lecavalier is the highest-rated rookie since, well, Alexandre Daigle. But before him, there was a certain French-Canadian named Mario Lemieux, and those comparisons are continuing.

STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

Ah, but timing is everything. In addition to Lecavalier, Tampa spent the offseason boosting what was last year's worst team in hockey. They acquired Craig Janney, exactly the kind of playmaker everyone wants (until they have him, apparently) and Bill Ranford, who can help plug the hole in goal when Darren Puppa hits his annual injury bug. And the return of John Cullen from cancer treatment, while it doesn't add a superstar to the picture, does provide an emotional lift that can carry a lot of weight on a team that had little to celebrate last season.

So, with Tampa poised to be this year's Bruins, i.e., most improved franchise, what does senior management do? Naturally, they fired Phil Esposito and his brother Tony from their positions as general manager and director of player personnel, respectively. Now, the Espo boys have never been the most emotionally stable people in the gene pool of hockey's front offices, but it seems like odd timing for the Bolts to clean out the front office, what with things on the up and up.

That said, however, there are a few signals that suggest the promoting of head coach Jacques Demers to the GM chair is a great move. The first is that Espo will always be a nut. He signed Stephane Richer for how much money? And he should forever be pegged with the incident, back when he ran the Rangers, when he fired head coach Michel Bergeron DURING THE PLAYOFFS over a personality conflict.

Meanwhile, Demers is one of the underrated minds in hockey. The team is getting used to his system, and they're more talented than people give them credit for. I'd say watch out for the Lightning when the season wraps up this spring.

BARRY, YOU (ICE) DOG

I had a chance toward the end of the summer to have a chat with Barry Kemp, who, along with his wife, Maggie, owns one of the most successful minor-league franchises in sports, the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International Hockey League.

After making it to the Turner Cup finals two seasons ago, Long Beach followed up by finishing with the best record in the IHL for the 1997-98 season. And, according to Kemp, the team has done a remarkable job of sticking together, which is rare at the minor-league level. "We look like we'll be returning 12-13 players from last year," says Kemp about the roster. "One of the things that's changed the most is that we'll be getting six players from the Kings instead of just three."

That those players include veterans like defenseman Jaroslav Modry is indicative of the new direction the IHL is taking as the league gradually figures out its role in the hockey cosmos. "I think you're going to see more NHL-IHL affiliations this year," predicted Kemp. "(IHL President - CEO) Doug Moss has a good, long-standing relationship with the NHL (Moss worked with Madison Square Garden, parent company to the New York Rangers, and the Buffalo Sabres). As our role has become clearer, the league has become more amenable to affiliations."

Changes at the NHL level add to this new sense of identity, Kemp says. "The NHL recognizes the need for two-way contracts, but a situation where you only have 20-year-old players with limited experience (such as with the American Hockey League) may not be the best development option for players who are not quite ready to make the NHL full-time. Veterans also don't want to play with 20-year-olds who are more developmental."

The Ice Dogs' home opener set a record last week, attracting just shy of 10,000 fans, which has prompted the Los Angeles Times to suggest the Ice Dogs may relocate to the soon-to-be-vacated Great Western Forum when the Kings and the NBA's Lakers move to the Staples Center next season. Don't believe that hype, though, as the Kemps are very excited about their identity as a Long Beach franchise.

"We promote `hockey at the beach.'" Explains Kemp. "We have a sandbox with beach chairs and a cooler in the corner, and every game, we pick two fans who get to move down to that area, so that's a lot of fun. We do a lot in the community."

Long Beach is an expanding destination for visitors in Southern California, already. As part of a $600,000,000 renovation effort called the Queensway Bay Project, Long Beach this year opened a new, state-of-the-art aquarium which has been pulling southern Californians and other tourists in by the boatload. And at the center of the built-up new area is the Long Beach Arena, a facility the Kemps are very excited to inhabit.

"We have a large glass atrium," Kemp says, describing the unique feature which, unlike most arenas, is Long Beach's sole entrance. "There's an interactive game area in the atrium. We have air-hockey, puck shooting, surfing machines, bands playing. Kids can have their faces painted. And we also have a great mascot in Spike (a big bulldog in an Ice Dogs jersey), one of the best in all of sports."

The Ice Dogs, who share a market with the Kings and Mighty Ducks of the NHL, are a model for success at the minor league level. And the NHL could learn some lessons from this franchise, as well.

MONEY MONEY EVERYWHERE

Exactly when did player agents think the average revenue base for a hockey team exploded in the past couple of seasons? The average salary of NHL players has topped the $1 million mark (remember when Wayne Gretzky set the sports world abuzzing when he hit that figure as the highest paid player in history?) And yet the product gets continually watered down.

Barry Kemp analyzes the problem facing the NHL as such: "The NHL is suffering from their players looking at other major league sports, and that comparison isn't fair, because the media deals are not the same."

In terms of basic economics, the goals of the NHL and the NHLPA are not compatible. Even the league's new TV deal, which begins next year, only provides each team with enough money to pay one slightly-above average player the kind of money Petr Nedved thinks he can beat on the open market. Meanwhile, the league is expanding in an effort to increase its fan base...only it's doing this at a time when a sharply decreasing number of fans can afford tickets.

And here's the real catch: in fickle markets like New Jersey, where Scott Niedermayer's sitting out really weakens the Devils, how can a team afford to pay its holdouts more when the fans don't want to buy tickets to see depleted franchises?

My theory involves another conspiracy: player agents collectively want to retire early by getting 10% of a much bigger stake early on and don't care about the fiscal viability of the sport in the wake of this salary increase.

MISCELLANY

Speaking of money, just how bad can the Mighty Ducks and New York Rangers get with some of the deepest pockets in the NHL?

Paul Kariya is back and healthy. No complaints here.

I called the Kings about getting credentials for their home opener against Boston, explaining I wanted to do a piece to the follow-up season to huge turnarounds for both franchises. The Kings' response was that "the NHL does not credential on-line publications." Not only is that obviously bunk, since most LCS Hockey correspondents are credentialed, but it also makes no sense. Why would the NHL, desperate for increased exposure, be the one business scurrying to get away from an Internet presence?

Jaromir Jagr should turn selfish and beg to be traded before the Penguins' downward spiral threatens the career of one of the most talented players in the past 15 years.

Attention Petr Nedved: you're not that good. Get over it.

I say it here in my first column of the season: Dallas will beat Philadelphia for the Stanley Cup.