The Islanders will pay Alexei Yashin $17.6 million to not play for them anymore. That makes sense, since NHL teams are swimming in excess cash from their sweet TV deal. As someone who is currently not working for zero compensation, I can only stand back and admire Yashin’s ability to pull down nine figures in return for his indolence. Well played, sir.
Game 3 of this year’s Stanley Cup finals achieved the lowest rating ever for a prime time television program. Lowest. Rating. Ever. Including Cop Rock.
Mark Cuban reportedly wants to start a new football minor-league. Notwithstanding the sorry history of start-up sports leagues in general, and football leagues in particular, it seems like a credible idea to me. That reminds me, what ever happened to the “new” WHA that was supposedly on the drawing board a couple years ago?
This is positively the worst sports time of the year. Sure, the NFL is trotting out anything they can. And I’m a new NASCAR fan. But NHL playoffs aren’t started yet (okay, there’s one Game 7 tonite and the 2nd round starts next), and baseball is, well, in April. NBA? Puh-leeezzze… If a basketball hits a wooden floor and nobody is around to hear it, did it really happen?
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The NCAA crowned its 2007 Men’s Ice Hockey champion last night, Michigan State. They almost didn’t make the tournament, but then went on a terrific run (in large part due to outstanding goaltending, usually the primary requirement for any playoff hockey run). Boston College finished runner-up for the fourth time in the past ten years - including each of the past two years. In the past decade, they did win a title (you’ll never see a more exciting game than that OT thriller with North Dakota) - and appeared in two other Frozen Fours as well. Seven Frozen Fours in ten years, with but one title. I guess they’re the Atlanta Braves of college hockey, eh?
Reportedly, money from Pennsylvania’s new slot machine parlors will be used to help finance the replacement for the 46 year old Mellon Arena. I’m all for the Pens staying in Pittsburgh, though I expect to be disgusted when I see the level of public funds being used to subsidize a small-to-medium sized business.
Gary Bettman says he’s staying on as NHL commissioner for the duration of his contract, which runs until 2011. Goody. Think where the sport would be without his sage leadership. There would be teams playing in Canada, instead of the Mohave Desert or the Caribbean Basin. The All-Star Game would still be played on a weekend, and possibly even advertised beforehand. Had he not been around to cancel the 1994-95 season, the league could have sustained the momentum it enjoyed in its largest media market when the Rangers won the Cup for the first time in a half-century. And it took this man of action less than a decade of watching the game suffocated by the neutral-zone trap to tweak the rules so the best players could do things like skate, or score goals. So I think it safe to say that, absent the visionary Mr. Bettman, we wouldn’t even recognize the NHL as we know it today. And now we can look forward to at least four more years of his guidance. Outstanding.