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Puck ready to drop on NHL’s season of uncertainty: The Look Ahead

David Shoalts, Globe and Mail, Oct. 02, 2011

There must be a palpable sense of relief around the NHL’s headquarters in New York now that the regular season is upon us.

Over the past nine months, from the point Sidney Crosby sustained a hit to the head he is still recovering from, professional hockey went into a freefall. Bob Probert died at 46 from a heart attack. Then three other current or former players, also known as fighters, died either by their own hand or by their addictions. The worst came a month ago when the entire Jaroslavl Lokomotiv team was killed in a plane crash.

“It’s as if a dark cloud descended on our game,” an NHL general manager said while discussing a player accused of making a homophobic slur, which came days after the same player was on the receiving end of a racial slur.

Finally, then, with the arrival of opening night on Thursday, there is a chance to put the worst off-season in memory in the past. The traditional optimism that fuels all 30 NHL cities on opening night can be embraced.

Or maybe not.

At this point, the only feel-good story in sight is the Winnipeg Jets. Even if they don’t make the playoffs, their move from Atlanta should make them every Canadian fan’s second-favourite hockey team.

But if the preseason is any indication, there is little relief in sight for a league buffeted by tragedy and stupidity. Every few days, it seems, an issue blows up that makes headlines across North America, whether it’s hits to the head or the recent racial and homophobic controversies.

Crosby may provide some good news by returning to the ice within a month but the fact remains the NHL is opening the season still without its biggest star and still grappling with concussions. That war on head injuries looks like it will disrupt the first half of the season at least.

Brendan Shanahan, the NHL’s new judge and jury for on-ice conduct, is aggressively enforcing new standards for hits to the head. He suspended a long list of players for such hits in preseason games, extending their punishment into the regular season, and shows no sign of slowing down, at least not until the players adapt to the change in culture. The goal of Shanahan and the league is laudable but the process is sure to be uncomfortable.

As the season moves on, the spectre of another long labour dispute will come into view. No, it really doesn’t seem that long since the 2004-05 season was lost to a lockout and the possibility of another one will be back when the collective agreement expires almost a year from now.

Fans and the media may tell themselves the sport barely survived that lockout and neither players nor management would risk alienating U.S. fans with another one, but it cannot be ruled out. The most important fight here, at least in the early going, is not between the players and owners but between the have and have-not owners. The have-nots are looking for big concessions from the players.

Behind the scenes, NHL insiders say, the small-revenue teams are marshalling their forces, vowing not to be pushed into an agreement they don’t want by their richer colleagues.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
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