SB Nation User Blog: James Mirtle

GMs change tune on head shots

James Mirtle — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:02:47 -0000

"The hitting in the game is great, but every once in a while you have to sit back and say, ‘That hit may be legal, but is there something wrong with it?' The only issue I have is when the player is vulnerable, there is a blindside hit and the only contact is made to the player’s head.

"If there are three or four of those a year, maybe we can attack and eliminate a lot of them."

– Capitals GM George McPhee

If we're looking at a rule change that's only going to come into play three or four times a year, it's obviously not going to be all that radical, but this is at least a tiptoe in the right direction for the NHL. It shows that GMs are taking the concussion issue more seriously and that they're listening to what a large majority of their fans – and players – are calling for.

This, combined with improvements in equipment like the new helmet Mark Messier is advocating for and less rigid shoulder pads, will hopefully help reduce numbers like these.

Speaking of the the new bucket, the GMs heard the spiel from Messier and company today as part of their meetings in Toronto and came away pretty impressed. Brian Burke said he's going to outfit the team's AHL club with the helmets as a trial run, which leads me to believe we could be seeing NHL clubs in them as soon as next season.

I had a chance to talk to one of the few players wearing one this season earlier today in the Leafs' Garnet Exelby, and he gave it a glowing review (story should be at globesports.com later tonight). Exelby's already had three concussions in his career and for obvious reasons sought out the helmet this summer when he heard about it.

I'm sure other players will do the same once word gets around.

All eyes on the Monster

James Mirtle — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:59:25 -0000

More photos » by NATHAN DENETTE - AP

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Jonas Gustavsson has made quite an impression here in Toronto so far, essentially rescuing the Leafs goaltending situation after returning from a groin injury. His save percentage is up to .918, he has a winning record and Toronto's on as much of a roll as you can be on after winning three out of seven games (3-0-4).

Tonight, the Monster will likely go head-to-head with Niklas Backstrom, which is the subject of my latest yarn at globesports.com. Along with Jonas Hiller, Antti Niemi and Erik Ersberg, Gustavsson and Backstrom are part of a new trend we're seeing postlockout where older free agent goalies from Europe are stepping in and winning NHL jobs (often without time in the minors).

One of the things I did for the piece was look back over the recent history of where goaltenders are coming from, and over the past decade, the number of Europeans in the crease has slowly but steadily risen. This season, as many as half of the starters in the league could be from overseas (depending on who ends up in the No. 1 role):

Anaheim: Jonas Hiller
Atlanta: Ondrej Pavelec
Calgary: Miikka Kiprusoff
Chicago: Cristobal Huet
Edmonton: Nikolai Khabibulin
Florida: Tomas Vokoun
Minnesota: Niklas Backstrom
Montreal: Jaroslav Halak
Nashville: Pekka Rinne
N.Y. Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist
Phoenix: Ilya Bryzgalov
San Jose: Evgeni Nabokov
Tampa Bay: Antero Niittymaki
Toronto: Jonas Gustavsson
Washington: Semyon Varlamov

It used to be that Dominik Hasek and Arturs Irbe were anomalies in the crease, with their funny helmets and unique playing styles, but not anymore. And with Gustavsson's success so far, it'll be interesting to see if the demand for the latest great goalie in Sweden or Finland continues next summer.

Making sense of the NHLPA mess

James Mirtle — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:38:57 -0000

More photos » by Adrian Wyld - AP

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Maybe the players don't care about the NHLPA, but the agents sure do. They are generally distrusting of one another to begin with, constantly worrying (and with good reason) about poaching of clients. But, five years after the lockout, there are still hard feelings about who sided with whom. A number of high-powered agents felt Goodenow was taking them off a cliff.

It was their feeling that ownership had changed. There were guys with more money, who didn't have hockey in their blood. They were willing to sacrifice a season to get rid of Goodenow and get cost-certainty. The big agents felt he didn't recognize that and didn't understand it wasn't the same as 1994.

– Elliotte Friedman, Hockey Night in Canada

I've been meaning to sit down and write something on this whole debacle for a while now, but the thing is, it's such a tangled mess that making sense of everything is no easy task. The players are widely indifferent, but those that are plugged in – often motivated by their agents – are extremely divided, taking one side or the other.

Elliotte noted on Twitter that it took him three weeks to piece together the article above, and I believe it. It is, in a nutshell, is an excellent recount of the hows and whys of where we are with this fractured group and some of the solutions those behind the scenes are proposing.

Friedman's got more (and better) sources than I do, but those I've been talking to about this story argue that the coverage out there to date has been very one-sided in support of Paul Kelly and against Ian Penny. In addition to the issues Friedman lists (with the reading of confidential minutes obviously the fatal error), some close to the situation say Kelly's continued pursuit of putting resources into marketing and working in a "partnership" with the league rubbed many the wrong way.

It's no coincidence, in other words, that marketing executive Kevin Lovitt was one of the first to go when Kelly was booted this summer.

So there were issues there. Whether they were legitimate enough to pull the "coup" at 3 a.m. in Chicago, it's hard to say (and probably depends which side you were on in the first place). I was told by one agent that much of the reason the issues surrounding Kelly's departure haven't been fully leaked is that his settlement has yet to be negotiated and that it's in the union's interest to keep quiet.

As for whether or not Kelly could at some point return to the PA, something that's been suggested by some in the media, a source said: "Not a chance."

The Chris Chelios-led review committee, meanwhile, has stirred up all kinds of renewed angst among players and agents. Chelios is a divisive figure at the best of times, and some of the committee's conduct (as alleged in this letter by Ian Penny) has outraged the membership.

A review is one thing, but directly meddling in the union's affairs is another.

"My players are wondering what the hell's going on," one agent said last week. "If Penny's letter is accurate, it raises all kinds of questions."

Everyone involved agrees on one thing, however, and that's that they need to begin a search for the next executive director as soon as possible and let him pick through the wreckage. Whoever that is going to be has a heckuva task on their hands trying to rebuild this thing, a job they'll only be able to complete if the PA's constitution is rewritten to give the ED much more power than Kelly had.

It won't be easy. It may not even be possible, at least in terms of regaining some of the power the union had back during the first labour stoppage 15 years ago. Because they are unlikely to be willing to submit to yet another stoppage, how then will players fend off whatever Gary Bettman and ownership wants to bring in?

As he argued throughout the last lockout, Tom Benjamin writes that the membership may be better off with no union at all given the way the next CBA negotiations are shaping up – an extreme viewpoint if there ever was one, but he has a point.

The NHL's push to destroy the PA has worked all too well. More than four years later, it's as big a mess as it ever was.

Isles' prospect Hughes arrested

James Mirtle — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:40:38 -0000

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Islanders farmhand Bobby Hughes has been arrested on first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree criminal sexual act charges filed in Albany. The 21-year old Hughes, acquired by the Islanders from Carolina in August and playing infrequently for the Sound Tigers, was arrested after Bridgeport’s game on Wednesday.

— Chris Botta, NYI Point Blank

Hughes, who is from the Toronto area, starred with the Kingston Frontenacs a few years back and was a fourth-round pick of the Hurricanes in 2006. He has played sparingly so far in his AHL career, but did play in Albany in 2007-08 and 2008-09 which would appear to be tied to what's happened here.

Very little information available right now.

Thrashers participating in MOvember

James Mirtle — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:45:14 -0000

Scary 'stache for a 19-year-old on Mr. Zach Bogosian:

Atlanta Thrashers Fans, join Thrashers Zach Bogosian, Mark Popovic and Jim Slater and coaches John Anderson, Randy Cunneyworth and Todd Nelson on their MOvember journeys!

Any other teams taking part in this?

UPDATE The Wild are.

UPDATE This movement gets better as we go:

Oilers participating in Movember

James Mirtle — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:26:33 -0000

Taylor Chorney, for those who don't know. Here's the press release (with photo gallery):

Eight of the Edmonton Oilers are joining the fight against prostate cancer this month by participating in Movember. Throughout November, participating players will grow moustaches in support of prostate cancer research. The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation will be accepting donations on behalf of the Movember Foundation on edmontonoilers.com.

"We’re very proud to see a number of our players participate in Movember." said Natalie Minckler, EOCF’s Executive Director. "Not only have they shown leadership by joining this important cause but their participation is a product of their own initiative."

Oilers forward Sam Gagner initiated the idea and enrolled his teammates Gilbert Brule, Taylor Chorney, J-F Jacques, Patrick O’Sullivan, Ryan Stone, Theo Peckham and Zack Stortini.

George Parros, in other words, will soon have some competition.

It was really weird how it happened. We were maybe 15 games into the season, and they started...

James Mirtle — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:13:13 -0000

It was really weird how it happened. We were maybe 15 games into the season, and they started healthy scratching our captain last year. One day I came in for the game, and I had a 'K' on my jersey. I was like, "What the heck?" The coach came over to me and said "cap-tain," and everyone started clapping. And that was it.

— Former NHLer Kevin Dallman on life in the KHL

Ranking the NHL's fighters

James Mirtle — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:49:10 -0000

More photos » by LM Otero - AP

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If you haven't been stopping by stats man Gabe Desjardins's pad lately, you'd be well-served to do so. He's banging out some good stuff over there.

The latest is a system of ranking fighters, one that comes up with Georges Laraque as the NHL's top heavyweight. Here's the list based on the past three seasons:

Player	Ft	In	Wt	Fights	W	L	T	GP	Fts/82
Georges Laraque	6	3	253	30	24	3	3	177	13.9
D.J. King	6	3	229	22	16	2	4	89	20.3
Derek Boogaard	6	8	257	29	21	6	2	133	17.9
Donald Brashear	6	3	234	37	23	9	5	220	13.8
Wade Belak	6	5	225	28	17	7	4	165	13.9
Milan Lucic	6	3	228	24	18	4	2	149	13.2
Aaron Downey	6	1	215	15	9	1	5	81	15.2
Raitis Ivanans	6	4	256	39	21	11	7	215	14.9
Colton Orr	6	3	222	52	31	16	5	209	20.4
Eric Godard	6	4	214	44	20	15	9	164	22.0

I'm afraid I don't quite get how the ELO rating system is coming into play here, but anything that uses chess to rank hockey fighters is all right by me.

There was not a single person in sections 330 and 334 a few minutes into the game tonight. Not one....

James Mirtle — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:08:24 -0000

There was not a single person in sections 330 and 334 a few minutes into the game tonight. Not one. I think a couple souls showed up a while later and sat there, but that was…it.

You definitely did not dissuade critics who say Denver is just a bandwagon hockey town tonight, folks. The announced attendance was definitely not the actual number in the building either. I’d say the real number was about 8,500, maybe a bit less actually.

— Adrian Dater, All Things Avs

Trouble brewing in Columbus

James Mirtle — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:52:45 -0000

More photos » by Jay LaPrete - AP

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The Columbus Blue Jackets could leave central Ohio if the team can't fix an economic model that is causing losses of $12 million a year, according to a report issued today by the Columbus Chamber. But a deal to keep the hockey team here and the Arena District alive -- the team and the district generated $30 million in taxes last year -- probably will include asking for public dollars, and soon.

"We believe there is a sense of urgency here," said Ty D. Marsh, chamber president and CEO. "We're looking for a solution or progress by the end of the year."

— The Columbus Dispatch

This is a situation that's been building for a while. I'd actually be shocked if the Blue Jackets have made much of a profit in any year since the prelockout days, when the payroll was very low and interest was at its peak.

Historically, their attendance has been decent, too, at least prior to the lockout, but because a private company built the building, Columbus pays significant rent (about $3.5-million annually), receives no arena perks and ticket prices remain fairly low. The one game I've seen there, I sat right behind the bench for $80, tickets that were widely available.

Even with the league's new revenue sharing system, the Jackets just aren't all that close to turning a profit:

If the Blue Jackets had free rent and arena-naming rights, the hockey operations would basically be breaking even, but the other business of booking concerts and events would still lose about $4 million a year.

The biggest part of the problem?

And contrary to what's been written elsewhere, these are financial issues that are not merely solved by winning hockey games. The gap is just too large and the markets involved too small. Even if the Blue Jackets sold another 2,500 tickets a game and went on a run to the second round of the playoffs, they would still be in the red.

Teams like Columbus and Nashville are in tough to compete in a league with a payroll of more than $35- or $40-million and probably always will be.