WINGS ADD HOSSA, WILL NOT WIN CUP
The National Ice Hockey Column
Remember the summer of 2003, when Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne graced the Avalanche with their presence by signing below-market deals? Remember how just about everyone in hockey felt the Cup was Colorado’s and the rest were simply playing for second place?
Marian Hossa signed with the defending Cup champion Detroit Red Wings for one season at $7.45 million because, in his words, he wanted to win the Stanley Cup. If he cares about his legacy as much as it seems, perhaps he should have signed elsewhere. There’s a better chance he’ll be known as the all-star who joined a defending champion and couldn’t even get them back to the Stanley Cup Final.
Logic dictates the Red Wings, who did not lose any major impact players over the summer, will be better with the addition of a 40-goal scorer like Hossa. But hockey does not work this way, which is one of the reasons why we love it so much. There’s chemistry with linemates. There’s the attitude “in the room” (another wondrous hockey staple). There’s the always-fragile coach-star relationship.
Make no mistake: Hossa’s one of the good guys. If the experiment of adding another star to a heaven-sent team doesn’t work, the blame won’t necessarily be his. But you have to wonder what “the room” will be like when Detroit’s record is a few wins behind last season’s blow-torch through the regular season and people start thinking and writing, “Something’s wrong. With Hossa, they should be better.”
More than that, there will be the inevitable talk of how much hockey the Red Wings have played since October, 2007. Hossa may have finished the season with the Penguins, but he played as many games last spring as the Wings.
If Hossa was thinking legacy – no reason to question him – he should have signed with one of the contenders looking for a star to lead them to their first Cup in a while. Shoot, he should have signed with the Penguins.
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Best UFA Acquisitions
Brian Campbell, Chicago, 8 years, $56.8 million. For the Blackhawks to take the next step – 8th place! – it had to be done.
Brian Rolston, New Jersey, 4 years, $20.5 million. Lot of dough, but Rolston doesn’t just drink the Kool-Aid, he’ll help mix it.
(Wild card) Eric Godard, Pittsburgh, 3 years, $2.25 million. A throwback enforcer for a team with two mega-stars in need of protection.
Worst
The Huet-Theodore botch, Washington: A big step down in net for last year’s feel-good team.
Mike Commodore, Columbus, 5 years, $18.5 million: Can never knock Commodore’s spirit, but c’mon.
(Wild card) Rob Blake, San Jose, one year, $5 million: Not sure what the Sharks think they’re getting.
3 Big ???
Wade Redden, Rangers, 6 years, $39 million: Can Wade regain Norris-contending form, or will the blue-seaters make him the next Tom Poti?
Mark Streit, Islanders, 5 years, $20.5 million: A boom-or-bust signing for a franchise that can take high-end risks with multiple picks at the draft table, but needs to be more certain in the UFA market.
Michael Ryder, Boston, 3 years, $12 million: Two 30-goal seasons followed by 14 last year. If this pays off for the Bs, watch out.
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…Of the Week
Move…Atlanta gets Anaheim cap casualty Mathieu Schneider for not much, the second year in a row the Ducks had to shed a good player to get under the ceiling. And if the Thrashers move Matt at the deadline, they’ll get more value than they gave up to get him.
Goof: the NHL general managers thinking they’re smarter than everyone else and coming up with a disastrous injury policy that’s an insult to anyone who follows the game.
Hockey Writer…James Mirtle. One of the game’s preeminent bloggers, Mirtle consistently churns out original views on league issues – like this one on the revised NHL schedule.
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Point Blank favorite Sean Avery recently had one last astounding moment in New York. The Gap model visits Mike Francesa at the WFAN telethon, representing Ice Hockey in Harlem – a charity dear to the NHL. Within seconds, Avery is poking at the NHL, saying the league office focuses on him because “they don’t know how to market the game.”
Later, when the subject of modeling comes up, Francesa name-drops his friend, WFAN caller and fashion designer Joseph Abboud. Mike, just not getting Avery, assumes the former Vogue intern will agree with him about Abboud brilliance. Avery’s reaction: “Yeah, I know him. He’s the guy who puts Derek Jeter in all those suits that are too big for him.”
We miss him almost as much as we believe the Rangers will.
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Dress Rehearsals: At a time when the NFL is studying what to do with their exhibition game schedule, let’s not lose sight of the fact these NHL pre-season games are every bit as meaningless – except as opportunities for players to get run and bust a shoulder or knee.
Yes, individual play is important. So is a coach’s chance to look at a player’s ability and work habits. But of course these games don’t mean anything. Have you looked at some of the lineups put out there this week? The Islanders have an important game for them on Wednesday when, as you’d expect, they put out a B-plus lineup against the Devils in front of their home fans at the Coliseum. But the problem is, New Jersey will likely dress a C-level lineup, so the game will not be a barometer for the Isles. If Rick DiPietro plays either Oct. 4 or 6, that would make one truly important exhibition game. For the most part, around the NHL these games mean as much as the Pro Bowl.
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Dancing on the Ceiling: Remember the lockout, when many owners said they’d never go for a cap of more than $40 million? Well, know this about the salary cap ceiling: even if there were no salary cap, this year’s ceiling of $56.7 million exceeds what more than half of the NHL’s 30 teams would set as their player budgets anyway.
The Islanders’ choke-collar of a lease is of course the obvious example of a team on the low side and cash-cows Leafs and Rangers on the high. But do the math. Tough to understand how at least half of the NHL teams could possibly approach revenues of more than $55 million dollars in this climate. If we’re not there already, you will see a clear division between the haves and have-nots by the end of this decade.
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Personal Stick-taps on the Ice to…Bob Bassen, Mark Everson, Mike Sciortino, Lisa of Islandermania, Joe Benigno, Pierre Turgeon, Sean Leahy, Steve Tambellini, Joe Favorito, Stephen Valiquette, ESPN Mag for the Caps D.C. photo shoot, Brian Leetch, Mike Ross, Nancy Dowd, Brendan Witt. And to all the hockey fans who found this blog in the first four days and are getting involved, thanks for spreading the word.
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