Vincent Lecavalier Should Be A Hab, Not A Has-Been

It's a nice photoshop job with the jersey, don't you think? Though, I don't agree with the "has-been" part of the title. I think this guy is really stretching with that.

At first, these sorts of things annoyed me. Then, I got to the point where they just made me roll my eyes. Now, it makes me laugh. How delusional can one fan base be? I mean, seriously.

It's obviously a case of wanting what they can't have - on top of the fact that Vinny Lecavalier's one of the best French Canadian players in the NHL right now. But, c'mon. The guy had his chance to escape the ever despised so-called "Sun Belt" team that drafted him and...he signed up for 11 more years.

Yep, he really wants to go play in Montreal, can't you tell? He just jumped at that chance to become a Hab. Because, you know, he's a Canadiens' fan himself. Or so I've been told repeatedly by many Montreal hockey fans.

So, we'll just gloss over the fact that he was a Steve Yzerman fan growing up - therefore likely was a Red Wings fan. And we'll just flat-out ignore that Yzerman's now his GM. Oh, and we'll also gloss over the fact that his dad's rumored to be a Bobby Orr fan - thus, likely a Boston Bruins fan, which are one of the Habs' traditional rivals.

We'll also flat-out ignore that he's embedded himself into Tampa. His parents live there, his sister and her family lives there, and probably his kids were born there. He's invested much of his own money into charities and a medical treatment center - that is named after him, actually. He obviously hates the place, right?

You add all the up, and naturally he's dying to go play in Montreal.

Despite all of that, I actually don't see him finishing his career in Tampa. I don't see him going to play in Montreal, of course - I'd sort of expect him to avoid that place like the plague, at this point. But the fact of the matter is, once his career takes a definite downturn, and once Yzerman's set up the organization to his liking by drafting and producing players from within, he won't be needed.

Basically, once Steven Stamkos was drafted, Vinny's days in a Lightning uniform were numbered. And the fact that Stamkos has been playing extremely well from the outset, once Vinny's production falls off due to his age, that'll be it for him. That's just how the NHL world works.

The 500-lb gorilla in the room is his contract, of course. But in the end, that won't matter to a desperate team. Not even his no-movement clause will matter. No one wants to stay with a team that's asked them to waive those things. Who wants to work in a place where they're not wanted?

With the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement coming up this summer, his contract could become a moot point, anyways. There are a number of crazy contracts in the NHL that a few teams really regret now and would like for them to go away. So I wouldn't be surprised if they come up with some way for that to happen. Whether that's unpenalized/bonus buyouts or renegotiation of standing contracts, it's hard to say. But it seems logical that they'll figure something out with that.

So I see Lecavalier ending up in the Western Conference at some point. Calgary, Colorado, Vancouver, (if they get a team) Seattle, or on the way outside, San Jose. Pretty much the entire opposite corner of the NHL geographically from Tampa. He'll probably leave about the same time that Marty St. Louis retires - if he's not bought out because of the next CBA.

But I cannot see him ever playing for Montreal - no matter how badly their fan base wants him to.

"We know that hockey is where we live, where we can best overcome pain. Life is just a place where we spend time between games." -Fred Shero

Seattle sports-arena talks well under way, documents show

While many observers consider an NHL team, as well as concerts and entertainment events, to be a crucial component for the financial success of a new arena, the documents obtained by The Times focus on basketball.

Progress being made to acquire NBA, NHL teams

Obviously much still needs to be worked out, but an announcement of an arena plan and the opportunity to bring the NBA and NHL to Seattle could come as early as April, and this is no April Fools' joke.

Make no mistake; Seattle wants a basketball team first. Hockey might be nice, but they're still very upset over getting the Sonics stolen from them. So whenever anyone in the area talks about a new arena in Seattle, it's almost always about the NBA, not the NHL.

The bottom line is that NHL wants professional hockey in Seattle far more than Seattle wants professional hockey in Seattle.

It's a fact that I've known for years, but no one else seems to get it. I guess it's because they see that whole Vancouver/Seattle rivalry - which may or may not happen. I mean, Tampa Bay and Florida, while a comparable distance apart from Seattle and Vancouver if you include the border crossing issues, have almost no rivalry to speak of. Geographic proximity does not a rivalry make.

Sports in Seattle is always a risky proposal. The recreational focus of the area are the outdoors, not professional sports. If a team sucks, then people aren't going to bother going to pay to see them. They'll watch on TV or go out snowboarding or fishing or something.

The Seattle Thunderbirds, the WHL team that's been there since the 1970s, always had the hardest time getting people to games. Everyone knew about them, of course, but WHL hockey has always been more of an occasional event than a way of life. At least, while they were playing in Seattle. Now that they're in Kent in their own arena, I'm not sure if that's still the case.

The Everett Silvertips haven't even been around for 10 years, but they're a very successful WHL team. However, they're also not in Seattle and they had almost instant success when they opened shop. Kind of hard to not like a team that breaks 10 WHL records and making it to the WHL Final in its first season of operation, you know?

Besides, major junior fans are a special breed. Even with the NHL in town, they'll always prefer watching their major junior team over the NHL team. NHL fans are a completely different crowd of people from major junior fans, so there's really no telling how the fan base would be if Seattle gets an NHL team. Though, having seen the state of hockey in the area, I'm not exactly optimistic; I seriously suspect that they're going to be a very fickle crowd.

So with a potentially new team in Seattle, I was asked speculatively by John about going to head up that new blog for SB Nation. I totally expect that I'll be asked to run it for them; if they don't ask, I'd be completely surprised. Which means, of course, that I'd have to be dumping the Lightning to write about them.

In all honesty, I'm not sure that I could since I'm on the East Coast. I mean, regular game times would start at 10 or 10:30 pm my time. That three-hour time difference would be a killer. And trying to find local writers would be a bitch; obviously, I couldn't do it on my own from the very start.

I've already sent out some feelers to others about it. I couldn't run it on my own - that's obvious - but I could do something similar to what I'm doing now with John. So, we'll see how this pans out. I'd definitely like to be a part of it, but it may turn out that I'd be splitting time between the Lightning and this potential Seattle team, in the end.

First, we have to see if Phoenix ends up moving to Seattle, which we should know about in a few months. And then...we'll see about the rest. Not just the blog, but the potential arena as well.

League needs help from players to limit concussions

I'd like to know when is the respect factor is going to come back into the game.

Let me also be clear -- I wasn't the fairest hitter. I left my feet. I hit guys from behind. I had my fair share of dirty hits and cheap hits. I hit to inflict pain at times, without question. I needed that intimidation factor because of my size.

Shame on me, but it was a totally different mentality when I played the game. This game today is much faster, much stronger and more scrutinized because it is bigger business. These players are worth much more than they were when I started, and they better start adapting to the new era of the National Hockey League by respecting each other.

I've never been a big fan of Jeremy Roenick. I've never disliked him, but I've never really liked him much, either. But I do appreciate the honesty that he has here.

And he's right. The league can only do so much. At some point, it becomes about what the players can do to fix things.

Men, in particular, have a tendancy to compartmentalize their lives. Who they're with, usually, dictates how they should be and what they should be doing. If you're with your buddies, it's one thing, but if you're with your girl, it's another. That's just how many of them are.

However, it can be taken too far. In hockey, for instance, they're one way against their teammates during practice, but another way against their opponents in a game. I'm not talking about how they play, but the level of respect with which they play with.

In reality, they should be playing their opponents with the same respect they have with their teammates. I don't think that's an unrealistic thing for them to do, either. Just doing that one simple mental change would clean up the game so much that it'd almost be like night and day.

Coaches help instill that behavior in their teams - like John Tortorella with the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tortorella insists that his players play with respect. And that was very prevalent with how he dealt with Artem Anisimov after he impulsively flipped his stick around and pretended to shoot it like a rifle at the Tampa Bay Lightning net last week as a way to celebrate a shorthanded goal.

Not only has Tortorella required his players to be respectful of their opponents, but with each other as well. It wasn't just Tortorella who said something, but also Anisimov's teammates. There was an apology, and all was good.

Not all coaches require this of their players, however. In those situations, it's up to the players themselves to regulate their own actions, and to hold teammates accountable. And that is what's actually lacking in the NHL currently - players holding each other accountable.

This is also where the compartmentalization comes in. Players will often decide that everyone's accountable for themselves, and then disregard what their teammates do. They might disapprove, but they believe it isn't their place to say anything - mostly because they don't want to be responsible for someone else, or even themselves, really.

This issue applies to struggling teams, too. You worry more about yourself than the rest of your team. Your world shrinks down to just yourself. When, in reality, it's still about the team, and you're just a cog in the machine. Disregarding your team for yourself doesn't help your team.

And that's what really needs to change in the NHL. You can still be extremely competitive and play with respect; the two are not mutually exclusive. If you take care of others, then you take care of yourself - because others will be taking care of you. All anyone wants to see is a clean and competitive game, so why not play that way?

So Winnipeg finally got its team. Isn’t that nice? They only had to take one from another city, but hey, they got a team and that’s all that matters, right?

You know, it’s days like this that remind me how little empathy the majority of humanity has. “Who cares about Atlanta? We finally got another team!” Great. Remember what it was like when the Jets moved 15 years ago? Yeah, that’s what Atlanta’s feeling right now – not that you care. Bastards.

This whole situation pisses me off. For a variety of reasons. So, sit back, and enjoy the rant.

My first and biggest problem are the jerks who wanted this team in Winnipeg, and weren’t afraid to voice their arrogant and self-entitled opinions at the expense of slandering another – but American, so that’s okay – city. Not all of them were Canadian, and not all Canadians are like this, but the majority of those yelling for a team they felt they “deserved” (whatever that means) were Canadian. And they were bashing Atlanta, and Phoenix before them, for all they were worth.

And that annoys me the most; that Winnipeg seemingly got a team because they whined and yelled for one. It makes me think of giving into a spoiled child when they’ve been bad. Instead of telling them no, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman gave them a team to shut them up. It’s like they’re being rewarded for bad behavior, and that really grates on me.

Which is why I would’ve preferred Quebec City to get a team over Winnipeg. They’re dying to have an NHL team back as well, you know. But are they so bad-mannered about it? Nope. And yet, they probably won’t get another team for a while. If Phoenix moves in a year, I’m betting they go to another American city.

[More after the break...]

Group interested in luring NHL to Seattle

This is the first I've heard of this....

Drama-king Canucks headed to Stanley Cup Final

Well. Would you look at that. An actual NHL article written by a Seattle Times reporter. Usually, it's just AP stuff.

My friend Su, who works for the NBC affiliate in Seattle, was told yesterday that someone in the Sports department applied for media credentials for her. So, she should be attending the Stanley Cup Finals, if only in Vancouver. I can't imagine the NHL would turn down Seattle reporters when they'd love to put an NHL team in Seattle - and have wanted one there for at least 20 years now.

I actually got into a Twitter discussion about that a couple of days ago that was started by Stan Fischler, and ended up dragging in a New York Islanders blogger and a Montreal Canadiens writer (not sure if he was a blogger or a reporter). I feel like such a broken record whenever I talk about it, because no one seems to understand the situation out there - and frankly, I find that a little disturbing.

People see the location as it being a great idea, and don't bother doing any sort of research about it. Which is all well and good, I suppose. I don't expect everyone to be a geographer like me.

But, I get the sinking feeling that that's how the NHL's offices operate, too. That their own requirements are pretty sketchy when it comes to placing teams in cities. It appears to me that all they want is a willing owner and a building and that's it. So, if that's really the case, is it any wonder that teams have problems?

For once, it'd be nice if the NHL operated like any other successful business would - logically and methodically. I don't mind businesses working in the own best interests, up to a point, since that's what you have to do to be successful. But the NHL doesn't seem to do "methodical" at all, and that's upsetting since it just sets a lot of people up for failure.

So, one more time. Here are the problem with Seattle. And Portland, too, for that matter.

Seattle has no building, no one is interested in building a new one or renovating an old one, and the city doesn't seem to have anyone interested in owning and NHL team, anyways. Key Arena is so unsuitable that the local WHL team left it and built their own arena in a suburb. The reason that the NHL wants a team there has nothing to do with giving Vancouver a regional rival, but everything to do with money. Seattle would have a ton of corporate sponsorship right off the bat. And they'd be some of the biggest names in the world, too: Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, Nintendo of America, and Boeing - just to name a few.

Portland has a building, but the anchor tenant (the Portland Trailblazers of the NBA) doesn't want the competition of another team. They were the lone major league sport in the city until a MLS team started up this year there (the Portland Timbers). Other than that, Portland has a AAA baseball team, a WHL team, and that's it. Paul Allen, who owns the Trailblazers and the Rose Garden, isn't currently interested in owning an NHL team. He was at one time, though; he was wanted to buy Hartford and move them to Seattle, but Key Arena's seating was screwed up (built around a basketball court instead of a rink), so he nowhere to put them.

Portland isn't as attractive to the NHL since they don't have the corporate names that Seattle does. Still, Nike, Columbia, and Adidas are nothing to sneeze at. It also has a smaller population than the Seattle area does by about a million people.

Got it? Good. I'd hate to have to explain it again, but I'll probably have to, anyways.