Rangers and Devils Crawl on Their Bellies Out of the Playoffs April 28, 2009

Hockey Season is Over

The Rangers went down in defeat, blowing a 3-1 series lead and dropping Game 7 in Washington to the Capitals, 2-1. The Caps scored the winning goal with 4:59 left, completing what was undoubtedly to most hockey mavens a predictable loss for the listless Rangers.

The only thing that made this night sweet for Ranger fans was utter collapse of the Devils and “Mary” Brodeur in the last 1:20 of the third period, surrendering goals to Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal, and giving Carolina the series with a 4-3 come-from-behind win. The Hurricanes have saved the hockey world from any more Devil hockey for the rest of the Spring.

Thus ends hockey in the New York market before the Second Round. Advertisers for Versus and NBC-TV need to be nervous, not so much because the New York area teams lost but because of the way they lost. These losses and collapses by the Rangers and Devils, although different types of losses, leave fans disgusted. The last thing they will want to see anytime soon is another hockey game.

The Second Round match-ups in the East do not bode well for future playoff TV audiences. Washington and Pittsburgh have little out-of-market pull other than having the two of the premier players in the NHL, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin (maybe you could include Evgeny Malkin). The troublesome part for advertisers and the NHL is that either Crosby or Ovechkin will make a second round exit.

While Carolina (formerly the Hartford Whalers) have congratulations from this ex-Connecticut resident for dumping the Debbies, it’s over in the Second Round for the Hurricanes. To quote George C. Scott as General George Patton, the Bruins will rip through the Hurricanes “like crap through a goose.” It’s four games and out.

Brashear Gets His Wrist Slapped and Butt Kissed by Soupy April 27, 2009

Puck Daddy Gets it Wrong … Again

First, the news: Donald Brashear, noted hockey goon and executioner for the Washington Capitals, received a six-game suspension for his blind-sided shot to the head of New York Rangers Center Blair Betts. The suspension was issued by NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin “Soupy” Campbell.

This suspension is, in essence, another win-win situation for the Capitals. Brashear does little to contribute to the success of the Capitals. On the other hand, Betts brings speed to the Rangers fourth line and is arguably one of the better penalty killers in the league. Others much wiser than me have suggested that Brashear’s knock-out of Betts may have indirectly contributed to two power play goals by the Capitals in their 5-3 win in Game 6 on Sunday.

Since Betts will definitely miss Game 7, the trade-off is that the Caps lose Brashear and the Rangers lose Betts. Who do you think wins that trade-off? The hockey gods at Puck Daddy would have you believe that the punishment fit the crime and this suspension was “another” (???) stroke of genius by Soupy. Just like the death penalty, this “landmark” (???) suspension would serve as a deterrent. The gang at Puck Daddy really needs to stop planting their lips on Soupy’s ample arse and must bring an end to their chemical dependencies before it is too late.

In the meantime, I guess I should be flattered that Puck Daddy threw my humble little blog a link yesterday, even though the editor felt compelled to misinform readers of my intent. Quoted from the Monday Morning Headlines: A contrarian view on the John Tortorella suspension, which calls our analysis “lame” and then argues that the NHL is fixing the series to increase television ratings. Written from the co-pilot’s seat of a black helicopter hovering over Area 51.

It must be hard for them to write such pearls of wisdom in-between dropping and raising those baskets of fries into and from the tasty oil bath at McDonald’s.

Soupy Blows it Again April 26, 2009

Fans Need to Send a Message

NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell issued a one-game suspension to Rangers Head Coach John Tortorella for squirting a fan with water and then throwing the water bottle at the fan. And, despite the rantings of hockey buttheads like Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy fame, the situation was mishandled, as usual, by Soupy.

Wyshynski would have you believe that the punishment fit the crime, and that’s what you would expect from the usual lame analysis from Wyshynski . The true statement is that the punishment fit the financial objectives of the NHL.

From the outset, let’s make it clear, I am a long-time Rangers fan but I am not a fan of Tortorella. I openly condemn his actions. While a HUGE fine to Tortorella and the Rangers was in order, hockey fans need to understand two things. First is that a suspension serves the business interests of the NHL. Second is why Soupy must accept blame for mismanaging yet another incident.

Let’s examine Soupy’s “as usual” screw-up first. Even if you put aside Campbell’s well-documented inclination to stick it to the Rangers every chance he gets, there is an issue in law called proximate cause. Proximate cause refers to the specific action that ultimately results in an outcome. Lay people may understand the principal better from a related term called mitigating circumstances, which is actually justification for somebody responding in an incorrect manner.

There are no mitigating circumstances in what Tortorella did. His exchange with the Washington fans was totally unprofessional, unacceptable and contrary to everything he preaches. However, the proximate cause of the situation was the lack of response by Capitals’ security to complaints from Rangers’ bench personnel about spitting, cursing and threatening behavior from the fans near the bench.