The All-Star break is over. Do you know where your Blackhawks are?
Commissioner Gary Bettman, in his annual state-of-the-league All-Star Game address, proclaimed the NHL again in good health. Apparently, he overlooked Chicago.
The Hawks remain in last place of the Western Conference, one point behind 12th-place Vancouver and 11 points behind eighth-place Edmonton. Twenty-nine games remain for the Hawks to try and salvage something out of the wreckage of this season. Mike Smith, manager of hockey operations, leaves Tuesday for a scouting trip in Finland in an attempt to find players who can avoid more disaster in future seasons.
Tony Amonte was the Hawks’ sole representative in the star-filled extravaganza that reaffirmed this city’s status as the hockey capital of North America. Amonte’s story is well documented, and he remains one of the constant positives for the Hawks–a productive hard worker.
But plenty of other stories took shape over a weekend that is full of talk. Here, then, are the best that is All-Star Weekend.
More for four?
With roughly two-thirds of the season over, the league already has set a record for decisions reached in overtime games. Four-on-four overtime is accomplishing exactly what the league set out to do when it instituted the rule change last summer–open up the ice, create excitement, fewer ties.
Its success has created the inevitable talk of whether four-on-four hockey should be instituted at all times. With players getting bigger and faster and the ice surface remaining the same, there are some players who think four-on-four not only would be more exciting and showcase more skill, it would limit injuries.
Not surprisingly, Pittsburgh’s Jaromir Jagr leads the charge.
“I like five-on-five, but if you asked me what I would do to change the game [for the better,] I would play four-on four,” Jagr said. “It’s more exciting for the fans and for the players. The rinks are too small and the guys are much bigger. You can’t get around them like you used to.”
Jagr’s voice proved a minority, though. Even other gifted players such as Anaheim’s Paul Kariya, who clearly would benefit from having two fewer players on the ice, think moving to four-on-four full time is too radical an idea.
“It wouldn’t work,” he said. “People forget it’s exciting because both teams have already received a point [for tying at the end of regulation]. You can’t play at that speed for 60 minutes. I’m a proponent of five-on-five.”
Wayne Gretzky may be retired, but he remains the game’s most respected voice. And he offered his opinion on the subject, gracefully skating a fine line between the pros and cons of four-on-four.
“I am a traditionalist who likes the history of our game, so I hope we stay with five-on-five,” Gretzky said. “But maybe they should to go to four-on-four with kids, certain leagues, certain ages. We have to find a way to get some creativity and imagination back to these kids who are 9, 10 and 11. Too much trapping is instituted in pee-wee and bantam hockey, and I believe that is one of the things that we have to seriously look at to help our game.”
Hart to Hart
As the regular season winds down, an interesting subplot should develop in the race for the Hart Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s most valuable player. Jagr and Florida’s Pavel Bure, World All-Star teammates this past weekend, are the front-runners, with Toronto goaltender and North American All-Star Curtis Joseph in the mix from a distance.
Bure, of course, put on quite the show Sunday, posting the 11th hat trick in All-Star Game history and earning MVP honors. Jagr chipped in with a goal and assist. Both players’ teams have 30 games remaining. Jagr currently leads the league in points (80 to Bure’s third-place total of 61), while Bure has scored one more goal than Jagr with 37.
Florida is having more team success than Pittsburgh, but that didn’t stop the majority of players polled to cast their vote for Jagr.
“I’d have to go with Jagr,” St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger said. “To put up those numbers tells you a lot. Just watch the highlights. When that team wins, he carries it on his back. That’s the definition of an MVP to me.”
Jagr, by the way, should receive credit for shaking off nagging thumb and stomach injuries to play in the All-Star Game, especially after receiving the most fan votes in history at 1,020,736. Jagr initially considered skipping the game because Pittsburgh currently holds the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and the days off would’ve aided in letting the nagging injuries heal.
“I’m happy I came,” he said. “I suppose I wanted to come here, but I care a lot about the Penguins. Right now, that’s the most important thing for me–to be healthy and help the team. I missed the playoffs before and it was embarrassing.”
Insert your own Hawks punch line here.
A loose Moose?
Expect to hear Mark Messier’s name mentioned quite often as the March 14 trade deadline approaches. The veteran center, nicknamed “Moose,” played in his 14th All-Star Game on Sunday, but it could be his last as a Vancouver Canuck.
Messier’s three-year, $18 million contract expires after this season with a club option at $6 million for next season. If the Canucks choose to exercise the option, though, they would have to grant Messier a three percent stake in the franchise as well.
It’s a delicate decision for Vancouver General Manager Brian Burke and the franchise, which is one of the Canadian teams that is struggling financially. Messier recently turned 39, and while he remains one of the game’s magnetic personalities and great leaders, his game has slipped. He has just nine goals and 28 points in 36 games this season.
Messier has made it clear he would prefer to stay with Vancouver, but has said he would waive his no-trade clause if a deal netted the Canucks strong prospects.
“I haven’t discussed a trade with anybody in management, but the thing is to make sure we do the right thing for the future of the team,” Messier said.
The Rangers, whom Messier helped lead to a scintillating Stanley Cup championship in 1994, are one of the teams said to be eyeing the center. And only deep-pocketed teams need apply.
“It’s an interesting situation, obviously,” Messier said. “We don’t have to wait long to see how it plays out.”
Burke expects to meet with Messier on Thursday to discuss the situation.
Bettman banter
Two of the biggest issues facing Bettman are whether the league again will shut down next season in favor of Olympic participation and the financial plight of four of the six Canadian franchises.
Bettman said the league’s Board of Governors has authorized him to finalize a deal for participation in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics but that issues still need to be resolved.
“What that means is I don’t have to go back to the board again,” Bettman said. “But what it also means is if you write the headline, `NHL going to the Olympics,’ you are wrong.
“The International Ice Hockey Federation has some issues and are in discussions with the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee and the International Olympic Committee to make sure that they are comfortable that they can deliver all the things we need.”
Bettman wouldn’t specifically detail what those needs are, but they likely focus on television exposure and the amount of time the league would have to shut down for to participate. The shorter, the better, as far as the league is concerned.
As for the Canadian teams, Bettman said the Board of Governors renewed the league’s Canadian Assistance Plan through next season. This plan grants Canadian teams, burdened by the decreasing value of the country’s dollar as well as heavy taxation issues, league money as long as they meet qualifying standards in terms of ticket and suite sales. The plan gives qualifying teams $3.5 million.
“You might be interested to know that the motion was made and seconded by U.S. clubs and that the sentiment in the room was that while others might abandon our Canadian clubs, we were not about to,” Bettman said.
Bettman’s reference is to the Canadian federal government recently rescinding a proposed plan that would’ve aided struggling teams with tax relief. Gretzky, who else, gets the last word, though.
“The whole country is based upon hard-working, 9-to-5 parents who do the best they can to provide for their families,” he said. “If you are making $30,000 or $35,000 a year and working your rear end off, the last thing that I would vote for is giving a guy making $5 million tax benefits. It’s pretty simple.”
