Even though the Blackhawks represent the NHL’s third-largest market and interest in the team is perhaps at an all-time low, Commissioner Gary Bettman doesn’t sound too concerned about the plight of the franchise.
“I think Chicago is a great sports town and a great hockey market,” Bettman said Saturday during his annual meeting with the media in conjunction with the All-Star Game. “I believe the Blackhawks will be back and so will their fans.”
Nevertheless, it’s possible the league’s three largest cities, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, will not be represented in the playoffs, which is likely to hurt television ratings that already are low in the United States.
“The Wirtzes are passionate owners and I believe they will work very hard to rebuild that franchise,” Bettman said.” . . .
Bettman was asked whether his ruling–when he makes one–on the Mike Smith grievance against the Hawks will set a precedent and whether other general managers are concerned.
“I can’t tell you whether it will be [a precedent] or won’t be because none of us knows exactly what happened,” he said.
The Hawks have refused to pay the remainder of their former general manager’s contract, saying he was in “material breach” of it when he was fired Oct. 24.
Salary cap on horizon?
Bettman’s news conference was dominated with talk about the collective bargaining agreement and whether next season will begin in October. The current agreement expires Sept. 15 and the NHL has been talking about needing “cost certainty.” Bettman disputed numerous reports that the league wants a $31 million salary cap for each team, saying a hard cap has not been proposed. Players union leader Bob Goodenow disputed what Bettman said. Goodenow maintains the NHL wants an NFL-style salary cap. The union wants salaries set by the marketplace. . . .
Blackhawks rookie Tuomo Ruutu had two assists for the West as it beat the East 7-3 in the YoungStars game. Anaheim rookie Joffrey Lupol had a hat trick for the West. “It was OK,” Ruutu said. “There are a lot of good players out there.” . . . In the SuperSkills competition, Sheldon Souray and Adrian Aucoin tied for the hardest shot at 102.2 m.p.h.; Scott Niedermayer was the fastest skater; Jeremy Roenick hit 4 of 4 targets in accuracy shooting; and goalie Roberto Luongo was sharp as the Eastern All-Stars beat the West 13-6.
ALL-STAR ROSTERS
WESTERN CONFERENCE
FORWARDS GP G A PTS +/-
x-Mike Modano, Dal 50 9 22 31 -16
x-Bill Guerin, Dal 56 22 16 38 -1
x-Todd Bertuzzi, Van 56 16 35 51 25
Pavel Datsyuk, Det 56 25 30 55 0
Shane Doan, Phx 54 20 34 54 6
Jarome Iginla, Cal 53 24 22 46 8
Patrick Marleau, SJ 53 23 16 39 3
Rick Nash, Clm 52 31 9 40 -21
Markus Naslund, Van 55 30 37 67 18
Joe Sakic, Col 53 22 35 57 6
Alex Tanguay, Col 52 19 42 61 23
Keith Tkachuk, StL 48 23 30 53 5
DEFENSEMEN GP G A PTS +/-
x-Nicklas Lidstrom, Det 56 6 21 27 6
x-Rob Blake, Col 54 11 29 40 13
Filip Kuba, Min 56 5 14 19 -12
Mattias Norstrom, LA 47 1 11 12 4
Chris Pronger, StL 54 12 24 36 -1
Kimmo Timonen, Nas 50 6 22 28 -11
GOALTENDERS GP AVG W L T SO SV%
x-Marty Turco, Dal 54 2.06 26 17 9 5 .910
Dwayne Roloson, Min 34 1.98 13 13 8 3 .932
Tomas Vokoun, Nas 48 2.53 24 19 5 2 .909
Eastern Conference
FORWARDS GP G A PTS +/-
x-Joe Thornton, Bos 53 14 39 53 12
x-Ilya Kovalchuk, Atl 56 27 32 59 -8
x-Martin St. Louis, TB 54 24 33 57 19
Daniel Alfredsson, Ott 52 24 31 55 9
y-Marian Hossa, Ott 53 23 34 57 4
Jaromir Jagr, NYR 53 20 33 53 -3
z-Pavel Kubina, TB 54 13 9 22 -1
Robert Lang, Was 55 26 38 64 0
Mark Messier, NYR 54 14 12 26 0
z-Glen Murray, Bos 56 23 21 44 12
Keith Primeau, Phi 49 6 15 21 11
Gary Roberts, Tor 53 20 14 34 -1
Jeremy Roenick, Phi 55 18 24 42 1
Mats Sundin, Tor 54 19 33 52 4
DEFENSEMEN GP G A PTS +/-
xy-Scott Stevens, NJ 38 3 9 12 3
x-Scott Niedermayer, NJ 52 8 22 30 9
Adrian Aucoin, NYI 54 3 26 29 24
Nick Boynton, Bos 56 3 15 18 15
s-Wade Redden, Ott 53 12 20 32 14
Sheldon Souray, Mon 56 15 20 35 4
zx-Brian Rafalski, NJ 53 4 23 27 -1
GOALTENDERS GP AVG W L T SO SV%
x-Martin Brodeur, NJ 49 1.93 25 15 9 10 .920
Roberto Luongo, Fla 48 2.46 15 23 10 3 .930
Jose Theodore, Mon 46 2.08 22 18 5 5 .926
x-starter; y-injured; z-replacement; s-sick, will not play.
%% %%
