The state of the NHL was examined on "The Sports
Reporters," as ESPN's John Feinstein said that NHL
Commissioner Gary Bettman "has tried" the "formula" of NBA
Commissioner David Stern and "it hasn't worked." Feinstein
called Bettman a Stern "protege," and added, "He came in and
said, 'Okay, I'm going to do what David Stern did. I'm
going to make a big deal with TV.' He got the Fox deal,
it's done nothing for him. Then he said, 'Aha -- we're
going to get into the Olympics, look what that did for the
NBA.' So they send teams to the Olympics. ... [But] the
only thing that anyone will talk about from those Olympics
is the U.S. hockey team breaking up the room. So Bettman
has tried the Stern formula -- it hasn't worked." ESPN's
Michael Wilbon: "What Stern always does is he accepts new
things. Bettman and the league powers-that-be won't accept
that people saw a style of play [during the Olympics] ...
that they embraced more, where stars are allowed to play and
be stars." Wilbon added that the NHL's star players are not
on the ice enough due to the physical style of play in the
league so fans are "just not seeing them at all. That's
what's hurt the league in the TV ratings." ESPN's Bill
Conlin: "One of the worst things that happened to hockey was
when they made the helmets mandatory, because that made it a
high-stickers' game. There are more head injuries and neck
injuries now than there ever were before -- and you can't
see what the players look like" (ESPN, 4/26).
WOE CANADA? In Canada, Jim Hunt proposes an all-
Canadian NHL division to help level the economic playing
field against NHL teams from the U.S. Hunt: "All we have
left are six teams and at least three of them are in
trouble. As a Canadian, I'll be cheering for Ottawa,
Montreal and Edmonton to win their [playoff] series. But if
a loss is what's needed to wake up to the fact that our
teams are becoming an endangered species, then it might be
worth paying the price" (TORONTO SUN, 4/27).
ICE CAPADES: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick wrote that the Fox
Group should not be allowed to own minority stakes in both
the NHL Rangers and NHL Kings. Mushnick: "But don't expect
the NHL to disappoint Fox, not when Fox has one year left on
its national TV deal with the NHL" (N.Y. POST, 4/26). Also
in N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote on the similarities between
Fox's national NHL production to that of its regional games.
He added that Fox "will do everything possible to make their
Stanley Cup coverage special, but they must continue that
effort during regular season presentations. If they don't
fans will get the feeling the Game of the Week is no
different than a Monday night Devils game on [Fox Sports New
York]" (Bob Raissman, N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/26).
