As the Canadian dollar "continues its descent toward 60 cents on the U.S. buck, and thus increases the likelihood" of escrow climbing over 20% next season, it would not be a surprise if the NHLPA "does not exercise" its 5% salary-cap bump, according to Larry Brooks of the N.Y. POST. Brooks asked, "Could anyone really hold it against membership?" If teams are not planning on a decline in the '16-17 salary cap -- "or at best, a flat" $71.4M -- they would be "making a significant mistake" (N.Y. POST, 1/17). In Montreal, Pat Hickey noted there is a concern about the "effect the loonie is having on league revenues." The seven Canadian franchises have "produced a disproportionate amount" of the hockey-related revenue, and the Rogers Canadian national TV deal "dwarfs the NBC national deal in the U.S." When those dollars are "coming in at a 70-per-cent rate, overall revenue suffers." The struggling Canadian dollar "could also have repercussions for the folks who are trying to bring the NHL back to Quebec City" (MONTREAL GAZETTE, 1/16). The GLOBE & MAIL's James Mirtle reports it is expected that teams in smaller Canadian markets will "need to draw from the league’s revenue-sharing arrangement this season as a result of the currency issue." Many teams "took in the bulk of their revenue in the spring and summer months, when season-ticket payments were due, so a continued collapse in the currency over the coming months would primarily affect playoff revenue" (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/19).
LIGHT THE LAMP: In St. Louis, Dan O'Neill wrote the average NHL game in '05-06 "produced 6.05 goals," but 10 years later, it is "generating 5.21 goals, down from last season (5.32), down from the season before (5.34)." As January began, the average margin of victory in '15-16 games not decided by OTs or shootouts was 2.0, the "lowest in the league since a margin of 2.02" in '35-36. Still, the league had an average attendance of 16,954 in '05-06, and the overall average this season is 17,391. The association between scoring and attraction "is blurry." But if the decline in scoring numbers truly is a "concern, if a long-term prognosis demands more pucks in nets, the focus on the goal and the gatekeeper seems dubious at best" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/16).
INSIDE JOB: ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser speculated the NHL was behind the trade of LW John Scott to the Canadiens and his subsequent demotion to the AHL. He said it was an “embarrassment to the league that the fans voted that this goon would be a captain in the All-Star Game, and the only way they could get rid of him was to get him out of the league." Korheiser: "There’s no other reason this thing happened” (“PTI,” ESPN, 1/18).
