NHL Players Open To Possibility Of Playing Games On Christmas
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Kelly Says NHLers Want To
Continue Olympic Participation |
NHLPA Exec Dir Paul Kelly said that players are "ready to discuss the possibility of allowing the league to schedule two showcase games on Christmas Day," according to Kevin Allen of USA TODAY. Under the current CBA, there are "no games scheduled on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day." Kelly: "Our feeling is, 'Why should the NBA have that day to itself?'" Kelly, who recently completed a fall tour to meet with players of every team, said that he "came away believing the majority of players are open to the idea of having one early game and one late game that could be featured on national television." Meanwhile, Kelly said that players "made it clear that they want to continue Olympic participation" (USA TODAY, 1/6).
RUSSIAN ROULETTE: The GLOBE & MAIL’s Matthew Sekeres wrote NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is “not too fussy about staging regular-season games in Russia next autumn, and there remains no agreement for NHL players to participate in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.” IIHF President Rene Fasel: “Gary has some anti-Russia sentiments.” But Fasel “still believes that an agreement will be reached” with the NHL and NHLPA for the league to participate in the '14 Games. Fasel: “For me it is quite clear, we cannot miss having the NHL players come to Sochi” (GLOBESPORTS.com, 1/4).
NEW TRADITION: In N.Y., George Vecsey writes the NHL "has done something I never thought possible," as the league has "stolen New Year's Day." The BCS has made other college football bowl games "virtually irrelevant, leaving the day open for wiser heads," and the NHL has "played carpe diem by giving us steambreath under a gray sky, the exact opposite of the traditional appeal of sun-dappled bowl games." The league has "now established a once-a-year spectacle" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/6).
TIME FOR A RECOUNT? NHL VP/Media Relations Frank Brown said that the league "has 'no concern' that there were any breakdowns or breaches" in the All-Star Game voting process. The 12 players starting the game are all members of the Penguins, Canadiens, Blackhawks or Ducks, but Brown said in an e-mail, "The voting was monitored scrupulously and continually by experts in the field." Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane, C Jonathan Toews and D Brian Campbell were all selected as starters, and Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said the Blackhawks are "going to set a new standard for marketing in the [NHL]." Babcock: "If you want your players on the All-Star Game, the way the format is right now, you've got to come up with your commercials, you've got to market" (Dave Dye, DETROIT NEWS, 1/6).
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