Three things on the docket today, a day when I'm off from work and it appears my softball game will be rained out. What is that old expression? June showers bring July flowers?
1) NHLPA head Paul Kelly agrees with me that Phoenix should no longer have an NHL team. He questions how much money a team should have to lose before people question that maybe they shouldn't have a team.
My point was that it should be marked as a failed experiment, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman should admit it, and the league should move on. Kelly's point is that he doesn't care who gets the team - Hamilton, Toronto, anyone - but that Phoenix should not have it.
I personally think Jim Balsillie should be allowed to have the team. He has a passion for the game, the desire to own a team, and certainly the deep pockets necessary to launch and nurture an expansion team.
Links: My post on it. TSN's article on Kelly's comments.
2) Is it wrong that I'm rooting for Pittsburgh tonight? And not just so we see a Game 7 (although they are always great, especially in the Finals), but to win the Stanley Cup.
I always like to see new teams win. I loved Anaheim and Ottawa in the Finals in '07, and I liked Carolina/Edmonton in '06. This year, not only is it a rematch of the last two teams in the Finals, but the same team is poised to win in the same exact amount of games. The only difference is that last year's Game 5 had Detroit up 3-1 and one probably the greatest non-Rangers game I have ever watched. Maxime Talbot scoring with 35 seconds left to send the game to overtime, then a triple OT, and Petr Sykora scoring to keep the series alive.
While I can't stand the Penguins, I'm rooting for them solely to see a new team win the Cup, and once again, maybe if they do win, the NHL can go back to refereeing their games fairly.
3) It's going to come out today that Brent Sutter has left the Devils. This was a move everyone saw coming last month when Darryl Sutter hinted it was going to happen. Darryl fired Mike Keenan in Calgary, then at his 20-minute long press conference, said the 3 best men for the job were currently under contract. Someone said, "Brent?" and he said he was under contract and couldn't talk about it.
Ah, Brent Sutter, once a scumbag, always a scumbag. The man who gave his word that he would never leave the Red Deer Rebels (which he owns and managed) and then up-and-left for New Jersey. Now, an opportunity to work with his brother comes knockin', and he is on the next plane back to Alberta.
Brent Sutter, we won't miss you. Maybe you can take your intent-to-injure son back with you also.
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