NHL Playoffs in perspective

As a Winnipeger, I have spent the last decade without my NHL team.. That said, It's playoff time, and there are 4 teams left. I think and hope Ottawa wins the Stanley Cup this year. It would no doubt make millions of Torontonians' brains melt instantly from the shock. Furthermore, I hope Detroit manages to beat the Anaheim Ducks. I never really considered Detroit as a contender for the cup, but some crazy force is pushing them through, and there would be nothing better for ratings in the USA and Canada for Detroit to play Ottawa (except if Detroit played Buffalo maybe but that's not going to happen)

So tomorrow, Ottawa plays Buffalo in the middle of the day, which is a horrible time to watch a hockey game. Hockey games are an evening thing. 6 or so. It's all NBC's fault, but what do they care about tradition. CBC got jacked though, considering NBC doesn't pay a damn cent up front.

I have to qualify that I don't want the Ducks to win mostly because I don't believe they should exist as a team. I like the San Jose Sharks, and the L.A Kings, and find the ducks existence superfluous. I like Teemu Sellanne and coach Randy Carlyle well enough for being ex-Jets, but they're working for a team that I don't believe has any right playing for the Stanley Cup. Still, I can live with any of the other 3 teams winning the cup, for some strange reason, as Detroit, Buffao, and Ottawa winning would just be like a stake to the heart of Toronto Maple Leafs fans, and anything that shocks them into seing the reality and futility of their obsessive compulsion to root for a failure of a team is a good thing.

So why did Ron Maclean bring up Halifax?

Most people, rightly so, are questioning why Ron Maclean brought up Halifax as a possible NHL expansion zone. The area has neither an arena even close to NHL standards, nor a large enough market presence. Now don't get me wrong, I like Halifax, and I've always wondered why it isn't a much larger city than it is. But no sane person would recommend Halifax for the NHL.

Perhaps Maclean was trying to bait Bettman. See if he even knew where Halifax was. Maybe trick him into confusing Halifax with Hamilton. I seriously doubt he thinks a Halifax team would be successful. Maybe he was bringing up Halifax sarcastically, in deferrence to certain US cities that have teams that don't necessarily have the fans even a Halifax team might bring out. Maybe he brought up Halifax just to mess with the east coast Sydney Crosby fan machine. Who knows. Only Maclean, and he has yet to explain himself.

My own personal thoughts on the psychology behind the action, is that by bringing up such a nonsensical idea as Halifax as an NHL team (Hell, they can't even woo a CFL team) it makes the idea of a Winnipeg team, by comparison, inarguable. Now I think the footprint a Winnipeg team would have would cover a wide area of central north america including Manitoba, the Dakotas, Saskatchewan, and Western Ontario. With pay per view (and the MTS Centre is wired for such a feat) they would rake in quite a payload from fans who like to make use of their new HDTV's. So, Winnipeg, and Bettman admits it, stands a decent chance. Halifax however is surrounded by quite a few, by comparison, nearby teams such as Montreal, Boston, the entire east coast of NHL teams is right there. Theres no logical reason for the NHL to put a team there. That Bettman didn't say anything one way or another showed that he had no idea what Maclean was smoking.

So, whats the deal with the map? That NHL logo is the size of the distance between NHL teams currently unserved in that part of North America, the part of North America upon which Winnipeg is situated and the largest city between any other NHL city in that region. Pretty gaping hole. (Map courtesy of Google maps and NHL Draftnet)

In any case Ron Maclean gave me something to blog about. Thanks Ron.