It’s probably a story that you’ve heard a million times by now if you have any sports leanings, but it needs emphasizing. In the spring of 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks were the center of Chicago. Not just Chicago sports, but Chicago. It was a meteoric and shocking rise, simply because three years before that, most […]
The NHL has been through so many realignments that sometimes you wonder if it shouldn’t just do a random draw before every season (actually, that’s not a terrible idea). It’s when you get to the real aims of past realignments that things get more interesting. Read more…
David Griffin can expect to find himself writing a check to the NBA after the Pelicans executive blasted the league over the lack of calls for Zion Williamson in the paint, now that the star big man will be out indefinitely with a broken finger. Read more…
As it always is, the NHL is in a mess of its own making. Rarely do you get a team decrying a league’s discipline system, at least not in hockey. Gary Bettman rarely tolerates stepping out of line like the Rangers did yesterday when the news broke that the Department of Player Safety doesn’t even […]
I know that commissioners of every sport stopped being stewards of their sport and merely stooges for the owners long ago. Probably about the time MLB fired Fay Vincent to install one of its own, Bud Selig, and his dinosaur hands, windsock morality, and peabrain. Read more…
While nowhere near the most important facet or phenomenon around the Derek Chauvin verdict, it was rather startling that, within minutes, dozens of companies ushered statements out into the world. This means they had them prepared, which means they had ones prepared for the other outcome, too. Which obviously means… Read more…
Lindor-palooza has apparently begun. News broke last night that the Mets have offered Francisco Lindor a 10-year, $325 million extension to his deal that ends after the season. Lindor is apparently after a 12-year, $385 million deal. As always, both sides are making noise about negotiations being cut when the season… Read more…
It’s always funny, and easy, to laugh at the NHL and their constant failed plans. No league can step on a rake as quickly and thoroughly as this one. And there’s something truly symmetrical about Gary Bettman declaring the sun his enemy. But their “ski weekend” in Lake Tahoe was probably still worth it. I […]
Apparently it’s difficult to keep a 200-by-85 foot sheet of ice in pristine condition, appropriate for world-class ice sports, while it bakes under recently discovered celestial bodies that produce light and heat. Who knew? Read more…
There is a Sliding Doors scenario, where the NHL simply let Jim Balsillie buy the Arizona Coyotes and move them to Hamilton, Ontario, more than a decade ago. Would it have worked? Hard to know. Balsillie’s BlackBerry tanked not too long after the proposed buy-date, and could have led to a host of problems north […]