Hockey Night in America

Anybody else remember when hockey was relevant? When you could catch a Wednesday night broadcast on ESPN with Bill Clement and Gary Thorne sending it down to Panger in the midst of the action? Those Hockey Night in America telecasts really showcased the game. Since then, the league has had multiple work stoppages, continued to expand, moved franchises out of relevant cities, and lost most major marketing deals. Congrats to Gary Bettman as the worst manager of anything...ever. You know who loves hockey...Canadians. I've got a great plan for a pro hockey league. Take two or three teams from Canada and northern US and move them into areas where the sport will never be relevant. This guy stood by to watch Winnipeg, Hartford, and Quebec lose hockey teams, while Phoenix, Carolina, Florida, and flippin' Columbus OHIO added teams. You move a team out of Minnesota and put one into Atlanta? How does this guy not have a real men of genius commercial yet?

The worst idea though has to be starting the season on a Friday in the heart of football season. While many adults are out at high school football games or just a nice dinner, these guys are dropping the puck days before the NFL has started bye weeks and the NCAA has started conference play. To make matters worse, one of the original six teams who have a renaissance going on in their home city starts the year in Finland! This league just can't get out of its own way. Some of the rule changes over the past couple years have indeed helped the pace of the game. I do wish that half of the league knew how to throw a decent check though.

Either way, the 1/2 of the 3 and a half major sports in America is underway. I must say that local success has finally got me interested in the league to a smaller degree. Televising home games will do that for you. Next step, making team sweaters more affordable. Hockey sweaters are sweet, especially throwbacks, but not at nearly $100 each. Keep it. I expect the 'Hawks to take a slight step back or remain at the same level this season. The team was way ahead of schedule last year and most of the key members are still really young. They need experience, but mostly they need bulk. The team though needs a real goaltender. I don't see Huet beating the Red Wings come March or April or whenever the hell this marathon ends. Either way, you can't deny the excitement of playoff hockey. Shootouts are great during the regular season (except for Chicago fans), but there is something special about 4 overtime sessions.

Dear Mr. Fantasy

You should now be starting to figure out if your team can contend in its present form or not. I'm doubting that any impact players are left on your free agent lists, so it is time to play let's make a deal. I'm going to briefly touch on things/players that I would look to acquire and ones that I would steer clear of. I'm buying Drew Brees, 49ers D, 49ers running backs, anything on the Giants, Dallas Clark, Colts receivers, people named Manning, Jay Cutler, Steelers passing attack, Flacco, Ray Rice, Chargers passing game, Panthers runners, and running backs named Brown. I'm going nowhere near LT2, Broncos passing game, teams that still haven't won a game, old running backs, Matt Forte, Julius Jones, Steelers runners, Vikings wideouts, anything out of New England, and the entire Cowboys passing game. Now these lists certainly don't cover every team and every player, but it should give you a general idea of things that I've seen through the first quarter of the season. General rule: only offer trades that make some sort of sense to the other owner. Otherwise, either your deal will get shotdown with no counteroffer or the league will veto the proposition. Also, don't structure a trade based on bye weeks. There are no byes in the playoffs, and those are the only weeks that matter.