NHL Playoffs Being Overshadowed
Off-Ice Distractions Taking Away From Great On-Ice Play
The NHL cannot be happy this spring.
Coming into the 2009 NHL playoffs, there were 16 teams that all had a legitimate chance at winning the Stanley Cup in June as every one of the 16 teams had its own intriguing story lines.
2009 Western Conference Playoff Seats
#1 San Jose Sharks: With a new coach and renewed optimism, the President's Trophy winners came into this post season hoping to erase the memory of early playoff exits in the past.
#2 Detroit Red Wings: The defending Stanley Cup champions.
#3 Vancouver Canucks: With the addition of Mats Sundin half way through the season, the Canucks are built to win now, rather than later.
#4 Chicago Blackhawks: Back in the playoffs for the first time since 2003.
#5 Calgary Flames: The Flames made the biggest splash at the trade deadline, obtaining Ollie Jokinen and Jordon Leopold in an attempt to bolster their line-up for the playoffs.
#6 St. Louis Blues: Had the best record of any team in the second half of the season.
#7 Columbus Blue Jackets: A brilliant rookie season from goalie Steve Mason helped the Blue Jackets make their first ever post-season appearance.
#8: Anaheim Ducks: the 2007 Stanley Cup champions went 7-2-1 in their last 10 games of the season to secure the last playoff spot in the West.
2009 Eastern Conference Playoff Seats
#1 Boston Bruins: With few experts picking the Bruins to even make the playoffs at the start of the season, Boston proved everyone wrong and held first place in the conference for most of the year.
#2 Washington Capitals: Alex Ovechkin; the travelling road show everyone wants to see.
#3 New Jersey Devils: Could the NHL’s all-time wins leader lead the Devils back to the Cup finals?
#4 Pittsburgh Penguins: Last season’s Stanley Cup finalists.
#5 Philadelphia Flyers: After a slow start to the season, the Flyers finished strong heading into the playoffs.
#6 Carolina Hurricanes: Won 8 of their last 10 games and brought back coach Paul Maurice early in the year.
#7 New York Rangers: would Glen Sather’s move to bring Sean Avery back work?
#8 Montreal Canadiens: Celebrating their centennial season with high hopes and expectations.
So far in the playoffs fans seen great goals, hard hits and mind-boggling saves. There were only two seven game series, but the level of play was memorable to say the least in all eight first-round match-ups.
The second round has been very entertaining thus far and Gary Bettman has to be thrilled about that, but that’s where his happiness ends.
Outside of his product performing very well, Bettman and the NHL executives have had a lot of headaches to deal with off the ice:
- Jim Balsillie attempting to steal the Coyotes from Phoenix and move them to Southern Ontario has created a firestorm of controversy. It has talk shows, newspapers and newscasts talking primarily about whether or not a team could be sustained in Hamilton, rather than if Boston could come back and beat Carolina after falling down 3 games to 1.
- Suspensions and non-calls by referees have been a hot button issue this spring. From Milan Lucic’s suspension for elbowing Maxime Lapeirre to Marion Hossa’s goal being disallowed in game 3 vs. Anaheim, there has been a lot of focus diverted by the men in the zebra-stripped shirts.
- John Tortorella's and Sean Avery's antics during the first round match-up versus Washington created headlines as Sean Avery was just being Avery – taking dumb penalties, prompting his coach to bench him in game 5 while Tortorella himself received a one-game suspension for squirting a fan with a water bottle during the same game that Avery was benched.
- Guy Lafleur’s court battle is reaching a heated point. Lafleur may be stripped of his Order of Canada after being convicted this month for giving contradictory testimony at his son's bail hearing.
All of these issues are taking away from what has been a very entertaining, passionate and nail-biting playoff year to date and it’s a shame that the attention is being shared with stories and headlines that have nothing to do with one of this decade’s greatest post seasons.
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