No Love for Datsyuk

Sitting at home watching the Pittsburgh/Washington game seven last night (by the way, thanks for showing up Capitals) I couldn't help but ask myself why Pavel Datsyuk's name rarely (if ever) is mentioned in the "Best Player in the NHL" discussion. Yes, Alexander the Great and Sid the Kid are two of THE most phenomenal players in the NHL, but is either of them really "The Best"? Allow me to make a case for Datsyuk.

Here is a guy who is always among the league leaders in points, plus/minus, and faceoff percentage. Yes, he plays on a great team, and has since he came into the league in 2001. But that doesn't mean his numbers are minimized in any way. When you watch him play, it is amazing to see how easy he makes EVERY aspect look so easy.

In the offensive zone, he is a pure sniper who also has the Adam Oates-like ability to find the open man. As his plus/minus and 2008 Selke Trophy show, he's no slouch in his zone either. You NEVER see him gliding through the neutral zone when he should be back-checking, and that's more than you can say for Ovechkin. (CBC had a great camera angle from game six that showed Ovie lingering at center ice while the Penguins capitalized on an odd-man rush. He must have learned that trick from Malkin.) Throw in his 89 takeaways in the 08/09 season... you see where I'm going with this.

I think one of the truest, yet most under-rated, signs of a great player is when you see him taking important faceoffs at key moments in games in either zone. Datsyuk has been "that guy" for Detroit since 2001, and he's won more than a few important faceoffs against the Ducks' Todd Marchant in this Western Conference Semi-Final.

I guess this is kind of answering my own question, but I think the reasons why he isn't seen as the best player on the planet aren't that hard to understand. He plays with a handful of other phenomenal players, so it's easy to get lost in that shuffle. He isn't as loud or exciteable as Ovechkin, he just goes about his business and doesn't jump into the glass when he scores a goal. And he didn't come into the league with all anywhere near the hype that surrounded Crosby. I have nothing against Sid, but he's your typical polished, rehearsed athlete whose personality isn't exactly inspiring. Not to mention Sid still has a tendancy to take stupid penalties when things aren't going his way. I don't question his hockey ability... but when you watch both players on the ice, is he really THAT much better than Datsyuk?

So when (not if...) Datsyuk becomes the first player to repeat as both the Selke and Lady Byng winner when the NHL awards are announced in Las Vegas on June 18... take a minute and think to yourself: "Is Pavel Datsyuk the best player on the planet right now?" The answer may surprise you.





Free Counter

Balsillie's Bailout Plan

If you listen closely enough, you might just hear Steven Bochco's pen going crazy as he creates his newest made-for-TV legal drama: "Balsille V. Bettman: Battle in the Desert". The legal fight between the Blackberry guru and the NHL's Commish is shaping up to be a knock-em-down, drag-em-out affair of epic proportions, and I for one will be following it closely every step of the way. There's a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo to wade through, and I don't pretend to be smart enough to know it all, but here are the main bullet points:

1. Jim Balsillie has a lot of money, and has twice tried to purchase an NHL franchise to move to Southern Ontario... the Pens in 2006 and the Preds in 2007. Balsillie even went so far as to collect 12 000 deposits on season's tickets for the Hamilton Predators when trying to buy the Nashville franchise.

2. Gary Bettman does not like Jim Balsillie. Hate is a strong word, but I would even venture to say Bettman "hates" Balsillie. And he doesn't really go out of his way to hide it.

3. The Phoenix Coyotes are in a heap of financial trouble. Who knew putting an NHL franchise in a city where bass fishing gets more media attention (seriously, I wish I was making that up) than hockey would be a bad idea?

4. Here's where it gets a little dicey. Coyotes "owner" Jerry Moyes tried putting the team into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but according to NHL brass, Moyes no longer had control of the franchise. The NHL's Deputy Commish Bill Daly says the team was under NHL control, so Moyes didn't have the authority to file for Chapter 11.

5. Balsillie made an offer of $212.5M to buy the team from under its bankruptcy, conditional on him being allowed to move it to Southern Ontario (ie - Hamilton).

So now the question is: Are the Coyotes actually in Chapter 11 under Moyes, or does the NHL have financial control of the franchise? The NHL says they have offers from other Phoenix parties to buy the team and keep it in the Sun Belt. Because we've all seen how well THAT'S working out. Until we ge the legal answer to that question, nobody really knows what the next step in the process will be.

But here's the thing... Bill Daly dropped this nugget to the Canadian Press yesterday: "(The NHL doesn't) like to pick fights, but we end them." Aha, and THERE'S the real issue involved. What we basically have is two high school (junior high?) bullies eyeing each other up while the rest of the students look on with keen excitement.

Balsillie might be guilty of using underhanded techniques to acquire a franchise, but Bettman isn't exactly coming off looking like the smart NHL boss that he desperately wants peopl to think he is. Bettman's stubborness has never benefitted the league... players OR owners. His desire to keep a franchise in a market that CLEARLY doesn't give two ships about the NHL (or hockey at all for that matter) isn't benefitting anyone. OK, that might be wrong of me to say. I apologize to the 100 or so season's ticket holders. Moving on... I mean, they have Wayne Freaken' (not his real middle name, I'm aware) Gretzky behind the bench, and they STILL can't drum up minimum support to get the people excited. You'd even think there's enough Canadian retirees in Arizona to make a real go of it, but clearly not.

So who comes out looking worse? The somewhat-shady man who might be trying to get around the NHL ownership rules to move a struggling team to a viable market? Or the man refusing to let him do so to save face and prove he still has complete "power" over his league? All I know is this: before this drama comes to an end, they'll be plenty of material for Mr. Bochco to fill a couple of seasons worth of attention-grabbing TV scripts. I call dibs on Jim Balsillie's character. I'll make a call to see if Vern Troyer is available for the Bettman role.





Free Counter

Welcome!

First and foremost... thanks for checking out my newest little project. I figure I have a lot to say on a lot of sporting topics, so why not share it with the world? In the words of Austin Powers: Allow myself to introduce... myself.

I'm the Sports Anchor/Producer at CHAT-TV in Medicine Hat, Alberta. We're a community of about 60,000 with a HUGE local sporting scene. The biggest draw comes in the fall and winter (and spring if all goes well) with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League. The city also loves its minor hockey, ringette, curling, baseball, soccer, rugby, stock cars... You name it, we cover it at CHAT.

As for me, I'm a fan of pretty much every sport other than cricket. (What the heck is a Beamer anyways?!) I'm sure cricket is a great game, I'm just not sure I have the time to dedicate to learning it. It's kind of my version of a "smile-and-nod" sport. Anything else, I'm game for a good discussion/debate. Those who know me know I have my favourite teams in all of the major leagues, but for the purposes of THIS blog, my personal biases will be (mostly) set aside. For at least the first few weeks.

I'm excited to have this forum to vent/discuss/analyze/comment on/etc on the wide world of sports. I'll be posting on topics covering the entire sporting spectrum, so please feel free to visit often and post your comments!