NHL Franchise Boys

It’s that time of year again… the days are getting shorter, the mornings are cooler, the kids are back in school and Labor Day officially marks the end of franchise poolies’ hibernation. Normally at this time I would be running out to buy all the hockey pool magazines and prepping for our 17th franchise hockey pool season, however it appears we are headed for a third lockout in 17 years.

Who to side with… NHL or NHLPA? I hate the fact that the owners are so inept at running their teams that they need rules in order to control their spending. The main reason a CBA exists is to stop owners from being idiots and over spending. The last CBA was basically everything the owners wanted: it’s making them money but it isn’t pocketing them enough money… what a disgrace! I don’t understand how owners can give huge salaries and only realize their plan is flawed when they see a Scott Gomez making $8 million per season. On the other hand, it is due to a powerful NHPLA that the NHL doesn’t have performance based salaries!

Regardless, Bettman is willing to push these CBA talks far to the brink because he’s not afraid of using the lockout as a bargaining chip. He certainly doesn’t care about hockey – he cares about the business of hockey and the wealth of his owners, which is what he is paid to do. They’re not afraid of you or I leaving. They say all of the right things to make us feel “considered” but the truth is that we don’t factor into it. Sure we can do all kinds of things such as stop buying merchandise, tickets, TV packages, etc… but they know that dedicated hockey fans will come running back the minute they strike a deal and the puck drops. Some casual fans may leave and never return, but the season ticket holders and diehards will all be back. We’re not going anywhere, and everybody knows it. We’ll buy tickets and we’ll watch the playoffs in record numbers.  Hey NHL and NHLPA… you’ve got until September 15th to figure this out!  Oh and thanks for sucking the fun out of one of the most exciting times of the year for fantasy hockey. Douches!

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The Los Angeles Kings won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. What makes it even more historic is that the Kings were the first ever No. 8 seed to win a championship in either the NHL or NBA (the MLB and NFL don’t go as far down as an eight seed). 

This epic run by the Kings points to a trend that has been developing in sports over the last few years. No longer are the best teams winning the hardware every player desires. Now teams are showing that it is better to be hot in the playoffs rather than being good during the regular season.

The Los Angeles Kings showed this like no other team can. The Kings were out of a playoff spot on March 28, just 10 days before the season ended. They fought their way up to the No. 3 seed at points during the playoff race, and ultimately ended up with the No. 8 seed. But they were already primed to go on a Stanley Cup run. 

In the first round, the Kings first beat the President’s Trophy-winning Vancouver Canucks in five games. In the second round, they swept the Central Division champion St. Louis Blues. In the conference finals, they sent the No. 3 seeded Phoenix Coyotes to the golf course in just five games.

The No. 8 seed Kings defeated the top three teams in their conference to make the Stanley Cup Finals, and they did it without losing a single road game.

In the Finals, they faced the New Jersey Devils, who were a No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference who just came off a stunning upset of top-seeded Rangers in the conference finals. The Devils gave Los Angeles the most trouble, forcing them to six games and causing the Kings to lose their first away game, but the Kings ultimately prevailed, finishing the postseason with a 16-4 record. Well done and congrats!

Starting next month, filming will start on the pilot of a reality TV show that revolves around a Bikini Hockey League. The first sign that the Bikini Hockey League is going to offer excellent competition and players with extraordinary skill is that it’s being created for a reality television program in which all the girls live in a mansion. The second sign is on the league’s casting call page, which literally makes no mention that the ability to play hockey is an necessity for applicants.