Off Wing Opinion has published the letter Craig Leopold wrote to Season ticket holders, suite owners and the like. Eric also makes a few interesting points:

A couple of weeks back over at the NHL Fanhouse, a local Nashville blogger gently chided me for concluding that things weren’t going well in Nashville based on local press reports, albeit nothing that I thought couldn’t be cured without a deep playoff run.

But when the man who owns the franchise turns around and sells the team to a billionaire who is actively looking to import an NHL franchise to his hometown, I guess there’s little sense in arguing the point anymore.

We should remember that Leipold was one of the owners who actually helped negotiate the terms of the current CBA. On the face of it, it might seem odd that an owner who helped create the league’s new economic order would be the first to jump ship after the resolution of the lockout.

The team was the one that received the most from Revenue Sharing and yet still reported a 27 million dollar loss the last two seasons combined. That hurts.

But what hurts more is seeing the two sides of the entire situation present themselves. One speaking intelligently and thoughtfully about the topic. Dave Tillson (aka PredDave) speaks:

Craig Leipold is selling the Predators for nearly twice the amount of money Forbes appraised the franchise to be worth ($134 million). For years, Leipold has delivered a polished, well rehearsed act of trying to keep the Predators in Nashville for the long term. In fact, the Sommet Group will probably feel slighted for the multi-year naming rights deal driven by the crafty Leipold.

Will the new Balsillie ownership do the minimum necessary to keep the franchise afloat in 2007-08 only to attempt relocation next summer? Or will Balsillie protect his investment and try to do the right thing by keeping the team in Nashville while creating a new buzz around town and landing better corporate support?

This could be a positive transaction for the franchise as the current ownership and marketing of the Predators have burnt many bridges in the corporate community. Here’s hoping that Jim Balsillie will heal the franchise by building success in Nashville instead of stealing the franchise for his private relocation hobby.

Commissioner Gary Bettman and the rest of the NHL ownership group were adamant last year about not allowing Balsillie to relocate the Pittsburgh Penguins in his ownership bid. Will the owners’ hands be tied this time? It is truly a sad day to be a hockey fan in Tennessee.

And the other responding with the blind rhetoric of the base (IE Canada) in response to the situation:

I hope Nashville is moved to Canada, that would be sweet!

…

Craig Ramsey has been fired by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

apparent to me, and to (head coach) John (Tortorella), that we still had some fundamental philosophical differences between our head coach and our associate coach on a number of issues,” general manager Jay Feaster said in the release. “After having a series of meetings with various members of the organization, we have regretfully, yet necessarily, chosen to make a change in the coaching staff effective immediately.

“We thank Craig for his seven years of service to this franchise and for his hard work and dedication in helping us become Stanley Cup Champions. Rammer will always be a part of the Lightning family as a member of that Stanley Cup Championship team’s success.”

I’ve wondered and worried on this blog if Rammer’s health was proving detrimental to the Lightning last season, and while Special Teams rebounded to an extent this year — this “philosophical” difference that Feaster has stated in the press release is news to me.

This comes on the heels of what I was going to write a post about when I found out the Ramsay news — the good news of the day where Feaster reports the Lightning will not be purging payroll after all. The team’s projected salary for 2007-08 will remain at $44 Million dollars while money, if needed, will be available for an acquisition to boost a playoff run.

No word yet on a replacement for Craig, but my best wishes are with him and his family…

Give my regards to YouTube

I’m trying to conduct a Fan Realignment of the NHL over on FanHome.com’s hockey forums. It’s a challenge to try to do so while actively knowing that no one will truly be happy with the results due to hurting rivalries or forcing traditional teams in traditional markets to play divisional games against non-traditional foes…

But hey, it’s worth a shot. Come over and take a stab at things.

One thing that hit me hard was looking at the Stanley Cup Semifinal lineup. Not the fact the Lightning had been bounced out and who was left, but where was left in both conferences.

In the East: Ottawa, New Jersey, New York, Buffalo…

In the west: Detroit, San Jose, Anaheim, Vancouver.

No, don’t think about the teams or the franchises and what they all bring to the table. Think about the locations and the proximity to their opponents location. New Jersey versus Ottawa? A 433 mile trip between the Meadowlands and Ottawa. Roughly the same (if not shorter) distance between New York City and Buffalo.

Now look in the west and maybe you can start seeing where I have a problem. While the east enjoys a highly northeastern sectionalized affair, the west has it’s long, slogging sojourn of a playoff series between distant cities.

It’s an unfair advantage for Eastern conference teams to travel such short distances during the season and especially the playoffs between opponents. Yes, the teams rack up miles but it’s not the same as those in the Western conference — where division opponents are out-of-timezone foes who may or may not be west of the Mississippi (which in the US truly epitomizes the west).

There are several things I find arcane about the NHL and the East/West alignment is one of them. Traditionalists will always claim “that’s the way it’s been” even when the divisions had actual tangible names instead of ambiguous regional monikers — it still doesn’t mean it’s a good way to schedule games.

Of course, the other traditionalism desire will ruin any attempt at a realignment that divides the NHL’s 30 franchises in 2 distinct east-central-west conferences (which I greatly prefer a la Major League Baseball or in the NFL until recent years). Not all eastern rivals will be able to continue playing their rival-opponents a large number of times yearly. Also — you would have “could give a care” division opponents who have to earn your loathing in order to give a damn about them. That won’t be looked at fondly when Atlanta, Carolina or the Florida teams get mixed into a heavily traditionalist division (with original six teams — either in the east or the central).

Yet it’s something that’s gotta be done.

Why? Not just because of the unfairness factor I state — making Western conference teams do double-distance in the playoffs) but to also make those irrelevant teams relevant. You want Montreal to start giving a care about Miami? Put them in the same conference and when Miami routinely comes to town and gives the Habs trouble, you have a cross continent rivalry brewing.

But it would take guts and leadership to draw up an alignment that works — and accept the fact that many may be left unhappy to begin. Gary Bettman doesn’t have Leadership ability as-so-much as ownership ass-kissing credentials. And in the players union — they wish to remain in the status quo if not the olden days as long as they can — to hell with the future of the game, lets embrace the past.

But I digress… My rant is turning into a complain-fest about the league itself and not about the alignment. I expect Detroit to win the western conference and probably Ottawa win the Cup with thanks to their road through the playoffs (though I am dismissing the teams ability which I have seen first hand last season in the playoffs). I’ll be rooting for the Ducks tonight however as I’d like to see the final 2 teams from the 1992-93 expansions make it to the Cup finals.

EDIT: I was wrong. Ducks vs. Ottawa. Also, new poll on Boltsmag asking which alignment would be best… [poll=8]

He was one of the last, most probable re-signings of Tampa Bay’s upcoming Unrestricted Free Agent class and today (thank you, Jay Feaster, for announcing this on a beautiful Saturday where I don’t want to be on the computer at all) the Lightning announced Johan Holmqvist was re-signed to a one year deal.

Holmqvist wasn’t a stone wall in net his first NHL season but he did serve admirably — going 27-15-3 with a 2.85 GAA. His specialty was the shootout — posting a 9-1 record… But of course with the good, there came ill and that was his frustrating, inexplainable ability to lapse in net for no given reason… For instance the Florida Panthers hounded Holmqvist this season. Johan started 5 games versus the Kitties and played 6 games total versus them… His record was 1-2 with a 4.88 GAA. That is not the kind of record you want your netminder to have against an also-ran like Florida, let alone a division rival that they are. Check the splits to see how Johan faired against all opponents faced.

But this move was a necessity, that much is sure. The benching of Marc Denis during the playoffs was a no-confidence vote in the goalie who was dubbed #1 before the season began. Feaster will be working the phones most of the summer trying to secure a deal to move Mr. Denis to other NHL pastures… and potentially acquire another veteran goaltender to push or share duties with Johan Holmqvist in net.

Yeah, I’m late out of the gate on this seeing that the Conference Finals are on the verge of being closed out…

But here’s an open discussion thread for Lightning fans to talk about the East/West conference finals and the Stanley Cup Finals.

Andreas Karlsson will be back next season. He showed moments of brilliance during the playoffs but largely his time in Tampa this year was forgettable… Being put on waivers was the highlight.

(originally posted by me on FanHome and modified for Boltsmag — JF)

There was a piece in the New York Times yesterday about the upcoming Rays series in Orlando. Within the story, Stu Sternberg — the Rays managing partner — is quoted as saying “Baseball does not feel right indoors,” and that Tropicana Field “We recognize it has a shelf life of five years.”

This has stirred up a hornets nest of discussion as well as Sternberg having to further explain his comments. He’s not lobbying for a new stadium, he’s not asking for a new stadium, he’s not demanding a new stadium… He and his investment partners have put 20 million dollars into Tropicana Field the last two seasons and those monies weren’t just a five year investment when a much larger piece of change would be required if the team were planning to lobby for a new park.

To describe the situation as Rays fans know it — Tropicana Field won’t be replaced any time soon, especially with how crappy the ballclub has been since it’s inception nine years ago. It doesn’t warrant that kind of investment — no matter how much harping out-of-towners say about the park (or even locals who don’t attend games, citing the stadium as an excuse). The team is also locked in to a 30 year lease with hefty fines for breaking it… That alone locks the team in to St. Petersburg.

That being said, a dialog about a new stadium isn’t a horrid thing — it’s the absolution that a new stadium is needed and now because of blah, blah, blah. Insert your reasoning here.

I made mention in November of a St. Petersburg Times snippet about the Rays starting a dialog about a new ballpark. I don’t recall this being brought up in the latest hoopla or not. Regardless, there are two absolutes that need to remembered with the Rays and any talk of a new venue:

Tropicana Field is 16 years old, the stadium design itself was a relic of the 1970’s to keep the building energy efficient. The location of the stadium (downtown St. Petersburg) and it’s design have been debated and put into question time and time again over the course of the Rays existence

The Rays have no hope for a new venue as long as the team stays as pathetic as they have been since their inception. It’s just noteworthy the team is putting it’s toe in the pool regarding the stadium situation.

The second quote is the stronger reasoning. Both the Lightning and the Buccaneers offered the Tampa Bay sports fans a taste of competitiveness in order to earn the right to have the community invest in a new venue. The Rays haven’t even come close yet, and until they do, a new venue and talk of one is just a pipe dream.

Humor me though, there’s a new poll here at Boltsmag asking readers where in the region a new Rays ballpark should be…

[poll=6]

Here’s a link to the Times article link on the latest flare up on the Artyukhin front.

And let me quote Lyle Richardson from Spectors Hockey who does a great job summarizing the entire sitaution:

Artyukhin is represented by Mark Gandler, who has a reputation as a hardliner in negotiations with GMs (witness his handling of Alexei Yashin during his contract holdout with Ottawa several years ago). Feaster has decided to stand firm, and considering he own Artyukhin’s rights until 2009, time appears to be on his side. However, if he needs to bolster his roster elsewhere, Feaster could shop his rights at some point.

Gandler is the one who caught my attention in all of this. I look at his quotes from the Times article and he does what he can to spin this any way possible:

“I am surprised the team continued to build up the anger that was there a year ago, but now it’s kind of busting through the seams, ” Gandler said. “The offer in itself is proof of that anger. The punishment aspect of the offer is so obvious, it hits you right in the forehead.”

“And the punishment element. You’ve got to prove yourself. You’ve got to, as they say, shut your yapper and show up. … Basically, he is not going to crawl back into the locker room and ask forgiveness of some people.”

Newsflash Mark: You are not Ari Gold despite getting your way with another client with thanks to “Mad” Mike Milbury you are not the NHL’s power broker. You can’t set the market price for a less-than-one-season NHL veteran as high as you’ve been gunning. 17 career NHL points does not vault Artoo to elite status. Not by a longshot.

Do we like Evgeny here in Tampa Bay and what he contributes to the team? Absolutely. Are we stupid enough to think that he’s worth what you expect to get for him? No chance.

Jason Ward will remain with the Tampa Bay Lightning, say thankya.

It’s a two year deal worth $1.35 million ($875,000 cap hit). This is one of user’s selected must-resignings in the current Boltsmag poll and I’m certainly happy with it.

Ward was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings at the trade deadline during the 2006-07 season, and while not being the scoring-winger the Lightning needed — he was the two-way forward that improved the penalty kill as well as clicked with Brad Richards on the second line. His presence was undeniable during the playoff series with New Jersey last month…

Are these the Washington Capitals new jersey’s?

The NHL announced finalists for their post-season awards. Vinny? Robbed of a chance to go for the the Hart but up for the Lester B. Pearson award. Martin St. Louis is a finalists for the Lady Byng (and wears a crown of shame for it). Meanwhile Dan Boyle was overlooked for the Norris… Not surprising with the stiff competition.