Revenue, Profit, and the Winnipeg Experiment

I think that at this point you have to be pretty pessimistic about a season. There's a lot of hard feelings among the fan base towards the owners, and this is understandable. The players are the ones we pay to see, the ones we talk about at the water cooler, the ones that were our heroes growing up. It's easy to cast the owners and Mr. Bettman as the bad guys. Is that really the case?

Russian Reports At It Again

 Some actual news regarding the Montreal Canadiens worth spending some time on.

Apparently, someone scouring the Internet for French radio in Montreal came across a Russian interview with Andrei Markov that indicated his hesitation about returning to the NHL.

Advantage NHL

Tennis is my analogy for this lockout and negotiation today. The side in the server's court has changed a few times, and points have been gained here and there. For the most part the teams have been playing a tight defensive set with long, concerted fights for the upper hand and advantage in public opinion.

I thought there were some good strokes in the past (players' proposal), but we have not seen anything close to the shot delivered by the NHL's owners yesterday. If the game was stuck at deuce in discussion of irrelevant detail, this was the baseline rocket that set up a break point.

Dealing With the Lockout

People have different ways of dealing with the lockout. Personally, I think my way of taking the time off to do something other than the all-consuming Canadiens coverage is a breath of fresh air. I certainly think its better than some of the other things out there.

For example, is anyone following the Canadiens fantasy progress on NHL13, complete with banal reports and invented quotes?

Hockey's Standard Bearers Careless

I have to say I am a little sick of hearing that fans will have to do without hockey this fall. It's a pervasive arrogance that would allow player and owner alike to believe that one league equates to an entire sport with worldwide participation.

That said, the NHL is still the unquestioned standard bearer of the sport. The best players in the world ply their trade in NHL arenas (usually) and the game at its highest level is normally found in one of 30 North American cities.

Babies With Bath Water: Habs Page Turning Often Hurts

Today comes the news that Andrei Kostitsyn signs a one-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL.

Perhaps he's the first of many to sign come tomorrow, but his signing represents a little disappointment for the Habs organization.

Holiday Reading

The editor must be on holiday. How else does one explain the error-ridden and misinformed piece of tripe that the paper published today about the Habs?

I am going to link it, because it's that ridiculous.

According to Vincent Lubrano, correspondent and fan from the Garden State, Francis Bouillon is not French enough, Francis is not a name used by Quebec French name, Louis Leblanc does not exist and the Canadiens would be better off with 20 average players from the home province.