The sporting world does not pay enough attention to the NHL. Boom! I said it and you know it’s true. When was the last time you saw an NHL game on national television before the playoffs. NBC is the only station that makes any effort and they don’t start televising their “Sunday NHL on NBC” until after the NFL regular season is over. Even if puck lovers must concede the American dominance of professional football, why can’t we at least get some exposure on other nights of the week. Versus Network has national games very often, but not many people even get that channel. ESPN rarely shows hockey highlights on Sports Center and unlike NFL Live, Baseball Tonight, College Football Live, etc.; the NHL does not have it’s own highlight and analysis show on ESPN. We're less than a month away from the first real games and the mainstream sports media is not publicizing the start of the season at all! Moral of the story: the average sports fan needs to be exposed more to hockey:
Roberto Luongo (pictured above) announced he will be stepping down as captain of the Vancouver Canucks. At first-glance this decision seems odd but it really reflects the leadership of Luongo. From Iain Macintyre’s piece in the Vancouver Sun:
Roberto Luongo said he resigned as captain of the Vancouver Canucks because he wants to focus entirely on being the best goaltender he can be in order to give his National Hockey League team its best chance of winning a Stanley Cup
He admitted that being asked as captain to comment on the play of teammates was uncomfortable, given his position, and he is happy he will no longer have that dilemma.
It will be interesting to see how Luongo performs on the ice this season and more importantly during the 2011 Playoffs. The 10-year veteran struggled in last season’s Western Conference Semifinals against the Blackhawks, allowing 21 goals in 6 games, resulting in a loss to the Hawks in the 2nd consecutive post-season.
The Devils are going to be fined and forfeit draft picks because of their actions with regards to the contract they offered Ilya Kovalchuk this Summer. What the NHL is trying to crack down on is teams who give their players deals that pay excess amounts in the first few years and very little in the end (this loophole in the salary cap system is technically forbidden by the NHL). Other players such as Marian Hossa and Roberto Luongo have backloaded contracts that the NHL did nothing about when they began.
And Ryan Lambert of Yahoo Sports’ Puck Daddy hates football. Let it be known that I do not hate football. I will admit to loving hockey though.
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