Before we start

A few thoughts before the regular season kicks off on Wednesday.

It seems the NHL and AHL are following the path I laid out in various pages and websites years ago. When the WCHL (West Coast Hockey League) was playing I thought it would be excellent for western NHL clubs to use those cities for their AHL clubs. Check.

The NHL is steadily coming closer to my goal for a 32-team league. However one of the cities called out, Quebec City, seems to be in danger while Las Vegas marches on.

Many people draw parallels to the proposed Vegas entry and the oft-troubled Arizona Coyotes. Two clear differences exist in my mind; first of all the Coyotes decision not to build downtown and go into Glendale is an obstacle. Nothing against Glendale mind you, it is an excellent place for the football Cardinals who play mainly on Sunday afternoon. But the Coyotes play during the week; it is a challenge for them to draw during the week.

Secondly, Vegas is always going to have a stream of tourists who can follow their clubs to the desert and hotels which will “comp” out tickets. They will be fine, especially if ownership puts in hockey infrastructure such as the Dallas Stars did.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with how the Stars grew the game in Texas, the Stars are behind a group of six metro-area rinks called Star Centers which feed into the sport’s popularity. Speaking from personal experience I can tell you it is easier to get ice time in Dallas than it is in Boston. (Side note, Stars, please consider your farm team’s home city of Austin for the next Star Center)! While I am at it, unless I am missing something, how about Allen, Texas as your next ECHL affiliate? Idaho will be just fine as part of the soon to expand AHL or as a western team’s farm club.

As far as Quebec goes, although there is concern about the Canadian dollar, if the prospective owners can pony up; then by all means, accept them in. (Note to new owners, don’t go Winnipeg on us, the old Nordiques colors and jerseys are fine, thank you).

A negative about one team going into the east would be the alignment. Which brings up another long-time proposed idea of mine.

Simply put, one division of eight should be comprised of all Canadian teams. In conjunction the wild card playoff team should be eliminated, which would lead to a Canadian team in the semifinals each year. The divisions should all be 1-4, 2-3 in the playoffs, the wild card is not good. Drop it altogether.

The alignment for the rest of the league gets a bit dicey for one team. There is no doubt about it, unless the league will consider a six team Western Division and two nine team divisions, one club is going to be geographically challenged.

At this point this alignment of a Canadian division is not unique to my thinking, and I’ve seen several solutions. Mainly focus on Columbus moving out West, but in my opinion the team to get moved is Detroit.

The popularity of the Red Wings will bring out more fans to the western cities’ games; re-establish some old rivalries (Chicago, Anaheim, St. Louis and Dallas for example). As a sop the league could direct the West Coast clubs to start their games against the Wings no later than 7 pm, subsidize the club’s travel and “bunch” West Coast games for Detroit. When they go west they should swing through Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose and pick up some contests against the Western Canadian teams. The league should also consider letting the Wings play a team twice on a swing, for example, LA, Anaheim, SJ, Vancouver, LA.

Was the NHL as embarrassed as I was regarding the play down the stretch as some teams positioned themselves for Connor McDavid? In Buffalo the fans cheered a loss, they traded away serviceable players. That is not good. Solution? All non-playoff teams get an even chance in a drawing for the first and second picks in the draft. The rest of the order will be by final standing.

Even in the days of advanced stats I have yet to see my power play success formula play out. Maybe it is too simple.

Currently the league takes the number of goals and divides it by the time a team has been on a power play. For example, one goal in four chances gives the team a 25% success rate. The calculation in use does not consider the time spent on a power play, for example, a power play chance can be two minutes or two seconds, it doesn’t matter, and they are both treated as a power play opportunity.

My solution is goals scored per power play time. This calculation would take the time a team is on a power play and divide it by power play goals scored. For example a team is on the power play for three minutes and scores twice. Their power play success rate would be one minute and thirty seconds (1:30). Simple, brilliant and meaningful as all power play time is counted the same. Ditto for penalty killing stats.

What is it with the Boston Bruins and young players? Joe Thornton, Phil Kessel, Tyler Seguin and Doug Hamilton were all bought into town as future cornerstone players. Yet they were all dealt early in their respective careers? Why? Character issues? If so shouldn’t those issues have been known before the draft? Why do the Bruins top draftees often find themselves readily dispatched?

The league sent out a warning about cocaine usage stating they have seen a rise in the recreational drug during testing. I am not sure what to think of this yet. The league used the number of 20 players, is that the amount of players they detected during testing or their estimation of how many players are using? Could it have to do with the increase of salaries being paid out in the NHL?

Is there anything in pro sport such as the NHL’s website explanation of suspensions and other incidents? Although I sometime differ with the punishments assessed; you really have to laud the league for putting their disciplinary thoughts out for all. Well done.

Not so well done? Why do I have to go to TSN.CA for transactions? That should be on the league web-site (or at least in a place where I can find them). Why doesn’t the league sponsor a salary cap website? Why doesn’t the league tout their prospects like Major League Baseball does?

With 32 teams (probably) coming on line it means the AHL and ECHL need to add more teams. The American League sits at 30 clubs while the ECHL is at 28. I’d like to see 32 at both leagues. Other wish lists for the minor leagues, the NHL should cooperate with those leagues to find strategic franchise locations. Does the NHL hope someday to have teams in Seattle and/or Houston? Then they should work to put AHL franchises there. ECHL franchises could be strategically located to fill in strategic cities. The way I see it the league has a chance to put their name out in over 60 cities in the US and Canada. Are they doing enough with the exposure they have? Could they leverage these minor league teams for more?

While the NHL is at it, what would it take to pull the SPHL under the blanket of the PHPA and the NHL? The SPHL delivers quality hockey in an area which could make the NHL even more of a USA presence.

By the way, the highly-touted 3 on 3 overtime was, as far as I can tell, originated by the SPHL. Folks if you are close to some of the lower-touted leagues you have definitely heard of horror stories regarding injuries and insurance. While I clearly understand the implications of higher costs from higher-quality insurance, this is an item the NHL should assist with. It would be fair trade for the exposure the sport can get in the southern geographic area. In return the SPHL clubs could dole out some signage or mention NBCSN games.

Frankly I think the NHL is missing some exposure, with the MLB team coming on to run the NHL website I am hoping the lack of minor pro coverage is something which will be bolstered in the near term.