The NHL Born Again

The players need more money, I'm sure they do, don't we all. With the nearly ten month strike ending so recently, the NHL has taken immediate steps to improve their destroyed image:

1. Wayne Gretzky gets a head coaching job. When I first saw this, I knew exactly what was going on, imagine this conversation:

Commissioner Bettman: Hi Great One. Hockey is dead, you need to come back. Jordan did it, so can you. Please.

The Great One: I cannot play anymore. I'm sorry.

Commissioner Bettman: If you do not come back, hockey will die, we need you to draw the fans back into the sport. The NHL needs money.

The Great One: I will coach the Coyotes.

Commissioner Bettman: Super!

After first reading the news, I knew that this move was purely marketing for the NHL. I feel bad for Gretzky, who looks to be used as the goat. If the Coyotes (a 22 game winner and last place in the Pacific in 2004) have another losing season, Gretzky loses face, but the NHL will have profited. It seems like too much to ask from one man, as Great as he is.

2. Tom Bertuzzi was reinstated today, August 9th 2005. For those who don't know him, the famed Bertuzzi skated behind Colorado Avalanche's Steve Moore, and threw a pinched that dropped Moore to the ice and broke his neck, oh yeah, and Bertuzzi landed on his head when the two hit the ice. Moore has yet to recover fully and most likely will never play again. Bertuzzi was suspended, a suspension lasting 17 months until today. So let me get this right, this dangerous man, a threat to all of the players' safety on the ice, is allowed to play again. Not only that, but the man he hurt still cannot play. I find this offensive to athletics, that a scumbag that cheap shots a fellow player (when Bertuzzi's Canucks were losing 8-2!) only sits out 17 months, and 10 of those months, the NHL was on lockout. Wow, you sure missed out on a lot there Bertuzzi. He should be banned from the sport, and never to be seen again for that completely asinine act of violence. Bertuzzi's reinstatement is a controversial move that will give the NHL more press and continue to draw in fans. Fans will watch to see what Bertuzzi will do next, or watch to see how hard the mother fucker gets checked everynite.

Well, I can't write much more on the NHL, its boring me, plus I'm hungry. Final thoughts; the NHL is making change to draw their lost fans back. Without the fan support, the NHL may as well call it quiis for good.

Au revoir-

mike