If it ain't a mess, it'll do till the mess gets here

The world always makes the assumption that the exposure of an error is identical with the discovery of the truth - that error and truth are simply opposite. They are nothing of the sort. What the world turns to, when it has been cured of one error, is usually simply another error, and maybe one worse than the first one.
(H.L. Mencken)

I've had a few people email me for my take on the Leafs and the possible addition of a third NHL team into the Ontario market. I don't have much to add to the already extensive, and excellent coverage that's out there. I'd recommend you check out:

Bob McKenzie at TSN
James Mirtle - here, here and here
The Wall Street Journal
and the excellent Coyotes Blog, Five for Howling

To that great coverage, I'd add the following commentary:

Don't equate the NHL's rejection of Balsillie with the rejection of a seventh team in Canada.

Given the richness of the Southern Ontario market, an NHL team is all but certain to eventually call the region home. When the time comes to put a franchise in Preston, Hespeler or Fiddlesticks Ontario, rest assured the NHL will have their pick of prospective owners.

Don't equate the animosity and lack of popular support for Betteman with weakness.

The commish is one slippery, canny dude. He knows where his support lies and he knows what he has to do to stay in his chair. Betteman can't ever win in the court of public opinion, but I'd bet he'd shiv his own mother to make sure he wins where it matters - in a court of law.

Don't get hung up over vetoes and territorial rights.

Hockey's a business - everyone has their price: look no further than the Ducks, Devils and Islanders for indemnification precedents (and when the time comes, rest assured every team has aggressively litigious counsel standing by).

The shame of all this is that instead of talking about premiere hockey match-ups and really exciting playoff games, many hockey fans and the hockey media are debating chapter 11 vs. chapter 7 bankruptcies, talking about failed markets, and forgetting that no matter how this story ends, many hockey fans are going to be heartbroken.

Can the Leafs even spin their own web?

Sean from Down Goes Brown posted an interesting and insightful comment on the state of the Leafs Web-site in response to my long-winded post suggesting the Leafs re-vamp their online approach to information distribution and sharing.

I completely agree with DGB, but his comment begs a larger question: how much control do NHL teams have over the development and utilization of their own web-sites?

I haven't been following this anywhere near close enough, but the answer to that question seems to be none.

Think about that for a moment.

An original six franchise in one of the largest media markets in the world and their web-site is completely controlled by the NHL League offices (the same bunch who brought you a TV deal with Versus and Boots Del Biaggio a must read from Mirtle).

This lack of control describes both the Rangers and Leafs to a "T" and it's what's at the heart of the ongoing lawsuit between the Rangers and the NHL.

Digital Rights, Internet Portals and a Lack of Local Control

In 2006, NHL owners were asked to vote on transferring digital rights to the NHL including the creation of a league-wide Web portal that would use uniform team sites.

According to the Sports Business Journal, the transfer proposed by the NHL was accepted "by a 25-3 vote, with the Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Minnesota Wild dissenting. Detroit abstained, and Edmonton was absent from the session."

That vote certainly explains why mapleleafs.com looks like a bad myspace page and has all of the interoperability of a first generation bbs.

Here's the money quote from MSG Chief Executive James Dolan (from a fax sent to the 29 other clubs):

"We have repeatedly expressed our belief that individual clubs could achieve the same or better results by entering the new media business on their own terms, rather than being mandated to submit to a league-wide initiative."

According to Newsday, Dolan called the NHL plan "flawed" and said the league "continues to squander opportunities to improve our business and solidify and grow our fan base." (No word if Dolan did a, "*cough* Balsillie *cough*" at the end of his statement.)

Clearly, the ramifications of this suit, especially for wealthier large-market teams like the Leafs, are huge.

Seeing as the Leafs did vote against the League web-portal/digital rights issue in June 2006, does anyone know if the Leafs filed a brief of any sort in the case? (CanLii is a great source for legal decisions, is there a similar database for legal briefs and, if so, is any one willing or able to do some digging?)

A Series of Compounding Errors

When the Leafs played Nashville a week or so ago, Joe Bowen (or one of the Leaf play by play guys) paraphrased Barry Trotz as saying "When teams, like the Leafs, are battling for their playoff lives little things tend to get magnified."

Think missed calls, bad penalties, weak goals - you know all the hallmarks of a typical Leaf game, streak, season, decade, forty-year drought (take your pick).

And so it comes to this...Sundin, inexplicably, gets a goal called back (nice work NHL. I know I ranted about this once before but would a timely explanation or some accountability be too much to ask? And wouldn't it have been the right call for Sportsnet to cite the Fraser call as the turning point of the game?); McCabe (after a horrible pinch) gets called for a very marginal hooking penalty (his stick was on and off that player faster than you could say "bad contract JFJ") and the Isles tie it up on the powerplay.

In OT, Sundin gets taken down like Steve Simmons on a Leaf fan discussion board and there's no call (hey NHL - it's a dive, a trip, or both - even the culprit Satan thought he was headed to the box).

And so it goes into the books as a shoot-out loss.

Oh, and here's more good news: the Isles now own the tie-breaker should they finish the season tied with the Leafs for 8th PPP has correctly pointed out that the Leafs still own the tiebreaker, so we've got that going for us.

My point isn't to bemoan the bad calls in one game (although that's always fun).

My point is this: it's time MLSE iced a team where non-calls and marginal penalties weren't the difference between life and death.

It's time MLSE set about icing a team where one blown call in February didn't loom over this club like some airborne toxic event.

I firmly believe that unless JFJ dramatically changes the composition of this team, I will spend all of next year with the Leafs stuck at .500, anxiously watching this same tightrope walk. Another season wasted on a team that's perpetually one stupid call away from being outside the playoffs once again.

I said weeks ago that I doubted this team has the stuff to make the post-season, never mind make it out of the first round.

But for those Leaf fans who are holding out hope for the playoffs, thinking this year's version of the Leafs might do some damage if they make the post-season dance, consider this: if the Leafs were in a four game series against the Isles, they'd be down 2-0.

Factor in: the recent 3-0 loss against the Bruins, the fact that this team holds a lead about as well as Ashley Simpson holds her liquor, that scintillating sub .500 home record and the fact that no team seeded lower than fifth has ever won the cup and I can't say I'm with you delusional Leaf fans optimists on this one.

And how bad is it that "making the playoffs" remains a stretch for this organization? Over half the freakin' league qualifies and yet the Leafs struggle to even attain that mediocre level of "success"

Sell.

Trade all the UFAs.

Play the kids and any prospects we get back.

Scout the hell out of all the pending UFAs and spend accordingly in the off-season.

From here on out, it shouldn't be about trying to hit that 8th spot, trying to get 2 more home dates for the pension fund, hoping Kerry Fraser isn't going to stick-it to the Leafs again.

Winning one round of the playoffs isn't what I'm after either.

Two rounds won't cut it.

A successful season for Leaf Nation should be winning the Cup. Nothing less.

Isn't it time MLSE started to think the same way?


Oh, and for the record: I hate the shoot-out. Even had the Leafs won, I still think it's an absolutely preposterous way to finish a game. If Bettman and his suits want to entertain the fans, get some TV coverage and have everyone talking at the water coolers he should have Raycroft fight DiPietro at Centre Ice, winner take all...I'm guessing that the Emery tilt will get more coverage than any of the shootout results that went down on the same night. ***UPDATE*** Deadspin, which I love even though they never post about hockey, has already posted highlights of the Emery fight, quickly generating 80+ comments...