March 29, 2024

NHL Player Slashes Own Goalie

By the looks of this video it appears Florida Panthers defenseman Keith Ballard was rather perturbed after his team gave up a goal last night against the Atlanta Thrashers. Ballard literally slashed his own goalie Tomas Vokoun and then he even went back for another swipe at the goal post for good measure. Can you receive a fine for slashing your own teammate?

St. Louis Whoppers Will Happen

You laugh now, but I think someday there is a real probability you will see a professional team sell out to a company in full. As soon as one prominent team takes the leap by placing Dell on the front of their jersey it will only be a matter of time before others follow suit. The need for other revenue streams during the current economy woes has the NBA and NHL already taking steps to have corporate sponsorships for game uniforms.

Starting this year the NBA will let teams sell ads on their practice jerseys and per league officials they are continuing to explore the idea of placing ads on actual game jerseys. NHL COO John Collins says the league would consider placing advertisements on game jerseys for the right price. At this time the NFL and MLB aren’t looking at jumping on the money train, but things can change. I’m 100% against US professional teams mimicking European Soccer standards, but at the end of the day it’s a business so they are in it for the cabbage. Look for this to happen in the NHL first since they are the lowest performer of the top four American professional sports leagues. So be prepared to purchase your Carolinna Home Depot, Dallas Dick’s Sporting Goods, Chicago IBM and Atlanta Time Warner jerseys’.

Magic vs Bird?..not even close

So you have the 2 best NHL players in Alex Ovechkin versus Sidney Crosby vying against each other in the playoffs in what is essentially the NHL’s Championship series albeit the Eastern Conference Semis and nobody cares.

The great game 6 matchup drew a 1.2 share which equates to ESPN’s College Bowling Championships.

4 years ago when ESPN tried to halt the NHL Players strike they intervened and made a statement of, ‘If you dont stop by this X date we will revoke your TV contract.”  Well the smart Players Association did not take heed and in turn lost fans, marketshare and of course the best TV vehicle on the planet.

Now and for the last 4 years the VS Network has carried these games along with the local FOX Sports outlets and a weekend game, in the mid-afternoon, on NBC while the other channels have PGA/Tiger Woods, MLB or Womens Beach Volleyball during those afternoon slots.

Dont get me wrong cause Playoff hockey eh is the best playoff sport on the planet next to NFL, but dont feel sorry for the NHL because they dug this hole themselves and have not apologized to the Sports God (ESPN) for thier wayward thinking.